{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.risch.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2017/10/idaho-press-tribune", "Idaho Press-Tribune: Risch: Korean dictator promotes fight he cant win", "2017-10-11", "2017", "2017-10", "Republican", "House", "ID", "Jim Risch", "R000584", "www.risch.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Those prospects are not so lofty, given the GOP\u2019s inability to govern with control of the White House and Congress. Democrats easily could grab back control of the Senate after next year\u2019s mid-term elections, perhaps with the blessing of President Donald Trump.\r\n\r\nBut it\u2019s exciting to think about the prospects of an Idaho senator rising to the top of a committee that historically has produced some of the sharpest people ever to serve in the Senate. I knew one of them, Sen. Richard Lugar, during my reporting days in Indiana, and he probably was the most intelligent person I\u2019ve known. Risch, who I have seen in action for more than 30 years, is up there on the IQ scale and has a firm grasp on foreign policy. Risch is a frequent guest of CNN\u2019s Wolf Blitzer\u2019s news program and has shown that he knows what he\u2019s talking about.\r\n\r\nBut for the moment, Risch is not thinking about committee coronations in 2019. \u201cI need to focus on what I\u2019m doing right now,\u201d he says. And part of his job is trying to make sense of what\u2019s happening in North Korea and a dictator who is setting new standards for insanity.\r\n\r\n\r\n\u201cAs with Saddam Hussein, we have a dictator who may or may not be believing his own baloney,\u201d Risch told me. \u201cThey become very emboldened and are willing to pick a fight they cannot possibly win or come close to winning.\u201d\r\n\r\n\r\nRisch doesn\u2019t go as far as describing Kim Jong Un as crazy, although \u201che may have some personality disorders.\u201d Picking a fight with the United States, and testing Trump\u2019s will are not the actions of a rational person.\r\n\r\n\r\nSo \u2026 maybe the guy is crazy.\r\n\r\n\r\n\u201cThe situation is very dangerous and there is a real risk that it isn\u2019t going to end well. A lot of what happens is in line with what Kim Jong Un believes he can do as far as how far he can push Donald Trump. If our national security is threatened, (Trump) will not hesitate to act,\u201d Risch said.\r\n\r\n\r\n\u201cOur committee meets regularly with the diplomatic side, White House side, and we also have our own counsel,\u201d Risch said. \u201cBut at the end of the day, if Kim Jong Un makes the wrong move, one person is going to have to make a quick decision.\u201d\r\n\r\n\r\nAs for the threat from North Korea, Risch said, \u201cthis guy has some stuff and he can do some damage. But his abilities, compared to the United States, are de minimis, really.\u201d\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nRisch says diplomatic channels must stay open, considering what\u2019s at stake, and that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has proven himself to be the \u201cright man for the job.\u201d\r\n\r\n\r\nTrump has created some diplomatic barriers, suggesting in his tweets that Tillerson is wasting his time pursuing diplomacy. Mocking Kim as \u201cRocket Man,\u201d or more recently, \u201cLittle Rocket Man,\u201d creates more tension. Terms such as \u201cLying Ted,\u201d \u201cLittle Marco,\u201d and \u201cCrooked Hillary\u201d worked in his campaign for the presidency, but name-calling doesn\u2019t help solve world conflicts.\r\n\r\n\r\n\u201cI\u2019ll let you guys comment about that,\u201d Risch said. \u201cIt\u2019s not something I would do, but he (Trump) has a certain vocabulary he uses and it would be counter-productive for me to dissuade him from that.\u201d\r\n\r\n\r\nThe voice of reason in this this situation may be China \u2014 a longtime ally and trading partner of North Korea. Risch senses that the Chinese recognize that something needs to be done about North Korea. \u201cThey don\u2019t want all this on their doorstep.\u201d\r\n\r\n\r\nIf the crisis isn\u2019t resolved sometime in the next 14 months, it will be on Risch\u2019s doorstep if he becomes chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee. A chairmanship certainly would give Risch a higher profile in Washington and an opportunity to be a lead policy figure on this North Korean mess.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.risch.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2017/10/idaho-press-tribune"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 2.2966493852436543, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}