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92–867PDF 2004

THE PEACE CORPS SAFETY AND SECURITY ACT OF 2004; THE

NORTH KOREA HUMAN RIGHTS ACT OF 2004; ASSISTANCE

FOR ORPHANED AND VULNERABLE CHILDREN IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES ACT OF 2004; PARTICIPATION OF TAIWAN

IN THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION; THE U.S. INTERNATIONAL LEADERSHIP ACT OF 2003, AND OTHER PURPOSES; AND VARIOUS RESOLUTIONS AND CONCURRENT RESOLUTIONS

MARKUP

BEFORE THE

COMMITTEE ON 

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

ONE HUNDRED EIGHTH CONGRESS

SECOND SESSION

ON

H.R. 4060; H.R. 4011; H.R. 4061; H.R. 4019;

H.R. 4053; H. Res. 402; H. Res. 535;

H. Res. 563; H. Res. 576; H. Con. Res. 326;

H. Con. Res. 336; H. Con. Res. 352;

H. Con. Res. 378; and H. Con. Res. 398

MARCH 31, 2004

Serial No. 108–108

Printed for the use of the Committee on International Relations

(

Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.house.gov/international—relations 

(II)

COMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS 

HENRY J. HYDE, Illinois, Chairman 

JAMES A. LEACH, Iowa 

DOUG BEREUTER, Nebraska 

CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey, 

Vice Chairman 

DAN BURTON, Indiana 

ELTON GALLEGLY, California 

ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida 

CASS BALLENGER, North Carolina 

DANA ROHRABACHER, California 

EDWARD R. ROYCE, California 

PETER T. KING, New York 

STEVE CHABOT, Ohio 

AMO HOUGHTON, New York 

JOHN M. MCHUGH, New York 

ROY BLUNT, Missouri 

THOMAS G. TANCREDO, Colorado 

RON PAUL, Texas 

NICK SMITH, Michigan 

JOSEPH R. PITTS, Pennsylvania 

JEFF FLAKE, Arizona 

JO ANN DAVIS, Virginia 

MARK GREEN, Wisconsin 

JERRY WELLER, Illinois 

MIKE PENCE, Indiana 

THADDEUS G. MCCOTTER, Michigan 

KATHERINE HARRIS, Florida 

TOM LANTOS, California 

HOWARD L. BERMAN, California 

GARY L. ACKERMAN, New York 

ENI F.H. FALEOMAVAEGA, American 

Samoa 

DONALD M. PAYNE, New Jersey 

ROBERT MENENDEZ, New Jersey 

SHERROD BROWN, Ohio 

BRAD SHERMAN, California 

ROBERT WEXLER, Florida 

ELIOT L. ENGEL, New York 

WILLIAM D. DELAHUNT, Massachusetts 

GREGORY W. MEEKS, New York 

BARBARA LEE, California 

JOSEPH CROWLEY, New York 

JOSEPH M. HOEFFEL, Pennsylvania 

EARL BLUMENAUER, Oregon 

SHELLEY BERKLEY, Nevada 

GRACE F. NAPOLITANO, California 

ADAM B. SCHIFF, California 

DIANE E. WATSON, California 

ADAM SMITH, Washington 

BETTY MCCOLLUM, Minnesota 

BEN CHANDLER, Kentucky 

THOMAS E. MOONEY, SR., Staff Director/General Counsel 

ROBERT R. KING, Democratic Staff Director 

DANIEL FREEMAN, Counsel/Parliamentarian 

PETER D.R. SMITH, Professional Staff Member 

LIBERTY DUNN, Staff Associate 

(III)

C O N T E N T S 

Page

MARKUP OF: 

H.R. 4060, To amend the Peace Corps Act to establish an Ombudsman and 

an Office of Safety and Security of the Peace Corps, and for other purposes . 3

H.R. 4011, To promote human rights and freedom in the Democratic People’s 

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

Amendment to H.R. 4011 offered by the Honorable James A. Leach, a 

Representative in Congress from the State of Iowa ...................................... 58

H.R. 4061, To amend the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to provide assistance 

for orphans and other vulnerable children in developing countries ................ 59

H.R. 4019, To address the participation of Taiwan in the World Health 

Organization ......................................................................................................... 89

H.R. 4053, To improve the workings of international organizations and multilateral institutions, and for other purposes ....................................................... 96

H. Res. 402, Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding 

the urgent need for freedom, democratic reform, and international monitoring of elections, human rights, and religious liberty in the Lao People’s 

Democratic Republic ............................................................................................ 114

H. Res. 535, Expressing the concern and support of the House of Representatives for local elected officials under threat of assassination, kidnapping, 

forcible displacement, and coercion by terrorist organizations in the Republic of Colombia ...................................................................................................... 120

Amendment to H. Res. 535 offered by the Honorable Donald M. Payne, 

a Representative in Congress from the State of New Jersey ........................ 123

Amendments to H. Res. 535 offered by the Honorable Jerry Weller, a 

Representative in Congress from the State of Illinois ................................... 124

H. Res. 563, Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding 

the one-year anniversary of the human rights crackdown in Cuba ................ 128

Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute to H. Res. 563 offered by the 

Honorable Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a Representative in Congress from the 

State of Florida ................................................................................................. 132

H. Res. 576, Urging the Government of the People’s Republic of China to 

improve its protection of intellectual property rights, and for other purposes ...................................................................................................................... 135

Amendment to H. Res. 576 offered by the Honorable Mark Green, a Representative in Congress from the State of Wisconsin .................................... 142

H. Con. Res. 326, Expressing the sense of Congress regarding the arbitrary 

detention of Dr. Wang Bingzhang by the Government of the People’s Republic of China and urging his immediate release .................................................. 143

H. Con. Res. 336, Expressing the sense of Congress that the continued participation of the Russian Federation in the Group of 8 nations should be 

conditioned on the Russian Government voluntarily accepting and adhering 

to the norms and standards of democracy ......................................................... 149

H. Con. Res. 352, Recognizing the contributions of people of Indian origin 

to the United States and the benefits of working together with India towards promoting peace, prosperity, and freedom among all countries of 

the world ............................................................................................................... 154

H. Con. Res. 378, Calling on the Government of the Socialist Republic of 

Vietnam to immediately and unconditionally release Father Thaddeus 

Nguyen Van Ly, and for other purposes ............................................................ 158

H. Con. Res. 398, Expressing the concern of Congress over Iran’s development 

of the means to produce nuclear weapons ......................................................... 163

Page

IV

LETTERS, STATEMENTS, ETC., SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD 

The Honorable Henry J. Hyde, a Representative in Congress from the State 

of Illinois, and Chairman, Committee on International Relations: Prepared 

statement on H.R. 4060 ....................................................................................... 20

The Honorable Tom Lantos, a Representative in Congress from the State 

of California: Prepared statement on H.R. 4060 ............................................... 21

APPENDIX 

The Honorable James A. Leach: Prepared statement on H.R. 4011 ................... 179

The Honorable Dan Burton, a Representative in Congress from the State 

of Indiana: Prepared statement on H. Res. 402 ................................................ 180

The Honorable Jerry Weller: Prepared statement on H. Res. 535 ...................... 181

The Honorable Robert Menendez, a Representative in Congress from the 

State of New Jersey: Prepared statement on H. Res. 563 ................................ 182

The Honorable Sherrod Brown, a Representative in Congress from the State 

of Ohio: Prepared statement on H.R. 4019 ........................................................ 182

The Honorable Diane E. Watson, a Representative in Congress from the 

State of California: Prepared statement on H. Res. 576 ................................... 183

Letter submitted for the record from Marybeth Peters, Register of Copyrights, United States Copyright Office ........................................................... 185

(1)

THE PEACE CORPS SAFETY AND SECURITY ACT OF 2004; 

THE NORTH KOREA HUMAN RIGHTS ACT OF 2004; ASSISTANCE FOR ORPHANED AND VULNERABLE CHILDREN IN 

DEVELOPING COUNTRIES ACT OF 2004; PARTICIPATION OF 

TAIWAN IN THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION; THE U.S. 

INTERNATIONAL LEADERSHIP ACT OF 2003, AND OTHER 

PURPOSES; AND VARIOUS RESOLUTIONS AND CONCURRENT RESOLUTIONS 

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 31, 2004

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, COMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS, Washington, DC. 

The Committee met, pursuant to call, at 10:35 a.m. in Room 

2172, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Henry Hyde (Chairman 

of the Committee) presiding. 

Chairman HYDE. The Committee will come to order. We expect 

a vote about 11:00, so we are going to try to move along with dispatch as they say. 

First of all, I would like to welcome our newest Member, Ben 

Chandler, who was sworn in as a Member of the House this morning. I recognize Mr. Lantos to introduce Mr. Chandler and to say 

a few appropriate words. 

Mr. LANTOS. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Let me first 

express my deep appreciation to our colleague, Chris Bell, who did 

such a superb job as a Member of this Committee. 

Let me also express my delight and welcome to the newest Member of the House and the International Relations Committee, Congressman Ben Chandler of what he calls Versailles and I call 

Versailles, Kentucky. Ben was recently chosen by the voters of 

Kentucky in a special election to fill the seat of former Republican 

Congressman Ernie Fletcher. 

While we deeply admire your powerful leadership of this Committee, Mr. Chairman, we hope that this trend continues and Republican seats will be filled by Democratic Members on the House 

International Relations Committee. 

Prior to his election to Congress, Ben was elected to two terms 

as Kentucky’s Attorney General. He previously served a 4-year 

term as Kentucky State Auditor, where he developed a reputation 

as a strong fighter against government waste and corruption, and 

we welcome his achievements. 

We are pleased to have him as the newest Member of our Committee, and I hope all of my colleagues will join me in saying we 

are delighted to have you. [Applause.] 

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Chairman HYDE. Thank you. 

2

While we are in a celebratory mood, I would like to express the 

Committee’s appreciation and recognize the fine work of Joe Painter, who is retiring today after 5 years with the Committee. [Applause.] 

Pursuant to notice, I now call up H.R. 4060, the Peace Corps 

Safety and Security Act of 2004, for purposes of markup and move 

its favorable recommendation to the House. 

Without objection, the bill will be considered read and open for 

amendment at any point, and the Chair yields himself 5 minutes 

for the purposes of a statement. 

[H.R. 4060 follows:]

3


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2

H.L.C.

1 SEC. 2. OMBUDSMAN OF THE PEACE CORPS.

2 The Peace Corps Act (22 U.S.C. 2501 et seq.) is

3 amended by inserting after section 4 the following new

4 section:

5 ‘‘SEC. 4A. OMBUDSMAN OF THE PEACE CORPS.

6 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the

7 Peace Corps the Office of the Ombudsman of the Peace

8 Corps (hereinafter in this section referred to as the ‘Of9 fice’). The Office shall be headed by the Ombudsman of

10 the Peace Corps (hereinafter in this section referred to

11 as the ‘Ombudsman’), who shall be appointed by and re12 port directly to the Director of the Peace Corps.

13 ‘‘(b) VOLUNTEER COMPLAINTS AND OTHER MAT14 TERS.—The Ombudsman shall receive and, as appro15 priate, inquire into complaints, questions, or concerns sub16 mitted by current or former volunteers regarding services

17 or support provided by the Peace Corps to its volunteers,

18 including matters pertaining to—

19 ‘‘(1) the safety and security of volunteers;

20 ‘‘(2) due process, including processes relating to sepa21 ration from the Peace Corps;

22 ‘‘(3) benefits and assistance that may be due to cur23 rent or former volunteers;

24 ‘‘(4) medical or other health-related assistance; and

25 ‘‘(5) access to files and records of current or former

26 volunteers.


92867a.AAC
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H.L.C.

1 ‘‘(c) EMPLOYEE COMPLAINTS AND OTHER MAT2 TERS.—The Ombudsman shall receive and, as appro3 priate, inquire into complaints, questions, or concerns sub4 mitted by current or former employees of the Peace Corps

5 on any matters of grievance.

6 ‘‘(d) ADDITIONAL DUTIES.—The Ombudsman

7 shall—

8 ‘‘(1) recommend responses to individual matters

9 received under subsections (b) and (c);

10 ‘‘(2) make recommendations for administrative

11 or regulatory adjustments to address recurring prob12 lems or other difficulties of the Peace Corps;

13 ‘‘(3) identify systemic issues that relate to the

14 practices, policies, and administrative procedures of

15 the Peace Corps affecting volunteers and employees;

16 and

17 ‘‘(4) call attention to problems not yet ade18 quately considered by the Peace Corps.

19 ‘‘(e) STANDARDS OF OPERATION.—The Ombudsman

20 shall carry out the duties under this section in a manner

21 that is—

22 ‘‘(1) independent, impartial in the conduct of

23 inquiries, and confidential; and

24 ‘‘(2) consistent with the revised Standards for

25 the Establishment and Operation of Ombudsman


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4

H.L.C.

1 Offices (August 2003) as endorsed by the American

2 Bar Association.

3 ‘‘(f) INVOLVEMENT IN MATTERS SUBJECT TO ONGO4 ING ADJUDICATION, LITIGATION, OR INVESTIGATION.—

5 The Ombudsman shall refrain from any involvement in the

6 merits of individual matters that are the subject of ongo7 ing adjudication or litigation, or investigations related to

8 such adjudication or litigation.

9 ‘‘(g) REPORTS.—

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after

11 the date of the enactment of this section, and semiannu12 ally thereafter, the Ombudsman shall submit to the Direc13 tor of the Peace Corps, the Chair of the Peace Corps Na14 tional Advisory Council, and Congress a report containing

15 a summary of—

16 ‘‘(A) the complaints, questions, and concerns

17 considered by the Ombudsman;

18 ‘‘(B) the inquiries completed by the Ombuds19 man;

20 ‘‘(C) recommendations for action with respect

21 to such complaints, questions, concerns, or inquiries;

22 and

23 ‘‘(D) any other matters that the Ombudsman

24 considers relevant.


92867a.AAE
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5

H.L.C.

1 ‘‘(2) CONFIDENTIALITY.—Each report submitted

2 under paragraph (1) shall maintain confidentiality on any

3 matter that the Ombudsman considers appropriate in ac4 cordance with subsection (e).

5 ‘‘(h) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘em6 ployee’ means an employee of the Peace Corps, an em7 ployee of the Office of Inspector General of the Peace

8 Corps, an individual appointed or assigned under the For9 eign Service Act of 1980 (22 U.S.C. 3901 et seq.) to carry

10 out functions under this Act, or an individual subject to

11 a personal services contract with the Peace Corps.’’.

12 SEC. 3. OFFICE OF SAFETY AND SECURITY OF THE PEACE

13 CORPS.

14 The Peace Corps Act (22 U.S.C. 2501 et seq.), as

15 amended by section 2 of this Act, is further amended by

16 inserting after section 4A the following new section:

17 ‘‘SEC. 4B. OFFICE OF SAFETY AND SECURITY OF THE

18 PEACE CORPS.

19 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the

20 Peace Corps the Office of Safety and Security of the Peace

21 Corps (hereinafter in this section referred to as the ‘Of22 fice’). The Office shall be headed by the Associate Director

23 of Safety and Security of the Peace Corps, who shall be

24 appointed by and report directly to the Director of the

25 Peace Corps.


92867a.AAF
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6

H.L.C.

1 ‘‘(b) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The Office established

2 under subsection (a) shall be responsible for all safety and

3 security activities of the Peace Corps, including back4 ground checks of volunteers and staff, safety and security

5 of volunteers and staff (including training), safety and se6 curity of facilities, security of information technology, and

7 other responsibilities as required by the Director.

8 ‘‘(c) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con9 gress that—

10 ‘‘(1) the Associate Director of Safety and Secu11 rity of the Peace Corps, as appointed pursuant to

12 subsection (a) of this section, should assign a Peace

13 Corps country security coordinator for each country

14 where the Peace Corps has a program of volunteer

15 service for the purposes of carrying out the field re16 sponsibilities of the Office established under sub17 section (a); and

18 ‘‘(2) each country security coordinator—

19 ‘‘(A) should be under the supervision of

20 the Peace Corps country director in each such

21 country;

22 ‘‘(B) should report directly to the Asso23 ciate Director of Safety and Security of the

24 Peace Corps, as appointed pursuant to sub25 section (a) of this section, on all matters of imVerDate Mar 21 2002 15:47 Jul 19, 2004 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 F:\WORK\FULL\M033104\92867.000 HINTREL1 PsN: SHIRL

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H.L.C.

1 portance as the country security coordinator

2 considers necessary;

3 ‘‘(C) should be responsible for coordinating

4 with the regional security officer of the Peace

5 Corps responsible for the country to which such

6 country security officer is assigned; and

7 ‘‘(D) should be a United States citizen who

8 has access to information, including classified

9 information, relating to the possible threats

10 against Peace Corps volunteers.’’.

11 SEC. 4. OFFICE OF MEDICAL SERVICES OF THE PEACE

12 CORPS.

13 (a) REPORT ON MEDICAL SCREENING AND PLACE14 MENT COORDINATION.—Not later than 120 days after the

15 date of the enactment of this Act, the Director of the

16 Peace Corps shall submit to the appropriate congressional

17 committees a report that—

18 (1) describes the medical screening procedures

19 and guidelines used by the office responsible for

20 medical services of the Peace Corps to determine

21 whether an applicant for Peace Corps service has

22 worldwide clearance, limited clearance, a deferral pe23 riod, or is not medically, including psychologically,

24 qualified to serve in the Peace Corps as a volunteer;


92867a.AAH
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H.L.C.

