[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 126 (Monday, July 19, 2021)]
[House]
[Pages H3651-H3652]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   DIVIDED FAMILIES REUNIFICATION ACT

  Ms. HOULAHAN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 826) to require consultations on reuniting Korean Americans 
with family members in North Korea.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                                H.R. 826

       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 ``Divided Families 
     Reunification Act''.

     SEC. 2. CONSULTATIONS ON REUNITING KOREAN AMERICANS WITH 
                   FAMILY MEMBERS IN NORTH KOREA.

       (a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
       (1) The division of the Korean Peninsula into South Korea 
     and North Korea separated thousands of Koreans from family 
     members.
       (2) Since the signing of the Agreement Concerning a 
     Military Armistice in Korea, signed at Panmunjom July 27, 
     1953 (commonly referred to as the ``Korean War Armistice 
     Agreement''), there has been little to no contact between 
     Korean Americans and family members who remain in North 
     Korea.
       (3) North Korea and South Korea first agreed to reunions of 
     divided families in 1985 and have since held 21 face-to-face 
     reunions and multiple video link reunions.
       (4) Those reunions have subsequently given approximately 
     24,500 Koreans the opportunity to briefly reunite with loved 
     ones.
       (5) The most recent family reunions between North Korea and 
     South Korea took place in August 2018 and did not include any 
     Korean Americans.
       (6) The United States and North Korea do not maintain 
     diplomatic relations and certain limitations exist on Korean 
     Americans participating in face-to-face reunions.
       (7) According to the most recent census, more than 
     1,700,000 people living in the United States are of Korean 
     descent.
       (8) The number of first generation Korean and Korean 
     American family members divided from family members in North 
     Korea is rapidly diminishing given the advanced age of those 
     family members. More than 3,000 elderly South Koreans die 
     each year without having been reunited with their family 
     members.
       (9) Many Korean Americans with family members in North 
     Korea have not seen or communicated with those family members 
     in more than 60 years.
       (10) The inclusion of Korean American families in the 
     reunion process, with the support of international 
     organizations with expertise in family tracing, would 
     constitute a positive humanitarian gesture by the Government 
     of North Korea.
       (11) Section 1265 of the National Defense Authorization Act 
     for Fiscal Year 2008 (Public Law 110-181; 122 Stat. 407) 
     required the President to submit to Congress a report on 
     ``efforts, if any, of the United States Government to 
     facilitate family reunions between United States citizens and 
     their relatives in North Korea''.
       (12) The position of Special Envoy on North Korean Human 
     Rights Issues has been vacant since January 2017, although 
     the President is required to appoint a Senate-confirmed 
     Special Envoy to fill this position in accordance with 
     section 107 of the North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004 (22 
     U.S.C. 7817).
       (13) In the report of the Committee on Appropriations of 
     the House of Representatives accompanying H.R. 3081, 111th 
     Congress (House Report 111-187), the Committee urged ``the 
     Special Representative on North Korea Policy, as the senior 
     official handling North Korea issues, to prioritize the 
     issues involving Korean divided families and to, if 
     necessary, appoint a coordinator for such families''.
       (14) In the report of the Committee on Appropriations of 
     the House of Representatives accompanying H.R. 133, 116th 
     Congress (House Report 116-444), the Committee urged ``the 
     Office of North Korean Human Rights, in consultation with 
     Korean American community organizations, to identify Korean 
     Americans who wish to be reunited with their family in North 
     Korea in anticipation of future reunions''.
       (b) Consultations.--
       (1) Consultations with south korea.--The Secretary of 
     State, or a designee of the Secretary, should consult with 
     officials of South Korea, as appropriate, on potential 
     opportunities to reunite Korean American families with family 
     members in North Korea from which such Korean American 
     families were divided after the signing of the Korean War 
     Armistice Agreement, including potential opportunities for 
     video reunions for Korean Americans with such family members.
       (2) Consultations with korean americans.--The Special Envoy 
     on North Korean Human Rights Issues of the Department of 
     State should regularly consult with representatives of Korean 
     Americans who have family members in North Korea with respect 
     to efforts to reunite families divided after the signing of 
     the Korean War Armistice Agreement, including potential 
     opportunities for video reunions for Korean Americans with 
     such family members.
       (3) No additional authorization of appropriations.--No 
     additional amounts are authorized to be appropriated to the 
     Department of State to carry out consultations under this 
     subsection.
       (c) Additional Matter in Report.--The Secretary of State, 
     acting through the Special Envoy on North Korean Human Rights 
     Issues, shall include in each report required under section 
     107(d) of the North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004 (22 
     U.S.C. 7817(d)), a description of the consultations described 
     in subsection (b) conducted during the year preceding the 
     submission of each report required under such section 107(d).

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from 
Pennsylvania (Ms. Houlahan) and the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. 
Smith) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Pennsylvania.


                             General Leave

  Ms. HOULAHAN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks 
and include extraneous material on H.R. 826.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentlewoman from Pennsylvania?
  There was no objection.
  Ms. HOULAHAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 826, the Divided 
Families Reunification Act, introduced by my colleague, Representative 
Grace Meng, who has been a tireless champion of reuniting divided 
Korean-American families.
  This bill encourages the State Department to engage with the South 
Korean Government and Korean-American families regarding opportunities 
to reunite those families with their relatives in North Korea.

                              {time}  1530

  Many Korean Americans have been unable to see or hear from their 
loved ones for over 70 years, a unique heartache that very few of us 
can really understand.
  Family is the bedrock of our society. Tragically, for thousands of 
Korean Americans, their sisters and brothers and even daughters and 
sons have been painfully out of reach through no fault of their own.
  While there have been 21 family reunions held between North and South 
Korea since 1985, Korean Americans with family members in North Korea 
have been unable to participate.
  As many of these Korean Americans are aging, we must advocate for 
humane and commonsense policy to help Korean-American families reunite 
with their loved ones in North Korea. We have the resources and the 
technology to reunite these families. What we need now is action to 
implement a more compassionate policy.
  This is an important measure. I support it, and I urge my colleagues 
to do the same.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I 
may consume.
  I rise today in support of the Divided Families Reunification Act. 
The sorrowful legacy of the Korean war is with us even today, almost 70 
years after the Korean Armistice Agreement was signed.
  The Korean peninsula remains divided between a nation of free people 
and a nation that subjects its people to utter tyranny.
  The barbaric Kim regime continues to threaten the peace and security 
of South Korea, the region, and even the world.
  And families remain broken, from those still fighting to bring their 
loved ones' remains home, to those with family members trapped in North 
Korea. This is an attempt to try to say let's get this moving to try to 
get those families reunited.
  Our vibrant Korean-American community, led by groups such as the 
Korean American Grassroots Conference,

[[Page H3652]]

