[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 92 Reported in Senate (RS)]
<DOC>
Calendar No. 309
115th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. RES. 92
Expressing concern over the disappearance of David Sneddon, and for
other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
March 23, 2017
Mr. Lee (for himself, Mr. Hatch, Mrs. Fischer, Mr. Sasse, Mr. Coons,
Mr. Rubio, Mr. Flake, Mr. Gardner, and Mr. Sullivan) submitted the
following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign
Relations
February 12, 2018
Reported by Mr. Corker, without amendment
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Expressing concern over the disappearance of David Sneddon, and for
other purposes.
Whereas David Louis Sneddon is a United States citizen who disappeared while
touring the Yunnan Province in the People's Republic of China as a
university student on August 14, 2004, at the age of 24;
Whereas David had last reported to family members prior to his disappearance
that he intended to hike the Tiger Leaping Gorge in the Yunnan Province
before returning to the United States and had placed a down payment on
student housing for the upcoming academic year, planned business
meetings, and scheduled law school entrance examinations in the United
States for the fall;
Whereas People's Republic of China officials have reported to the Department of
State and the family of David that he most likely died by falling into
the Jinsha River while hiking the Tiger Leaping Gorge, although no
physical evidence or eyewitness testimony exists to support this
conclusion;
Whereas there is evidence indicating that David did not fall into the river when
he traveled through the gorge, including eyewitness testimonies from
people who saw David alive and spoke to him in person after his hike, as
recorded by members of David's family and by embassy officials from the
Department of State in the months after his disappearance;
Whereas family members searching for David shortly after he went missing
obtained eyewitness accounts that David stayed overnight in several
guesthouses during and after his safe hike through the gorge, and these
guesthouse locations suggest that David disappeared after passing
through the gorge, but the guest registers recording the names and
passport numbers of foreign overnight guests could not be accessed;
Whereas Chinese officials have reported that evidence does not exist that David
was a victim of violent crime, or a resident in a local hospital,
prison, or mental institution at the time of his disappearance, and no
attempt has been made to use David's passport since the time of his
disappearance, nor has any money been withdrawn from his bank account
since that time;
Whereas David Sneddon is the only United States citizen to disappear without
explanation in the People's Republic of China since the normalization of
relations between the United States and China during the administration
of President Richard Nixon;
Whereas investigative reporters and nongovernmental organizations with expertise
in the Asia-Pacific region, and in some cases particular expertise in
the Asian Underground Railroad and North Korea's documented program to
kidnap citizens of foreign nations for espionage purposes, have
repeatedly raised the possibility that the Government of the Democratic
People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) was involved in David's disappearance;
and
Whereas investigative reporters and nongovernmental organizations who have
reviewed David's case believe it is possible that the Government of
North Korea was involved in David's disappearance because--
(1) the Yunnan Province is regarded by regional experts as an area
frequently trafficked by North Korean refugees and their support networks,
and the Government of the People's Republic of China allows North Korean
agents to operate throughout the region to repatriate refugees, such as
prominent North Korean defector Kang Byong-sop and members of his family
who were captured near the China-Laos border just weeks prior to David's
disappearance;
(2) in 2002, North Korean officials acknowledged that the Government of
North Korea has carried out a policy since the 1970s of abducting foreign
citizens and holding them captive in North Korea for the purpose of
training its intelligence and military personnel in critical language and
culture skills to infiltrate foreign nations;
(3) Charles Robert Jenkins, a United States soldier who deserted his
unit in South Korea in 1965 and was held captive in North Korea for nearly
40 years, left North Korea in July 2004 (one month before David disappeared
in China) and Jenkins reported that he was forced to teach English to North
Korean intelligence and military personnel while in captivity;
(4) David Sneddon is fluent in the Korean language and was learning
Mandarin, skills that could have been appealing to the Government of North
Korea after Charles Jenkins left the country;
(5) tensions between the United States and North Korea were heightened
during the summer of 2004 due to recent approval of the North Korean Human
Rights Act of 2004 (Public Law 108-333) that increased United States aid to
refugees fleeing North Korea, prompting the Government of North Korea to
issue a press release warning the United States to ``drop its hostile
policy'';
(6) David Sneddon's disappearance fits a known pattern often seen in
the abduction of foreigners by the Government of North Korea, including the
fact that David disappeared the day before North Korea's Liberation Day
patriotic national holiday, and the Government of North Korea has a
demonstrated history of provocations near dates it deems historically
significant;
(7) a well-reputed Japanese non-profit specializing in North Korean
abductions shared with the United States its expert analysis in 2012 about
information it stated was received ``from a reliable source'' that a United
States university student largely matching David Sneddon's description was
taken from China by North Korean agents in August 2004; and
(8) commentary published in the Wall Street Journal in 2013 cited
experts looking at the Sneddon case who concluded that ``it is most
probable that a U.S. national has been abducted to North Korea,'' and
``there is a strong possibility that North Korea kidnapped the American'':
Now, therefore, be it--
Resolved, that the Senate--
(1) expresses its ongoing concern about the disappearance
of David Louis Sneddon in Yunnan Province, People's Republic of
China, in August, 2004;
(2) directs the Department of State and the intelligence
community to jointly continue investigations and to consider
all plausible explanations for David's disappearance, including
the possibility of abduction by the Government of the
Democratic People's Republic of Korea;
(3) urges the Department of State and the intelligence
community to coordinate investigations with the Governments of
the People's Republic of China, Japan, and South Korea and
solicit information from appropriate regional affairs and law
enforcement experts on plausible explanations for David's
disappearance;
(4) encourages the Department of State and the intelligence
community to work with foreign governments known to have
diplomatic influence with the Government of the Democratic
People's Republic of Korea to better investigate the
possibility of the involvement of the Government of the
Democratic People's Republic of Korea in David Sneddon's
disappearance and to possibly seek his recovery; and
(5) requests that the Department of State and the
intelligence community continue to work with and inform
Congress and the family of David Sneddon on efforts to possibly
recover David and to resolve his disappearance.
Calendar No. 309
115th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. RES. 92
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Expressing concern over the disappearance of David Sneddon, and for
other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
February 12, 2018
Reported without amendment