1 (2) describes the procedures and guidelines

2 used by the Peace Corps to ensure that applicants

3 for Peace Corps service are matched with a host

4 country where the applicant, reasonable accommoda5 tions notwithstanding, can complete at least two

6 years of volunteer service without interruption due

7 to foreseeable medical conditions; and

8 (3) with respect to each of the fiscal years 2000

9 through 2003 and the first six months of fiscal year

10 2004, states the number of—

11 (A) medical screenings of applicants con12 ducted;

13 (B) applicants who have received world14 wide clearance, limited clearance, deferral peri15 ods, and medical disqualifications to serve;

16 (C) appeals to the Medical Screening Re17 view Board of the Peace Corps and the number

18 of times that an initial screening decision was

19 upheld;

20 (D) requests to the head of the office re21 sponsible for medical services of the Peace

22 Corps for reconsideration of a decision of the

23 Medical Screening Review Board and the num24 ber of times that the decision of the Medical


92867a.AAI
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H.L.C.

1 Screening Review Board was upheld by the

2 head of such office;

3 (E) Peace Corps volunteers who became

4 medically qualified to serve because of a deci5 sion of the Medical Screening Review Board

6 and who were later evacuated or terminated

7 their service early due to medical reasons;

8 (F) Peace Corps volunteers who became

9 medically qualified to serve because of a deci10 sion of the head of the office responsible for

11 medical services of the Peace Corps and who

12 were later evacuated or terminated their service

13 early due to medical reasons;

14 (G) Peace Corps volunteers who the agency

15 has had to separate from service due to the dis16 covery of undisclosed medical information; and

17 (H) Peace Corps volunteers who have ter18 minated their service early due to medical, in19 cluding psychological, reasons.

20 (b) DEFINITION.—In subsection (a), the term ‘‘ap21 propriate congressional committees’’ means the Com22 mittee on International Relations of the House of Rep23 resentatives and the Committee on Foreign Relations of

24 the Senate.


92867a.AAJ
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10

H.L.C.

1 (c) FULL TIME DIRECTOR OF MEDICAL SERVICES.—

2 Section 4(c) of the Peace Corps Act (22 U.S.C. 2503(c))

3 is amended by adding at the end the following new para4 graph:

5 ‘‘(5) The Director of the Peace Corps shall en6 sure that the head of the office responsible for med7 ical services of the Peace Corps does not occupy any

8 other position in the Peace Corps.’’.

9 SEC. 5. REPORTS ON THE ‘‘FIVE YEAR RULE’’ AND ON WORK

10 ASSIGNMENTS OF VOLUNTEERS OF THE

11 PEACE CORPS.

12 (a) REPORT BY THE COMPTROLLER GENERAL.—

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year

14 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Comp15 troller General shall submit to the appropriate con16 gressional committees a report on the effects of the

17 limitation on the duration of employment, appoint18 ment, or assignment of officers and employees of the

19 Peace Corps under section 7 of the Peace Corps Act

20 (22 U.S.C. 2506) on the ability of the Peace Corps

21 to effectively manage Peace Corps operations.

22 (2) CONTENTS.—The report described in para23 graph (1) shall include—

24 (A) a description of such limitation;


92867a.AAK
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H.L.C.

1 (B) a description of the history of such

2 limitation and the purposes for which it was en3 acted and amended;

4 (C) an analysis of the impact of such limi5 tation on the ability of the Peace Corps to re6 cruit capable volunteers, establish productive

7 and worthwhile assignments for volunteers, pro8 vide for the health, safety, and security of vol9 unteers, and, as declared in section 2(a) of the

10 Peace Corps Act (22 U.S.C. 2501(a)), ‘‘pro11 mote a better understanding of the American

12 people on the part of the peoples served and a

13 better understanding of other peoples on the

14 part of the American people’’;

15 (D) an assessment of whether the applica16 tion of such limitation has accomplished the ob17 jectives for which it was intended; and

18 (E) recommendations, if any, for legisla19 tion to amend provisions of the Peace Corps

20 Act relating to such limitation.

21 (b) REPORT ON WORK ASSIGNMENTS OF VOLUN22 TEERS.—

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days

24 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Di25 rector of the Peace Corps shall submit to the approVerDate Mar 21 2002 15:47 Jul 19, 2004 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00017 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 F:\WORK\FULL\M033104\92867.000 HINTREL1 PsN: SHIRL

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H.L.C.

1 priate congressional committees a report on the ex2 tent to which the work assignments of Peace Corps

3 volunteers fulfill the commitment of the Peace Corps

4 to ensuring that such assignments are well devel5 oped, with clear roles and expectations, and that vol6 unteers are well-suited for their assignments.

7 (2) CONTENTS.—The report described in para8 graph (1) shall include—

9 (A) an assessment of the extent to which

10 agreements between the Peace Corps and host

11 countries delineate clear roles for volunteers in

12 assisting host governments to advance their na13 tional development strategies;

14 (B) an assessment of the extent to which

15 the Peace Corps recruits volunteers who have

16 skills that correlate with the expectations cited

17 in the country agreements and assigns such vol18 unteers to such posts;

19 (C) a description of procedures for deter20 mining volunteer work assignments and min21 imum standards for such assignments;

22 (D) a volunteer survey on health, safety,

23 and security issues as well as satisfaction sur24 veys which will have been conducted after the

25 date of the enactment of this Act; and


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H.L.C.

1 (E) an assessment of the plan of the Peace

2 Corps to increase the number of volunteers who

3 are assigned to projects in sub-Saharan Africa,

4 Asia, and the Western Hemisphere, particularly

5 among communities of African descent within

6 countries in the Western Hemisphere, which

7 help combat HIV/AIDS and other global infec8 tious diseases.

9 (c) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘appro10 priate congressional committees’’ means the Committee on

11 International Relations of the House of Representatives

12 and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate.

13 SEC. 6. INSPECTOR GENERAL OF THE PEACE CORPS.

14 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF INDEPENDENT INSPECTOR

15 GENERAL.—

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Inspector General Act

17 of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended—

18 (A) in section 8G(a)(2), by striking ‘‘, the

19 Peace Corps’’;

20 (B) in section 9(a)(1), by adding at the

21 end the following new subparagraph:

22 ‘‘(X) of the Peace Corps, the office of that

23 agency referred to as the ‘Office of Inspector

24 General’; and’’; and

25 (C) in section 11—


92867a.AAN
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14

H.L.C.

1 (i) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘or

2 the Office of Personnel Management’’ and

3 inserting ‘‘the Office of Personnel Manage4 ment, or the Peace Corps’’; and

5 (ii) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘,

6 the Peace Corps’’ after ‘‘the Office of Per7 sonnel Management’’.

8 (2) TECHNICAL AMENDMENT.—Section

9 9(a)(1)(U) of the Inspector General Act of 1978 (5

10 U.S.C. App.) is amended by striking ‘‘and’’ at the

11 end.

12 (b) TEMPORARY APPOINTMENT.—The Director of

13 the Peace Corps may appoint an individual to assume the

14 powers and duties of the Inspector General of the Peace

15 Corps under the Inspector General Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C.

16 App.) on an interim basis until such time as a person is

17 appointed by the President, by and with the advice and

18 consent of the Senate, pursuant to the amendments made

19 in this section.

20 (c) EXEMPTION FROM EMPLOYMENT TERM LIMITS

21 UNDER THE PEACE CORPS ACT.—

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 7 of the Peace

23 Corps Act (22 U.S.C. 2506) is amended—

24 (A) by redesignating subsection (c) as sub25 section (b); and


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H.L.C.

1 (B) by adding at the end the following new

2 subsection:

3 ‘‘(c) The provisions of this section that limit the dura4 tion of service, appointment, or assignment of individuals

5 shall not apply to—

6 ‘‘(1) the Inspector General of the Peace Corps;

7 ‘‘(2) officers of the Office of the Inspector Gen8 eral of the Peace Corps;

9 ‘‘(3) any individual whose official duties pri10 marily include the safety and security of Peace

11 Corps volunteers or employees;

12 ‘‘(4) the head of the office responsible for med13 ical services of the Peace Corps; or

14 ‘‘(5) any health care professional within the of15 fice responsible for medical services of the Peace

16 Corps.’’.

17 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The first pro18 viso of section 15(d)(4) of the Peace Corps Act (22

19 U.S.C. 2514(d)(4)) is amended by striking ‘‘7(c)’’

20 and inserting ‘‘7(b)’’.

21 (d) COMPENSATION.—Section 7 of the Peace Corps

22 Act (22 U.S.C. 2506), as amended by subsection (c) of

23 this section, is further amended by adding at the end the

24 following new subsection:


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H.L.C.

1 ‘‘(d) The Inspector General of the Peace Corps shall

2 be compensated at the rate provided for level IV of the

3 Executive Schedule under section 5315 of title 5, United

4 States Code.’’.


92867a.AAQ
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Chairman HYDE. The Members of this Committee received testimony last week at an important oversight hearing on the Peace 

Corps and heard about some of the past problems and current challenges of the Peace Corps which it faces as it expands the number 

of volunteers around the world, while at the same time taking into 

account the changed circumstances for American citizens living 

abroad during the post September 11th period. 

We are supporters of the Peace Corps and admirers of their sacrifice and of the important work they do. We want to ensure that 

the Peace Corps has the necessary procedures in place to protect 

our Nation’s sons and daughters or parents or grandparents who 

dedicate 2 years of their lives to improving the circumstances of the 

people of the developing world. 

Last week, we inquired into the adequacy of safety and security 

practices that will govern volunteers’ assignments in the more dangerous places around the world. We found that, in Bolivia in 2001, 

the Peace Corps did not have in place the necessary management 

procedures to monitor to account for a missing volunteer named 

Walter Poirier. We found that the Poirier family of Lowell, Massachusetts had to notify the Peace Corps that their son was missing. 

We understand, through the careful eye of the General Accounting Office, that the Peace Corps has taken important steps to remedy some of these problems, but still has room for improvement. 

H.R. 4060 is intended to prepare the Peace Corps for expansion 

in a more dangerous world, and it makes a number of important 

changes to the Peace Corps Act. The legislation creates the position 

of Ombudsman to receive and inquire into complaints, questions, or 

concerns raised by current or former volunteers or employees regarding services or support provided by the Peace Corps. 

The legislation statutorily creates an Office of Safety and Security within the Peace Corps, to be headed by an Associate Director 

of Safety and Security, who shall be responsible for all safety and 

security activities of the Peace Corps. 

The bill requires a report on the medical screening procedures 

and guidelines used by the Peace Corps to determine whether an 

applicant is medically and psychologically qualified to serve in the 

Peace Corps as a volunteer. 

The legislation also requires a report by the Comptroller General 

on the ‘‘5-year rule’’ which was cited by the GAO in previous reports as one of the reasons for an unacceptably high degree of staff 

turnover and loss of institutional memory, especially on safety and 

security matters. 

The legislation also creates a more independent Inspector General of the Peace Corps, exempting that individual and the staff of 

the IG from the 5-year rule and creating more accountable oversight by this Committee through the increased access to information from the IG on all matters relating to the management of the 

Peace Corps. 

This legislation responds to the concerns addressed by our witnesses last week, and also responds to the concerns raised by current and former volunteers who have contacted our Committee to 

discuss their experience with the Peace Corps. 

20

I seek your support for this important legislation and now recognize my friend and colleague, the distinguished Ranking Member 

from California, Mr. Lantos. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Hyde follows:]

PREPARED STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE HENRY J. HYDE, A REPRESENTATIVE IN

CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, AND CHAIRMAN, COMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

Now the Committee will consider H.R. 4060, the ‘‘Health, Safety, and Security of 

Peace Corps Volunteers Act of 2004.’’ The members of this Committee received testimony last week at an important oversight hearing on the Peace Corps and heard 

about some of the past problems and current challenges the Peace Corps faces as 

it expands the number of volunteers around the world, while at the same time taking into account the changed circumstances for American citizens living abroad during the post-September 11th period. 

We are supporters of the Peace Corps and admirers of their sacrifice and of the 

important work they do. We want to ensure that the Peace Corps has the necessary 

procedures in place to protect our Nation’s sons and daughters . . . or parents, or 

grandparents . . . who dedicate two years of their lives to improving the circumstances of the peoples of the developing world. 

Last week, we inquired into the adequacy of safety and security practices that will 

govern volunteers’ assignments in the more dangerous places around the world. We 

found that, in Bolivia in 2001, the Peace Corps did not have in place the necessary 

management procedures to monitor or account for a missing volunteer named Walter Poirier. We found that the Poirier Family of Lowell, Massachusetts had to notify 

the Peace Corps that their son was missing. We understand, through the careful eye 

of the General Accounting Office, that the Peace Corps has taken important steps 

to remedy some of these problems, but still has room for improvement. 

H.R. 4060 is intended to prepare the Peace Corps for expansion in a more dangerous world. The bill makes a number of important changes to the Peace Corps 

Act. 

The legislation creates the position of Ombudsman to receive and inquire into 

complaints, questions, or concerns raised by current or former volunteers or employees regarding services or support provided by the Peace Corps. 

The legislation statutorily creates an Office of Safety and Security within the 

Peace Corps, to be headed by an Associate Director for Safety and Security, who 

shall be responsible for all safety and security activities of the Peace Corps. 

This bill requires a report on the medical screening procedures and guidelines 

used by the Peace Corps to determine whether an applicant is medically and psychologically qualified to serve in the Peace Corps as a volunteer. 

The legislation also requires a report by the Comptroller General on the ‘‘five year 

rule,’’ which was cited by the GAO in previous reports as one of the reasons for an 

unacceptably high degree of staff turnover and loss of institutional memory, especially on safety and security matters. 

The legislation also creates a more independent Inspector General of the Peace 

Corps, exempting that individual and the staff of the I.G. from the five-year rule 

and creating more accountable oversight by this Committee through the increased 

access to information from the IG on all matters relating to the management of the 

Peace Corps. 

This legislation responds to the concerns addressed by our witnesses last week, 

and also responds to the concerns raised by current and former volunteers who have 

contacted the Committee to discuss their experience with the Peace Corps. 

I seek your support for this important legislation, and now recognize my friend 

and colleague, the distinguished ranking member from California, Tom Lantos.

Mr. LANTOS. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. I have an extensive prepared statement. I ask unanimous consent to submit 

that for the record. 

Chairman HYDE. Without objection. So ordered. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Lantos follows:]

21

PREPARED STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE TOM LANTOS, A REPRESENTATIVE IN

CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

H.R. 4060

Mr. Chairman, I first want to thank you for your strong interest in the Peace 

Corps, its nearly 8,000 volunteers, and the larger Peace Corps community. The 

thoughtful attention that this Committee had lent to the Peace Corps Expansion Act 

of 2003 continued last week during our Full Committee hearing on safety and security issues within the Peace Corps, and is evident in today’s consideration of this 

bill. 

As you know, Mr. Chairman, last year’s Peace Corps Expansion Act authorized 

appropriations for the Peace Corps for five years and developed at least three fundamental elements for ensuring that the doubling of the Peace Corps is focused properly. 

Mr. Chairman, while these accomplishments are significant—and a testament to 

the ability of this Committee to influence positively an agency’s operations even 

without an enacted Peace Corps reauthorization—much more can be done to improve the health, safety, and security of Peace Corps volunteers, as our hearing last 

week demonstrated. 

According to the representative from the General Accounting Office, the Peace 

Corps is still not capturing fully the extent of crime against volunteers due to 

under-reporting by the volunteers themselves for a host of reasons, including a belief that the agency lacks the capacity or willingness to help. 

The GAO and the other witnesses also testified that the lack of well developed 

assignments discourage volunteers from adequately immersing themselves in their 

host communities and thereby benefiting from the protections afforded to members 

of these villages and towns. 

Finally, the witnesses noted that administrative impediments, such as limitations 

on terms of employment within the Peace Corps and worrisome changes within the 

Office of Medical Services, constrain Peace Corps employees from providing the best 

support possible to volunteers. 

Mr. Chairman, the bill that we are considering today addresses these issues by 

establishing an Ombudsman within the agency to listen and attend to volunteer and 

employee concerns, by increasing the independence of the Inspector General of the 

Peace Corps to strengthen his ability to act as watchdog on behalf of volunteers, 

by requiring the agency to study and report to us on how it can improve programming for volunteers, and lastly by lifting the term limits for key offices within the 

agency. 

I strongly support all of these provisions. 

Mr. Chairman, we must not lose sight of the fact that Peace Corps volunteers for 

over forty years have been doing an extraordinary job as our development ambassadors to the most remote corners of this earth. And they have been doing their jobs 

under difficult and, at times, risky conditions—although not riskier than working 

in many urban settings in this country, including Dayton, Ohio. 

As we consider measures to improve the health, safety, and security of our volunteers, we must be careful not to forge impenetrable shields around our volunteers 

which will make it harder for them to reach the young English student in 

Kazakhstan or the women’s cooperative in Peru, or they the volunteers. 

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Chairman, we think your legislation is eminently sound, long overdue, and on our side we are delighted to 

support it. 

Chairman HYDE. Thank you, Mr. Lantos. 

Is there any further discussion? 

[No response.] 

Chairman HYDE. Are there any amendments? 

[No response.] 

Chairman HYDE. If not, the question occurs on the motion to report H.R. 4060 favorably. All in favor say aye. 

[Chorus of ayes.] 

Chairman HYDE. Opposed, no. 

[No response.] 

22

Chairman HYDE. The ayes have it. The motion to report favorably is adopted, and without objection the Chairman is authorized 

to move to go to conference pursuant to House Rule XXII. Without 

objection, staff is directed to make any technical and conforming 

changes. 

It is the intention of the Chair to process the rest of the Committee’s agenda with two separate unanimous consent requests. I will 

request unanimous consent to report favorably two bills en block 

upon which reports are necessary due to additional referrals by the 

Speaker or the importance of having legislative history. Amendments which the Members have before them on these bills will be 

deemed adopted. 

