[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office]
[H.R. 5834 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]
H.R.5834
One Hundred Tenth Congress
of the
United States of America
AT THE SECOND SESSION
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Thursday,
the third day of January, two thousand and eight
An Act
To amend the North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004 to promote respect
for the fundamental human rights of the people of North Korea, and for
other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,

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This Act may be cited as the ``North Korean Human Rights
Reauthorization Act of 2008''.

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Congress finds the following:
(1) The North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004 (Public Law 108-
333; 22 U.S.C. 7801 et seq.) (in this section referred to as ``the
Act'') was the product of broad, bipartisan consensus in Congress
regarding the promotion of human rights, transparency in the
delivery of humanitarian assistance, and refugee protection.
(2) In addition to the longstanding commitment of the United
States to refugee and human rights advocacy, the United States is
home to the largest Korean population outside of northeast Asia,
and many in the two-million strong Korean-American community have
family ties to North Korea.
(3) Human rights and humanitarian conditions inside North Korea
are deplorable, North Korean refugees remain acutely vulnerable,
and the findings in section 3 of the Act remain accurate today.
(4) The Government of China is conducting an increasingly
aggressive campaign to locate and forcibly return border-crossers
to North Korea, where they routinely face torture and imprisonment,
and sometimes execution. According to recent reports, the Chinese
Government is shutting down Christian churches and imprisoning
people who help North Korean defectors and has increased the bounty
paid for turning in North Korean refugees.
(5) In an attempt to deter escape attempts, the Government of
North Korea has reportedly stepped up its public execution of
border-crossers and those who help others cross into China.
(6) In spite of the requirement of the Act that the Special
Envoy on Human Rights in North Korea (the ``Special Envoy'') report
to the Congress no later than April 16, 2005, a Special Envoy was
not appointed until August 19, 2005, more than four months after
the reporting deadline.
(7) The Special Envoy appointed by the President has filled
that position on a part-time basis only.
(8) Since the passage of the North Korean Human Rights Act,
Congress has on several occasions expressed interest in the status
of North Korean refugees, and on February 21, 2006, a bipartisan
group of senior Members of the House and Senate wrote Secretary of
State Condoleezza Rice ``to express [their] deep concern for the
lack of progress in funding and implementing the key provisions of
the North Korean Human Rights Act'', particularly the lack of North
Korean refugee admissions to the United States.
(9) Although the United States refugee resettlement program
remains the largest in the world by far, the United States has
resettled only 37 North Koreans in the period from 2004 through
2007.
(10) From the end of 2004 through 2007, the Republic of Korea
resettled 5,961 North Koreans.
(11) Extensive delays in assessment and processing have led
numerous North Korean refugees to abandon their quest for United
States resettlement, and long waits (of more than a year in some
cases) have been the source of considerable discouragement and
frustration among refugees, many of whom are awaiting United States
resettlement in circumstances that are unsafe and insecure.
(12) From 2000 through 2006, the United States granted asylum
to 15 North Koreans, as compared to 60 North Korean asylum grantees
in the United Kingdom, and 135 in Germany during that same period.

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It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) the United States should continue to make it a priority to
seek broader permission and greater cooperation from foreign
governments to allow the United States to process North Korean
refugees overseas for resettlement in the United States, through
persistent diplomacy by senior officials of the United States,
including United States ambassadors to Asia-Pacific nations;
(2) at the same time that careful screening of intending
refugees is important, the United States also should make every
effort to ensure that its screening, processing, and resettlement
of North Korean refugees are as efficient and expeditious as
possible;
(3) the Special Envoy for North Korean Human Rights Issues
should be a full-time position within the Department of State in
order to properly promote and coordinate North Korean human rights
and humanitarian issues, and to participate in policy planning and
implementation with respect to refugee issues, as intended by the
North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004 (Public Law 108-333; 22
U.S.C. 7801 et seq.);
(4) in an effort to more efficiently and actively participate
in humanitarian burden-sharing, the United States should approach
our ally, the Republic of Korea, to revisit and explore new
opportunities for coordinating efforts to screen and resettle North
Koreans who have expressed a wish to pursue resettlement in the
United States and have not yet availed themselves of any right to
citizenship they may enjoy under the Constitution of the Republic
of Korea; and
(5) because there are genuine refugees among North Koreans
fleeing into China who face severe punishments upon their forcible
return, the United States should urge the Government of China to--
(A) immediately halt its forcible repatriation of North
Koreans;
(B) fulfill its obligations pursuant to the 1951 United
Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, the 1967
Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees, and the 1995
Agreement on the Upgrading of the UNHCR Mission in the People's
Republic of China to UNHCR Branch Office in the People's
Republic of China; and
(C) allow the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
(UNHCR) unimpeded access to North Koreans inside China to
determine whether they are refugees and whether they require
assistance.

