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93–536PDF 2015

TRAFFICKING PREVENTION IN FOREIGN AFFAIRS CONTRACTING

ACT; CONDEMNING THE COWARDLY ATTACK ON INNOCENT

MEN, WOMEN AND CHILDREN IN THE NORTHEASTERN

NIGERIAN TOWN OF BAGA; AND NORTH KOREA SANCTIONS

ENFORCEMENT ACT OF 2015

MARKUP

BEFORE THE

COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

ONE HUNDRED FOURTEENTH CONGRESS

FIRST SESSION

ON

H.R. 400, H. Res. 53 and H.R. 757

FEBRUARY 27, 2015

Serial No. 114–20

Printed for the use of the Committee on Foreign Affairs

(

Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.foreignaffairs.house.gov/ or

http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/

(II)

COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS 

EDWARD R. ROYCE, California, Chairman 

CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey 

ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida 

DANA ROHRABACHER, California 

STEVE CHABOT, Ohio 

JOE WILSON, South Carolina 

MICHAEL T. MCCAUL, Texas 

TED POE, Texas 

MATT SALMON, Arizona 

DARRELL E. ISSA, California 

TOM MARINO, Pennsylvania 

JEFF DUNCAN, South Carolina 

MO BROOKS, Alabama 

PAUL COOK, California 

RANDY K. WEBER SR., Texas 

SCOTT PERRY, Pennsylvania 

RON DESANTIS, Florida 

MARK MEADOWS, North Carolina 

TED S. YOHO, Florida 

CURT CLAWSON, Florida 

SCOTT DESJARLAIS, Tennessee 

REID J. RIBBLE, Wisconsin 

DAVID A. TROTT, Michigan 

LEE M. ZELDIN, New York 

TOM EMMER, Minnesota 

ELIOT L. ENGEL, New York 

BRAD SHERMAN, California 

GREGORY W. MEEKS, New York 

ALBIO SIRES, New Jersey 

GERALD E. CONNOLLY, Virginia 

THEODORE E. DEUTCH, Florida 

BRIAN HIGGINS, New York 

KAREN BASS, California 

WILLIAM KEATING, Massachusetts 

DAVID CICILLINE, Rhode Island 

ALAN GRAYSON, Florida 

AMI BERA, California 

ALAN S. LOWENTHAL, California 

GRACE MENG, New York 

LOIS FRANKEL, Florida 

TULSI GABBARD, Hawaii 

JOAQUIN CASTRO, Texas 

ROBIN L. KELLY, Illinois 

BRENDAN F. BOYLE, Pennsylvania

AMY PORTER, Chief of Staff THOMAS SHEEHY, Staff Director

JASON STEINBAUM, Democratic Staff Director 

(III)

C O N T E N T S 

Page

MARKUP OF 

H.R. 400, To require the Secretary of State and the Administrator of the 

United States Agency for International Development to submit reports 

on definitions of placement and recruitment fees for purposes of enabling 

compliance with the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, and for 

other purposes ...................................................................................................... 2

H. Res. 53, Condemning the cowardly attack on innocent men, women, and 

children in the northeastern Nigerian town of Baga ........................................ 9

Amendment in the nature of a substitute to H. Res. 53 offered by the 

Honorable Robin L. Kelly, a Representative in Congress from the State 

of Illinois ........................................................................................................... 12

H.R. 757, To improve the enforcement of sanctions against the Government 

of North Korea, and for other purposes ............................................................. 23

Amendments to H.R. 757 offered by: 

The Honorable Joaquin Castro, a Representative in Congress from 

the State of Texas ...................................................................................... 84

The Honorable Gerald E. Connolly, a Representative in Congress from 

the Commonwealth of Virginia ................................................................ 86

The Honorable Ted Poe, a Representative in Congress from the State 

of Texas ...................................................................................................... 87

APPENDIX 

Markup notice .......................................................................................................... 90

Markup minutes ...................................................................................................... 91

Markup summary .................................................................................................... 93

(1)

TRAFFICKING PREVENTION IN FOREIGN AFFAIRS 

CONTRACTING ACT; CONDEMNING THE COWARDLY ATTACK 

ON INNOCENT MEN, WOMEN AND CHILDREN IN THE 

NORTHEASTERN NIGERIAN TOWN OF BAGA; AND NORTH 

KOREA SANCTIONS ENFORCEMENT ACT OF 2015

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2015

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,

COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS,

Washington, DC. 

The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 9:38 a.m., in room 

2172, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Ed Royce (chairman of 

the committee) presiding. 

Chairman ROYCE. The committee will come to order. Pursuant to 

notice, we meet today to mark up three bipartisan measures and, 

without objection, all members may have 5 days to submit any 

statements for the record or extraneous materials on any of today’s 

business. As all members were notified yesterday, we intend to consider our first two measures en bloc. 