I then intend to ask unanimous consent that the Committee authorize the Chair to seek consideration of the rest of the bills on 

the agenda under suspension of the rules with amendments which 

the Members have before them deemed adopted. Any Member who 

has a written statement on any of these matters will be authorized 

to put it in the record. 

Without objection, the following bills are ordered favorably reported to the House, and the proposed amendments to any of these 

bills which the Members have before them will be deemed adopted: 

H.R. 4011, the North Korea Human Rights Act of 2004, as amended, and H.R. 4061, Assistance for Orphaned and Vulnerable Children in Developing Countries Act of 2004. 

[H.R. 4011, amendment offered by Mr. Leach and H.R. 4061 follow:]

23

1

I

108TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4011

To promote human rights and freedom in the Democratic People’s Republic

of Korea, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 23, 2004

Mr. LEACH (for himself, Mr. LANTOS, Mr. COX, Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA, Mr.

SMITH of New Jersey, Mr. BERMAN, Mr. ROYCE, Mr. ACKERMAN, and

Mr. CHABOT) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on International Relations, and in addition to the Committee

on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the

Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within

the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

A BILL

To promote human rights and freedom in the Democratic

People’s Republic of Korea, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘North Korean Human

5 Rights Act of 2004’’.

6 SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS.

7 The table of contents for this Act is as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title.

Sec. 2. Table of contents.


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Sec. 3. Findings.

Sec. 4. Purposes.

Sec. 5. Definitions.

TITLE I—PROMOTING THE HUMAN RIGHTS OF NORTH KOREANS

Sec. 101. Sense of congress regarding negotiations with North Korea.

Sec. 102. Support for human rights and democracy programs.

Sec. 103. Radio broadcasting to North Korea.

Sec. 104. Actions to promote freedom of information.

Sec. 105. United Nations Commission on Human Rights.

TITLE II—ASSISTING NORTH KOREANS IN NEED

Sec. 201. Report on United States humanitarian assistance.

Sec. 202. Assistance provided inside North Korea.

Sec. 203. Assistance provided outside of North Korea.

TITLE III—PROTECTING NORTH KOREAN REFUGEES

Sec. 301. United States policy toward refugees and defectors.

Sec. 302. Eligibility for refugee or asylum consideration.

Sec. 303. Refugee status.

Sec. 304. Pursuit of first asylum policy.

Sec. 305. United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

Sec. 306. Humanitarian parole.

Sec. 307. North Korean status adjustment.

Sec. 308. Temporary protected status.

Sec. 309. Right to accept employment.

Sec. 310. Annual reports.

1 SEC. 3. FINDINGS.

2 Congress makes the following findings:

3 (1) According to the Department of State, the

4 Government of North Korea is ‘‘a dictatorship under

5 the absolute rule of Kim Jong Il’’ that continues to

6 commit numerous, serious human rights abuses.

7 (2) The Government of North Korea attempts

8 to control all information, artistic expression, aca9 demic works, and media activity inside North Korea

10 and strictly curtails freedom of speech and access to

11 foreign broadcasts.


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1 (3) The Government of North Korea subjects

2 all its citizens to systematic, intensive political and

3 ideological indoctrination in support of the cult of

4 personality glorifying Kim Jong Il and the late Kim

5 Il Sung that approaches the level of a state religion.

6 (4) The Government of North Korea divides its

7 population into categories, based on perceived loyalty

8 to the leadership, which determines access to em9 ployment, higher education, place of residence, med10 ical facilities, and other resources.

11 (5) According to the Department of State,

12 ‘‘[t]he [North Korean] Penal Code is [d]raconian,

13 stipulating capital punishment and confiscation of

14 assets for a wide variety of ‘crimes against the revo15 lution,’ including defection, attempted defection,

16 slander of the policies of the Party or State, listen17 ing to foreign broadcasts, writing ‘reactionary’ let18 ters, and possessing reactionary printed matter’’.

19 (6) The Government of North Korea executes

20 political prisoners, opponents of the regime, some re21 patriated defectors, some members of underground

22 churches, and others, sometimes at public meetings

23 attended by workers, students, and schoolchildren.

24 (7) The Government of North Korea holds an

25 estimated 200,000 political prisoners in camps that


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•HR 4011 IH

1 its State Security Agency manages through the use

2 of forced labor, beatings, torture, and executions,

3 and in which many prisoners also die from disease,

4 starvation, and exposure.

5 (8) According to eyewitness testimony provided

6 to the United States Congress by North Korean

7 camp survivors, camp inmates have been used as

8 sources of slave labor for the production of export

9 goods, as targets for martial arts practice, and as

10 experimental victims in the testing of chemical and

11 biological poisons.

12 (9) According to credible reports, including eye13 witness testimony provided to the United States

14 Congress, North Korean Government officials pro15 hibit live births in prison camps, and forced abortion

16 and the killing of newborn babies are standard pris17 on practices.

18 (10) According to the Department of State,

19 ‘‘[g]enuine religious freedom does not exist in North

20 Korea’’ and, according to the United States Com21 mission on International Religious Freedom, ‘‘[t]he

22 North Korean state severely represses public and

23 private religious activities’’ with penalties that re24 portedly include arrest, imprisonment, torture, and

25 sometimes execution.


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•HR 4011 IH

1 (11) More than 2,000,000 North Koreans are

2 estimated to have died of starvation since the early

3 1990s because of the failure of the centralized agri4 cultural and public distribution systems operated by

5 the Government of North Korea.

6 (12) According to a 2002 United Nations-Euro7 pean Union survey, nearly one out of every ten chil8 dren in North Korea suffers from acute malnutrition

9 and four out of every ten children in North Korea

10 are chronically malnourished.

11 (13) Since 1995, the United States has pro12 vided more than 2,000,000 tons of humanitarian

13 food assistance to the people of North Korea, pri14 marily through the World Food Program.

15 (14) Although United States food assistance

16 has undoubtedly saved many North Korean lives and

17 there have been minor improvements in transparency

18 relating to the distribution of such assistance in

19 North Korea, the Government of North Korea con20 tinues to deny the World Food Program forms of ac21 cess necessary to properly monitor the delivery of

22 food aid, including the ability to conduct random site

23 visits, the use of native Korean-speaking employees,

24 and travel access throughout North Korea.


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•HR 4011 IH

1 (15) The risk of starvation, the threat of perse2 cution, and the lack of freedom and opportunity in

3 North Korea have caused many thousands, perhaps

4 even hundreds of thousands, of North Koreans to

5 flee their homeland, primarily into China.

6 (16) North Korean women and girls, particu7 larly those who have fled into China, are at risk of

8 being kidnapped, trafficked, and sexually exploited

9 inside China, where many are sold as brides or con10 cubines, or forced to work as prostitutes.

11 (17) The Governments of China and North

12 Korea have been conducting aggressive campaigns to

13 locate North Koreans who are in China without per14 mission and to forcibly return them to North Korea,

15 where they routinely face torture and imprisonment,

16 and sometimes execution.

17 (18) Despite China’s obligations as a party to

18 the 1951 United Nations Convention Relating to the

19 Status of Refugees and the 1967 Protocol Relating

20 to the Status of Refugees China routinely classifies

21 North Koreans seeking asylum in China as mere

22 ‘‘economic migrants’’ and returns them to North

23 Korea without regard to the serious threat of perse24 cution they face upon their return.


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•HR 4011 IH

1 (19) The Government of China does not provide

2 North Koreans whose asylum requests are rejected

3 a right to have the rejection reviewed prior to depor4 tation despite the recommendations of the 1951

5 United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of

6 Refugees and the 1967 Protocol Relating to the Sta7 tus of Refugees that such a right be granted.

8 (20) North Koreans who seek asylum while in

9 China are routinely imprisoned and tortured, and in

10 some cases killed, after they are returned to North

11 Korea.

12 (21) The Government of China has detained,

13 convicted, and imprisoned foreign aid workers at14 tempting to assist North Korean refugees, including

15 the Reverend Choi Bong Il and Mr. Kim Hee Tae,

16 in proceedings that did not comply with Chinese law

17 or international standards.

18 (22) In January 2000, North Korean agents in19 side China allegedly abducted the Reverend Kim

20 Dong-shik, a United States permanent resident and

21 advocate for North Korean refugees, whose condition

22 and whereabouts remain unknown.

23 (23) Between 1994 and 2003, South Korea has

24 admitted approximately 3,800 North Korean refu25 gees for domestic resettlement, a number small in


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•HR 4011 IH

1 comparison with the total number of North Korean

2 escapees, but far greater than the number legally

3 admitted by any other country.

4 (24) Although the principal responsibility for

5 North Korean refugee resettlement naturally falls to

6 the Government of South Korea, the United States

7 should play a leadership role in focusing inter8 national attention on the plight of these refugees,

9 formulating international solutions to that profound

10 humanitarian dilemma, and making prudent ar11 rangements to accept a credible number of refugees

12 for domestic resettlement.

13 (25) In addition to infringing the rights of its

14 own citizens, the Government of North Korea has

15 been responsible in years past for the abduction of

16 numerous citizens of South Korea and Japan, whose

17 condition and whereabouts remain unknown.

18 SEC. 4. PURPOSES.

19 The purposes of this Act are—

20 (1) to promote respect for and protection of

21 fundamental human rights in North Korea;

22 (2) to promote a more durable humanitarian so23 lution to the plight of North Korean refugees;


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•HR 4011 IH

1 (3) to promote increased monitoring, access,

2 and transparency in the provision of humanitarian

3 assistance inside North Korea;

4 (4) to promote the free flow of information into

5 and out of North Korea; and

6 (4) to promote progress toward the peaceful re7 unification of the Korean peninsula under a demo8 cratic system of government.

9 SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.

10 In this Act:

11 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT12 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com13 mittees’’ means—

14 (A) the Committee on International Rela15 tions of the House of Representatives; and

16 (B) the Committee on Foreign Relations of

17 the Senate.

18 (2) CHINA.—The term ‘‘China’’ means the Peo19 ple’s Republic of China.

20 (3) HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE.—The term

21 ‘‘humanitarian assistance’’ means assistance to meet

22 humanitarian needs, including needs for food, medi23 cine, medical supplies, clothing, and shelter.

24 (4) NORTH KOREA.—The term ‘‘North Korea’’

25 means the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.


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•HR 4011 IH

1 (5) NORTH KOREANS.—The term ‘‘North Kore2 ans’’ means persons who are citizens or nationals of

3 North Korea.

4 (6) SOUTH KOREA.—The term ‘‘South Korea’’

5 means the Republic of Korea.

6 TITLE I—PROMOTING THE

7 HUMAN RIGHTS OF NORTH

8 KOREANS

9 SEC. 101. SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING NEGOTIATIONS

10 WITH NORTH KOREA.

11 It is the sense of Congress that the human rights of

12 North Koreans should remain a key concern in future ne13 gotiations between the United States, North Korea, and

14 other concerned parties in Northeast Asia.

15 SEC. 102. SUPPORT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS AND DEMOCRACY

16 PROGRAMS.

17 (a) SUPPORT.—The President is authorized to pro18 vide grants to private, nonprofit organizations to support

19 programs that promote human rights, democracy, rule of

20 law, and the development of a market economy in North

21 Korea.

22 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be

24 appropriated to the President $2,000,000 for each of


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•HR 4011 IH

1 the fiscal years 2005 through 2008 to carry out this

2 section.

3 (2) AVAILABILITY.—Amounts appropriated pur4 suant to the authorization of appropriations under

5 paragraph (1) are authorized to remain available

6 until expended.

7 SEC. 103. RADIO BROADCASTING TO NORTH KOREA.

8 (a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con9 gress that the United States should facilitate the

10 unhindered dissemination of information in North Korea

11 by increasing its support for radio broadcasting to North

12 Korea, and that the Broadcasting Board of Governors

13 should increase broadcasts to North Korea from current

14 levels, with a goal of providing 12-hour-per-day broad15 casting to North Korea, including broadcasts by Radio

16 Free Asia and Voice of America.

17 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 120 days after the date

18 of the enactment of this Act, the Broadcasting Board of

19 Governors shall submit to the appropriate congressional

20 committees a report that—

21 (1) describes the status of current United

22 States broadcasting to North Korea; and

23 (2) outlines a plan for increasing such broad24 casts to 12 hours per day, including a detailed deVerDate Mar 21 2002 15:47 Jul 19, 2004 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00037 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6601 F:\WORK\FULL\M033104\92867.000 HINTREL1 PsN: SHIRL

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1 scription of the technical and fiscal requirements

2 necessary to implement the plan.

3 SEC. 104. ACTIONS TO PROMOTE FREEDOM OF INFORMA4 TION.

5 (a) ACTIONS.—The President is authorized to take

6 such actions as may be necessary to increase the avail7 ability of information inside North Korea by increasing

8 the availability of sources of information not controlled by

9 the Government of North Korea, including sources such

10 as radios capable of receiving broadcasting from outside

11 North Korea.

12 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be

14 appropriated to the President $2,000,000 for each of

15 the fiscal years 2005 through 2008 to carry out sub16 section (a).

17 (2) AVAILABILITY.—Amounts appropriated pur18 suant to the authorization of appropriations under

19 paragraph (1) are authorized to remain available

20 until expended.

21 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date

22 of the enactment of this Act, and in each of the 3 years

23 thereafter, the Secretary of State, after consultation with

24 the heads of other appropriate Federal departments and

25 agencies, shall submit to the appropriate congressional


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1 committees a report, in classified form, on actions taken

2 pursuant to this section.

3 SEC. 105. UNITED NATIONS COMMISSION ON HUMAN

4 RIGHTS.

5 It is the sense of Congress that the United Nations

6 has a significant role to play in promoting and improving

7 human rights in North Korea, that the adoption by the

8 United Nations Commission on Human Rights of Resolu9 tion 2003/10 on the situation of human rights in North

10 Korea was a positive step, and that the severe human

11 rights violations within North Korea warrant—

12 (1) an additional country-specific resolution by

13 the United Nations Commission on Human Rights

14 that includes the language necessary to authorize

15 the appointment of a Special Rapporteur of the

16 United Nations Commission on Human Rights on

17 the situation of human rights in North Korea; and

18 (2) country-specific attention and reporting by

19 the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary

20 Detention, the Working Group on Enforced and In21 voluntary Disappearances, the Special Rapporteur

22 on Extrajudicial, Summary, or Arbitrary Executions,

23 the Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, the

24 Special Rapporteur on the Promotion and Protection

25 of the Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression,


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•HR 4011 IH

1 the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or

2 Belief, and the Special Rapporteur on Violence

3 Against Women.

4 TITLE II—ASSISTING NORTH

5 KOREANS IN NEED

6 SEC. 201. REPORT ON UNITED STATES HUMANITARIAN AS7 SISTANCE.

8 (a) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the date

9 of the enactment of this Act, and in each of the 2 years

10 thereafter, the Administrator of the United States Agency

11 for International Development, in conjunction with the

12 Secretary of State, shall submit to the appropriate con13 gressional committees a report that describes—

14 (1) all activities to provide humanitarian assist15 ance inside North Korea, and to North Koreans out16 side of North Korea, that receive United States

17 funding;

18 (2) any improvements in humanitarian trans19 parency, monitoring, and access inside North Korea

20 during the previous 1-year period, including progress

21 toward meeting the conditions identified in para22 graphs (1) through (4) of section 202(b); and

23 (3) specific efforts to secure improved humani24 tarian transparency, monitoring, and access inside

25 North Korea made by the United States and United


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1 States grantees, including the World Food Program,

2 during the previous 1-year period.

3 (b) FORM.—The information required by subsection

4 (a)(1) may be provided in classified form if necessary.

5 SEC. 202. ASSISTANCE PROVIDED INSIDE NORTH KOREA.

6 (a) HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE THROUGH NON7 GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS.—

8 (1) ASSISTANCE.—The President is authorized

9 to provide assistance, including in the form of

10 grants, to the World Food Program and to United

11 States nongovernmental organizations for the pur12 pose of providing humanitarian assistance to North

13 Koreans inside North Korea.

14 (2) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of

15 Congress that significant increases above current

16 levels of United States support for humanitarian as17 sistance provided inside North Korea should be con18 ditioned upon substantial improvements in trans19 parency, monitoring, and access to vulnerable popu20 lations throughout North Korea, and that significant

21 improvements in those areas therefore would be re22 quired to justify appropriation and obligation of the

23 full amounts authorized to be appropriated by this

24 subsection.

25 (3) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—


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•HR 4011 IH

1 (A) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to

2 be appropriated to the President not less than

3 $100,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2005

4 through 2008 to carry out this subsection.

5 (B) AVAILABILITY.—Amounts appro6 priated pursuant to the authorization of appro7 priations under subparagraph (A) are author8 ized to remain available until expended.

9 (b) HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE TO THE GOVERN10 MENT OF NORTH KOREA.—No department, agency, or en11 tity of the United States Government may provide human12 itarian assistance to any department, agency, or entity of

13 the Government of North Korea unless such United States

14 Government department, agency, or entity certifies in

15 writing to the appropriate congressional committees that

16 the Government of North Korea has taken steps to ensure

17 that—

18 (1) such assistance is delivered, distributed, and

19 monitored according to internationally recognized

20 humanitarian standards;

21 (2) such assistance is provided on a needs basis,

22 and is not used as a political reward or tool of coer23 cion;


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•HR 4011 IH

1 (3) such assistance reaches the intended bene2 ficiaries, who are informed of the source of the as3 sistance; and

4 (4) humanitarian access to all vulnerable

5 groups in North Korea is allowed, no matter where

6 in the country they may be located.

