Reid: President Bush Must Change Course with North Korea; Failed Policy has Allowed North Korea Nuclear Threat to Quadruple

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WASHINGTON, Sept. 14 /U.S. Newswire/ -- With President Bush focusing on North Korea today during a meeting with South Korean President Roh Moo-Hyun, Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid issued the following statement, calling on President Bush to change the course of a North Korea policy that has made America less safe. Democrats are fighting to take America's security in a new direction. A fact check on the failure of President Bush's North Korea policy follows below.

"On President Bush's watch, and with the Rubberstamp Republican Congress in tow, North Korea's nuclear threat has quadrupled. Though Bush Republicans have allowed North Korea's plutonium stockpile to increase, Democrats are fighting to provide the real security Americans deserve. I urge President Bush to appoint the new North Korea policy coordinator recently called for in the Defense Authorization Bill. With South Korean President Roh Moo-Hyun in Washington today, the President has an opportunity to change course from failed policies that have made America less safe."

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Reid: President Bush Must Change Course with North Korea; Failed Policy has Allowed North Korea Nuclear Threat to Quadruple

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North Korean Nuclear Capabilities Have Increased Under Bush

North Korea Has Dramatically Increased Its Weapons Material Stockpile under the Bush Administration. When President Bush took office in 2000, Pyongyang had enough fissile material to manufacture 1-2 nuclear weapons. Today, experts believe that North Korea possesses material sufficient to build between 4 and 13 nuclear weapons and, unless an agreement is reached to stop the country's pro...

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