Contact: Caroline Rabbitt (202) 224-2353                

Washington, D.C.—Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) tonight released the following statement after North Korea announced it carried out a test of a nuclear bomb:

“This is the latest and most brazen in a long line of ‎provocations from the tyrannical Kim regime. Such behavior is wholly unacceptable. In the near term, the U.S. must lead with a firm response, including an enhancement of sanctions that targets the financial resources of the regime that fund its misrule and nuclear proliferation. And for the long-term security of the region, for the reassurance of our allies, and for the safety of the American people, the United States must reinvest in missile defense and our military presence in the Pacific. The world is more dangerous when the United States is neither trusted nor feared.

“We must recognize the parallels between North Korea’s nuclear ambitions and Iran’s. The path to what is now the fourth North Korean nuclear test ‎began two decades ago with a weak and unverifiable deal negotiated by a naive U.S. president. We now must take up the hard work of pressuring and deterring a maniacal nuclear-capable regime. We don't need to add a second regime to that task. But because of Obama's own foolish deal with Iran, we may have to."

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