HR 5834 EAS

To amend the North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004 to promote respect for the fundamental human rights of the people of North Korea, and for other purposes.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

’, do pass with the followingAMENDMENTS:( 1 ) On page 3, beginning on line 4, strike the comma and all that follows to the end period and insert the following: ‘ Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

Congress finds the following:CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(1) The North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004 (Public Law 108-333; 22 U.S.C. 7801 et seq.) (in this section referred to as ‘the Act’) was the product of broad, bipartisan consensus in Congress regarding the promotion of human rights, transparency in the delivery of humanitarian assistance, and refugee protection.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(2) In addition to the longstanding commitment of the United States to refugee and human rights advocacy, the United States is home to the largest Korean population outside of northeast Asia, and many in the two-million strong Korean-American community have family ties to North Korea.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(3) Human rights and humanitarian conditions inside North Korea are deplorable, North Korean refugees remain acutely vulnerable, and the findings in section 3 of the Act remain accurate today.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(4) The Government of China is conducting an increasingly aggressive campaign to locate and forcibly return border-crossers to North Korea, where they routinely face torture and imprisonment, and sometimes execution. According to recent reports, the Chinese Government is shutting down Christian churches and imprisoning people who help North Korean defectors and has increased the bounty paid for turning in North Korean refugees’.( 2 ) On page 3, beginning on line 11, strike ‘, including’ and all.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(5) In an attempt to deter escape attempts, the Government of North Korea has reportedly stepped up its public execution of border-crossers and those who help others cross into China.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(6) In spite of the requirement of the Act that the Special Envoy on Human Rights in North Korea (the ‘Special Envoy’) report to the Congress no later than April 16, 2005, a Special Envoy was not appointed until August 19, 2005, more than four months after the reporting deadline.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(7) The Special Envoy appointed by the President has filled that follows through ‘killings’ on line 17.( 3 ) On page 4, line 4, strike ‘On February’, and insert the following: ‘position on a part-time basis only.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(8) Since the passage of the North Korean Human Rights Act, Congress has on several occasions expressed interest in the status of North Korean refugees, and on February’.( 4 ) On page 4, line 19, strike ‘at overseas posts’.( 5 ) On page 5, line 10, after ‘should’, insert ‘continue to’.( 6 ) On page 6, line 3, strike ‘rights, humanitarian, and 21, 2006, a bipartisan group of senior Members of the House and Senate wrote Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice ‘to express [their] deep concern for the lack of progress in funding and implementing the key provisions of the North Korean Human Rights Act’, particularly the lack of North Korean refugee issues,’ and insert the following: ‘rights and humanitarian issues, and admissions to the United States.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(9) Although the United States refugee resettlement program remains the largest in the world by far, the United States has resettled only 37 North Koreans in the period from 2004 through 2007.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(10) From the end of 2004 through 2007, the Republic of Korea resettled 5,961 North Koreans.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(11) Extensive delays in assessment and processing have led numerous North Korean refugees to abandon their quest for United States resettlement, and long waits (of more than a year in some cases) have been the source of considerable discouragement and frustration among refugees, many of whom are awaiting United States resettlement in circumstances that are unsafe and insecure.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(12) From 2000 through 2006, the United States granted asylum to 15 North Koreans, as compared to 60 North Korean asylum grantees in the United Kingdom, and 135 in Germany during that same period.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

It is the sense of Congress that--CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(1) the United States should continue to make it a priority to seek broader permission and greater cooperation from foreign governments to allow the United States to process North Korean refugees overseas for resettlement in the United States, through persistent diplomacy by senior officials of the United States, including United States ambassadors to Asia-Pacific nations;CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(2) at the same time that careful screening of intending refugees is important, the United States also should make every effort to ensure that its screening, processing, and resettlement of North Korean refugees are as efficient and expeditious as possible;CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(3) the Special Envoy for North Korean Human Rights Issues should be a full-time position within the Department of State in order to properly promote and coordinate North Korean human rights and humanitarian issues, and to participate in policy planning and implementation with respect to refugee issues,’.( 7 ) On page 7, line 20, strike ‘$4,000,000’ and insert ‘$2,000,000’.( 8 ) On page 9, line 13, as intended by the North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004 (Public Law 108-333; 22 U.S.C. 7801 et seq.);CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(4) in an effort to more efficiently and actively participate in humanitarian burden-sharing, the United States should approach our ally, the Republic of Korea, to revisit and explore new opportunities for coordinating efforts to screen and resettle North Koreans who have expressed a wish to pursue resettlement in the United States and have not yet availed themselves of any right to citizenship they may enjoy under the Constitution of the Republic of Korea; andCommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(5) because there are genuine refugees among North Koreans fleeing into China who face severe punishments upon their forcible return, the United States should urge the Government of China to--CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(A) immediately halt its forcible repatriation of North Koreans;CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(B) fulfill its obligations pursuant to the 1951 United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, the 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees, and the 1995 Agreement on the Upgrading of the UNHCR Mission in the People’s Republic of China to UNHCR Branch Office in the People’s Republic of China; andCommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(C) allow the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) unimpeded access to North Koreans inside China to determine whether they are refugees and whether they require assistance.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