And so, without objection, the following items will be considered 

en bloc and are considered as read: H.R. 400, the Trafficking Prevention in Foreign Affairs Contracting Act; House Resolution 53, a 

resolution condemning the cowardly attacks on innocent men, 

women, and children in Northeast Nigeria; and Kelly amendment 

No. 14, in the nature of a substitute to House Resolution 53. And 

after recognizing myself and Mr. Engel, I will be pleased to recognize any Member seeking recognition to speak on these two measures. 

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Chairman ROYCE. So we begin with H.R. 400, Trafficking Prevention in Foreign Affairs Contracting Act. And this has to do with 

a problem that we have at some of our posts overseas. The State 

Department, as you know, and the USAID rely on contractors to 

provide services like construction, security and maintenance. And 

those contractors employ foreign workers and often they are recruited from faraway developing countries, where they are vulnerable to abuse. And, in particular, labor recruiters may charge prospective employees recruitment fees or payments, basically, for the 

right to work. So current law prohibits U.S. contractors from, in 

theory, charging foreign workers unreasonable recruitment fees 

and the State Department claims to prohibit any recruitment fees 

at all. 

However, neither State nor USAID have defined what constitutes 

a recruitment fee. And this ambiguity, unfortunately, has allowed 

some recruiters to simply rename these fees and continue charging 

them. And this is a serious problem. 

We have a 2011 report by the State Department Inspector General, and in that report they found that a majority of State’s foreign contract workers in certain Middle Eastern countries were 

paying substantial fees to recruiters, sometimes more than a year’s 

salary, resulting in—and this is in the words of the Inspector General—‘‘effective debt bondage.’’ To ensure that our overseas contracting does not feed the problem, this bill requires State and 

USAID to define what prohibited recruitment fees are and to report 

to Congress on their plans to improve contract monitoring to protect against human trafficking. 

Then, the other bill I will mention is amendment to House Resolution 53, a resolution condemning Boko Haram and urging a 

peaceful and credible national election. And last month Boko 

Haram launched what some say is the worst attack to date, a powerful statement if you think of their previous atrocities, including 

kidnapping nearly 300 school girls in Chibok. But satellite images 

from Baga show a town now completely leveled, thousands, thousands of boys and girls, mothers, and fathers, killed in this attack. 

It is no wonder that Boko Haram is being called the ISIS of Africa. 

And this resolution condemns the attack and expresses support for 

U.S. security assistance to the recently established African Union 

Regional Force, stood up to fight Boko Haram. Alongside these security concerns, Nigeria is also facing a watershed Presidential 

election. The political environment is extremely tense. The Nigerian Government has already delayed elections originally scheduled 

for mid-February, and this resolution urges Nigeria to avoid any 

further delays as well. 

I want to thank Representative Kelly for introducing this timely 

resolution, and I should also recognize the leadership of multiple 

committee members, including the Africa Subcommittee Chairman 

Smith on Nigeria—and Boko Haram in particular—along with 

Karen Bass, the ranking member on that subcommittee. I will now 

turn to Mr. Eliot Engel for his comments on these two measures. 

Mr. ENGEL. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. And thank 

you for holding this markup and, as always, for working with us 

in a bipartisan manner. I strongly support the two measures in 

this en bloc, H.R. 400, Trafficking Prevention in Foreign Affairs 

17

Contracting Act, and H. Res. 53, a resolution condemning the attacks by Boko Haram in Northeastern Nigeria. 

Mr. Chairman, I want to commend your leadership on human 

trafficking issues. You mentioned all of the people, our colleagues 

who have done this, Mr. Smith for years, and so many other people 

on this committee. As you noted, current law prohibits U.S. Government contractors from charging foreign workers unreasonable 

placement and recruitment fees, but as the GAO has pointed out, 

neither the State Department nor USAID has adequately defined 

what ‘‘unreasonable’’ means. We don’t want to leave any ambiguity 

that could lead to debt bondage or any other form of human trafficking. The bill simply requires State Department and USAID to 

submit a report clarifying this definition. 

Human trafficking is a modern slavery, a horrific crime and an 

assault on freedom and justice. As a leader in fighting this scourge, 

our Government needs to make sure that our procurement and contracting practices don’t lead to abuse or exploitation of workers. 

The bill before us today will help ensure taxpayer dollars aren’t inadvertently making this problem worse. I strongly support this legislation and urge all of my colleagues to do the same. 

Mr. Chairman, I also support H. Res. 53, a resolution condemning Boko Haram and encouraging free, fair, and ontime elections in Nigeria. I want to commend our new colleague on the committee, Congresswoman Robin Kelly, for introducing this important 

measure and for her leadership on this issue. Nigeria is going 

through a very difficult period right now. The brutal terrorist group 

Boko Haram has continued its reign of terror ruthlessly killing 

hundreds of civilians in the northeast part of the country, and in 

a controversial move, Nigeria’s Presidential election has been postponed. 

