Lawmakers urge halting aid to North Korea

Letter calls for 'strong and vigorous response'

Rep. Edward Markey, D-Massachusetts, Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Arizona, center, and Rep. Christopher Cox, R-California, hold a news conference about North Korea.

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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- In a letter to the White House, several members of Congress who in the past have raised alarms about North Korea's nuclear ambitions Thursday called on the administration to "immediately halt all non-humanitarian subsidies of the North Korean government, including exports of fuel oil."

Reps. Ed Markey, D-Massachusetts, Christopher Cox, R-California, and Benjamin Gilman, R-New York, urged the administration to lead an international effort to get other countries to halt all non-humanitarian aid to North Korea as well.

"We regard the North Korean weapons of mass destruction threat to be at least as serious as the threat posed by Iraq," the three congressman said in their letter to the president. "We urge you to take a strong and vigorous response to this threat before it is too late."

Other lawmakers made similar points at press conferences.

Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-South Dakota, said weapons inspectors must be allowed into North Korea and called on the country to destroy whatever weapons of mass destruction it has.

"I think it is essential we put as much pressure through the international community on North Korea to do the right thing and do it quickly," Daschle said.

U.S. officials said the revelation about North Korea will have no impact on the administration's efforts to bring together a coalition to deal with Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction. The officials argue there is a reason why the administration considers possible military action to deal with Iraq and diplomatic means to deal with North Korea.

"Iraq is a unique case," one senior administration official said. "It is an aggressive, invading regime, which uses weapons of mass destruction on its own people. Saddam Hussein and his regime are in a class by themselves."

"The facts with respect to Iraq remain and are not changed by anything the North Koreans are doing," the official added.

Asked why the White House took two weeks to reveal to the public North Korea's admission, another senior Bush administration official cited the need to assess the information and consult with allies and lawmakers about it.

"As with any new piece of information, you want to assess the information and assess how to respond to it," the official said.

The information was revealed after Bush signed a congressional resolution authorizing him to use military force against Iraq if it refuses to comply with U.N. resolutions on disarmament.

U.S. officials decided to put out word of the North Korean admission Wednesday night after an inquiry from a news organization. Several senior officials said they had hoped for a little more time to consult key allies and key members of Congress about how to proceed.

While the administration said it has consulted with Congress, Daschle said he had not been briefed on the matter. House Minority Leader, Rep. Richard Gephardt, D-Missouri, said he had not been fully briefed on the situation, as well as Senate Minority Leader Trent Lott, R-Mississippi.

"We have not been briefed, and we have not been given any new intelligence information," Daschle said.

-- White House Correspondents John King, Suzanne Malveaux and Kelly Wallace, and Capitol Hill Producer Dana Bash contributed to this report.

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