[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 106 (Tuesday, June 25, 2024)]
[House]
[Pages H4130-H4132]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         KOREAN AMERICAN DIVIDED FAMILIES NATIONAL REGISTRY ACT

  Mr. McCORMICK. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 7152) to direct the Secretary of State to establish a 
national registry of Korean American divided families, and for other 
purposes, as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 7152

       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 ``Korean American Divided 
     Families National Registry Act''.

     SEC. 2. NATIONAL REGISTRY OF KOREAN AMERICAN DIVIDED 
                   FAMILIES.

       The Secretary of State, acting through the Special Envoy on 
     North Korean Human Rights Issues or such other individual as 
     the Secretary may designate, shall--
       (1) collate information on Korean American families who 
     wish to be reunited with family members in North Korea from 
     which such Korean American families were divided after 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''), in 
     anticipation of future

[[Page H4131]]

     reunions for such families and family members, including in-
     person and video reunions; and
       (2) establish a private internal national registry of the 
     names and other relevant information of such Korean American 
     families--
       (A) to host such future reunions in South Korea, the United 
     States, or third countries; and
       (B) to provide for a private internal repository of 
     information about such Korean American families and family 
     members in North Korea, including information about 
     individuals who may be deceased.

     SEC. 3. ACTIONS TO FACILITATE DIALOGUE BETWEEN THE UNITED 
                   STATES AND NORTH KOREA.

       (a) In General.--The Secretary of State shall take such 
     actions as may be necessary to ensure that any direct 
     dialogue between the United States and North Korea includes 
     progress towards holding future reunions for Korean American 
     families and their family members in North Korea as described 
     in section 2.
       (b) Consultations.--The Secretary of State shall consult 
     with the Government of the Republic of Korea in carrying out 
     this section.
       (c) Report.--No later than one year after enactment of this 
     Act, and annually thereafter for 5 years, the Secretary of 
     State shall submit to the appropriate congressional 
     committees a report on--
       (1) the status of the national registry established 
     pursuant to section 2(a)(2);
       (2) the number of individuals included on the registry 
     who--
       (A) have met their family members in North Korea during 
     previous reunions; and
       (B) have yet to meet their family members in North Korea 
     during previous reunions;
       (3) a summary of responses by North Korea to requests to 
     hold reunions of divided families; and
       (4) a description of regulations in North Korea and actions 
     taken by North Korea in the year previous to submission of 
     each report that prevent the emigration of family members of 
     Korean American families.
       (d) Appropriate Congressional Committees Defined.--In this 
     Act, ``appropriate congressional committees'' means the 
     Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives 
     and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Georgia (Mr. McCormick) and the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Stanton) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Georgia.


                             General Leave

  Mr. McCORMICK. 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 this measure.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Georgia?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. McCORMICK. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, the sorrowful legacy of the Korean war is with us even 
today, more than 70 years after the Korean Armistice Agreement was 
signed.
  The Korean Peninsula remains divided between a nation of free people 
and a totalitarian state that subjects its people and its population to 
utter tyranny and refuses to allow them to connect with the outside 
world from fear of losing control.
  The sinister Kim regime continues to threaten the peace and security 
of the region and the world. We watched with alarm last week when 
Vladimir Putin visited North Korea, and the two rogue regimes signed a 
new strategic partnership agreement.
  Meanwhile, families remain broken, from those still fighting to bring 
the remains of their loved ones home to those with extended family 
members still in North Korea.
  Our vibrant Korean-American community feels this legacy strongly. 
More than 100,000 have relatives in North Korea, family members and 
descendants of those trapped on the north side of the 1953 armistice 
line.
  The Korean American Divided Families National Registry Act requires 
the Secretary of State to establish a voluntary data repository for 
Korean Americans interested in participating in future reunions with 
their relatives in North Korea.
  This bill also helps to ensure that any future dialogue between the 
United States and North Korea includes progress toward reunions for 
Korean-American families.
  I thank the authors of this bipartisan bill, Congresswoman Wexton and 
Congresswoman Steel, for their work to help bring peace to Korean-
American families. At the February 6 markup of the Foreign Affairs 
Committee, H.R. 7152 was unanimously adopted by a vote of 49-0.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I reserve 
the balance of my time.