Section 102(b)(1) of the North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004 (22 U.S.C. 7812(b)(1)) is amended by inserting after ‘including’, insert2008’ the following: ‘and $2,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2009 through 2012’.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

Section 107 of the North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004 (22 U.S.C. 7817) is amended--CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(1) in the section heading, by striking ‘human rights in north korea’ and inserting ‘north korean human rights issues’;CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(2) in subsection (a)--CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(A) in the first sentence--CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(i) by striking ‘human rights in North Korea’ and inserting ‘North Korean human rights issues’; andCommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(ii) by inserting before the period at the end the following: ‘, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate’;CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(B) in the second sentence, by inserting before the period at the end the following: ‘who shall have the rank of ambassador and shall hold the office at the pleasure of the President’;CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(3) in subsection (b), by inserting before the period at the end the following: ‘, including, in coordination with the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration,’.( 9 ) On page 9, line 21, strike ‘coordinate’ and insert ‘participate in the formulation and’.( 10 ) On page 11, line 13, strike ‘paragraphs’ and insert ‘paragraph’.( 11 ) On page 11, strike line 14 and all that follows through line 19.( 12 ) On page 11, line 20, strike ‘(4)’ and insert ‘(3)’.( 13 ) On page 12, lines 3 and 4, strike ‘may be provided in a classified format, if necessary’ and insert the following: ‘ the protection of those people who have fled as refugees’;CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(4) in subsection (c)--CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(A) by redesignating paragraphs (1) through (6) as paragraphs (2) through (7), respectively;CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(B) by inserting before paragraph (2), as so redesignated, the following new paragraph:CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(1) participate in the formulation and the implementation of activities carried out pursuant to this Act;’; andCommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(C) in paragraph (5), as so redesignated, by striking ‘section 102’ and inserting ‘sections 102 and 104’; andCommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(5) in subsection (d), by striking ‘for the subsequent 5 year-period’ and inserting ‘thereafter through 2012’.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

Section 201(a) of the North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004 (22 U.S.C. 7831(a)) is amended, in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by striking ‘in each of the 2 years thereafter’ and inserting ‘annually thereafter through 2012’.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





SEC. 10. ASSISTANCE PROVIDED OUTSIDE OF NORTH KOREA.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





Section 203(c)(1) of the North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004 (22 U.S.C. 7833(c)(1)) is amended by striking ‘2008’ and inserting ‘2012’.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





SEC. 11. ANNUAL REPORTS.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





Section 305(a) of the North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004 (22 U.S.C. 7845(a)) is amended--CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(1) in the subsection heading, by inserting ‘and Refugee’ before ‘Information’;CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(2) in the matter preceding paragraph (1)--CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(A) by striking ‘for each of the following 5 years’ and inserting ‘through 2012’; andCommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(B) by striking ‘which shall include--’ and inserting ‘which shall include the following:’;CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(3) in paragraph (1)--CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(A) by striking ‘the number of aliens’ and inserting ‘The number of aliens’; andCommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(B) by striking ‘; and’ at the end and inserting a period;CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(4) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘the number of aliens’ and inserting ‘The number of aliens’; andCommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(5) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(3) A detailed description of the measures undertaken by the Secretary of State to carry out section 303, including country-specific information with respect to United States efforts to secure the cooperation and permission of the governments of countries in East and Southeast Asia to facilitate United States processing of North Koreans seeking protection as refugees. The information required under this paragraph shall be provided in unclassified form, with a classified annex, if necessary’.Attest:Secretary.

110th CONGRESS2d SessionH.R. 5834AMENDMENTS.’.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink