[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.
____________________