Over the past 5 years, Nigeria’s leaders have not dealt adequately with the challenge of Boko Haram. They must do better. 

And that is what this resolution says. It also applauds the efforts 

of other countries in the region, including Chad, Niger, and Cameroon, to cooperate in the offensive against Boko Haram. 

With respect to Nigeria’s elections, I am deeply concerned by the 

6-week delay announced earlier this month by the elected commission. Many believe this action was politically motivated. Nigeria is 

Africa’s largest democracy and economy. The continent cannot afford the illegitimate elections to undermine stability in that country. This resolution urges the Government of Nigeria to hold elections on March 28, and calls on all parties to refrain from violence. 

Credible elections in such an important country will help project 

stability across the continent. 

So I urge my colleagues to as well support this important resolution. 

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Chairman ROYCE. Thank you, Mr. Engel. 

I want to turn next to Congresswoman Robin Kelly of Illinois, 

the author of House Resolution 53. 

Ms. KELLY. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

I want to extend my thanks to Chairman Royce, Ranking Member Engel, and the majority and minority staffs for their work in 

organizing today’s markup. 

18

The resolution that I have offered in a substitute amendment is 

intended to serve as a direct message to Boko Haram that their 

terror and extremism will not be ignored. Their ideology will not 

be tolerated, and their legacy of savagery will not endure in the annals of history. Like so many across the world, I am outraged by 

the brutality and senselessness of Boko Haram’s crimes. As we 

work with the international community to reduce the threat of terrorism around the world, we are reminded that Boko Haram has 

killed over 5,000 people in Nigeria in 2014 and displaced over 1 

million innocent people. 

Boko Haram has abducted hundreds of civilians using women 

and children as slaves and subjecting them to sexual abuse, suicide 

bombers, and child soldiers. Boko Haram has threatened to disrupt 

the Nigerian elections and intimidate would-be voters. Victimizing 

innocent men, women, and children for perverse and ideological 

gain will never be tolerated or treated as just by the international 

community. With our vote today, this committee can affirm that we 

stand for the human rights, dignity, and security of the Nigerian 

people. We will not tolerate a world in which Boko Haram or any 

terrorist organization can slaughter innocent civilians; we respect 

the right of women to be educated without the threat of violence; 

and that we support free and fair elections that do not have the 

threat of suppression and intimidation lingering around them. 

While they are not on this committee, I want to thank our colleagues Congresswomen Frederica Wilson and Corrine Brown for 

their leadership on this issue, and I again thank the chairman and 

ranking member for their work in marking up this resolution. 

I yield back. 

Chairman ROYCE. We turn now to Mr. Matt Salmon of Arizona. 

Mr. SALMON. Thanks, Mr. Chairman, and thank you for drafting 

this important bill and bringing it up so quickly at the beginning 

of the Congress. I have consistently supported any measures and 

legislation that would hold North Korea accountable to its intolerable actions. 

Chairman ROYCE. Mr. Salmon, we will take that bill up next, but 

right now, the en bloc amendment, sir. 

Mr. SALMON. Oh, the en bloc amendment. Thank you. 

Chairman ROYCE. Any other members seek to—Mr. Cicilline 

from Rhode Island. 

Mr. CICILLINE. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

I want to thank you and Ranking Member Engel for swiftly 

scheduling the first markup of a new Congress to address critical 

issues in the world right now. I am happy to see us move forward 

on a number of bills that I am very proud to have cosponsored. I 

am particularly grateful to the chairman and the ranking member 

for their leadership on human trafficking with the Trafficking Prevention in Foreign Affairs Contracting Act. Put simply, human 

trafficking is slavery. It violates the founding principles of the 

United States of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and humanity’s very basic principle of respect. The United States must 

continue to lead efforts in combating human trafficking, and I am 

very pleased that we are marking up legislation to improve transparency and enforcement regarding the oversight of recruitment 

fees paid by foreign workers. 

19

Finally, I was proud to cosponsor the resolution offered by my 

friend and college Congresswoman Robin Kelly condemning the violence and terrorism perpetrated by Boko Haram, abducting innocent students and forcing children into marriage or slavery is unconscionable. And no child in any part of the world should live in 

constant fear of kidnapping or death. We must send a strong message to Boko Haram that these heinous acts and their other terrorist activities are unacceptable. There is no question that the 

United States must do everything in its power to work with our 

partners to stop Boko Haram. 

And I, too, want to acknowledge the advocacy and passionate 

work of our colleague, Congresswoman Frederica Wilson. 

But also in our partnership with Nigeria, we must also enforce 

our expectations that the Nigerian Government is honest, fair, and 

treats all of its citizens with dignity. 

Last year, Nigeria enacted a law which added additional criminal 

penalties against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals. Although titled ‘‘The Same-Sex Marriage Prohibition bill,’’ the 

law goes well beyond prohibiting marriage equality to actively discriminate against LGBT individuals and their allies in meaningful 

ways. Since enactment of the law, we have received reports of escalated violence, police and government oppression, and censorship. 

