[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2732 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2732

  To prohibit travel-related transactions to, from, and within North 
Korea by persons subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, and 
                          for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 25, 2017

 Mr. Schiff (for himself and Mr. Wilson of South Carolina) introduced 
  the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign 
                                Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To prohibit travel-related transactions to, from, and within North 
Korea by persons subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, 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 Korea Travel Control Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) In recent years, there has been an increase in tourist 
        travel to North Korea by citizens of Western countries, 
        including the United States.
            (2) In the last ten years, at least 17 United States 
        citizens have been detained in North Korea, and at least four 
        citizens remain imprisoned in North Korea as of May 2017. These 
        Americans traveled to North Korea for a variety of reasons, 
        including tourism travel, lured in part by its secrecy and 
        decades of closure to the West.
            (3) The Government of North Korea has repeatedly detained 
        United States citizens to be used as bargaining chips in 
        negotiations over a variety of issues, including North Korea's 
        illegal nuclear weapons program and ballistic missile 
        development, and as a way to extract diplomatic concessions.
            (4) The United States has undertaken great diplomatic 
        efforts to secure the release of Americans detained in North 
        Korea, including through visits by former United States 
        Presidents and cabinet level officials.
            (5) The Department of State strongly discourages travel to 
        North Korea, stating in a travel warning that United States 
        citizens are at ``serious risk of arrest and long-term 
        detention under North Korea's system of law enforcement''.
            (6) Travel to North Korea is a source of foreign capital 
        for the most self-isolated nation in the world, helping to 
        perpetuate an authoritarian regime which brutally represses 
        dissent.

SEC. 3. REGULATIONS PROHIBITING TRAVEL-RELATED TRANSACTIONS TO, FROM, 
              AND WITHIN NORTH KOREA BY PERSONS SUBJECT TO THE 
              JURISDICTION OF THE UNITED STATES.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 90 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Treasury shall issue 
regulations prohibiting transactions related to travel to, from, or 
within North Korea by any person subject to the jurisdiction of the 
United States unless authorized either by a general license issued by 
the Secretary of the Treasury or on a case-by-case basis by a specific 
license issued by the Secretary of the Treasury.
    (b) Prohibition on Travel for Tourist Activities.--Notwithstanding 
any other provision of law, the Secretary of the Treasury may not issue 
a general license or a specific license for travel-related transactions 
for travel to, from, or within North Korea by any person subject to the 
jurisdiction of the United States if the primary purpose of such travel 
is to engage in tourist activities.
    (c) Penalties.--The penalties provided for in section 206(b) of the 
International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1705(b)) shall 
apply to a person that violates, attempts to violate, conspires to 
violate, or causes a violation of regulations promulgated under this 
section to the same extent that such penalties apply to a person that 
commits an unlawful act described in section 206(a) of that Act.
    (d) Person Subject to the Jurisdiction of the United States.--In 
this section, the term ``person subject to the jurisdiction of the 
United States'' has the meaning given such term in section 515.329 of 
title 31, Code of Federal Regulations.
    (e) Sunset.--This section shall cease to be effective beginning on 
the date that is 5 years after the date of the enactment of this Act.
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