7 (c) NONHUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE TO THE GOV8 ERNMENT OF NORTH KOREA.—No department, agency,

9 or entity of the United States Government may provide

10 nonhumanitarian assistance to any department, agency, or

11 entity of the Government of North Korea unless such

12 United States Government department, agency, or entity

13 certifies in writing to the appropriate congressional com14 mittees that the Government of North Korea has made

15 substantial progress toward—

16 (1) respecting and protecting basic human

17 rights, including freedom of religion, of the people of

18 North Korea;

19 (2) providing for significant family reunification

20 between North Koreans and their descendants and

21 relatives in the United States;

22 (3) fully disclosing all information regarding

23 citizens of Japan and the Republic of Korea ab24 ducted by the Government of North Korea;


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1 (4) allowing such abductees, along with their

2 families, complete and genuine freedom to leave

3 North Korea and return to the abductees original

4 home countries;

5 (5) significantly reforming its prison and labor

6 camp system, and subjecting such reforms to inde7 pendent international monitoring; and

8 (6) decriminalizing political expression and ac9 tivity.

10 (d) WAIVER.—The President may waive the prohibi11 tion contained in subsection (b) or (c) if the President de12 termines that it is in the national security interest of the

13 United States to do so. Prior to exercising the waiver au14 thority contained in the preceding sentence, the President

15 shall transmit to the appropriate congressional committees

16 a report that contains the determination of the President

17 pursuant to the preceding sentence and a description of

18 the assistance to be provided.

19 SEC. 203. ASSISTANCE PROVIDED OUTSIDE OF NORTH

20 KOREA.

21 (a) ASSISTANCE.—The President is authorized to

22 provide assistance to support organizations or persons

23 that provide humanitarian assistance or legal assistance

24 to North Koreans who are outside of North Korea without

25 the permission of the Government of North Korea.


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1 (b) TYPES OF ASSISTANCE.—Assistance provided

2 under subsection (a) should be used to provide—

3 (1) humanitarian assistance to North Korean

4 refugees, defectors, migrants, and orphans outside of

5 North Korea, which may include support for refugee

6 camps or temporary settlements;

7 (2) legal assistance to North Koreans who are

8 seeking to apply for refugee status, asylum, parole,

9 or other similar forms of protection and resettle10 ment; and

11 (3) humanitarian assistance and legal assist12 ance to North Korean women outside of North

13 Korea who are victims of trafficking, as defined in

14 section 103(14) of the Trafficking Victims Protec15 tion Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7102(14)), or are in

16 danger of being trafficked.

17 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—In addition to funds other19 wise available for such purposes, there are author20 ized to be appropriated to the President

21 $20,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2005

22 through 2008 to carry out this section.

23 (2) AVAILABILITY.—Amounts appropriated pur24 suant to subsection (a) are authorized to remain

25 available until expended.


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1 TITLE III—PROTECTING NORTH

2 KOREAN REFUGEES

3 SEC. 301. UNITED STATES POLICY TOWARD REFUGEES AND

4 DEFECTORS.

5 (a) REPORT.—Not later than 120 days after the date

6 of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, in

7 cooperation with the Secretary of Homeland Security, the

8 Director of Central Intelligence, and the heads of other

9 appropriate Federal departments and agencies, shall sub10 mit to the appropriate congressional committees a report

11 in unclassified form that describes the situation of North

12 Korean refugees and explains United States Government

13 policy toward North Korean refugees and defectors.

14 (b) CONTENTS.—The report shall include—

15 (1) information on North Koreans currently

16 outside of North Korea without permission (includ17 ing refugees, defectors, and migrants), such as their

18 estimated numbers and the countries and regions in

19 which they are currently residing;

20 (2) an assessment of the circumstances facing

21 North Korean refugees and migrants in hiding, par22 ticularly in China, and of the circumstances they

23 face when forcibly returned to North Korea;

24 (3) an assessment of whether North Koreans in

25 China have effective access to personnel of the


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•HR 4011 IH

1 United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees,

2 and of whether the Government of China is fulfilling

3 its obligations under the 1951 Convention Relating

4 to the Status of Refugees, particularly Articles 31,

5 32, and 33 of such Convention;

6 (4) an assessment of whether North Koreans

7 presently have effective access to United States ref8 ugee and asylum processing, and of United States

9 policy toward North Koreans who may present

10 themselves at United States embassies or consulates

11 and request protection as refugees or asylum seekers

12 and resettlement in the United States;

13 (5) the total number of North Koreans who

14 have been admitted into the United States as refu15 gees or asylees in each of the past five years; and

16 (6) an estimate of the number of North Kore17 ans with family connections to United States citi18 zens.

19 SEC. 302. ELIGIBILITY FOR REFUGEE OR ASYLUM CONSID20 ERATION.

21 (a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to en22 sure that North Koreans are not barred from eligibility

23 for refugee status or asylum in the United States on ac24 count of any legal right to citizenship they may enjoy

25 under the Constitution of the Republic of Korea. It is not


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1 intended in any way to prejudice whatever rights to citi2 zenship North Koreans may enjoy under the Constitution

3 of the Republic of Korea.

4 (b) TREATMENT OF NATIONALS OF NORTH

5 KOREA.—For purposes of eligibility for refugee status

6 under section 207 of the Immigration and Nationality Act

7 (8 U.S.C. 1157), or for asylum under section 208 of such

8 Act (8 U.S.C. 1158), a national of the Democratic Peo9 ple’s Republic of Korea shall not be considered a national

10 of the Republic of Korea.

11 SEC. 303. REFUGEE STATUS.

12 The Secretary of State shall designate natives or citi13 zens of North Korea who apply for refugee status under

14 section 207 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8

15 U.S.C. 1157), and who are former political prisoners,

16 members of persecuted religious groups, forced-labor

17 conscripts, victims of debilitating malnutrition, persons

18 deprived of professional credentials or subjected to other

19 disproportionately harsh or discriminatory treatment re20 sulting from their perceived or actual political or religious

21 beliefs or activities, or others who appear to have a cred22 ible claim of other persecution, as a Priority 2 group of

23 special concern for purposes of refugee resettlement.


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1 SEC. 304. PURSUIT OF FIRST ASYLUM POLICY.

2 It is the sense of Congress that the United States

3 should pursue an international agreement to adopt an ef4 fective ‘‘first asylum’’ policy, modeled on the first asylum

5 policy for Vietnamese refugees, that guarantees safe haven

6 and assistance to North Korean refugees, until such time

7 as conditions in North Korea allow for their return.

8 SEC. 305. UNITED NATIONS HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REF9 UGEES.

10 (a) ACTIONS IN CHINA.—It is the sense of Congress

11 that—

12 (1) the Government of China has obligated

13 itself to provide the United Nations High Commis14 sioner for Refugees (UNHCR) with unimpeded ac15 cess to North Koreans inside its borders to enable

16 the UNHCR to determine whether they are refugees

17 and whether they require assistance, pursuant to the

18 1951 United Nations Convention Relating to the

19 Status of Refugees, the 1967 Protocol Relating to

20 the Status of Refugees, and Article III, paragraph

21 5 of the 1995 Agreement on the Upgrading of the

22 UNHCR Mission in the People’s Republic of China

23 to UNHCR Branch Office in the People’s Republic

24 of China (referred to in this section as the

25 ‘‘UNHCR Mission Agreement’’);


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1 (2) the UNHCR, in order to effectively carry

2 out its mandate to protect refugees, should liberally

3 employ as professionals or Experts on Mission per4 sons with significant experience in humanitarian as5 sistance work among displaced North Koreans in

6 China;

7 (3) the UNHCR, in order to effectively carry

8 out its mandate to protect refugees, should liberally

9 contract with appropriate nongovernmental organi10 zations that have a proven record of providing hu11 manitarian assistance to displaced North Koreans in

12 China; and

13 (4) should the Government of China begin ac14 tively fulfilling its obligations toward North Korean

15 refugees, all countries, including the United States,

16 and relevant international organizations should in17 crease levels of humanitarian assistance provided in18 side China to help defray costs associated with the

19 North Korean refugee presence.

20 (b) ARBITRATION PROCEEDINGS.—It is further the

21 sense of Congress that—

22 (1) if the Government of China continues to

23 refuse to provide the UNHCR with access to North

24 Koreans within its borders, the UNHCR should ini25 tiate arbitration proceedings pursuant to Article


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1 XVI of the UNHCR Mission Agreement and appoint

2 an arbitrator for the UNHCR; and

3 (2) because access to refugees is essential to the

4 UNHCR mandate and to the purpose of a UNHCR

5 branch office, a failure to assert those arbitration

6 rights in present circumstances would constitute a

7 significant abdication by the UNHCR of one of its

8 core responsibilities.

9 SEC. 306. HUMANITARIAN PAROLE.

10 (a) PREREQUISITES FOR ELIGIBILITY.—Because

11 North Korean refugees do not enjoy regular, unimpeded,

12 and effective access to the United States refugee

13 program—

14 (1) for purposes of section 212(d)(5)(A) of the

15 Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C.

16 1182(d)(5)(A)), the parole of any alien who is a na17 tive or citizen of North Korea seeking to enter the

18 United States, and who is a victim of North Korean

19 Government malfeasance, shall be considered to be

20 of significant public benefit; and

21 (2) for purposes of section 212(d)(5)(B) of the

22 Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C.

23 1182(d)(5)(B)), the parole of any alien who is a ref24 ugee and a native or citizen of North Korea seeking

25 to enter the United States, and who is a victim of


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1 North Korean Government malfeasance, shall be

2 considered to be for compelling reasons in the public

3 interest with respect to that particular alien.

4 (b) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this subsection, a

5 victim of North Korean Government malfeasance is a

6 former political prisoner, a member of a persecuted reli7 gious group, a forced-labor conscript, a victim of debili8 tating malnutrition, a person deprived of professional cre9 dentials or subjected to other disproportionately harsh or

10 discriminatory treatment resulting from his perceived or

11 actual political or religious beliefs or activities, or a person

12 who appears to have a credible claim of other persecution

13 by the Government of North Korea.

14 (c) DISCRETION.—Nothing in this section shall be

15 construed to prohibit the Secretary of Homeland Security

16 from establishing conditions for parole under section

17 212(d)(5) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8

18 U.S.C. 1182(d)(5)), or from denying parole to such aliens

19 who are otherwise ineligible for parole.

20 (d) LENGTH OF PAROLE.—

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding section

22 212(d)(5) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8

23 U.S.C. 1182(d)(5)), if parole is granted to an alien

24 who is a native or citizen of North Korea pursuant

25 to subsection (a), the parole shall be effective until


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1 the final resolution of any application for adjustment

2 of status made pursuant to section 204 of this Act.

3 (2) DENIAL OF ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS.—If

4 an application for adjustment of status made pursu5 ant to section 204 is denied, the Secretary of Home6 land Security may, in the discretion of the Sec7 retary, parole the alien described in paragraph (1)

8 pursuant to section 212(d)(5) of the Immigration

9 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(d)(5)).

10 (3) EXTENSION OF PAROLE PERIOD.—If no ap11 plication for adjustment of status is made pursuant

12 to section 204 within 18 months after parole is

13 granted to an alien described in paragraph (1), the

14 Secretary of Homeland Security may, in the discre15 tion of the Secretary, extend the parole period tem16 porarily under conditions that the Secretary pre17 scribes.

18 (4) NO GRANT OF PAROLE.—If parole is not

19 granted to an alien described in paragraph (2), the

20 alien shall be treated pursuant to section 212(d)(5)

21 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C.

22 1182(d)(5)) as if the purposes of the alien’s parole

23 have been served.

24 (5) TERMINATION OF PAROLE.—Notwith25 standing any other provision of this section, the paVerDate Mar 21 2002 15:47 Jul 19, 2004 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00053 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6601 F:\WORK\FULL\M033104\92867.000 HINTREL1 PsN: SHIRL

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1 role period of an alien described in paragraph (1)

2 shall terminate when the Secretary of State deter3 mines that—

4 (A) the human rights record of North

5 Korea, according to the Country Report on

6 Human Rights Practices issued by the Depart7 ment of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human

8 Rights, and Labor, is satisfactory; and

9 (B) North Korea is no longer on the list of

10 nations designated as State sponsors of ter11 rorism by the Secretary of State.

12 (e) SUBSEQUENT REMOVAL PROCEEDINGS.—Noth13 ing in this section shall be construed to prohibit the Sec14 retary of Homeland Security from instituting removal pro15 ceedings against an alien paroled into the United States

16 under this section for—

17 (1) conduct committed after the parole of the

18 alien into the United States; or

19 (2) conduct or a condition that was not dis20 closed to the Secretary prior to the parole of the

21 alien into the United States.

22 SEC. 307. NORTH KOREAN STATUS ADJUSTMENT.

23 (a) STATUS ADJUSTMENT.—Notwithstanding section

24 245(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C.

25 1255(c)), the status of any alien who is a native or citizen


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1 of North Korea, has been inspected and admitted or pa2 roled into the United States subsequent to July 1, 2003,

3 and has been physically present in the United States for

4 at least 1 year, may be adjusted by the Secretary of

5 Homeland Security, in the discretion of the Secretary and

6 under such regulations as the Secretary may prescribe, to

7 that of an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence

8 if—

9 (1) the alien makes an application for such ad10 justment within 18 months after parole is granted;

11 (2) the alien is eligible to receive an immigrant

12 visa and is admissible to the United States for per13 manent residence; and

14 (3) the Secretary of Homeland Security deter15 mines that the alien has complied with the require16 ments of subsection (b).

17 (b) REQUIRED COOPERATION WITH THE UNITED

18 STATES GOVERNMENT.—The requirements of this sub19 section shall be satisfied if—

20 (1) the Secretary of Homeland Security deter21 mines that—

22 (A) the alien is in possession of critical re23 liable information concerning the activities of

24 the Government of North Korea or its agents,

25 representatives, or officials, and the alien has


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1 cooperated or is currently cooperating, fully and

2 in good faith, with appropriate persons within

3 the United States Government regarding such

4 information; or

5 (B) the alien is not in possession of critical

6 reliable information concerning the activities of

7 the Government of North Korea or its agents,

8 representatives, or officials; and

9 (2) the Secretary of Homeland Security deter10 mines that the alien—

11 (A) did not enter the United States in a

12 then-current capacity as an agent, representa13 tive, or official of the Government of North

14 Korea, or for any purpose contrary to the pur15 poses of this Act or for any unlawful purpose;

16 (B) is not, since entering the United

17 States or at the time during which the applica18 tion for adjustment of status is filed or in proc19 ess, an agent, representative, or official of the

20 Government of North Korea, or during such pe21 riod acting for any purpose contrary to the pur22 poses of this Act or for any unlawful purpose;

23 and

24 (C) in the judgment of the Secretary of

25 Homeland Security, is not likely to become an


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•HR 4011 IH

1 agent, representative, or official of the Govern2 ment of North Korea, or act for any purpose

3 contrary to the purposes of this Act or for any

4 unlawful purpose.

5 (c) EFFECT ON IMMIGRATION AND NATIONALITY

6 ACT.—

7 (1) DEFINITIONS.—The definitions in sub8 sections (a) and (b) of section 101 of the Immigra9 tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101) shall apply

10 to this section.

11 (2) APPLICABILITY.—Nothing in this section

12 shall be construed to repeal or restrict the powers,

13 duties, functions, or authority of the Secretary of

14 Homeland Security in the administration and en15 forcement of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8

16 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.) or any other Federal law relat17 ing to immigration, nationality, or naturalization.

18 (d) SUBSEQUENT REMOVAL PROCEEDINGS.—Noth19 ing in this section shall be construed to prohibit the Sec20 retary of Homeland Security from instituting removal pro21 ceedings against an alien whose status was adjusted under

22 subsection (a) for—

23 (1) conduct committed after such adjustment of

24 status; or


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1 (2) conduct or a condition that was not dis2 closed to the Secretary prior to such adjustment of

3 status.

4 SEC. 308. TEMPORARY PROTECTED STATUS.

5 (a) EXTRAORDINARY AND TEMPORARY CONDITIONS

6 CONSIDERED TO EXIST.—

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of section

8 244(b)(1)(C) of the Immigration and Nationality

9 Act (8 U.S.C. 1254a(b)(1)(C)), extraordinary and

10 temporary conditions shall be considered to exist in

11 North Korea that prevent aliens who are natives or

12 citizens of North Korea from returning to North

13 Korea in safety.

14 (2) TERMINATION OF PROTECTED STATUS.—

15 The extraordinary and temporary conditions referred

16 to in paragraph (1) shall be considered to exist until

17 the Secretary of Homeland Security determines

18 that—

19 (A) the human rights and trafficking

20 records of North Korea, according to the Coun21 try Report on Human Rights Practices issued

22 by the United States Department of State, Bu23 reau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor,

24 and the country report on trafficking issued by


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1 the Trafficking in Persons Office of the Depart2 ment of State, are satisfactory; and

3 (B) North Korea is no longer on the list of

4 nations designated as state sponsors of ter5 rorism by the United States Department of

6 State.

7 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con8 gress that the United States should use its diplomatic

9 means to promote the institution of measures similar to

10 humanitarian parole or the form of temporary protected

11 status granted under subsection (a), in countries that

12 neighbor North Korea.

13 SEC. 309. RIGHT TO ACCEPT EMPLOYMENT.

14 Section 208(d)(2) of the Immigration and Nationality

15 Act (8 U.S.C. 1158(d)(2)) is amended—

16 (1) by striking ‘‘Attorney General’’ and insert17 ing ‘‘Secretary of Homeland Security’’; and

18 (2) by adding at the end the following: ‘‘In the

19 case of an applicant who is a citizen or native of

20 North Korea, the Secretary of Homeland Security

21 shall issue regulations under which such applicant

22 shall be entitled to employment authorization, and

23 such applicant shall not be subject to the 180-day

24 limitation described in the previous sentence.’’.


