[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 57 (Monday, April 3, 2017)]
[House]
[Pages H2611-H2614]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     NORTH KOREA STATE SPONSOR OF TERRORISM DESIGNATION ACT OF 2017

  Mr. ROYCE of California. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and 
pass the bill (H.R. 479) to require a report on the designation of the 
Democratic People's Republic of Korea as a state sponsor of terrorism, 
and for other purposes, as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                                H.R. 479

       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 State Sponsor of 
     Terrorism Designation Act of 2017''.

     SEC. 2. REPORT ON DESIGNATION OF GOVERNMENT OF NORTH KOREA AS 
                   A STATE SPONSOR OF TERRORISM.

       (a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
       (1) The United States Government designated the Government 
     of North Korea a state sponsor of terrorism on January 20, 
     1988.
       (2) On October 11, 2008, North Korea's designation as a 
     state sponsor of terrorism was rescinded, following 
     commitments by the Government of North Korea to dismantle its 
     nuclear weapons program. However, North Korea has failed to 
     live up to these commitments.
       (3) On October 22, 2015, the United States Special 
     Representative for North Korea Policy with the Department of 
     State, testified before the House Foreign Affairs 
     Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade that 
     North Korea's ``conduct poses a growing threat to the United 
     States, our friends in the region, and the global 
     nonproliferation regime'' and the Deputy Coordinator for 
     Homeland Security, Screening, and Designations with the U.S. 
     Department of State noted that ``weapons transfers that 
     violate nonproliferation or missile control regimes could be 
     a relevant factor for consideration, depending on the 
     circumstances, consistent with the statutory criteria for 
     designation as a state sponsor of terrorism''.
       (4) The Government of North Korea has harbored members of 
     the Japanese Red Army since a 1970 hijacking and continues to 
     harbor the surviving hijackers to this day.
       (5) On July 16, 2010, in the case of Calderon-Cardona v. 
     Democratic People's Republic of Korea (case number 08-01367), 
     the United States District Court for the District of Puerto 
     Rico found that the Government of North Korea provided 
     material support to the Japanese Red Army, designated as a 
     foreign terrorist organization between 1997 and 2001, in 
     furtherance of a 1972 terrorist attack at Lod Airport, Israel 
     that killed 26 people, including 17 Americans.
       (6) In the case of Chaim Kaplan v. Hezbollah (case number 
     09-646), a United States district court found in 2014 that 
     North Korea materially supported terrorist attacks by 
     Hezbollah, a designated foreign terrorist organization, 
     against Israel in 2006.
       (7) In June 2010, Major Kim Myong-ho and Major Dong Myong-
     gwan of North Korea's Reconnaissance General Bureau pled 
     guilty in a South Korean court to attempting to assassinate 
     Hwang Jang-yop, a North Korean dissident in exile, on the 
     orders of Lieutenant General Kim Yong-chol, the head of North 
     Korea's Reconnaissance General Bureau. The court sentenced 
     each defendant to 10 years in prison.
       (8) In March 2015, the Government of South Korea concluded 
     that North Korea was responsible for a December 2014 cyber 
     attack against multiple nuclear power plants in South Korea. 
     The South Korean Government stated that the attacks were 
     intended to cause a malfunction at the plants' reactors, and 
     described the attacks as acts of ``cyber-terror targeting our 
     country''.
       (9) On December 19, 2015, the Federal Bureau of 
     Investigation (FBI) concluded that North Korea was 
     responsible for a cyber attack on Sony Pictures Entertainment 
     and a subsequent threat of violence against theaters that 
     showed the film ``The Interview''. The FBI concluded that the 
     ``Guardians of Peace'', which sent the threat to Sony 
     Pictures Entertainment, was a unit of North Korea's 
     Reconnaissance General Bureau, its foreign intelligence 
     service.
       (10) Malaysian authorities have alleged that officials from 
     North Korea's secret police and Foreign Ministry were 
     involved in the poisoning and killing of the estranged half-
     brother of the country's leader, Kim Jong-nam, using the 
     chemical weapon VX nerve agent, a substance banned for use as 
     a weapon by the United Nations Chemical Weapons Convention, 
     on February 13, 2017, in Kuala Lumpur.
       (b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of the Congress 
     that the Government of North Korea likely meets the criteria 
     for designation as a state sponsor of terrorism and, if so 
     should be so designated.
       (c) Determination.--Not later than 90 days after the date 
     of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall 
     submit to the appropriate congressional committees a 
     determination as to whether the Government of North Korea 
     meets the criteria for designation as a state sponsor of 
     terrorism.
       (d) Form.--The determination required by subsection (c) 
     shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may include a 
     classified annex, if appropriate.

     SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

       In this Act:
       (1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term 
     ``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
       (A) the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate; and
       (B) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of 
     Representatives.
       (2) North Korea.--The term ``North Korea'' means the 
     Government of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
       (3) State sponsor of terrorism.--The term ``state sponsor 
     of terrorism'' means a country the government of which the 
     Secretary of State has determined, for purposes of section 
     6(j) of the Export Administration

[[Page H2612]]

     Act of 1979 (50 U.S.C. 4605(j)) (as in effect pursuant to the 
     International Emergency Economic Powers Act), section 620A of 
     the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2371), section 
     40 of the Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2780), or any 
     other provision of law, is a government that has repeatedly 
     provided support for acts of international terrorism.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Royce) and the gentleman from California (Mr. Sherman) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California (Mr. Royce).


                             General Leave

  Mr. ROYCE of California. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that 
all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their 
remarks and to include any extraneous material in the Record.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from California?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. ROYCE of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I 
may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, last month, I was pleased to hear Secretary of State Rex 
Tillerson say that the State Department is considering a range of 
measures to respond to Kim Jong-un's dangerous provocations in 
Northeast Asia. One immediate step should be listing North Korea as a 
state sponsor of terrorism, a status it should have never lost.
  In 2008, North Korea's designation as a state sponsor of terror was 
rescinded following the regime's promise to dismantle its nuclear 
weapons program. Well, North Korea got its delisting, but it kept its 
nuclear program, as proven by its fourth test and as proven by its 
fifth test last year.
  Since 2008, not only has North Korea's nuclear weapons program 
advanced, so too has its support for terrorism. Let me explain that. 
The Kim regime has continued to supply surface-to-air missiles and 
explosives to terrorist groups like Hezbollah. In addition to that, the 
actions taken by North Korea include the firing of repeated rounds on 
South Korean civilians on the island of Yeonpyeong and carrying out 
targeted assassinations of North Korean defectors, including the recent 
assassination of Kim Jong-un's half brother, who had been living in 
exile.
  Recall that this murder, which took place in broad daylight at Kuala 
Lumpur International Airport, involved the use of VX nerve agent, which 
is a chemical weapon banned under international law. Now, a liter of 
this substance contains enough lethal doses to kill 1 million people. 
It has no other purpose than being an instrument of death. This they 
used to assassinate the President's own half brother.
  Mr. Speaker, the Foreign Affairs Committee has focused extensively on 
the urgent threat by North Korea to the U.S. and our allies in Asia. It 
is critical that we use every tool at our disposal to ramp up the 
pressure on the Kim regime.
  I know just how aggressive North Korea can be. I saw a ship of the 
South Korean Navy that had been lifted from the bottom of the sea. It 
had been split in two by a torpedo fired by a North Korean submarine. 
Over 40 South Korean sailors were killed in that attack.
  This is the kind of behavior we have seen from Kim Jong-un. This is 
why I rise in support of Judge Ted Poe's bill, H.R. 479, which pushes 
the State Department to relist North Korea as a state sponsor of 
terrorism.
  The state sponsor of terrorism label is a very powerful one. In 
addition to imposing sanctions and other restrictions, the designation 
itself earns a state pariah status internationally. And that is 
deserved. After all, these are countries whose governments backed the 
killings of innocent people, innocent civilians, as a matter of policy.
  Frankly, the Department should never have removed North Korea's 
designation in the first place.
  I am glad that this legislation demands a reevaluation. I think I 
know what that result will be.
  I thank the bill's author, Judge Ted Poe, who has a deep sense, as a 
former judge, of justice and has pursued this issue for a long time. I 
also thank the ranking member for working with our offices on this 
important and timely measure. The flawed delisting of North Korea has 
also been a particular focus to the chairman emeritus of the Foreign 
Affairs Committee, Ms. Ros-Lehtinen, and so I want to recognize her 
contributions as well.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