                              {time}  1615

  Mr. STANTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I rise in strong support of H.R. 7152. First, I thank Representative 
Wexton for her inspiring leadership on this important bill, and I thank 
Chairman McCaul for working in a bipartisan way to move this important 
legislation forward. This bill addresses a deeply human issue: the 
separation of Korean families caused by the Korean war.
  One of the most painful outcomes of the Korean war was the division 
of families, a wound that, 70 years after the war's end, has yet to 
heal. This separation has caused immense suffering, not only for those 
in Korea but also for Korean Americans here in the United States. Over 
100,000 Korean Americans have been unable to see or hear from their 
loved ones in North Korea.
  Despite its ongoing tensions with North Korea, South Korea has 
managed to facilitate some family reunions through video calls, 
letters, and in-person meetings. Unfortunately, Korean Americans have 
not had similar opportunities. Currently there is no formal U.S. 
Government process to help them reunite with their relatives in North 
Korea.
  H.R. 7152 aims to fill this gap. It calls on the State Department to 
gather information from Korean Americans who wish to reunite with their 
families and work toward facilitating those reunions. This bill also 
calls on the State Department to make family reunions a priority in any 
discussions with North Korea.
  Mr. Speaker, this bill is about honoring families and ensuring that 
our Korean-American constituents can stay connected to those taken from 
them as a result of war and borders. Let's give them a chance to 
reunite, to heal, and to find peace.
  I encourage my colleagues to support this bill, and I reserve the 
balance of my time.
  Mr. McCORMICK. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. STANTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from 
Virginia (Ms. Wexton), the leader on this bill.
  Ms. WEXTON. Mr. Speaker, as you may know, last year I was diagnosed 
with progressive supranuclear palsy, or PSP. It is basically 
Parkinson's on steroids, and I don't recommend it. It has affected my 
ability to speak, so I am using a text-to-speech app to make it easier 
for you and our colleagues to hear and understand me.
  I rise today in support of my bipartisan Korean American Divided 
Families National Registry Act, which will help Korean Americans 
reconnect with the families they left behind in North Korea decades ago 
in the wake of the Korean war.
  For more than seven decades, Korean-American families have not been 
able to see or speak with their relatives left behind in North Korea, 
and second- and third-generation Korean Americans know nothing but 
stories and heartbreak about their separated family members.
  Mr. Speaker, 2 years ago, I participated in a bipartisan 
congressional delegation to the Republic of Korea and saw firsthand 
some of the lasting consequences that families have faced as a result 
of the war and displacement.
  I have heard the stories of Korean-American families in Virginia and 
across the country who have sought for most of their lives for a chance 
to reconnect with their loved ones but have faced too great of a 
challenge in accessing any official channels to do so.
  My bipartisan legislation being taken up by the House today helps to 
fix that problem. This bill would establish a data repository through 
the State Department of information about Korean-American families 
across the U.S., as well as their separated family members in North 
Korea, both living and deceased, and encourage cooperation between our 
government and that of North Korea for the purpose of offering the 
opportunity for these families to reconnect either in person or 
digitally.
  The South Korean Ministry of Reunification, which is tasked with 
ensuring that South Korea is prepared for reunification when and if it 
occurs, maintains a similar registry of families that

[[Page H4132]]

were separated by the war and its aftermath.
  By taking up this legislation today, we are giving these Korean-
American families hope. This is a long overdue step to help make these 
families whole again, fittingly on the anniversary of the start of the 
Korean war.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in support of this 
bipartisan bill to reunite Korean-American families.
  Mr. STANTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time for 
the purpose of closing.
  Mr. Speaker, our conversations about the Korean Peninsula are often 
dominated by North Korea's nuclear and missile policy. While these are 
important conversations to have, we cannot lose sight of critical 
humanitarian and human rights concerns on the Korean Peninsula.
  This bill is about a very personal and universal issue. It is about 
family. It is about connection. It is about bringing people together 
across generations and across borders.
  Korean Americans who yearn for the chance to reunite once again with 
long-lost family deserve a chance to make that dream a reality.
  Mr. Speaker, I hope my colleagues will join me and support this 
important bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. McCORMICK. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time for 
closing.
  As a member of the AI task force, that was pretty cool to watch that 
actually go down just now for Ms. Wexton.
  For far too long, the totalitarian regime in P'yongyang has denied 
Korean-American families the opportunity to reconnect with their family 
members in North Korea.
  The Divided Families National Registry Act helps to lay the 
groundwork for those eventual reunions for which we continue to hope 
and work for. May that day arrive soon.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I yield 
back the balance of my time.
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker. I wish to add my voice of 
support for H.R. 7152, the Korean American Divided Families National 
Registry Act, introduced by Rep. Jennifer Wexton and Rep. Michelle 
Steel, good friends and colleagues of mine on the Congressional-
Executive Commission on China.
  This bill is a very tender-hearted one, for it recognizes the pain 
which still lingers so many decades after the Korean War Armistice, 
which divided family members in the North from those in the South.
  By creating a registry of those who wish to be united with family 
members, this bill recognizes the depth of that pain, while offering 
hope that at some point in the future, a more permanent reunion may be 
possible.
  It also harbors no illusions about the Kim regime in the Communist 
North, requiring that our State Department raise the reunion issue in 
any dialogue between the U.S. and the North, in consultation with our 
ally, the Republic of Korea, without allowing the North the ability to 
use this emotionally fraught issue as leverage in negotiations.
  In other words, the aims of this bill are limited, and tempered by an 
understanding of the political dynamics on the peninsula, while taking 
a practical step towards eventual reunion of family members.
  I ask my colleagues to join me in support, and I commend Reps. Wexton 
and Steel for this effort to help Korean-American families,
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Georgia (Mr. McCormick) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, H.R. 7152, 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. McCORMICK. 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.

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