And while we commit to the full might of the United States to 

fighting Boko Haram, we cannot ignore egregious human rights 

violations at the same time. 

Again, I commend the chairman and the ranking member for 

moving these important pieces of legislation, and I look forward to 

their passage, and I yield back. 

Chairman ROYCE. Thank you, Mr. Cicilline. 

We go now to Mr. Smith of New Jersey. His Africa Subcommittee 

has done key work on Nigeria and Boko Haram, pushing for its 

designation as a foreign terrorist organization. 

Mr. SMITH. Mr. Chairman, thank you very much for bringing 

these bills before the committee and for your leadership on the 

trafficking bill. I think that is a very timely bill. The GAO report 

adds exclamation points to what this will seek to accomplish, the 

one that was done just a few months ago. So thank you for that 

leadership. 

You know, on the whole idea of exploiting workers and falsifying 

recruitment procedures as well as recruitment fees, this has been 

a problem that has plagued our own procurement process. I held 

a series of hearings, Mr. Chairman, and two of them were joint 

hearings; one with Duncan Hunter when he was the chairman of 

the Armed Services Committee and the other with John McHugh 

when he was a subcommittee chairman. And we were able to probe 

and discover very, very egregious practices on the part of our own 

procurement, whereby contractors as well as recruitment people in 

Jordan and elsewhere were inviting people to come to work for us, 

only to be told once they got here that they couldn’t leave. They 

were in substandard housing. Their passports were taken away 

from them, and then they were living in despicable circumstances 

and getting pay that was nowhere near what they were earning—

or should have earned—and what they were promised. 

20

It fits the definition of a labor trafficking offense. We have 

pressed repeatedly that in all procurement, across the board in the 

United States Government, that we set the standard, not be part 

of the problem but be part of the solution when it comes to purchasing and when it comes to employing people, particularly overseas. It has not been a good record. And, again, this I think helps 

us get further information, further clarification about how we can 

do much better. 

I would also point out that, in 2003, when we did the reauthorization of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, legislation that I 

was the author of, the act had specific language about contracting; 

and if a contractor is complicit in human trafficking, that not only 

are we able to take that contract away from them in a very expeditious way, but we will hold all those who are complicit in that trafficking labor or sex trafficking to account criminally so that we can 

bring charges against them. Again, you now bring further push, 

amplification, light, and scrutiny to what has not been a very good 

or well-executed policy, and I thank you for it. 

Chairman ROYCE. I thank you. You still have time. 

Mr. SMITH. Just briefly on the Boko Haram issue if I could. And 

Boko Haram, we can’t say enough about how bad Boko Haram is, 

how lethal, how radical they are. They are radical Islamists. I have 

been, along with my staff director, Greg Simpkins. We have been 

to places like Jos. Jos is a place where several churches were 

firebombed, and I met with, as did Greg, with the survivors. And 

to hear them tell their stories about how they were targeted simply 

because they were Christians, no other reason. We had a man testify. I met him in an IDP camp in Jos. Adamu, his name was, and 

he was taken out of his house—he lived in the north—an AK–47 

was put to his jaw and he was told, You renounce your faith in 

Christ, or I will blow your head off. Well, he said, I am willing to 

meet my Savior, and I am not going to renounce my faith. The 

Boko Haram terrorist pulled the trigger, blew the entire side of his 

face off. 

When I met him, I was in awe of his courage, his faith, so we 

invited him here. He came and gave testimony, and Members who 

were there, you could have heard a pin drop when he explained 

what it is that he went through and the love, even after that, that 

he holds for those who were his tormenters. He has forgiven them. 

He wants them to stop, obviously, because this, like ISIS and like 

these other radical Islamists, like al-Shabaab and others, are on a 

tear to destroy Christianity, to destroy moderate Muslims as well. 

So we need in this committee—and I thank you for doing this—

to continually bring forward resolutions, statements, expressions, 

debate time, on Boko Haram. Let me also say, and I asked Secretary of State this just a couple of days ago, I think we are failing 

in our obligation to provide the training that the Nigerian military 

needs in order to operate an effective counterinsurgency operation. 

I have met with the people who do it in our Embassy in Abuja, 

wonderful military people. I have met with the military of Nigeria. 

I met with the Foreign Minister of Nigeria most recently, and I 

was encouraged by the Secretary’s statement that this needs to be 

gotten back on track. But it has been slow. And it has not been as 

expansive enough. 

21

There was a false statement made earlier in this debate by several that we couldn’t vet sufficient numbers of Nigerian military 

pursuant to the Leahy amendment. So I convened a hearing on 

that, and we heard from not only a number of human rights organizations, but we also heard from the administration. And they 

said at least 50 percent of the Nigerian military could pass muster 

under the Leahy provision. So let’s do it. They don’t want our 

troops. They do need certain weapons and night-vision goggles and 

the like because we know Boko Haram often operates at night. But 

let’s train these men and women and their officer corps so they can 

protect these children who are being abducted, the boys being 

killed, the young girls being abducted like the Chibok schoolgirls. 