feels this legacy strongly, so I commend Congresswoman Meng for 
introducing this legislation which directs the State Department to 
consult with South Korea and Korean Americans on opportunities to 
reunite families separated by the DMZ.
  I also trust that the State Department will be vigilant in ensuring 
that organizations with ties to North Korea will not be exploiting the 
desire of these families to be reunited with their loved ones to raise 
hard currency for the Kim regime.
  Mr. Speaker, with that in mind, I urge support for the bill, and I 
reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. HOULAHAN. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time. I 
reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may 
consume to the gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Kim), the vice ranking 
member of the Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific and 
an original cosponsor of this legislation.
  Mrs. KIM of California. Mr. Speaker, I am proud to stand in support 
of H.R. 826, the Divided Families Reunification Act, and I want to 
thank Congresswoman Meng for introducing this bill and the House 
Foreign Affairs Committee for ensuring a speedy passage of this timely 
legislation.
  I am also proud to colead another bill under consideration today that 
addresses this issue, H. Res. 294, introduced by the gentlewoman from 
California (Ms. Bass).
  Since implementing family reunions in 1985, the South and North 
Korean Governments have facilitated 21 in-person reunions and seven 
video reunions. However, the nearly 100,000 Korean Americans with 
family members in North Korea have been left out of this process 
entirely.
  As a longtime advocate for human rights and humanitarian aid in North 
Korea, I have consistently spoken on the need to prioritize these 
issues, especially by appointing a Special Envoy for North Korean human 
rights issues, which has remained vacant since 2017, and remains 
unfilled under President Biden.
  Time is running out for separated family members, as many are in 
their eighties and nineties, and their numbers continue to dwindle. 
Congress and the Biden administration must come together to make 
Korean-American participation and reunifications a reality before it is 
too late.
  My mother-in-law was one of the many Koreans who made the brave 
journey across the 38th parallel line to bring her family to South 
Korea. She crossed five times to go back and forth and bring family 
members across to South Korea.
  As an immigrant from South Korea whose family lived through the 
Korean war, and now as one of the first Korean-American women to serve 
in Congress, I am proud to use my voice in support of this issue that 
is deeply personal to me and our Korean-American community.
  I want to again thank Representatives Karen Bass and Grace Meng for 
introducing these measures and for working to garner strong bipartisan 
support.
  I urge my colleagues to support House passage of these bills today 
and for the Senate to prioritize consideration of this issue on behalf 
of the tens of thousands of Korean Americans alive today waiting to 
reunite with their long lost family members.
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my 
time.
  Ms. HOULAHAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume 
for the purpose of closing.
  Mr. Speaker, for decades Korean Americans have been unable to see or 
speak with their family members in North Korea, and for too many, time 
is running out. This heartbreaking reality has taken a huge toll, and 
it is time to take action.
  This bill, introduced by my colleague, Representative Meng, would 
spur the State Department into finding opportunities to reunite them 
with their loved ones and to address this humanitarian issue that has 
caused so much heartache for countless Korean Americans.
  I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Ms. MENG. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak in favor of H.R. 826, 
the Divided Families Reunification Act, a bill I authored to raise the 
voices of families who have been separated for decades both across the 
DMZ and across the Pacific Ocean.
  I want to thank Chairman Meeks for working with me on this important 
issue, and for his efforts to bring this bill to the floor. I also want 
to thank Congressman Van Taylor who partnered with me to introduce this 
humane and commonsense legislation, which, during the 116th Congress, 
unanimously passed the House of Representatives.
  Over seventy years ago, millions of Koreans were plunged into a 
harrowing war that brought misery, death, and destruction to their 
lives. Since then, the war has been frozen by an armistice agreement, 
signed on July 27, 1953, that persists to today. The division of the 
Korean Peninsula into South and North Korea separated millions of 
Koreans from their family members. Through the years, there have been 
some agreed upon reunions between South and North Koreans. For Korean 
Americans, however, there is no pathway for such reunions, as they have 
not been permitted to participate in these inter-Korean family 
reunions. Many of these Americans are in their 70s through 90s, and 
time is of the essence to be reunited with their families. I have had 
the honor to meet some of these divided Korean American family members, 
and it breaks my heart that their chance of a reunion with their loved 
ones grows less likely each day.
  As a member of the State and Foreign Operations (SFOPS) Subcommittee 
on the House Appropriations Committee, I am proud to have secured 
provisions in the Fiscal Year 2020 and 2021 accompanying reports that 
support the reunification of Korean Americans and their families in 
North Korea. And in the SFOPS Fiscal Year 2022, which recently passed 
out of the full committee, a provision calling on the Office of North 
Korean Human Rights to investigate the risks associated with third-
party brokers who offer to locate and reunite divided families.
  The unresolved status of the war continues to impact multiple 
generations of Korean Americans, particularly women, in myriad ways. 
All these years later, many survivors of the war are still haunted by 
their trauma. And younger generations who are responsible for their 
caregiving often internalize this unresolved grief.
  The Divided Families Reunification Act requires the Secretary of 
State or a designee to consult with officials in South Korea on 
potential opportunities to reunite Korean American families with family 
members in North Korea. This bill will also require the Special Envoy 
on North Korean Human Rights to submit a report on the opportunities 
for video reunions between Korean Americans and family members in North 
Korea.
  With that Mr. Speaker, I urge passage of this bipartisan bill.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentlewoman from Pennsylvania (Ms. Houlahan) that the House suspend the 
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 826.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds 
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
  Ms. HOULAHAN. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to section 3(s) of House Resolution 
8, the yeas and nays are ordered.
  Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further proceedings on this motion 
are postponed.

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