[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5834 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5834

 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.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 17, 2008

Ms. Ros-Lehtinen (for herself, Mr. Berman, Mr. Smith of New Jersey, Mr. 
   Ackerman, Mr. Burton of Indiana, Mr. Chabot, Mr. Inglis of South 
  Carolina, and Mr. Fortuno) introduced the following bill; which was 
              referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 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.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``North Korean Human Rights 
Reauthorization Act of 2008''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

     Congress finds the following:
            (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.
            (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.
            (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.
            (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 a 
        North Korean refugee by a factor of sixteen, to an amount 
        roughly equivalent to the average annual income in China.
            (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, 
        including the February 20, 2008, shooting of 13 women and 2 men 
        in Onsung County, and the March 30, 2008, execution of three 
        residents in Hyesan. As is commonly the case, employees and 
        residents of nearby institutions, enterprises, and 
        neighborhoods were required to attend and observe those 
        killings.
            (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.
            (7) The Special Envoy appointed by the President has filled 
        that position on a part-time basis only.
            (8) On February 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 admissions to the United States.
            (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.
            (10) From the end of 2004 through 2007, the Republic of 
        Korea resettled 5,961 North Koreans.
            (11) Extensive delays in assessment and processing at 
        overseas posts 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.
            (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.

SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    It is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) the United States should 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;
            (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;
            (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, humanitarian, and refugee issues, as intended by the 
        North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004 (Public Law 108-333; 22 
        U.S.C. 7801 et seq.); and
            (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.

SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.

     Section 5(1)(A) of the North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004 
(Public Law 108-333; 22 U.S.C. 7803(1)(A)) is amended by striking 
``International Relations'' and inserting ``Foreign Affairs''.

SEC. 5. SUPPORT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS AND DEMOCRACY PROGRAMS.

     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 ``2008'' the 
following: ``and $4,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2009 through 
2012''.

SEC. 6. RADIO BROADCASTING TO NORTH KOREA.

     Not later than 120 days after the date of the enactment of this 
Act, the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) shall submit to the 
appropriate congressional committees, as defined in section 5(1) of the 
North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004 (22 U.S.C. 7803(1)), a report 
that describes the status and content of current United States 
broadcasting to North Korea and the extent to which the BBG has 
achieved the goal of 12-hour-per-day broadcasting to North Korea 
pursuant to section 103 of such Act (22 U.S.C. 7813).

SEC. 7. ACTIONS TO PROMOTE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION.

     Section 104 of the North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004 (22 
U.S.C. 7814) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (b)(1), by striking ``2008'' and 
        inserting ``2012''; and
            (2) in subsection (c), by striking ``in each of the three 
        years thereafter'' and inserting ``annually through 2012''.

SEC. 8. SPECIAL ENVOY ON NORTH KOREAN HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUES.

    Section 107 of the North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004 (22 U.S.C. 
7817) is amended--
            (1) in the section heading, by striking ``human rights in 
        north korea'' and inserting ``north korean human rights 
        issues'';
            (2) in subsection (a)--
                    (A) in the first sentence--
                            (i) by striking ``human rights in North 
                        Korea'' and inserting ``North Korean human 
                        rights issues''; and
                            (ii) by inserting before the period at the 
                        end the following: ``, by and with the advice 
                        and consent of the Senate'';
                    (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'';
            (3) in subsection (b), by inserting before the period at 
        the end the following: ``, including the protection of those 
        people who have fled as refugees'';
            (4) in subsection (c)--
                    (A) by redesignating paragraphs (1) through (6) as 
                paragraphs (2) through (7), respectively;
                    (B) by inserting before paragraph (2), as so 
                redesignated, the following new paragraph:
            ``(1) coordinate the implementation of activities carried 
        out pursuant to this Act;''; and
                    (C) in paragraph (5), as so redesignated, by 
                striking ``section 102'' and inserting ``sections 102 
                and 104''; and
            (5) in subsection (d), by striking ``for the subsequent 5 
        year-period'' and inserting ``thereafter through 2012''.

SEC. 9. REPORT ON UNITED STATES HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE.

     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''.

SEC. 10. ASSISTANCE PROVIDED OUTSIDE OF NORTH KOREA.

     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''.

SEC. 11. ANNUAL REPORTS.

     Section 305(a) of the North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004 (22 
U.S.C. 7845(a)) is amended--
            (1) in the subsection heading, by inserting ``and Refugee'' 
        before ``Information'';
            (2) in the matter preceding paragraph (1)--
                    (A) by striking ``for each of the following 5 
                years'' and inserting ``through 2012''; and
                    (B) by striking ``which shall include--'' and 
                inserting ``which shall include the following:'';
            (3) in paragraph (1)--
                    (A) by striking ``the number of aliens'' and 
                inserting ``The number of aliens''; and
                    (B) by striking ``; and'' at the end and inserting 
                a period;
            (4) in paragraph (2), by striking ``the number of aliens'' 
        and inserting ``The number of aliens''; and
            (5) by adding at the end the following new paragraphs:
            ``(3) The number of aliens who are nationals or citizens of 
        North Korea who contacted United States personnel overseas and 
        expressed an interest in pursuing resettlement in the United 
        States, irrespective of whether such aliens pursued the 
        resettlement process to its conclusion.
            ``(4) 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 may be provided in a classified format, if 
        necessary.''.
                                 <all>