I have met several of the lucky ones, the Chibok schoolgirls, both 

in Nigeria and a few that have made it here, to hear them tell their 

stories. It is just frightening, the horror that they live with, the 

PTSD that they now have to cope with in the middle of the night 

when they think of what that was like to have been taken hostage 

by this terrorist group. 

The Nigerian military is capable. I have seen them, Mr. Chairman, all over the world, especially in Africa, but also in places like 

Sarajevo during the Balkan wars as peacekeepers. They have 

stepped up to the plate time and again. In Darfur, I was with a 

Nigerian group who were peacekeepers. They have done a very 

good job, but the skill set that they have needs to be ramped up. 

We are not doing it. So, again, I appeal to the administration. We 

need to work this out. I pleaded with them, let’s get a jointness 

going with their military and get this training up and running to 

mitigate this threat and hopefully to abolish it. 

And I thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Chairman ROYCE. Thank you, Mr. Smith. 

Anyone else seeking recognition on this legislation? 

Mr. Trott of Michigan. 

Mr. TROTT. I want to thank the chairman and the ranking member for scheduling the markup of H.R. 400. We should obviously expect and demand transparency and accountability of contractors 

employing foreign workers. And when we discover practices that 

exacerbate human trafficking, we should demand not only detailed 

plans to correct the violations, but also penalties should be imposed. 

I also want to thank the chairman for scheduling a markup of 

House Resolution 53. The aggression on the part of Boko Haram 

has been unconscionable and has been a breach of the principles 

of political and religious freedom that this country is built on. The 

ability to freely practice religion and participate in the political system has brought us prosperity and would bring prosperity to Nigeria as well. In this spirit, we should encourage Nigeria to not submit to terrorism and fear but instead move forward with their elections. 

We stand with the Nigerian Government. 

They have our support, and we thank the African Union for all 

of their efforts to combat this problem. 

I yield back my time. 

Chairman ROYCE. Hearing no further requests for recognition, 

the question occurs on the items considered en bloc. 

22

All those in favor, say aye. 

All those opposed, no. 

In the opinion of the Chair, the ayes have it, and the measures 

are considered en bloc. H.R. 400 and the House Resolution 53, as 

amended by Kelly’s amendment 14, are agreed to. 

And I now call up H.R. 757. 

Clerk, if you could read the bill. 

Ms. MARTER. H.R. 757, a bill, to improve the enforcement of 

sanctions against the Government of North Korea, and for other 

purposes. 

Chairman ROYCE. Without objection, the bill is considered as 

read and open for amendment at any point. 

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Chairman ROYCE. And, again, after recognizing myself and the 

ranking member, I am glad to recognize other members seeking 

recognition to speak on the underlying bill. And then we will consider en bloc a package of bipartisan amendments. And so this is 

the North Korea Sanctions Enforcement Act. And this relates to 

the attack in November, the cyberattack on Sony Pictures. North 

Korea, once again, reminded the world that behind its belligerent 

rhetoric is a country that poses a very real and a very serious 

threat to our security. 

This bill, the North Korean Sanctions Enforcement Act, is a direct response to North Korea’s continued aggression, and I want to 

thank the ranking member, Mr. Engel, who has been twice to 

North Korea, for working with me to introduce this bill, which is 

substantially similar to our North Korea sanctions bill that passed 

the House last July. 

This bill codifies a robust array of tough sanctions against the regime and its enablers, much like the penalties that were successfully applied by the Treasury Department back in 2005 when the 

agency targeted a small bank in Macau that was complicit in 

Pyongyang’s counterfeiting at the time. And this seriously crippled 

North Korea’s financing and was one of the most effective steps we 

have taken against North Korea, until the sanctions were foolishly 

lifted in 2008 in exchange for fruitless negotiations over the country’s nuclear program. 

Nearly 7 years later, some analysts believe that North Korea has 

succeeded in miniaturizing a nuclear warhead. Some of you may 

have seen this reported yesterday, but they reportedly could be on 

track to have a stockpile of 100 atomic bombs within 5 years. It is 

time to end the administration’s policy of strategic patience. And 

this bill will prevent Kim Jong-un and his top officials from reaching those assets they maintain in foreign banks, as well as the 

hard currency that sustains their rule. 

The bill’s sanctions target North Korea’s money laundering, its 

counterfeiting, and its smuggling and narcotics trafficking, undermining these key finances of the regime’s nuclear program. Disrupting North Korea’s illicit activities will also place tremendous 

strain on the country’s ruling elite who have done so much harm 

to the North Korean people. I have seen some of that harm firsthand in the eastern part of North Korea when I was there. 

