[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state sponsor of terrorism was rescinded, following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.
____________________