[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 111 (Tuesday, June 16, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Page S3013]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS

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   SENATE RESOLUTION 623--COMMEMORATING OTTO FREDERICK WARMBIER AND 
  CONDEMNING THE NORTH KOREAN REGIME FOR THEIR CONTINUED HUMAN RIGHTS 
                                 ABUSES

  Mr. PORTMAN (for himself and Mr. Brown) submitted the following 
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations:

                              S. Res. 623

       Whereas Otto Frederick Warmbier was born on December 12, 
     1994, in Cincinnati, Ohio, to parents Fred and Cindy 
     Warmbier;
       Whereas, upon his graduation as Salutatorian from Wyoming 
     High School in 2013, Otto attended the University of 
     Virginia;
       Whereas, on December 29, 2015, Otto flew to North Korea as 
     part of a guided tour;
       Whereas, on January 2, 2016, the Government of the 
     Democratic People's Republic of Korea arrested Otto Warmbier 
     on false charges of ``subversion'' and committing a ``hostile 
     act'';
       Whereas, on March 16, 2016, Otto Warmbier was convicted and 
     sentenced to 15 years of hard labor;
       Whereas, as a result of his mistreatment at the hands of 
     North Korean authorities, Otto Warmbier suffered a serious 
     medical emergency which placed him into a comatose state, and 
     the North Korean authorities failed to report the 
     deterioration of Otto Warmbier's physical condition to United 
     States authorities;
       Whereas, on June 13, 2017, after 17 months in captivity, 
     the United States Department of State announced that it had 
     secured the release of Otto Warmbier, whereupon he was 
     medically evacuated from North Korea in a comatose state to 
     the University of Cincinnati Medical Center;
       Whereas, on June 19, 2017, Otto Warmbier died in the 
     hospital as a result of his mistreatment at the hands of the 
     Government of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea;
       Whereas, on December 24, 2018, the United States District 
     Court for the District of Columbia concluded that the 
     Government of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea was 
     responsible for the ``torture, hostage taking, and 
     extrajudicial killing'' of Otto Warmbier;
       Whereas, on December 18, 2019, in an annual resolution, the 
     United Nations General Assembly condemned ``the long-standing 
     and ongoing systematic, widespread and gross violations of 
     human rights in and by'' North Korea; and
       Whereas, on December 20, 2019, the Otto Warmbier North 
     Korea Nuclear Sanctions and Enforcement Act of 2019 (title 
     LXXI of Public Law 116-92), was enacted: Now, therefore, be 
     it
       Resolved, That, in recognition of the 3rd anniversary of 
     Otto Warmbier's passing on June 19, 2020, the Senate--
       (1) remembers and celebrates the life of Otto Frederick 
     Warmbier, a young man with great potential;
       (2) condemns the Government of the Democratic People's 
     Republic of Korea, which is responsible for the unjustified 
     arrest, mistreatment, and death of Otto Warmbier;
       (3) calls for the United States Government to continue to 
     use its voice and vote in the United Nations to condemn 
     systematic human rights violations in North Korea; and
       (4) calls for the sanctions enacted in the Otto Warmbier 
     North Korea Nuclear Sanctions and Enforcement Act of 2019 
     (title LXXI of Public Law 116-92) to remain fully implemented 
     until such time that the Government of the Democratic 
     People's Republic of Korea commits to the verifiable 
     suspension of its proliferation and testing of weapons of 
     mass destruction, and has agreed to multilateral talks, 
     including the United States Government, with the goal of 
     permanently and verifiably limiting North Korea's weapons of 
     mass destruction and ballistic missile programs.

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