Last year, the U.N. Commission of Inquiry released the most 

comprehensive report on North Korea to date, finding that the Kim 

regime has for decades pursued policies involving crimes that 

‘‘shock the conscience of humanity,’’ in their words. H.R. 757 requires the State Department to use the Commission of Inquiry’s 

findings to identify the individuals responsible for such abuses. 

And the bill also requires the administration to report on activities 

that seek to undermine our cybersecurity and to study the feasibility of bringing cellular and Internet communications to North 

Korea’s people to break the information blockade. 

We will now turn to Mr. Engel for his opening statement on 

North Korea Sanctions Enforcement Act. 

Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Chairman, I want to personally thank you for 

bringing up this important bipartisan legislation. As always, you 

are clearheaded and determined and steady on important issues, 

79

such as North Korea. You and I agree about the threat posed by 

North Korea. I want to thank you for giving this issue the attention it deserves, and I am proud to be the lead Democratic sponsor 

of the North Korea Sanctions Enforcement Act. 

North Korea’s unrelenting pursuit of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles, their blazing disregard for international law, and 

their brutality against their own people has gone on for far too 

long. The United States and governments around the world must 

be clear to leaders in Pyongyang: The only way for the regime to 

ends its political and economic isolation is to abandon its current 

course. This legislation sends just that message. Specifically, this 

bill broadens sanctions against North Korea. It targets those who 

are helping to sustain the Kim regime through elicit activities. It 

also enhances the enforcement of sanctions. I have been to North 

Korea twice, and I must tell you that the North Korean people certainly deserve better than what they have. This legislation gives 

the President important tools and the flexibility to act in a way 

that best serves our national interests. It also provides important 

exceptions to the humanitarian relief organizations providing food, 

medicine, and other assistance to the North Korean people. We 

have seen this regime’s track record, a cyberattack against Sony 

Pictures in December of last year, gross human rights abuses 

against its own people, an illegal nuclear weapon’s program. It is 

time to raise the costs on the Kim Jong-un government. This is the 

right legislation, the right time, and I urge my colleagues to support it. 

I yield back, Mr. Chairman. 

Chairman ROYCE. Thank you, Eliot. Do any other members seek 

recognition to speak on the bill? 

Mr. Rohrabacher of California. 

Mr. ROHRABACHER. Thank you. 

First of all, I would like to thank both you and the ranking member for the leadership you have provided on this, and on this and 

a lot of issues that we have been facing. This is a really contentious 

time in our history, and we are lucky to have both of you and giving this committee and all of the rest of us the guidance and leadership we need. 

I would just like to add on this particular bill, where we are focusing on North Korea, I would like to make sure that we go on 

the record—or at least I am on the record—as pointing out that 

many of the things that we are blaming North Korea for, which 

they deserve blame for, can be traced back to the influences of Beijing on their policies. The Communist Chinese, I am of certainty, 

are helping them in their efforts when it comes to nuclear weapons 

development, for example, and cyberattacks. I do not believe that 

all of these activities, which are criminal activities against the 

West and trying to put us in jeopardy and also especially aimed at 

putting Japan, we have to understand that much of what is going 

on in North Korea is aimed at sort of a—giving an ominous threat 

to Japan. And the Japanese are fully aware that this isn’t just coming from North Korea. It is Beijing giving a message to Japan 

through their puppet state in North Korea. So I, just for the record, 

I want to make sure that we understand this is a chess game going 

on here, and the and the main player on the other side is Beijing. 

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So thank you very much to both of you, and I, of course, urge your 

support for this resolution. 

Chairman ROYCE. Thank you, Mr. Rohrabacher. 

Mr. Connolly of Virginia. 

Mr. CONNOLLY. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I do want to 

thank you and Mr. Engel for your leadership. 

This is a terribly important piece of legislation and maybe more 

critical now than ever. And adding the cyber piece, I echo what my 

friend Mr. Rohrabacher just said. I think that is critical. It was 

only a few years ago that the entire banking system of South Korea 

actually was shut down in a cyberattack almost certainly from the 

North. So reporting on that is very important. I want to thank you 

also for—I know we are supposed to speak to the underlying bill, 

but I have got to run back to another hearing where I am a ranking member, but two amendments that I authored, and I thank you 

and Mr. Engel for accepting them, one was in the core bill from last 

year, and this is, expanding reporting requirements, including asking the State Department to tell us, what are you telling China? 

What are you asking China to do with respect to the recommendations of the Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in Korea? 

And I think that is actually very important. That China relationship is changing. It is evolving. It can be a critical piece of leverage 

we otherwise don’t have. And so while it looks like a simple reporting requirement, actually, I am hopeful and I know that you and 

Mr. Engel are as well, Mr. Chairman, that we can use this as a 

point of leverage. 