                                         House of Representatives,


                                  Committee on Ways and Means,

                                    Washington, DC, April 3, 2017.
     Hon. Edward R. Royce,
     Chairman, Committee on Foreign Affairs,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Chairman Royce: I am writing with respect to H.R. 479, 
     the ``North Korea State Sponsor of Terrorism Designation Act 
     of 2017.'' As a result of your having consulted with us on 
     provisions on which the Committee on Ways and Means has a 
     jurisdictional interest, I will not request a sequential 
     referral on this measure.
       The Committee on Ways and Means takes this action with the 
     mutual understanding that we do not waive any jurisdiction 
     over the subject matter contained in this or similar 
     legislation, and the Committee will be appropriately 
     consulted and involved as the bill or similar legislation 
     moves forward so that we may address any remaining issues 
     that fall within our jurisdiction. The Committee also 
     reserves the right to seek appointment of an appropriate 
     number of conferees to any House-Senate conference involving 
     this or similar legislation, and requests your support for 
     such request.
       Finally, I would appreciate your response to this letter 
     confirming this understanding, and would ask that a copy of 
     our exchange of letters on this matter be included in the 
     Congressional Record during floor consideration of H.R. 479.
           Sincerely,
                                                      Kevin Brady,
     Chairman.
                                  ____

                                         House of Representatives,


                                 Committee on Foreign Affairs,

                                    Washington, DC, April 3, 2017.
     Hon. Kevin Brady,
     Chairman, Committee on Ways and Means,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Chairman Brady: Thank you for consulting with the 
     Foreign Affairs Committee on H.R. 479, the North Korea State 
     Sponsor of Terrorism Designation Act of 2017, and for 
     agreeing to forgo a sequential referral request so that the 
     bill may proceed expeditiously to the House floor.
       I agree that your declining to pursue a sequential referral 
     in this case does not diminish or alter the jurisdiction of 
     the Committee on Ways and Means, or prejudice its 
     jurisdictional prerogatives on this bill or similar 
     legislation in the future. I would support your effort to 
     seek appointment of an appropriate number of conferees from 
     your committee to any House-Senate conference on this 
     legislation.
       I will seek to place our letters on this bill into the 
     Congressional Record during floor consideration of the bill. 
     I appreciate your cooperation regarding this legislation and 
     look forward to continuing to work with the Committee on Ways 
     and Means as this measure moves through the legislative 
     process.
           Sincerely,
                                                  Edward R. Royce,
                                                         Chairman.

  Mr. SHERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today to support H.R. 479, the North Korea State 
Sponsor of Terrorism Designation Act of 2017.
  I want to associate myself with the chairman's remarks. He summarizes 
well the need to adopt this legislation. I want to commend Judge Poe 
for introducing this legislation. I was very pleased to introduce it 
alongside him.
  We earlier considered H. Res. 92. In that debate, we discussed the 
nuclear and missile program of North Korea. Now it is time to focus for 
the next few minutes on their use of terrorism.
  We need to consider North Korea's obvious state support of terrorism 
around the world. North Korea has engaged in kidnappings, targeted 
assassination, cyber attacks, and support to terrorist organizations in 
various regions.
  North Korea was designated as a state sponsor of terrorism in 1988, 
but it was taken off that list in 2008, following commitments by 
Pyongyang to dismantle its nuclear weapons program. We dismantled their 
status as a state sponsor of terrorism. North Korea certainly has not 
dismantled its nuclear program.
  Kim Jong-un has only increased the pace of his nuclear ballistic 
missile testing and is nowhere near dismantling that program. So now it 
is time to focus again on North Korea's terrorist actions around the 
world.
  We can go back several decades when the North Korean Government 
kidnapped Japanese civilians--some because of their talents in making 
movies; most in order to force them to