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1 SEC. 310. ANNUAL REPORTS.

2 (a) IMMIGRATION INFORMATION.—Not later than 1

3 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, and every

4 12 months thereafter for each of the following 5 years,

5 the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Homeland Se6 curity shall submit a joint report to the appropriate con7 gressional committees on the operation of this title during

8 the previous year, which shall include—

9 (1) the number of aliens who are natives or citi10 zens of North Korea and have been granted humani11 tarian parole under section 306, and the immigra12 tion status of such aliens before being granted hu13 manitarian parole;

14 (2) the number of aliens who are natives or citi15 zens of North Korea and have been granted an ad16 justment of status under section 307, and the immi17 gration status of such aliens before being granted

18 adjustment of status;

19 (3) the number of aliens who are natives or citi20 zens of North Korea who were granted political asy21 lum;

22 (4) the number of aliens who are natives or citi23 zens of North Korea who were granted temporary

24 protected status under section 308; and


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1 (5) the number of aliens who are natives or citi2 zens of North Korea who applied for refugee status

3 and the number who were granted refugee status.

4 (b) COUNTRIES OF PARTICULAR CONCERN.—The

5 President shall include in each annual report on proposed

6 refugee admission pursuant to section 207(d) of the Immi7 gration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1157(d)), informa8 tion about specific measures taken to facilitate access to

9 the United States refugee program for individuals who

10 have fled countries of particular concern, as defined by

11 the Secretary of Homeland Security, for violations of reli12 gious freedom pursuant to section 402(b) of the Inter13 national Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C.

14 6442(b)). The report shall include, for each country of

15 particular concern, a description of access of the nationals

16 or former habitual residents of that country to a refugee

17 determination on the basis of—

18 (1) referrals by external agencies to a refugee

19 adjudication;

20 (2) groups deemed to be of special humani21 tarian concern to the United States for purposes of

22 refugee resettlement; and

23 (3) family links to the United States.

Æ


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H.L.C.

AMENDMENT TO H.R. 4011

OFFERED BY MR. LEACH

Page 3, line 8, after ‘‘access to’’ insert ‘‘food,’’.

Page 7, line 4, strike ‘‘the recommendations of’’ and

insert ‘‘its obligations under’’.

Page 7, line 7, strike ‘‘that such a right be granted’’.

Page 10, line 12, strike ‘‘concern’’ and insert ‘‘element’’.

Page 15, line 7, insert ‘‘and International’’ before

‘‘Organizations’’.

Page 23, after line 25, insert the following new

paragraph (and redesignate subsequent paragraphs accordingly):

1 (2) the United States and other UNHCR donor

2 governments should persistently and at the highest

3 levels urge the Government of China to abide by its

4 previous commitments to allow UNHCR unimpeded

5 access to North Korean refugees inside China;


92867o.AAB
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H.L.C.

1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND DECLARATIONS OF POLICY.

2 Congress finds and declares the following:

3 (1)(A) According to estimates by the United

4 Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), there are more

5 than 132,000,000 children in the world under the

6 age of three.

7 (B) Of these children, 4,000,000 will die in

8 their first month of life and another 7,000,000 will

9 die each year before reaching the age of five. Thus

10 an average of 30,000 children under the age of three

11 die each day.

12 (2) According to a report developed by the

13 United Nations Joint Programme on HIV/AIDS

14 (UNAIDS), UNICEF, and the United States Agen15 cy for International Development, in 2001 there

16 were more than 110,000,000 orphans living in sub17 Saharan Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Carib18 bean.

19 (3) Assessments carried out by the Inter20 national Labor Organization (ILO) to investigate

21 the situation of children who are working found that

22 orphans are much more likely than non-orphans to

23 be working in commercial agriculture, the domestic

24 service industry, the commercial sex industry, as

25 street vendors, or in industries that violate inter26 nationally recognized rights of children.


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H.L.C.

1 (4) Infants who are poor and malnourished are

2 more likely to contract respiratory infections, diar3 rhea, measles, and other preventable diseases, and

4 are less likely to receive needed health care.

5 (5) According UNAIDS and UNICEF, by the

6 end of 2001 there were an estimated 14,000,000

7 children under the age of 15 who had lost one or

8 both parents to AIDS.

9 (6) As the number of HIV cases increases in

10 sub-Saharan Africa and the Caribbean, as well as in

11 Eastern Europe and Asia, the death rate from AIDS

12 among adults in those regions is expected to in13 crease. By 2010 the total number of children in

14 those regions who will lose one or both parents to

15 AIDS is expected to be approximately 30,000,000.

16 (7) One-third of children born from an HIV-in17 fected mother develop HIV/AIDS. Few of these chil18 dren have access to HIV/AIDS medications.

19 (8) Globally, more than 11,800,000 young peo20 ple ages 15 to 24 were living with HIV/AIDS in

21 2001, and each day another 6,000 young people be22 came infected with HIV. New estimates indicate that

23 more than 70 percent of new HIV cases among this

24 age group in sub-Saharan Africa are young women

25 and girls.


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H.L.C.

1 (9) As their parents fall progressively sick from

2 HIV/AIDS, children generally must take on an in3 creasing number of responsibilities. Girls take re4 sponsibility for more household chores, often drop

5 out of school, and care for their parents.

6 (10)(A) Without an adequate diet, individuals

7 infected with HIV often die at an earlier age. Indi8 viduals with HIV become increasingly weak and fa9 tigued, do not respond to drug treatment, and are

10 prone to other illnesses such as malnutrition and tu11 berculosis (TB).

12 (B) Hunger can also cause previously HIV-neg13 ative people to engage in high-risk survival strate14 gies, such as work in the commercial sex industry,

15 that increase their chances of becoming infected with

16 HIV.

17 (11) Extreme poverty and hunger coupled with

18 the loss of one or both parents as a result of AIDS

19 can force children from their families to a life on the

20 streets, where the risk of HIV infection is extremely

21 high.

22 (12)(A) A considerable number of United

23 States and indigenous private voluntary organiza24 tions, including faith-based organizations, provide

25 relatively modest amounts of assistance to orphans


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H.L.C.

1 and other vulnerable children in developing coun2 tries, especially children affected by HIV/AIDS.

3 (B) Many of these organizations have submitted

4 applications for grants from the United States Agen5 cy for International Development in order to provide

6 increased levels of assistance for orphans and other

7 vulnerable children in developing countries but in

8 most cases the Agency has not approved the applica9 tions.

10 (13)(A) Section 403(b) of the United States

11 Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and

12 Malaria Act of 2003 (Public Law 108–25) estab13 lishes the requirement that for fiscal years 2006

14 through 2008, not less than 10 percent of amounts

15 appropriated for HIV/AIDS assistance for each such

16 fiscal year shall be expended for assistance for or17 phans and other vulnerable children affected by

18 HIV/AIDS.

19 (B) Further, section 403(b) of Public Law

20 108–25 requires that at least 50 percent of such

21 amounts shall be provided through non-profit, non22 governmental organizations, including faith-based

23 organizations, that implement programs on the com24 munity level.


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H.L.C.

1 (14)(A) It is essential that the United States

2 Government adopt a comprehensive approach for the

3 provision of assistance to orphans and other vulner4 able children in developing countries.

5 (B) This comprehensive approach should ensure

6 that important services, such as basic care, treat7 ment for those children with HIV/AIDS, mental

8 health and related services for those children af9 fected by HIV/AIDS, school food programs, in10 creased educational opportunities and employment

11 training and related services, and the protection and

12 promotion of inheritance rights, are made more ac13 cessible.

14 (C) This comprehensive approach should also

15 ensure that government agencies and the private

16 sector coordinate efforts to prevent and eliminate

17 duplication of efforts and waste.

18 (15) As a result of the numerous United States

19 Government programs under which assistance is spe20 cifically authorized or otherwise available for or21 phans and vulnerable children in developing coun22 tries, the United States Agency for International

23 Development will be required to develop innovative

24 methods for the conduct and monitoring of these


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H.L.C.

1 programs, including through the collection, analysis,

2 and reporting of information on the programs.

3 SEC. 3. ASSISTANCE FOR ORPHANS AND OTHER VULNER4 ABLE CHILDREN IN DEVELOPING COUN5 TRIES.

6 Title V of chapter 2 of part I of the Foreign Assist7 ance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2201) is amended to read

8 as follows:

9 ‘‘TITLE V—ASSISTANCE FOR OR10 PHANS AND OTHER VULNER11 ABLE CHILDREN

12 ‘‘SEC. 241. FINDINGS; DECLARATION OF POLICY.

13 ‘‘(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following:

14 ‘‘(1) By 2010, HIV/AIDS will orphan more

15 than 25,000,000 children worldwide.

16 ‘‘(2) Ongoing conflicts and civil wars in devel17 oping countries are adversely affecting children in

18 these countries, the vast majority of whom currently

19 do not receive humanitarian assistance or other sup20 port from the United States Government.

21 ‘‘(3) Although the United States Government

22 currently administers assistance programs for or23 phans and other vulnerable children in developing

24 countries, for fiscal year 2002 the United States

25 Agency for International Development reported that


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1 the United States Government provided assistance

2 to only 462,000 such orphans and other vulnerable

3 children, or less than one-half of one percent of the

4 estimated 108,000,000 total number of such or5 phans and other vulnerable children.

6 ‘‘(4) The United States Government should in7 crease its efforts to provide assistance for orphans

8 and other vulnerable children in developing coun9 tries, especially those children affected by HIV/AIDS

10 or conflict.

11 ‘‘(5) The United States Agency for Inter12 national Development should establish improved ca13 pacity to deliver assistance to orphans and other vul14 nerable children in developing countries through

15 partnerships with private voluntary organizations,

16 including faith-based organizations.

17 ‘‘(6) Further, the United States Agency for

18 International Development should be the primary

19 United States Government agency responsible for

20 identifying and assisting orphans and other vulner21 able children in developing countries.

22 ‘‘(b) DECLARATION OF POLICY.—Congress, recog23 nizing that prompt and appropriate action by the United

24 States to assist orphans and other vulnerable children in

25 developing countries is an important expression of the huVerDate Mar 21 2002 15:47 Jul 19, 2004 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00070 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6601 F:\WORK\FULL\M033104\92867.000 HINTREL1 PsN: SHIRL

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1 manitarian concern and tradition of the people of the

2 United States, affirms the willingness of the United States

3 to assist such orphans and other vulnerable children—

4 ‘‘(1) by providing assistance for the purpose of

5 improving the health, nutritional, shelter, edu6 cational, economic, and psychological status of or7 phans and other vulnerable children in such coun8 tries; and

9 ‘‘(2) by providing humanitarian and protection

10 assistance to such orphans and other vulnerable chil11 dren affected by conflict or civil strife.

12 ‘‘SEC. 242. ASSISTANCE TO PROVIDE BASIC CARE.

13 ‘‘(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following:

14 ‘‘(1) The need for individuals and local organi15 zations in developing countries to assist households

16 headed by children is necessary due to the increase

17 in the number of such households. Millions of chil18 dren in these types of households lack basic care,

19 such as access to food and shelter.

20 ‘‘(2) When communities are responsible for

21 raising orphans, these children are cared for in a

22 rich and nurturing environment and remain con23 nected to the traditions and rituals of families and

24 the community.


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1 ‘‘(3) As the number of these children increases,

2 the ability of communities to provide basic care for

3 such children is limited. Assistance to support the

4 provision of such basic care is therefore necessary in

5 and of itself and also to facilitate the provision of

6 other types of assistance for such children under this

7 title.

8 ‘‘(b) ASSISTANCE.—

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The President is author10 ized to provide assistance for programs in developing

11 countries to provide basic care for orphans and other

12 vulnerable children.

13 ‘‘(2) ACTIVITIES SUPPORTED.—Assistance pro14 vided under paragraph (1) should be used—

15 ‘‘(A) to support individuals and local orga16 nizations, including teachers, social workers,

17 and representatives from religious institutions

18 and nongovernmental organizations, to mobilize

19 their own resources through the establishment

20 of ‘community care councils’ to provide basic

21 care for orphans and other vulnerable children,

22 including day care, food assistance, protection

23 assistance, and home visits;

24 ‘‘(B) to increase the capacity of community

25 care councils described in subparagraph (A) to


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1 meet on a regular basis to identify orphans and

2 other vulnerable children and to facilitate the

3 provision of services; and

4 ‘‘(C) to establish and operate centers in

5 such communities to provide basic care de6 scribed in subparagraph (A).

7 ‘‘(3) DEFINITION.—In this subsection, the term

8 ‘protection assistance’ means all appropriate meas9 ures to promote the physical and psychological secu10 rity of an individual, provide equal access to basic

11 services for the individual, and safeguard the legal

12 and human rights and dignity of the individual.

13 ‘‘SEC. 243. ASSISTANCE TO PROVIDE TREATMENT TO OR14 PHANS AND OTHER VULNERABLE CHILDREN

15 WITH HIV/AIDS.

16 ‘‘(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following:

17 ‘‘(1) Approximately 2,500,000 children under

18 the age of 15 worldwide have HIV/AIDS. Every day

19 another 2,000 children under the age of 15 are in20 fected with HIV.

21 ‘‘(2) In 2002, approximately 2,500,000 children

22 were at risk for infection with HIV through mother23 to-child transmission, which includes transmission at

24 any point during pregnancy, labor, delivery, or

25 breastfeeding.


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1 ‘‘(3) To date, more than 4,000,000 children

2 worldwide are estimated to have died from AIDS,

3 primarily contracted through mother-to-child trans4 mission. Every year, approximately 700,000 babies

5 are infected with HIV, of which the majority are liv6 ing in Africa.

7 ‘‘(4) In southern Africa HIV/AIDS is now the

8 leading cause of death among young children, ac9 counting for almost half of such deaths.

10 ‘‘(5) Research has shown conclusively that initi11 ation in a timely manner of antiretroviral therapy

12 for infants or young children with HIV/AIDS can

13 preserve or restore their immune functions, promote

14 normal growth and development, and prolong life.

15 ‘‘(6) Few international development programs

16 specifically target the treatment of children with

17 HIV/AIDS in developing countries. Reasons for this

18 include the perceived low priority of pediatric treat19 ment, a lack of pediatric health care professionals,

20 lack of expertise and experience in pediatric drug

21 dosing and monitoring, the perceived complexity of

22 pediatric treatment, and mistaken beliefs regarding

23 the risks and benefits of pediatric treatment.

24 ‘‘(b) ASSISTANCE.—


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The President is author2 ized to provide assistance for the treatment of or3 phans and other vulnerable children with HIV/AIDS

4 in developing countries.

5 ‘‘(2) ACTIVITIES SUPPORTED.—Assistance pro6 vided under paragraph (1) should be used to carry

7 out the following activities:

8 ‘‘(A) The treatment of orphans and other

9 vulnerable children with HIV/AIDS through the

10 provision of pharmaceuticals, including high11 quality, low-cost antiretrovirals and other thera12 pies, including generically manufactured phar13 maceuticals where appropriate.

14 ‘‘(B)(i) The recruitment and training of in15 dividuals to provide the treatment described in

16 subparagraph (A), including the recruitment

17 and training of appropriate support personnel.

18 ‘‘(ii) Such training should include appro19 priate methodologies relating to initial diag20 nosis, appropriate dosages of pharmaceuticals,

21 monitoring, medication adherence techniques,

22 and treatment for any complications resulting

23 from such pharmaceuticals.

24 ‘‘(C) Activities of medical laboratories re25 lating to the treatment described in subparaVerDate Mar 21 2002 15:47 Jul 19, 2004 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00075 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6601 F:\WORK\FULL\M033104\92867.000 HINTREL1 PsN: SHIRL

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1 graph (A), including assistance for the purchase

2 of necessary equipment.

3 ‘‘SEC. 244. ASSISTANCE TO PROVIDE PSYCHOSOCIAL SUP4 PORT TO ORPHANS AND OTHER VULNER5 ABLE CHILDREN AFFECTED BY HIV/AIDS.

6 ‘‘(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following:

7 ‘‘(1) Many children who are orphaned as a re8 sult of AIDS blame themselves for the death of a

9 parent and many children are separated from sib10 lings, sometimes for life.

11 ‘‘(2) The trauma that results from the loss of

12 a parent as a result of AIDS can trigger behavior

13 problems of aggression or emotional withdrawal and

14 negatively affect a child’s performance in school and

15 the child’s social relations.

16 ‘‘(3) Children living in families affected by

17 HIV/AIDS are often stigmatized, teased, and ostra18 cized by peers. In Uganda, some children who are

19 orphaned as a result of AIDS are called ‘walking

20 corpses’ and discouraged from attending school.

21 ‘‘(4) Children living in families affected by

22 HIV/AIDS who are most vulnerable are those chil23 dren in households headed by children. In these

24 households, trained community volunteers can play a

25 major role through home visits.


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1 ‘‘(5) In many African countries, religious lead2 ers are mobilizing individuals and local organizations

3 within the community to identify and respond to the

4 psychosocial needs of those children affected by

5 AIDS.

6 ‘‘(b) ASSISTANCE.—The President is authorized to

7 provide assistance for programs in developing countries to

8 provide mental health treatment and related services to

9 orphans and other vulnerable children affected by HIV/

10 AIDS.

11 ‘‘SEC. 245. ASSISTANCE FOR SCHOOL FOOD PROGRAMS.

12 ‘‘(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following:

13 ‘‘(1) In 2004, it is estimated that 125,000,000

14 children worldwide do not attend school, in part be15 cause of hunger and malnutrition, and the vast ma16 jority of these children are young girls.