And then, finally, thank you for accepting an amendment in this 

markup on family reunification. I can tell you in my district I have 

got constituents, Korean constituents, who have not seen their families since the end of the—well, since the secession of hostilities in 

the Korea conflict. To go 70 years without seeing a loved one is 

heartbreaking, and they probably will die before they get to see 

their relatives. And so family reunification, a very major issue, and 

we know that South Korean President Park Geun-hye has sought 

to improve in that regard in her peace and reunification initiative. 

And I think we should be supportive of that. And I thank you both 

for including those provisions and for your leadership in this matter. 

Chairman ROYCE. Thank you, Mr. Connolly. 

Mr. Ted Poe of Texas and then Mr. Matt Salmon. 

Mr. POE. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

I appreciate the chair and the ranking member supporting the 

amendment that I have offered. I would like to speak briefly about 

the amendment and underlying bill in the next few minutes. The 

underlying bill, when we think of Iran, we always need to think of 

North Korea, and when we think of North Korea, we need to think 

of Iran. They are working together. One has nuclear capability; the 

other has weapons, and they are, in my opinion, wanting to trade 

off each other’s facilities or knowledge so that they could both be 

worse than they are individually. 

Iran calls North Korea a member of their Axis of Resistance. 

They are really, I think, an axis of world terror. North Korea, their 

new President Kim Jong-un, I don’t know if the chairman remembers this, but he made a statement—I think it was last year—that 

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he is excited about getting nuclear weapons and wants to send his 

first intercontinental ballistic missile to Austin, Texas. I don’t know 

why he picked Austin, but I am offended by that. I take it real personal that he would want to——

Chairman ROYCE. You probably should. 

Mr. POE. University of Texas. Sir? 

Chairman ROYCE. Judge, you probably should. 

Mr. POE. I am the reason. I don’t know about that, but, anyway, 

I think we should take them seriously about their world-domination goals and always think of both of them working together, 

which leads to the amendment. The amendment is very simple. It 

requires that the President submit a report stating the cooperation 

between Iran and their buddies over in North Korea on their nuclear program and what is taking place between the two. And that 

is a loophole, I think, in the ongoing nuclear talks with Iran, and 

we need to encourage the administration to give us information 

about what Iran and North Korea are doing together in their nuclear weapon development. 

So once again, I think we should support the bill. I appreciate 

the chairman and the ranking member for bringing this up. We 

need to focus America’s attention on both of these axes of terror 

and immediately approve this legislation but require that the administration continue to tell Congress what is taking place between 

these two world threats. And I yield back the balance of my time. 

Chairman ROYCE. Thank you, Judge Poe. 

Ms. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii. 

Ms. GABBARD. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Like the Judge, I too am deeply offended that North Korea has 

called out my constituents in the State of Hawaii, placing us in 

their crosshairs. Understanding that with what is happening in the 

region this is actually something that is top of mind for people, 

something that is very real. So as you look at the growing threats 

across the world, both conventional and unconventional, I appreciate your leadership and the ranking member’s leadership, and 

continuing to hold the line and maintain this pressure on North 

Korea as they openly continue to develop their ballistic missile capabilities, and their nuclear capabilities, understanding that that 

consistency and that increased pressure is necessary if we want 

this to have a very real effect. Again, my constituents in Hawaii 

and others in the Asia-Pacific Region are acutely aware of what 

North Korea is doing on the one hand, and what we are doing to 

stop them. Thank you very much. 

Chairman ROYCE. Thank you. 

We go to Mr. Matt Salmon of Arizona. 

Mr. SALMON. Thank you. 

Mr. Chairman, I greatly appreciate your tenacity on this issue, 

and the ranking member. And I am very, very hopeful that this 

year it will actually pass the Senate and get to the President’s desk 

because I think it is vitally needed. It is legendary what bad actions that Korea—North Korea—has taken on the world stage both 

in terms of its nuclear proliferation and threats as well as its 

cyberterrorism with Sony Pictures, and if we don’t start drawing 

some hard lines in the sand now, this escalation will continue. 

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The one thing I would like to point out is that we will be going 

to visit the folks in China in the not-so-distant future, and I am 

really hopeful that China takes more of an interest in containing 

North Korea. They have a disproportionate influence than any 

other country in the world because of North Korea’s dependence on 

their—for their economic wellbeing. And I truly do believe that Beijing has a big hand to play, and I am disappointed that they 

haven’t. 

I hope that we will continue to encourage them to do the responsible thing because it is not only in the world’s best interest, but 

it is in their best interest too. So, thank you, Mr. Chairman, for 

doing this yet one more time, and let’s get it across the finish line 

this time. Thank you. 

Chairman ROYCE. Thank you, Mr. Salmon. 

As I recall, I raised this issue, as did Eliot Engel, with the Premier in Beijing, and as I recall, you may have said the same thing 

in Mandarin, and your Mandarin is very good. Afterwards, the delegation on the other side commented on that. 

