[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1464 Introduced in House (IH)]
112th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 1464
To develop a strategy for assisting stateless children from North
Korea, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
April 8, 2011
Mr. Royce introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Foreign Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To develop a strategy for assisting stateless children from 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 Refugee Adoption Act of
2011''.
SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS.
It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) thousands of North Korean children do not have families
and are threatened with starvation and disease if they remain
in North Korea or as stateless refugees in surrounding
countries;
(2) thousands of United States citizens would welcome the
opportunity to adopt North Korean orphans living outside North
Korea as de jure or de facto stateless refugees; and
(3) the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Homeland
Security should make every effort to facilitate the immediate
care, family reunification, and, if necessary and appropriate,
the adoption of any eligible North Korean children living
outside North Korea as de jure or de facto stateless refugees.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Foreign-sending country.--The term ``foreign-sending
country''--
(A) means--
(i) the country of the orphan's
citizenship; or
(ii) if the orphan is not permanently
residing in the country of citizenship, the
country of the orphan's habitual residence; and
(B) excludes any country to which the orphan--
(i) travels temporarily; or
(ii) travels as a prelude to, or in
conjunction with, his or her adoption or
immigration to the United States.
(2) Hague country.--The term ``Hague country'' means a
country that is a signatory of the Convention on Protection of
Children and Cooperation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption,
done at The Hague on May 29, 1993.
(3) Non-hague country.--The term ``non-Hague country''
means a country that is not a signatory of the Convention on
Protection of Children and Cooperation in Respect of
Intercountry Adoption, done at The Hague on May 29, 1993.
SEC. 4. STRATEGY ON ADOPTION OF NORTH KOREAN CHILDREN BY UNITED STATES
CITIZENS.
(a) In General.--The Secretary of State, in consultation with the
Secretary of Homeland Security, shall develop a comprehensive strategy
for facilitating the adoption of North Korean children by United States
citizens.
(b) Considerations.--In developing the strategy under this section,
the Secretary shall--
(1) consider the challenges that United States citizens
would encounter in attempting to adopt children from North
Korea who are currently living in Hague countries and non-Hague
countries regardless of their legal status in such countries;
(2) propose solutions to dealing with the situation in
which a North Korean refugee child does not have access to a
competent authority in the foreign-sending country;
(3) propose solutions to dealing with North Korean refugee
children who are not considered habitual residents of the
countries in which they are located;
(4) evaluate alternative mechanisms for foreign-sending
countries to prove that North Korean refugee children are
orphans when documentation, such as birth certificates, death
certificates of birth parents, and orphanage documentation, is
missing or destroyed;
(5) provide suggestions for working with South Korea to
establish pilot programs that identify, provide for the
immediate care of, assist in the family reunification of, and
assist in the international adoption of, orphaned North Korean
children living within South Korea;
(6) provide suggestions for working with international
adoption agencies and aid organizations in Asia to identify and
establish pilot programs for the identification, immediate
care, family reunification, and international adoption of North
Korean orphans living outside North Korea as de jure or de
facto stateless refugees;
(7) identify other nations in which large numbers of
stateless, orphaned children are living who might be helped by
international adoption; and
(8) propose solutions for assisting orphaned children with
Chinese fathers and North Korean mothers who are living in
China and have no access to Chinese or North Korean resources.
(c) Reporting Requirement.--Not later than 180 days after the date
of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall submit a
written report to Congress that contains the details of the strategy
developed under this section.
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