17 ‘‘(2) School food programs, including take-home

18 rations, in developing countries provide strong incen19 tives for parents to send their children to school and

20 ensure that they continue with their education.

21 School food programs may reduce short-term hun22 ger, improve cognitive functions, and enhance learn23 ing, behavior, and achievement.

24 ‘‘(3) In 2004, more than 8,000,000 children in

25 sub-Saharan Africa are underweight compared to


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1 1994. Malnutrition enhances the risk that orphans

2 and other vulnerable children will be at risk for ill3 ness and infections, especially if these children are

4 also infected with HIV.

5 ‘‘(4) Healthy members of families affected by

6 HIV/AIDS in developing countries often leave the

7 workforce to care for those family members with

8 HIV/AIDS, which compounds the problem of access

9 to food for the family. Food consumption has been

10 shown to drop by as much as 40 percent in these

11 families.

12 ‘‘(5)(A) Although a number of organizations

13 seek to meet the needs of children who are orphaned

14 or vulnerable as a result of HIV/AIDS, local commu15 nities continue to be the primary providers of sup16 port for these children.

17 ‘‘(B) According to a survey by the United

18 States Agency for International Development, or19 phans and other vulnerable children relied on rel20 atives for food support 74 percent of the time and

21 on friends for food support 19 percent of the time.

22 ‘‘(b) ASSISTANCE.—

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The President is author24 ized to provide assistance for school food programs

25 in developing countries.


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H.L.C.

1 ‘‘(2) ACTIVITIES SUPPORTED.—Assistance pro2 vided under paragraph (1) should be used to pur3 chase local or regional foodstuffs, where appropriate,

4 for school food programs.

5 ‘‘SEC. 246. ASSISTANCE TO INCREASE EDUCATIONAL OP6 PORTUNITIES AND PROVIDE EMPLOYMENT

7 TRAINING.

8 ‘‘(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following:

9 ‘‘(1) The lack of financial resources in families

10 affected by HIV/AIDS prevents many orphans and

11 other vulnerable children in developing countries

12 from attending school because of the requirement to

13 pay school fees and other costs of education.

14 ‘‘(2) Such children, in particular young girls,

15 are often forced to miss school in order to serve as

16 caregivers to relatives with HIV/AIDS or assume

17 adult responsibilities for providing for the family.

18 Younger children who lose a parent also lose the op19 portunity to learn skills that they will need to sup20 port themselves as they grow older.

21 ‘‘(3) According to the International Labor Or22 ganization (ILO), approximately 250,000,000 chil23 dren and adolescents ages 5 to 14 in developing

24 countries are working part-time and approximately


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1 120,000,000 children and adolescents ages 5 to 14

2 in developing countries are working full-time.

3 ‘‘(4) In many regions of Africa and other devel4 oping countries, non-formal education plays an im5 portant role to provide children who are unable to

6 attend school with the employment and related life

7 skills training such children need to survive.

8 ‘‘(5) Many organizations in Africa, including

9 faith-based organizations, provide employment and

10 related life skills training for older children to better

11 prepare them to serve as caregivers for younger sib12 lings.

13 ‘‘(6) Organizations that provide non-formal

14 education can assist the thousands of children in de15 veloping countries who are not currently being as16 sisted by families or communities and are struggling

17 to survive.

18 ‘‘(b) ASSISTANCE.—

19 ‘‘(1) EDUCATION ASSISTANCE.—The President

20 is authorized to provide assistance for programs in

21 developing countries to increase enrollment in public

22 primary schools by eliminating school fees and other

23 costs of education, especially in developing countries

24 heavily affected by HIV/AIDS. Amounts made avail25 able to carry out this paragraph are authorized to


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H.L.C.

1 be made available to the President to make vol2 untary contributions to the United Nations Chil3 dren’s Fund to achieve the purposes of this para4 graph.

5 ‘‘(2) EMPLOYMENT TRAINING ASSISTANCE.—

6 The President is authorized to provide assistance for

7 programs in developing countries to provide employ8 ment training and related services for orphans and

9 other vulnerable children, especially in developing

10 countries heavily affected by HIV/AIDS.

11 ‘‘SEC. 247. ASSISTANCE TO PROTECT AND PROMOTE INHER12 ITANCE RIGHTS.

13 ‘‘(a) FINDING.—Congress finds that orphans and

14 other vulnerable children in developing countries, particu15 larly children who are orphaned as a result of AIDS, are

16 routinely denied their inheritance or encounter difficulties

17 in claiming the land and other property which they have

18 inherited.

19 ‘‘(b) ASSISTANCE.—The President is authorized to

20 provide assistance in support of programs in developing

21 countries to protect and promote the inheritance rights of

22 orphans and other vulnerable children, particularly young

23 girls and children who are orphaned as a result of AIDS.


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1 ‘‘SEC. 248. ADMINISTRATION OF ASSISTANCE.

2 ‘‘(a) OFFICE FOR ORPHANS AND OTHER VULNER3 ABLE CHILDREN.—

4 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established

5 within the United States Agency for International

6 Development an Office for Orphans and Other Vul7 nerable Children (hereafter in this title referred to

8 as the ‘Office’), which shall be headed by a Director

9 who shall be appointed by the Administrator of the

10 Agency.

11 ‘‘(2) DUTIES.—The Office shall be responsible

12 for carrying out this title.

13 ‘‘(b) APPROVAL OF APPLICATIONS.—The Director of

14 the Office shall be responsible for reviewing or approving

15 all applications submitted to the United States Agency for

16 International Development for assistance under this title,

17 including applications submitted to field missions of the

18 Agency.

19 ‘‘(c) PRIORITY.—In providing assistance under this

20 title, priority should be given to assistance for developing

21 countries in which the rate of HIV infection, as reported

22 in the most recent epidemiological data for that country

23 compiled by the United Nations Joint Programme on

24 HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), is at least 5 percent among women

25 attending prenatal clinics or more than 15 percent among

26 individuals in groups with high-risk behavior.


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H.L.C.

1 ‘‘(d) FORM OF ASSISTANCE.—Assistance under this

2 title shall be provided in the form of—

3 ‘‘(1) grants, cooperative agreements, or con4 tracts;

5 ‘‘(2) contributions to international organiza6 tions; or

7 ‘‘(3) assistance to the governments of devel8 oping countries.

9 ‘‘(e) COORDINATION.—The provision of assistance

10 under this title for children who are orphaned as a result

11 of HIV/AIDS, or are children with HIV/AIDS, shall be

12 undertaken in a manner that is consistent with assistance

13 authorized under section 104A of this Act and assistance

14 relating to HIV/AIDS authorized under the United States

15 Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria

16 Act of 2003 (Public Law 108–25).

17 ‘‘(f) OTHER ASSISTANCE.—

18 ‘‘(1) REVIEW AND APPROVAL OF OTHER

19 USAID ASSISTANCE.—The Director of the Office

20 shall be responsible for reviewing or approving—

21 ‘‘(A) each component of the annual plan of

22 a mission, bureau, or other office of the United

23 States Agency for International Development as

24 the component relates to assistance for orphans


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H.L.C.

1 and other vulnerable children in developing

2 countries; and

3 ‘‘(B) each program, project, or activity re4 lating to such assistance.

5 ‘‘(2) COORDINATION OF ALL US GOVERNMENT

6 ASSISTANCE.—The Director of the Office shall be re7 sponsible for ensuring coordination of all United

8 States Government programs to provide assistance

9 for orphans and other vulnerable children in devel10 oping countries.

11 ‘‘SEC. 249. MONITORING SYSTEM.

12 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—In order to maximize the

13 sustainable development impact of assistance authorized

14 under this title, the President shall establish a monitoring

15 system that meets the requirements of subsection (b).

16 ‘‘(b) REQUIREMENTS.—The requirements referred to

17 in subsection (a) are the following:

18 ‘‘(1) The monitoring system establishes per19 formance goals for the assistance and expresses such

20 goals in an objective and quantifiable form, to the

21 extent feasible.

22 ‘‘(2) The monitoring system establishes per23 formance indicators to be used in measuring or as24 sessing the achievement of the performance goals de25 scribed in paragraph (1).


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H.L.C.

1 ‘‘(3) The monitoring system provides a basis for

2 recommendations for adjustments to the assistance

3 to enhance the impact of the assistance.

4 ‘‘SEC. 250. REPORT.

5 ‘‘(a) REPORT.—Not later than December 31, 2005,

6 and each December 31 thereafter, the President shall

7 transmit to Congress a report that contains a detailed de8 scription of the implementation of this title for the pre9 vious fiscal year.

10 ‘‘(b) CONTENTS.—The report shall contain the fol11 lowing information:

12 ‘‘(1) For each grant, cooperative agreement,

13 contract, contribution, or other form of assistance

14 awarded or entered into under this title—

15 ‘‘(A) the amount of the grant, cooperative

16 agreement, contract, contribution, or other form

17 of assistance, the name of each recipient and

18 each developing country with respect to which

19 projects or activities under the grant, coopera20 tive agreement, contract, contribution, or other

21 form of assistance were carried out, and the ap22 proximate number of orphans and other vulner23 able children who received assistance under the

24 projects or activities; and


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H.L.C.

1 ‘‘(B) the results of the monitoring system

2 with respect to the grant, cooperative agree3 ment, contract, contribution, or other form of

4 assistance.

5 ‘‘(2) For each grant, cooperative agreement,

6 contract, contribution, or other form of assistance

7 awarded or entered into under any provision of law

8 other than this title for assistance for orphans and

9 other vulnerable children in developing countries, the

10 information described in paragraph (1)(A).

11 ‘‘(3) Any other appropriate information relating

12 to the needs of orphans and other vulnerable chil13 dren in developing countries that could be addressed

14 through the provision of assistance under this title

15 or under any other provision of law.

16 ‘‘SEC. 251. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS; ADDI17 TIONAL PROVISIONS.

18 ‘‘(a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATION.—

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Of the amounts made

20 available to carry out the provisions of law described

21 in paragraph (2), there are authorized to be appro22 priated to the President to carry out this title such

23 sums as may be necessary for each of the fiscal

24 years 2005 and 2006.


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H.L.C.

1 ‘‘(2) PROVISIONS OF LAW.—The provisions of

2 law referred to in paragraph (1) are the following:

3 ‘‘(A) The United States Leadership

4 Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria

5 Act of 2003 (Public Law 108–25) and the

6 amendments made by that Act.

7 ‘‘(B) Any other provision of law under

8 which assistance is authorized for orphans and

9 other vulnerable children in developing coun10 tries.

11 ‘‘(b) ADDITIONAL PROVISIONS.—

12 ‘‘(1) AVAILABILITY.—Amounts appropriated

13 pursuant to the authorization of appropriations

14 under subsection (a) are authorized to remain avail15 able until expended and are in addition to amounts

16 otherwise available for such purposes.

17 ‘‘(2) MINIMUM FUNDING REQUIREMENT.—Not

18 less than 60 percent of amounts appropriated pursu19 ant to the authorization of appropriations under

20 subsection (a) for a fiscal year (other than amounts

21 made available for assistance to eliminate school fees

22 and other costs of education pursuant to section

23 246) shall be provided through United States or in24 digenous private voluntary organizations that imple25 ment programs on the community level. Amounts


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1 provided by for-profit entities to not-for-profit enti2 ties from assistance under this title shall not be con3 sidered for purposes of satisfying the requirement of

4 this paragraph.

5 ‘‘(3) ASSISTANCE UNDER OTHER PROVISIONS

6 OF LAW.—

7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any

8 other provision of law, amounts made available

9 for assistance for orphans or other vulnerable

10 children in developing countries under any pro11 vision of law other than this title may be pro12 vided to further the purposes of this title.

13 ‘‘(B) REPORT.—To the extent assistance

14 described in subparagraph (A) is provided in

15 accordance with such subparagraph, the Presi16 dent shall include, as part of the report re17 quired under section 250, a detailed description

18 of such assistance and, to the extent applicable,

19 the information required by subsection

20 (b)(1)(A) of such section with respect to such

21 assistance.

22 ‘‘SEC. 252. DEFINITIONS.

23 ‘‘In this title:

24 ‘‘(1) AIDS.—The term ‘AIDS’ has the meaning

25 given the term in section 104A(g)(1) of this Act.


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1 ‘‘(2) CHILDREN.—The term ‘children’ means

2 persons who have not attained the age of 18.

3 ‘‘(3) HIV.—The term ‘HIV’ has the meaning

4 given the term in section 104A(g)(2) of this Act.

5 ‘‘(4) HIV/AIDS.—The term ‘HIV/AIDS’ has

6 the meaning given the term in section 104A(g)(3) of

7 this Act.

8 ‘‘(5) ORPHAN.—The term ‘orphan’ means a

9 child deprived by death of one or both parents.

10 ‘‘(6) VULNERABLE CHILDREN.—The term ‘vul11 nerable children’ includes children who are ne12 glected, destitute, abandoned, homeless, disabled,

13 suffering from malnutrition, are sexually exploited or

14 abused, or are displaced or otherwise adversely af15 fected by armed conflict.’’.


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Ms. LEE. Mr. Chairman? 

Chairman HYDE. Ms. Lee? 

Ms. LEE. May I reserve the right to object? 

Chairman HYDE. The gentlelady reserves the right to object. 

Ms. LEE. Thank you. 

Mr. MEEKS. Mr. Chairman? 

Chairman HYDE. Yes? 

Ms. LEE. Mr. Chairman, let me first thank you very much for the 

opportunity to work with you once again on this bill that we are 

moving forward, H.R. 4061. I want to indicate that we are calling 

this the Orphaned and Vulnerable Children in Developing Countries Act of 2004. 

This bill is a bipartisan compromise agreement that has been 

hammered out with your staff, Mr. Chairman, Mr. Lantos, Mr. 

Rohrabacher, Ms. McCollum, Mr. Leach and Mr. Chris Smith. I 

want to take this opportunity to thank all the staff who were involved in this process, especially Peter on your staff and Cristof on 

my staff, and also for all of our outside organizations who are 

working so diligently on the ground to address the HIV/AIDS crisis 

throughout the world. 

This legislation seeks to better coordinate and address the ever 

growing problems of orphans and vulnerable children in the developing world. As of 2001, an estimated 110 million children were living as orphans throughout subsaharan Africa, Asia, Latin America 

and the Caribbean. The rapid growth of the HIV/AIDS virus in Africa and throughout the world has dramatically impacted the number of children who are newly becoming orphans. 

By 2010, there will be approximately 25 million orphans as a result of HIV and AIDS. Today, every 14 seconds another children is 

orphaned by AIDS. With parents dying at an alarming rate, children are left without food, shelter, education or protection. The 

global orphan crisis is a profound humanitarian disaster that will 

be felt for decades to come. 

This bill seeks to address the growing global problem of orphans 

and vulnerable children by providing assistance to support the following: Basic care, treatment for HIV infected children, psycho-social support, school food programs, expanding educational opportunities through elimination of school fees, protecting inheritance 

rights for orphans and vulnerable children. The bill seeks to do all 

of this under the new structure of a separate office focused on orphans and vulnerable children. 

Now, I understand that USAID has some concerns about how 

this bill is structured, but I believe that this bill represents a step 

in the right direction, and I look forward to working with USAID 

and with you, Mr. Chairman, with our outside organizations to 

really come up with an effort where USAID will support this bill 

because I think that this crisis has got to be addressed. 

I think this bill is an excellent first start, and I would like to 

move this bill and ensure that we can get it to the President for 

his signature. 

For those reasons, Mr. Chairman, I want to just thank you again 

very much for your commitment, your diligence. I want to thank 

Mr. Lantos for helping us to craft a bipartisan bill which I think 

we all can be proud of. 

87

Chairman HYDE. If the gentlelady will maintain her reservation 

of rights, we will get some other people who want to speak, and 

then we will get back to you. 

Mr. Meeks, did you want to be heard? 

Mr. MEEKS. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. These are my objections 

for the purposes of elaborating on some beneficial changes that 

have been made to the Peace Corps bill, H.R. 4060. 

I would first like to commend the Peace Corps for its work in selecting some of America’s brightest and best to assist in strengthening positive relationships between ours and other countries. As 

anti-American sentiments continue to increase, it is imperative 

that we support the Peace Corps and other programs that facilitate 

the intercultural understanding such as the Fulbright program. 

I would also like to thank the Ranking Member for working so 

closely with me to include language to this bill that would only increase the positive impact of the Peace Corps. There is a great need 

to increase the number of Peace Corps volunteers trained through 

the global infectious diseases initiative in the Caribbean and Latin 

America. 

The Caribbean is indeed our third border and has the second 

largest population of persons affected with HIV and AIDS outside 

of subsaharan Africa. Consequently, if more is not done to stop the 

spread of the disease in the entire region, the epidemic in the Caribbean has the potential to become similar to that of Africa. Placing 

Peace Corps volunteers that are health professionals in the Caribbean is just one means of helping to stem this tide. 

There is also a need for the Peace Corps to target populations 

that are greatly in need, but for a variety of reasons have lacked 

help. This includes the 80 million to 150 million persons of African 

descent that live in Latin America and the Caribbean and countries 

like Brazil, Colombia and the Honduras. 

Unfortunately, these populations constitute the majority of the 

poor, have shorter life expectancies, higher rates of infant mortality, higher incidences of HIV/AIDS and higher rates of illiteracy. 

Unlike indigenous populations, few international efforts have been 

directed toward helping these communities. 

If we are interested in helping to uplift the poorest of the poor, 

directing Peace Corps activities to these communities is a great beginning. Again, I would like to thank you, Mr. Chairman, for agreeing to the report language that does just that. 