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Section 5(1)(A) of the North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004
(Public Law 108-333; 22 U.S.C. 7803(1)(A)) is amended by striking
``International Relations'' and inserting ``Foreign Affairs''.

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Section 102(b)(1) of the North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004 (22
U.S.C. 7812(b)(1)) is amended by inserting after ``2008'' the
following: ``and $2,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2009 through
2012''.

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Not later than 120 days after the date of the enactment of this
Act, the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) shall submit to the
appropriate congressional committees, as defined in section 5(1) of the
North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004 (22 U.S.C. 7803(1)), a report
that describes the status and content of current United States
broadcasting to North Korea and the extent to which the BBG has
achieved the goal of 12-hour-per-day broadcasting to North Korea
pursuant to section 103 of such Act (22 U.S.C. 7813).

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Section 104 of the North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004 (22
U.S.C. 7814) is amended--
(1) in subsection (b)(1), by striking ``2008'' and inserting
``2012''; and
(2) in subsection (c), by striking ``in each of the 3 years
thereafter'' and inserting ``annually through 2012''.

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Section 107 of the North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004 (22 U.S.C.
7817) is amended--
(1) in the section heading, by striking ``human rights in north
korea'' and inserting ``north korean human rights issues'';
(2) in subsection (a)--
(A) in the first sentence--
(i) by striking ``human rights in North Korea'' and
inserting ``North Korean human rights issues''; and
(ii) by inserting before the period at the end the
following: ``, by and with the advice and consent of the
Senate'';
(B) in the second sentence, by inserting before the period
at the end the following: ``who shall have the rank of
ambassador and shall hold the office at the pleasure of the
President'';
(3) in subsection (b), by inserting before the period at the
end the following: ``, including, in coordination with the Bureau
of Population, Refugees, and Migration, the protection of those
people who have fled as refugees'';
(4) in subsection (c)--
(A) by redesignating paragraphs (1) through (6) as
paragraphs (2) through (7), respectively;
(B) by inserting before paragraph (2), as so redesignated,
the following new paragraph:
``(1) participate in the formulation and the implementation of
activities carried out pursuant to this Act;''; and
(C) in paragraph (5), as so redesignated, by striking
``section 102'' and inserting ``sections 102 and 104''; and
(5) in subsection (d), by striking ``for the subsequent 5 year-
period'' and inserting ``thereafter through 2012''.

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Section 201(a) of the North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004 (22
U.S.C. 7831(a)) is amended, in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by
striking ``in each of the 2 years thereafter'' and inserting ``annually
thereafter through 2012''.

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Section 203(c)(1) of the North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004 (22
U.S.C. 7833(c)(1)) is amended by striking ``2008'' and inserting
``2012''.

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Section 305(a) of the North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004 (22
U.S.C. 7845(a)) is amended--
(1) in the subsection heading, by inserting ``and Refugee''
before ``Information'';
(2) in the matter preceding paragraph (1)--
(A) by striking ``for each of the following 5 years'' and
inserting ``through 2012''; and
(B) by striking ``which shall include--'' and inserting
``which shall include the following:'';
(3) in paragraph (1)--
(A) by striking ``the number of aliens'' and inserting
``The number of aliens''; and
(B) by striking ``; and'' at the end and inserting a
period;
(4) in paragraph (2), by striking ``the number of aliens'' and
inserting ``The number of aliens''; and
(5) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
``(3) A detailed description of the measures undertaken by the
Secretary of State to carry out section 303, including country-
specific information with respect to United States efforts to
secure the cooperation and permission of the governments of
countries in East and Southeast Asia to facilitate United States
processing of North Koreans seeking protection as refugees. The
information required under this paragraph shall be provided in
unclassified form, with a classified annex, if necessary.''.
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Vice President of the United States and
President of the Senate.

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North Korean Human Rights Reauthorization Act of 2008 — HR. 5834

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