So other members seeking recognition here? 

If not, hearing no further—Mr. Trott. 

Mr. TROTT. I just wanted to thank the chairman and the ranking 

member for moving H.R. 757 forward. The chairman wisely scheduled a hearing a couple of weeks ago on North Korea. And I for 

one found the answers from the representative from the State Department and his complete confidence in the President’s Executive 

order on North Korea—I think it is Executive Order 13687—his belief that that Executive order would singularly correct North Korea’s bad behavior a little disturbing. And it was clear from the discussion that additional, more vigorous sanctions are required. 

So, thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Chairman ROYCE. Thank you, Mr. Trott. 

Hearing no further requests for recognition to speak on the bill, 

we now—Mr. Chabot, you are recognized. We are on the legislation 

on North Korea, Mr. Chabot. 

Mr. CHABOT. Okay, I had a different—yeah, that is the one. I 

just spoke on the floor. I apologize. I just raced over here from 

speaking on the bill that we are taking up on the floor today. I appreciate, Mr. Chairman, I would like to express my support for 

H.R. 757, the North Korea Sanctions Enforcement Act of 2015. 

Kim Jong-un’s regime represents an imminent threat to the global nonproliferation effort, to the global economy, and the global financial system. North Korea has made its intentions clear that it 

will not halt its nuclear weapons and missile programs. But its trajectory will not last long if the U.S. denies access to its offshore accounts and funding. 

As you know, H.R. 757 puts banks everywhere on notice that 

they must choose between doing business with Kim Jong-un and 

making use of the U.S. financial system, and that U.S. must maintain a consistent position that makes it crystal clear to the regime 

in Pyongyang that we will not concede to its unreasonable demands. The time for willful blindness, for looking the other way at 

North Korea’s proliferation, money laundering, and its kleptocracy 

is over. I look forward to working with my colleagues to ensure this 

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happens, and hope that the administration pursues a path that will 

increase security for South Korea and the international community. 

And, again, I apologize for getting here at the last minute. But 

I had to be in two places at once. So I yield back. 

Chairman ROYCE. Well, we thank you, Mr. Chabot, and as I say, 

hearing no further requests, we now move to consider en bloc the 

bipartisan amendments. There were three of them provided to your 

office just yesterday, which are also in your packets. 

And without objection, the following amendments to H.R. 757 

will be considered as en bloc and are considered as read: One is the 

Castro amendment 22, the Connolly amendment 23, and the Poe 

amendment 83. 

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Chairman ROYCE. I am assuming no one wants to speak on any 

of these en bloc. Mr. Castro would. Mr. Castro. 

Mr. CASTRO. Sure. Thank you, Chairman, and thank you and the 

ranking member for all of your work on this issue. Yesterday, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper stated that North 

Korea’s offensive cyber operations, growing stockpile of ballistic 

missiles, and nuclear weapons pose ‘‘A serious threat to the United 

States and to the security environment in East Asia.’’

My amendment echoes Director Clapper’s assessment by adding 

a sense of Congress that North Korea’s nuclear ballistic missiles 

program are of mutual concern to the United States, Japan, and 

South Korea, and that trilateral cooperation is essential to the security of each Nation and the stability of Asia-Pacific Region. Last 

December, the United States, Japan, and South Korea finalized a 

trilateral military intelligence-sharing agreement concerning 

threats posed by North Korea. The United States has had bilateral 

agreements with Japan and South Korea, but this is a new trilateral agreement that creates a more effective bulwark against 

North Korea and strengthens our collective response capabilities 

the event of future aggression from North Korea. 

The United States, Japan, and South Korea share the values of 

democratic governance and the rule of law and respect for human 

rights. It makes sense that we share intelligence related to North 

Korea’s military threats. 

I yield back, Mr. Chairman. 

Chairman ROYCE. Thank you, Mr. Castro. 

Any other members seeking time? 

Hearing no further requests for recognition, the question occurs 

on the amendments considered en bloc. 

All those in favor, say aye. 

All those opposed, no. 

In the opinion of the Chair, the ayes have it, and the Castro, 

Connolly, and Poe amendments are agreed to. 

Are there any further amendments to the bill? Hearing no further amendments, the question occurs on agreeing to H.R. 757, as 

amended. 

All those in favor, say aye. 

All those opposed, no. 

In the opinion of the Chair, the ayes have it. The bill, as amended, is agreed to. And, without objection, H.R. 757, as amended, is 

ordered favorably reported and will be reported as a single amendment in the nature of a substitute. Staff is directed to make any 

technical and conforming changes, and also without objection, the 

Chair is authorized to seek House consideration of any of today’s 

measures under suspension of the rules. And that concludes our 

business today. 

I want to thank Ranking Member Engel and all of the committee 

members for their contributions and all of your assistance in today’s markup. We stand adjourned. 

[Whereupon, at 10:22 a.m., the committee was adjourned.] 

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