Lastly, I would like to commend the Peace Corps on its diversity 

ethics through its Office of Minority Recruitment. I have learned 

of pilot programs such as the Texas Southern University internship 

program which allows students from historically black colleges and 

universities to live with a Peace Corps volunteer and hope that programs such as these will be expanded and continued. 

Now I withdraw my objection, Mr. Chairman. 

Chairman HYDE. I thank the gentleman. 

Does anyone else wish to be heard under Ms. Lee’s reservation 

of record? 

Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Chairman? 

Chairman HYDE. Mr. Lantos? By all means. 

Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Chairman, we have no objection. We strongly 

support your proposal and ask for a unanimous vote. 

88

Chairman HYDE. Very well. So ordered. Without objection, the 

staff is directed to make any technical and conforming changes, 

and without objection the Chairman is authorized to seek consideration of the following bills under suspension of the rules, and the 

proposed amendments to any of the bills which Members have before them will be deemed adopted: 

H.R. 4019, Concerning participation of Taiwan in the World 

Health Organization; H.R. 4053, the United States International 

Leadership Act; H. Res. 402, Regarding the need for democratic reform, human rights and religious liberty in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic; H. Res. 535, Expressing concerning and support for 

local elected officials under the threat of assassination, kidnapping, 

forcible displacement and coercion by terrorist organizations in the 

Republic of Colombia, as amended; H. Res. 563, Regarding the oneyear anniversary of the human rights crackdown in Cuba, as 

amended; H. Res. 576, Urging the Government of the People’s Republic China——

Ms. WATSON. Mr. Chairman? 

Chairman HYDE. Who seeks recognition? 

Ms. WATSON. Congresswoman Watson. 

Chairman HYDE. Ms. Watson? 

Ms. WATSON. Yes. 

Chairman HYDE. The gentlelady is recognized. 

Ms. WATSON. I reserve the right to object. 

Chairman HYDE. The gentlelady reserves the right to object. 

Ms. WATSON. Yes. 

Chairman HYDE. We have more bills on the list. Let me finish 

the list, and then your objection will be reserved. 

Ms. WATSON. Thank you. 

Chairman HYDE. H. Res. 576, Urging the Government of the People’s Republic of China to improve its protection of intellectual 

property rights, as amended; H. Con. Res. 326, Regarding the arbitrary detention of Dr. Wang Bingzhang by the Government of the 

People’s Republic of China; H. Con. Res. 336, Regarding the continued participation of the Russian Federation in the Group of 8 nations; H. Con. Res. 352, Recognizing the contributions of the people 

of India origin to the United States and the benefits of working together with India; H. Con. Res. 378, Calling on the Government of 

the Socialist Republic of Vietnam to immediately and unconditionally release Father Thaddeus Nguyen Van Ly; and H. Con. Res. 

398, Regarding Iran’s development of the means to produce nuclear 

weapons. 

[The information referred to follows:]

89

1

I

108TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4019

To address the participation of Taiwan in the World Health Organization.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 24, 2004

Mr. CHABOT (for himself, Mr. BROWN of Ohio, Mr. WEXLER, and Mr. ROHRABACHER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on International Relations

A BILL

To address the participation of Taiwan in the World Health

Organization.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. CONCERNING THE PARTICIPATION OF TAIWAN

4 IN THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION.

5 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find6 ings:

7 (1) Good health is important to every citizen of

8 the world and access to the highest standards of

9 health information and services is necessary to im10 prove the public health.


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1 (2) Direct and unobstructed participation in

2 international health cooperation forums and pro3 grams is beneficial for all parts of the world, espe4 cially today with the great potential for the cross5 border spread of various infectious diseases such as

6 the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), tuber7 culosis, and malaria.

8 (3) Taiwan’s population of 23,500,000 people is

greater than that of 3 9 ⁄4 of the member states already

10 in the World Health Organization (WHO).

11 (4) Taiwan’s achievements in the field of health

12 are substantial, including—

13 (A) attaining—

14 (i) 1 of the highest life expectancy lev15 els in Asia; and

16 (ii) maternal and infant mortality

17 rates comparable to those of western coun18 tries;

19 (B) eradicating such infectious diseases as

20 cholera, smallpox, the plague, and polio; and

21 (C) providing children with hepatitis B

22 vaccinations.

23 (5) The United States Centers for Disease Con24 trol and Prevention and its counterpart agencies in


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1 Taiwan have enjoyed close collaboration on a wide

2 range of public health issues.

3 (6) In recent years Taiwan has expressed a will4 ingness to assist financially and technically in inter5 national aid and health activities supported by the

6 WHO.

7 (7) On January 14, 2001, an earthquake, reg8 istering between 7.6 and 7.9 on the Richter scale,

9 struck El Salvador. In response, the Taiwanese Gov10 ernment sent 2 rescue teams, consisting of 90 indi11 viduals specializing in firefighting, medicine, and

12 civil engineering. The Taiwanese Ministry of Foreign

13 Affairs also donated $200,000 in relief aid to the

14 Salvadoran Government.

15 (8) The World Health Assembly has allowed ob16 servers to participate in the activities of the organi17 zation, including the Palestine Liberation Organiza18 tion in 1974, the Order of Malta, and the Holy See

19 in the early 1950’s.

20 (9) The United States, in the 1994 Taiwan Pol21 icy Review, declared its intention to support Tai22 wan’s participation in appropriate international or23 ganizations.

24 (10) Public Law 106–137 required the Sec25 retary of State to submit a report to Congress on efVerDate Mar 21 2002 15:47 Jul 19, 2004 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00095 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6601 F:\WORK\FULL\M033104\92867.000 HINTREL1 PsN: SHIRL

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1 forts by the executive branch to support Taiwan’s

2 participation in international organizations, in par3 ticular the WHO.

4 (11) In light of all benefits that Taiwan’s par5 ticipation in the WHO can bring to the state of

6 health not only in Taiwan, but also regionally and

7 globally, Taiwan and its 23,500,000 people should

8 have appropriate and meaningful participation in the

9 WHO.

10 (12) On May 11, 2001, President Bush stated

11 in a letter to Senator Murkowski that the United

12 States ‘‘should find opportunities for Taiwan’s voice

13 to be heard in international organizations in order to

14 make a contribution, even if membership is not pos15 sible’’, further stating that the administration ‘‘has

16 focused on finding concrete ways for Taiwan to ben17 efit and contribute to the WHO’’.

18 (13) In his speech made in the World Medical

19 Association on May 14, 2002, Secretary of Health

20 and Human Services Tommy Thompson announced

21 ‘‘America’s work for a healthy world cuts across po22 litical lines. That is why my government supports

23 Taiwan’s efforts to gain observership status at the

24 World Health Assembly. We know this is a con25 troversial issue, but we do not shrink from taking a


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1 public stance on it. The people of Taiwan deserve

2 the same level of public health as citizens of every

3 nation on earth, and we support them in their ef4 forts to achieve it’’.

5 (14) The Government of the Republic of China

6 on Taiwan, in response to an appeal from the

7 United Nations and the United States for resources

8 to control the spread of HIV/AIDS, donated

9 $1,000,000 to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tu10 berculosis, and Malaria in December 2002.

11 (15) In 2003, the outbreak of Severe Acute

12 Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) caused 73 deaths in

13 Taiwan.

14 (16) Avian influenza, commonly known as bird

15 flu, has reemerged in Asia, with strains of the influ16 enza reported by the People’s Republic of China,

17 Cambodia, Indonesia, Japan, Pakistan, South

18 Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, and Laos.

19 (17) The SARS and avian influenza outbreaks

20 illustrate that disease knows no boundaries and em21 phasize the importance of allowing all people access

22 to the WHO.

23 (18) As the pace of globalization quickens and

24 the spread of infectious disease accelerates, it is cru25 cial that all people, including the people of Taiwan,


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1 be given the opportunity to participate in inter2 national health organizations such as the WHO.

3 (19) The Secretary of Health and Human Serv4 ices acknowledged during the 2003 World Health

5 Assembly meeting that ‘‘[t]he need for effective pub6 lic health exists among all peoples’’.

7 (b) PLAN.—The Secretary of State is authorized to—

8 (1) initiate a United States plan to endorse and

9 obtain observer status for Taiwan at the annual

10 week-long summit of the World Health Assembly in

11 May 2004 in Geneva, Switzerland;

12 (2) instruct the United States delegation to the

13 World Health Assembly in Geneva to implement that

14 plan; and

15 (3) introduce a resolution in support of observer

16 status for Taiwan at the summit of the World

17 Health Assembly.

18 (c) REPORT CONCERNING OBSERVER STATUS FOR

19 TAIWAN AT THE SUMMIT OF THE WORLD HEALTH AS20 SEMBLY.—Not later than 30 days after the date of the

21 enactment of this Act, and not later than April 1 of each

22 year thereafter, the Secretary of State shall submit a re23 port to the Congress, in unclassified form, describing the

24 United States plan to endorse and obtain observer status

25 for Taiwan at the annual week-long summit of the World


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1 Health Assembly (WHA) held by the World Health Orga2 nization (WHO) in May of each year in Geneva, Switzer3 land. Each report shall include the following:

4 (1) An account of the efforts the Secretary of

5 State has made, following the last meeting of the

6 World Health Assembly, to encourage WHO member

7 states to promote Taiwan’s bid to obtain observer

8 status.

9 (2) The steps the Secretary of State will take

10 to endorse and obtain observer status at the next

11 annual meeting of the World Health Assembly in

12 Geneva, Switzerland.

Æ


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1 TITLE I—UNITED STATES

2 INTERNATIONAL LEADERSHIP

3 SEC. 101. FINDINGS.

4 The Congress makes the following findings:

5 (1) Decisions at many international organiza6 tions and other multilateral institutions, including

7 membership and key positions, remain subject to de8 terminations made by regional groups where demo9 cratic states are often in the minority and where

10 there is intensive cooperation among repressive re11 gimes. As a result, the United States has often been

12 blocked in its attempts to take action in these insti13 tutions to advance its goals and objectives, including

14 at the United Nations Human Rights Commission

15 (where a representative of Libya was elected as

16 chairman and the United States temporarily lost a

17 seat).

18 (2) In order to address these shortcomings, the

19 United States must actively work to improve the

20 workings of international organizations and multilat21 eral institutions, particularly by creating a caucus of

22 democratic countries that will advance United States

23 interests. In the second Ministerial Conference of

24 the Community of Democracies in Seoul, Korea, on

25 November 10–20, 2002, numerous countries recVerDate Mar 21 2002 15:47 Jul 19, 2004 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00101 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6601 F:\WORK\FULL\M033104\92867.000 HINTREL1 PsN: SHIRL

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1 ommended working together as a democracy caucus

2 in international organizations such as the United

3 Nations and ensuring that international and regional

4 institutions develop and apply democratic standards

5 for member states.

6 SEC. 102. ESTABLISHMENT OF A DEMOCRACY CAUCUS.

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—The President of the United

8 States, acting through the Secretary of State and the rel9 evant United States chiefs of mission, shall seek to estab10 lish a democracy caucus at the United Nations, the United

11 Nations Human Rights Commission, the United Nations

12 Conference on Disarmament, and at other broad-based

13 international organizations.

14 (b) PURPOSES OF THE CAUCUS.—a democracy cau15 cus at an international organization should—

16 (1) forge common positions, including, as ap17 propriate, at the ministerial level, on matters of con18 cern before the organization and work within and

19 across regional lines to promote agreed positions;

20 (2) work to revise an increasingly outmoded

21 system of regional voting and decision making; and

22 (3) set up a rotational leadership scheme to

23 provide member states an opportunity, for a set pe24 riod of time, to serve as the designated president of


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1 the caucus, responsible for serving as its voice in

2 each organization.

3 SEC. 103. ANNUAL DIPLOMATIC MISSIONS ON MULTILAT4 ERAL ISSUES.

5 The Secretary of State, acting through the principal

6 officers responsible for advising the Secretary on inter7 national organizations, shall ensure that a high-level dele8 gation from the United States Government, on an annual

9 basis, is sent to consult with key foreign governments in

10 every region in order to promote the United States agenda

11 at key international fora, such as the United Nations Gen12 eral Assembly, United Nations Human Rights Commis13 sion, the United Nations Education, Science, and Cultural

14 Organization, and the International Whaling Commission.

15 SEC. 104. LEADERSHIP AND MEMBERSHIP OF INTER16 NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS.

17 (a) UNITED STATES POLICY.—The President, acting

18 through the Secretary of State and the relevant United

19 States chiefs of mission, shall use the voice, vote, and in20 fluence of the United States to—

21 (1) where appropriate, reform the criteria for

22 leadership and, in appropriate cases for membership,

23 at all United Nations bodies and at other inter24 national organizations and multilateral institutions

25 to which the United States is a member so as to exVerDate Mar 21 2002 15:47 Jul 19, 2004 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00103 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6601 F:\WORK\FULL\M033104\92867.000 HINTREL1 PsN: SHIRL

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1 clude nations that violate the principles of the spe2 cific organization;

3 (2) make it a policy of the United Nations and

4 other international organizations and multilateral in5 stitutions, of which the United States is a member,

6 that a member state may not stand in nomination

7 or be in rotation for a leadership position in such

8 bodies if the member state is subject to sanctions

9 imposed by the United Nations Security Council;

10 and

11 (3) work to ensure that no member state stand

12 in nomination or be in rotation for a leadership posi13 tion in such organizations, or for membership of the

14 United Nations Security Council, if the member

15 state is subject to a determination under section

16 620A of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, section

17 40 of the Arms Export Control Act, or section 6(j)

18 of the Export Administration Act.

19 (b) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 15 days

20 after a country subject to a determination under section

21 620A of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, section 40

22 of the Arms Export Control Act, or section 6(j) of the

23 Export Administration Act of 1979 is selected for a lead24 ership post in an international organization of which the

25 United States is a member or a membership of the United


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1 Nations Security Council, the Secretary of State shall sub2 mit to the appropriate congressional committees a report

3 on any steps taken pursuant to subsection (a)(3).

4 SEC. 105. INCREASED TRAINING IN MULTILATERAL DIPLO5 MACY.

6 (a) TRAINING PROGRAMS.—Section 708 of the For7 eign Service Act of 1980 (22 U.S.C. 4028) is amended

8 by adding after subsection (b) the following new sub9 section:

10 ‘‘(c) TRAINING IN MULTILATERAL DIPLOMACY.—

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall estab12 lish a series of training courses for officers of the

13 Service, including appropriate chiefs of mission, on

14 the conduct of diplomacy at international organiza15 tions and other multilateral institutions and at

16 broad-based multilateral negotiations of inter17 national instruments.

18 ‘‘(2) PARTICULAR PROGRAMS.—The Secretary

19 shall ensure that the training described in paragraph

20 (1) is provided at various stages of the career of

21 members of the service. in particular, the Secretary

22 shall ensure that after January 1, 2006—

23 ‘‘(A) officers of the Service receive training

24 on the conduct of diplomacy at international or25 ganizations and other multilateral institutions


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H.L.C.

1 and at broad-based multilateral negotiations of

2 international instruments as part of their train3 ing upon entry of the Service; and

4 ‘‘(B) officers of the Service, including

5 chiefs of mission, who are assigned to United

6 States missions representing the United States

7 to international organizations and other multi8 lateral institutions or who are assigned in

9 Washington, D.C., to positions that have as

10 their primary responsibility formulation of pol11 icy towards such organizations and institutions

12 or towards participation in broad-based multi13 lateral negotiations of international instruments

14 receive specialized training in the areas de15 scribed in paragraph (1) prior to beginning of

16 service for such assignment or, if receiving such

17 training at that time is not practical, within the

18 first year of beginning such assignment.’’.

19 (b) TRAINING FOR CIVIL SERVICE EMPLOYEES.—

20 The Secretary shall ensure that employees of the Depart21 ment of State that are members of the civil service and

22 that are assigned to positions described in section 708(c)

23 of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 (as amended by this

24 subtitle) have training described in such section.


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1 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 708 of

2 such Act is further amended—

3 (1) In subsection (a) by striking ‘‘(a) The’’ and

4 inserting ‘‘(A) TRAINING ON HUMAN RIGHTS.—

5 The’’; and

6 (2) In subsection (b) by striking ‘‘(b) The’’ and

7 inserting ‘‘(B) TRAINING ON REFUGEE LAW AND

8 RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION.—The’’.

9 SEC. 106. PROMOTING ASSIGNMENTS TO INTERNATIONAL

10 ORGANIZATIONS.

11 (a) PROMOTIONS.—

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 603(b) of the For13 eign Service Act of 1980 (22 U.S.C. 4003) is

14 amended by striking the period at the end and in15 serting: ‘‘, and shall consider whether the member of

16 the Service has served in a position whose primary

17 responsibility is to formulate policy towards or rep18 resent the United States at an international organi19 zation, a multilateral institution, or a broad-based

20 multilateral negotiation of an international instru21 ment.’’.

22 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made

23 by paragraph (1) shall take effect January 1, 2011.

24 (b) ESTABLISHMENT OF A MULTILATERAL DIPLO25 MACY CONE IN THE FOREIGN SERVICE.—


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1 (1) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following:

2 (A) The Department of State maintains a

3 number of United States missions both within

4 the United States and abroad that are dedi5 cated to representing the United States to

6 international organizations and multilateral in7 stitutions, including missions in New York,

8 Brussels, Geneva, Rome, Montreal, Nairobi, Vi9 enna, and Paris, and which are responsible for

10 United States representation to the United Na11 tions Economics, Scientific and Cultural Orga12 nization (UNESCO) and the Organization on

13 Economic Cooperation and Development

14 (OECD).

15 (B) In offices at the Harry S. Truman

16 Building, the Department maintains a signifi17 cant number of positions in bureaus that are ei18 ther dedicated, or whose primary responsibility

19 is, to represent the United States to such orga20 nizations and institutions or at multilateral ne21 gotiations.

