[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 24 (Wednesday, February 10, 2016)]
[Senate]
[Page S827]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 30--EXPRESSING CONCERN OVER THE 
         DISAPPEARANCE OF DAVID SNEDDON, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

  Mr. LEE (for himself, Mr. Hatch, Mrs. Fischer, and Mr. Sasse) 
submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to 
the Committee on Foreign Relations:

                            S. Con. Res. 30

       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 
     1970's 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 by the Senate (the House of Representatives 
     concurring), that Congress--
       (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.

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