TUCSON –Congressman Raul M. Grijalva (D-AZ) released the following statement after signing on to a letter led by Rep. John Conyers and more than 60 other Members of Congress in response to the escalating situation between the U.S. and North Korea. On Tuesday, President Trump reacted to reports that North Korea had constructed a miniaturized nuclear warhead that could fit inside its missiles by claiming that any threats would be met with “fire, fury and frankly power, the likes of which this world has never seen before.”

The letter, directed at Sec. Tillerson requests that he “ensure that President Trump and other Administration officials understand the importance of speaking and acting with the utmost caution and restraint on this delicate issue.”

“Trump’s unhinged words and his overall inflammatory rhetoric towards North Korea only serves to provoke and derail non-violent options that members of his own Administration continue to push for,” said Rep. Grijalva. “I join my colleagues in requesting that Sec. Tillerson wage all diplomatic options in dealing with North Korea. We should be taking diplomatic steps in conjunction with our international partners, not unilateral, military-based choices that would place the U.S and others on the brink of nuclear conflict.”