[[Page H2613]]

teach Japanese etiquette to North Korean spies.
  Now, you may say: Well, that was decades ago. Why are we designating 
them as a state sponsor of terrorism now?
  Well, those people still have not been released to this day. And, if 
they have passed on, their bodies have not been returned to their 
families.
  We are all aware of how North Korea engaged in cyberterrorism against 
Sony Pictures because Sony Pictures made a movie they didn't like.
  We know that, just a month or so ago, a North Korean agent killed Kim 
Jong-nam, the half brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. This act 
of terrorism took place at the airport in Malaysia and was summarized 
by the chairman.
  In the case of Chaim Kaplan v. Hezbollah, a United States District 
Court found that, in 2014, North Korea materially supported terrorist 
attacks by Hezbollah, a designated foreign terrorist organization.
  And finally--and this list is incomplete but last on my list--is 
North Korea's assistance in helping Assad try to develop nuclear 
weapons of his own. We are aware that Assad's nuclear facility, built 
almost entirely based on North Korean technology and using North Korean 
equipment, was destroyed in 2007. Assad has murdered hundreds of 
thousands, it looks like the figure is now half a million, of his own 
citizens. Imagine the destruction Assad would have engaged in had he 
been able to develop nuclear weapons with the support and technology of 
North Korea.
  H.R. 479, the North Korea State Sponsor of Terrorism Designation Act, 
expresses the sense of Congress that North Korea likely meets the 
criteria to be designated as a state sponsor of terrorism and requires 
a determination by the Secretary of State within 90 days as to whether 
or not North Korea meets that standard.
  This bill is an important step in confronting North Korea's support 
for terrorism around the world and for the danger that it poses to the 
civilized world.
  Mr. Speaker, I call upon my colleagues to join me in supporting this 
bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

                              {time}  1800

  Mr. ROYCE of California. Mr. Speaker, I would also like to recognize 
the contribution here of Mr. Sherman, who is the ranking member on the 
committee, and to acknowledge also the force of his argument.
  Kim Jong-un is an individual who not only kidnaps his neighbors, but 
also, in the past, this rogue regime has become expert at transferring 
the methods to kill civilians to other rogue regimes around the world. 
And based upon his past behavior, it is only too plausible that if they 
get this weapon, they will do it again.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Poe), 
the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Terrorism, 
Nonproliferation, and Trade, and the dogged author of this bill who has 
pushed this issue for a long time.
  Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman and the ranking 
member, Mr. Sherman, for his cosponsorship of this legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, North Korea was on the State Sponsors of Terrorism list 
for 20 years. It was taken off in 2008 for purely diplomatic reasons.
  North Korea agreed to freeze and disable its nuclear program as the 
result of international efforts known as the Six-Party Talks. In 
exchange, the United States decided to remove North Korea from the 
State Sponsors of Terrorism list.
  Fast forward 9 years later, North Korea remains off the list while it 
races toward the capability to send a nuclear warhead to American 
shores. There has been no secret about this. Little Kim has said he 
wants to send intercontinental ballistic missiles to the United States.
  North Korea has conducted four nuclear tests since 2008. Recent 
satellite images suggest that it is preparing for yet another nuclear 
test.
  North Korea is also doing all the things that got it placed on the 
State Sponsors of Terrorism list in the first place. North Korea 
harbored Japanese Red Army terrorists who participated in the hijacking 
of a jet in 1970. These terrorists are still living happily in North 
Korea today. Press reports suggests that little Kim is even arming and 
training Hamas and Hezbollah terrorists.
  A U.S. district court actually found in 2014 that North Korea 
materially supported terrorist attacks by Hezbollah against Israel.
  North Korea has also moved toward a new form of terrorism: cyber 
warfare. We all remember the 2014 North Korea cyber attack against Sony 
Pictures that included direct threats against its employees and a 
warning to ``Remember the 11th of September 2001.'' In March of 2015, 
North Korea launched a cyber attack against nuclear power plants in 
South Korea.
  North Korea is not just active over cyber. It has a long history of 
actually killing folks, dissidents in particular, all over the world. 
In February, North Korean agents killed little Kim's half brother in 
Malaysia using a chemical VX nerve agent.
  North Korea has helped Assad develop chemical weapons. Thankfully, 
Israel took out those chemical weapons some time ago.
  Mr. Speaker, North Korea's actions have not gotten any better. They 
have only become more dangerous and more treacherous. In addition, 
North Korea is working with Iran, the world's number one state sponsor 
of terror, on developing nuclear weapons and intercontinental ballistic 
missiles.
  It is clear that North Korea is a state sponsor of terrorism. At the 
very least, the State Department should go back to the drawing board 
and assess whether or not North Korea meets the criteria for 
designation as a state sponsor of terrorism. And that is what this bill 
does, H.R. 479, the North Korea State Sponsor of Terrorism Designation 
Act.
  It is high time we call out little Kim, the loose cannon of East 
Asia, for what he is: a terrorist in a terrorist state.
  And that is just the way it is.
  Mr. SHERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I would note that this bill passed our 
committee without any opposition.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. ROYCE of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the 
gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen), and I thank the 
gentlewoman from Florida again for her contribution on this 
legislation.
  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I stand in full support of Judge Poe's 
bill, H.R. 479, the North Korea State Sponsor of Terrorism Designation 
Act of 2017.
  Over the years, as the chairman has said, I have repeatedly and 
explicitly called for Pyongyang to be redesignated as a state sponsor 
of terrorism, SST, country.
  I stood in ardent opposition to the Bush administration's decision to 
remove North Korea from the SST list, and in the years past, I 
introduced similar legislation to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Poe), 
which would see Pyongyang back on the list where it belongs.
  The removal from the list was a failure of the nuclear negotiations 
with North Korea, a concession given for nothing but empty promises in 
return.
  In much the same way that the Obama administration removed Cuba from 
the SST list 2 years ago, the Bush administration got empty promises in 
return for these terrible concessions, while the Obama administration 
couldn't even get empty promises.

