[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 416 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 416

   To develop a strategy for assisting stateless children from North 
                     Korea, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           February 28, 2011

Mr. Burr (for himself and Ms. Landrieu) introduced the following bill; 
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 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 countries'' 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 and the Secretary of Health and Human 
Services, 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 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 90 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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