The U.S. House of Representatives plans to hold a vote on a North Korea sanctions bill as early as Tuesday as Congress gears up efforts to punish the communist nation for its fourth nuclear test, sources said.

The legislation, which was authored and introduced in February by Rep. Ed Royce with co-sponsorship from dozens of other House members, has been sitting on the House floor after passing the Foreign Affairs Committee last February.

Once a vote takes place, its passage is guaranteed.

Last week, House Speaker Paul Ryan said that the House will soon vote on a North Korea sanctions bill. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi also said that Democrats would provide "strong bipartisan support" for the legislation.

The bill, which received a boost from the North's alleged cyber-attack on Sony Pictures in late 2014, targets the North's access to "hard currency and other goods that bolster the Kim regime in power," the Foreign Affairs Committee said after passing the bill in February. 

The legislation also calls for the U.S. government to use all available tools to impose sanctions not only on the North but also on countries and companies that assist the North in bolstering its nuclear weapons program, it said.

Specifically, the bill denies sanctioned North Koreans and those facilitating their weapons programs access to the U.S. financial system; targets banks that facilitate North Korean proliferation, smuggling, money laundering and human rights abuses; and targets individuals who facilitated the cyber-attacks against the U.S.

It also authorizes the U.S. president to sanction banks and foreign governments that facilitate the violation of the financial restrictions of U.N. Security Council Resolution 2094, adopted in the wake of the North's nuclear test in 2013, and requires enhanced inspection requirements of North Korean shipments arriving from ports and airports. (Yonhap)