  These designations are much more important than just tools for 
negotiation, Mr. Speaker. They are there because these countries 
actively support terror or they support or facilitate countries that do 
support terror. They pose a very serious risk to U.S. national security 
and global stability. This is not something to take lightly, and 
removing North Korea from the SST list was a very serious error in 
judgment.
  It is far past time, Mr. Speaker, to correct this mistake, and it has 
to start by having an honest and transparent determination made on 
Pyongyang, its support for terror, and its ties to other state sponsor 
of terrorism states like Iran.
  I support Judge Poe's bill, and I urge my colleagues to do the same.
  Mr. SHERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  In closing, this bill is an important step in confronting North 
Korea's support for terrorism around the world. We should not stand 
idle while North

[[Page H2614]]

Korea engages in terrorism, including kidnappings, target 
assassinations, cyber attacks, support for other terrorist 
organizations, and nuclear proliferation.
  I again call upon my colleagues to join me in passing this bill, H.R. 
479, the North Korea State Sponsor of Terrorism Designation Act of 
2017.
  I note that this bill passed our full committee without a single 
opponent.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. ROYCE of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I 
may consume.
  I again want to thank Judge Poe for his determination to have North 
Korea labeled as a terrorist state. As Judge Poe notes, that is just 
the way it is.
  With the passage of this bill today, we are going to take another 
step, I think, toward pushing back on that regime's destructive 
ambitions.
  I think also it is worth noting that we have a recently published 
U.N. panel of experts on North Korea. They put out this report that 
says that North Korea continues to illicitly ship dual-use items to 
both Syria and Iran. Now, those are two terrorist regimes.
  So I hope that the new administration will move quickly to relist 
North Korea and continue to seek ways to increase pressure on the 
regime through the sanctions bill that we passed out of here today and 
other measures.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this important measure, 
and I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from California (Mr. Royce) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, H.R. 479, as amended.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds 
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
  Mr. ROYCE of California. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and 
nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further 
proceedings on this motion will be postponed.

                          ____________________