22 (C) Given the large number of positions in

23 the United States and abroad that are dedi24 cated to multilateral diplomacy, the Department

25 of State may be well served in developing perVerDate Mar 21 2002 15:47 Jul 19, 2004 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00108 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6601 F:\WORK\FULL\M033104\92867.000 HINTREL1 PsN: SHIRL

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1 sons with specialized skills necessary to become

2 experts in this unique form of diplomacy.

3 (2) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after

4 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary

5 shall submit to the appropriate congressional com6 mittees a report—

7 (A) evaluating whether a new cone should

8 be established for the Foreign Service that con9 centrates on members of the Service that serve

10 at international organizations and multilateral

11 institutions or are primarily responsible for par12 ticipation in broad-based multilateral negotia13 tions of international instruments; and

14 (B) provides alternative mechanisms for

15 achieving the objective of developing a core

16 group of United States diplomats and other

17 government employees who have expertise and

18 broad experience in conducting multilateral di19 plomacy.

20 SEC. 107. IMPLEMENTATION AND ESTABLISHMENT OF OF21 FICE ON MULTILATERAL NEGOTIATIONS.

22 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF OFFICE.—The Secretary of

23 State is authorized to establish, within the Bureau of

24 International Organizational Affairs, an Office on Multi25 lateral Negotiations to be headed by a Special RepresentaVerDate Mar 21 2002 15:47 Jul 19, 2004 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00109 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6601 F:\WORK\FULL\M033104\92867.000 HINTREL1 PsN: SHIRL

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1 tive for Multilateral Negotiations (in this section referred

2 to as the ‘‘special representative’’).

3 (b) APPOINTMENT.—The special representative shall

4 be appointed by the President with the advice and consent

5 of the Senate and shall have the rank of Ambassador-at6 Large. At the discretion of the President another official

7 at the Department may serve as the special representative.

8 The President may direct that the special representative

9 report to the Assistant Secretary for International Organi10 zations.

11 (c) STAFFING.—The special representative shall have

12 a staff of foreign service and civil service officers skilled

13 in multilateral diplomacy.

14 (d) DUTIES.—The special representative shall have

15 the following responsibilities:

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—The primary responsibility

17 of the special representative shall be to assist in the

18 organization of, and preparation for, United States

19 participation in multilateral negotiations, including

20 the advocacy efforts undertaken by the Department

21 of State and other United States agencies.

22 (2) ADVISORY ROLE.—The special representa23 tive shall advise the President and the Secretary of

24 State, as appropriate, regarding advocacy at inter25 national organizations and multilateral institutions


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H.L.C.

1 and negotiations and, in coordination with the as2 sistant Secretary of State for international organiza3 tional affairs, shall make recommendations

4 regarding—

5 (A) effective strategies (and tactics) to

6 achieve United States policy objectives at multi7 lateral negotiations;

8 (B) the need for and timing of high level

9 intervention by the President, the Secretary of

10 State, the Deputy Secretary of State, and other

11 United States officials to secure support from

12 key foreign government officials for the United

13 States position at such organizations, institu14 tions, and negotiations;

15 (C) the composition of United States dele16 gations to multilateral negotiations; and

17 (D) liaison with Congress, international or18 ganizations, nongovernmental organizations,

19 and the private sector on matters affecting mul20 tilateral negotiations.

21 (3) DEMOCRACY CAUCUS.—The special rep22 resentative, in coordination with the Assistant Sec23 retary for International Organizational Affairs, shall

24 ensure the establishment of a democracy caucus.


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1 (4) ANNUAL DIPLOMATIC MISSIONS OF MULTI2 LATERAL ISSUES.—The special representative, in co3 ordination with the Assistant Secretary for Inter4 national Organizational Affairs, shall organize an5 nual diplomatic missions to appropriate foreign

6 countries to conduct consultations between principal

7 officers responsible for advising the Secretary of

8 State on international organizations and high-level

9 representatives of the governments of such foreign

10 countries to promote the United States agenda at

11 the United Nations General Assembly and other key

12 international fora (such as the United Nations

13 Human Rights Commission).

14 (5) LEADERSHIP AND MEMBERSHIP OF INTER15 NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS.—The special representa16 tive, in coordination with the Assistant Secretary of

17 International Organizational Affairs, shall direct the

18 efforts of the United States Government to reform

19 the criteria for leadership and membership of inter20 national organizations as described in section 104.

21 (6) PARTICIPATION IN MULTILATERAL NEGO22 TIATIONS.—The special representative, or members

23 of the special representative’s staff, may, as required

24 by the President or the Secretary of State, serve on


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1 a United States delegation to any multilateral nego2 tiation.

3 (e) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the date

4 of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall

5 submit a plan to establish a democracy caucus to the ap6 propriate congressional committees. The report required

7 by section 106(b)(2) may be submitted together with the

8 report under this subsection.

9 SEC. 108. DEFINITION.

10 In this title, the term ‘‘appropriate congressional

11 committees’’ means the Committee on International Rela12 tions of the House of Representatives and the Committee

13 on Foreign Relations of the Senate.

14 TITLE II—MISCELLANEOUS

15 PROVISIONS

16 SEC. 201. REPORTS RELATING TO MAGEN DAVID ADOM SO17 CIETY.

18 (a) FINDINGS.—Section 690(a) of the Foreign Rela19 tions Authorization Act, Fiscal Year 2003 (Public Law

20 107–228) is amended by adding at the end the following:

21 ‘‘(5) Since the founding of the Magen David

22 Adom in 1930, the American Red Cross has re23 garded it as a sister national society forging close

24 working ties between the two societies and has con25 sistently advocated recognition and membership of


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1 the Magen David Adom in the International Red

2 Cross and Red Crescent Movement.

3 ‘‘(6) The American Red Cross and Magen

4 David Adom signed an important memorandum of

5 understanding in November 2002, outlining areas

6 for strategic collaboration, and the American Red

7 Cross will encourage other societies to establish simi8 lar agreements with Magen David Adom.’’.

9 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—Section 690(b) of such

10 Act is amended—

11 (1) in paragraph (3) after the semicolon by

12 striking ‘‘and’’;

13 (2) by redesignating paragraph (4) as para14 graph (5); and

15 (3) by inserting after paragraph (3) the fol16 lowing new paragraph:

17 ‘‘(4) the High Contracting Parties to the Gene18 va Conventions of August 12, 1949, should adopt

19 the October 12, 2000, draft additional protocol

20 which would accord international recognition to an

21 additional distinctive emblem; and’’.

22 (c) REPORT.—Section 690 of such Act is further

23 amended by adding at the end the following:

24 ‘‘(c) REPORT.—Not later than 60 days after the date

25 of the enactment of the United States International LeadVerDate Mar 21 2002 15:47 Jul 19, 2004 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00114 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6601 F:\WORK\FULL\M033104\92867.000 HINTREL1 PsN: SHIRL

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1 ership Act of 2004, and annually thereafter, the Secretary

2 of State shall submit a report, on a classified basis if nec3 essary, to the appropriate congressional committees

4 describing—

5 ‘‘(1) efforts by the United States to obtain full

6 membership for the Magen David Adom in the

7 International Red Cross Movement;

8 ‘‘(2) efforts by the International Committee of

9 the Red Cross to obtain full membership for the

10 Magen David Adom in the International Red Cross

11 Movement;

12 ‘‘(3) efforts of the High Contracting Parties to

13 the Geneva Convention of 1949 to adopt the October

14 12, 2000, draft additional protocol; and

15 ‘‘(4) the extent to which the Magen David

16 Adom of Israel is participating in the activities of

17 the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Move18 ment.’’.

19 SEC. 202. VOLUNTARY CONTRIBUTION TO ORGANIZATION

20 OF AMERICAN STATES.

21 There are authorized to be appropriated $2,000,000

22 for a United States voluntary contribution to the Organi23 zation of American States for the Inter-American Com24 mittee Against Terrorism (CICTE) to identify and develop

25 a port in the Latin American and Caribbean region into


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1 a model of best security practices and appropriate tech2 nologies for improving port security in the Western Hemi3 sphere. Amounts authorized to be appropriated under this

4 section are authorized to remain available until expended

5 and are in addition to amounts otherwise available to

6 carry out section 301 of the Foreign Assistance Act of

7 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2221).

8 SEC. 203. COMBATTING THE PIRACY OF UNITED STATES

9 COPYRIGHTED MATERIALS.

10 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—In addi11 tion to such amounts as may otherwise be authorized to

12 be appropriated for such purpose, there are authorized to

13 be appropriated for the Department of State, $10,000,000

14 to carry out the following activities in countries that are

15 not members of the Organization for Economic Coopera16 tion and Development (OECD):

17 (1) Provision of equipment and training for for18 eign law enforcement, including in the interpretation

19 of intellectual property laws.

20 (2) Training for judges and prosecutors, includ21 ing in the interpretation of intellectual property

22 laws.

23 (3) Assistance in complying with obligations

24 under appropriate international copyright and intel25 lectual property treaties and agreements.


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1 (b) CONSULTATION WITH WORLD INTELLECTUAL

2 PROPERTY ORGANIZATION.—In carrying out subsection

3 (a), the Department of State should make every effort to

4 consult with, and provide appropriate assistance to, the

5 World Intellectual Property Organization to promote the

6 integration of non-OECD countries into the global intel7 lectual property system.


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IV

108TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. RES. 402

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding the urgent

need for freedom, democratic reform, and international monitoring of

elections, human rights, and religious liberty in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

OCTOBER 16, 2003

Mr. BURTON of Indiana (for himself, Mr. GREEN of Wisconsin, Mr. NUNES,

Mr. CHABOT, Mr. SHAYS, Mr. HALL, Mr. PETRI, Mr. KIND, Mr.

HERGER, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, and Mr. ROHRABACHER) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on International

Relations

RESOLUTION

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding the urgent need for freedom, democratic reform, and

international monitoring of elections, human rights, and

religious liberty in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic.

Whereas, in 1975, the Kingdom of Laos, a constitutional

monarchy and important ally of the United States during

the Vietnam War, was overthrown by the Marxist Lao

People’s Revolutionary Party with the assistance of the

People’s Army of North Vietnam;

Whereas the Lao People’s Democratic Republic was established as a one-party regime in 1975 following the communist takeover;


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•HRES 402 IH

Whereas tens of thousands of Laotian and Hmong people, a

prominent highland minority group, were killed or died at

the hands of communist forces while attempting to flee

the Lao communist regime, and many others perished in

reeducation and labor camps;

Whereas tens of thousands of Laotian and Hmong became

refugees, eventually resettling in the United States where

they now reside as American citizens and lead constructive lives as members of their communities;

Whereas the only political party allowed by law in Laos is the

communist Lao People’s Revolutionary Party;

Whereas, in 1989, Laos held its first elections since the establishment of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, but

only candidates who were approved by the communist

Lao People’s Revolutionary Party were allowed to seek

public office;

Whereas, in 1991, Laos adopted its first constitution which

purports to guarantee the people of Laos a wide range

of freedoms, including the freedoms of speech, assembly,

and religion;

Whereas the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party Congress

meets every five years and controls or influences the organs of the state in Laos, including the armed forces, the

security services, and the National Assembly;

Whereas the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party promulgates

the five-year state plans that control the economy and do

not need to receive the approval of the National Assembly;

Whereas, in 1999, peaceful pro-democracy demonstrations

held by Laotian students in the capital of Vientiane calling for political and economic reforms were suppressed by


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•HRES 402 IH

force by the Lao government, which arrested many of the

students;

Whereas Amnesty International reports that many Laotian

student leaders from the 1999 pro-democracy demonstrations continue to be held by the Lao government and languish in the Lao prison system or remain unaccounted

for;

Whereas, in 2001, Olivier Dupuis, a Member of the European

Parliament, was arrested and jailed in Laos along with

a group of pro-democracy activists after peacefully protesting for the release of the Lao students and for democratic and human rights reforms in Laos;

Whereas international election monitors are currently not

permitted to enter Laos to monitor elections;

Whereas Laos remains a one-party communist state that continues to prohibit the organizing of opposition political

parties to the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party;

Whereas, in 2002, elections for the Lao People’s Democratic

National Assembly were held nearly a year earlier than

scheduled and excluded all candidates from political parties other than the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party, as

well as all overseas Laotians;

Whereas Amnesty International and other independent

human rights organizations are not permitted to enter

Laos to monitor or investigate the human rights situation

or reports of alleged human rights violations;

Whereas, in 2003, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom issued a country report on

religious persecution in Laos, recommending that the

President designate Laos as a ‘‘country of particular concern’’;


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•HRES 402 IH

Whereas the Department of State reported in its most recent

Country Report on Human Rights Practices in Laos that

Laos restricts its citizens from enjoying the freedoms of

speech, assembly, and religion, and from undertaking activities to change their government;

Whereas, in 2003, the United Nations Committee on Elimination of Racial Discrimination stated that the Lao government had failed to honor its obligations, and the Committee expressed its grave concerns at the information it

had received of serious and repeated human rights violations in Laos;

Whereas, in October 2003, Amnesty International issued a

statement detailing its concern about the use of starvation by the Lao government as a weapon of war against

civilians in Laos and the deteriorating situation facing

thousands of family members of ethnic minority groups,

predominantly the Hmong;

Whereas, in 2003, Amnesty International’s International Secretariat, in a statement further detailing its concerns

about Laos, condemned in the strongest terms the use of

starvation as a weapon of war against civilians and cited

it as a clear and serious violation of the Geneva Conventions that Laos has ratified;

Whereas because many Laotians and Hmong, including those

in the overseas communities, are not members of the Lao

People’s Revolutionary Party, they do not meet with its

approval as political candidates, but they are nevertheless

successful businessmen, technocrats, and community and

religious leaders with democratic aspirations and concern

for the people of Laos; and


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•HRES 402 IH

Whereas the United States has a vital interest in the worldwide promotion of democratic principles and respect for

human rights, and supports democratic reforms in Laos:

Now, therefore, be it

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives strongly

2 supports the following points and urges the Government

3 of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, the United Na4 tions, the European Union, and the Association of South

5 East Asian Nations—

6 (1) to work to provide unrestricted access to

7 Laos by international election monitors for upcoming

8 presidential and National Assembly elections;

9 (2) to work to provide unrestricted access to

10 Laos, including special closed military zones and

11 closed provinces, by international human rights or12 ganizations, the United Nations, the United States

13 Commission on International Religious Freedom,

14 and humanitarian aid organizations;

15 (3) to work to ensure that opposition political

16 parties and their candidates are allowed to run for

17 public office in multi-party elections without regard

18 to gender, race, ethnicity, religion, economic stand19 ing, or political affiliation, and that all adult citizens

20 of Laos, including overseas Laotian citizens, are per21 mitted to vote and run for public office;


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•HRES 402 IH

1 (4) to allow the citizens of Laos to assemble

2 and peacefully protest against the Government of

3 Laos, the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party, and in4 dividual public officials, and to freely organize oppo5 sition groups and independent political parties;

6 (5) to heed the call by the United Nations Com7 mittee on Elimination of Racial Discrimination for

8 the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party to halt imme9 diately all acts of violence against the Hmong popu10 lation and provide them with humanitarian assist11 ance;

12 (6) to work to gain the immediate release of

13 those students and their family members arrested

14 and jailed in connection with the 1999 pro-democ15 racy demonstrations, as well as all other political

16 prisoners, prisoners of conscience, and those jailed

17 for their religious beliefs or ethnicity; and

18 (7) to work to implement the recommendations

19 of the United States Commission on International

20 Religious Freedom with respect to promoting reli21 gious freedom in Laos.

Æ


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IV

108TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. RES. 535

Expressing the concern and support of the House of Representatives for

local elected officials under threat of assassination, kidnapping, forcible

displacement, and coercion by terrorist organizations in the Republic

of Colombia.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

FEBRUARY 25, 2004

Mr. WELLER (for himself, Mr. BALLENGER, Ms. HARRIS, and Mr. SOUDER)

submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee

on International Relations

RESOLUTION

Expressing the concern and support of the House of Representatives for local elected officials under threat of

assassination, kidnapping, forcible displacement, and coercion by terrorist organizations in the Republic of Colombia.

Whereas attacks on the Government of the Republic of Colombia and civilian population of Colombia by terrorist

organizations, including the Revolutionary Armed Forces

of Colombia (FARC), the United Self-Defense Forces of

Colombia (AUC), and the National Liberation Army

(ELN), pose a constant threat to the oldest democracy

in South America and undermine the fundamental

human rights of the people of Colombia;


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•HRES 535 IH

Whereas threats by terrorist organizations against democratically-elected local and regional representatives, such as

mayors, council members, governors, and judges, hinders

and, in many cases prevents, these representatives from

carrying out their required duties;

Whereas the National Federation of Council Members of Colombia, a civil society organization representing elected

municipal council officials in Colombia, reports that 252

municipal council members were assassinated by the

FARC, ELN, AUC, and other terrorist organizations between July 1996 and September 2003;

Whereas the National Federation of Council Members of Colombia has established a Department of Human Rights

and International Humanitarian Law in order to help

protect council members from assassinations and attacks

by terrorist organizations;

Whereas there has recently been an alarming increase in the

number of such assassinations and attacks, increasing

from an average of 21.5 during the years 1996–2001 to

64 in 2002, and 59 during the first nine months of 2003;

Whereas in addition to the 59 council members killed through

September 2003, 1180 council members were forcibly displaced by terrorist organizations;

Whereas during the process leading to local elections in October 2003, 15 aspiring council members were killed and

at least 135 aspiring council members were forced to end

their campaigns because of the threats of assassination,

principally from the FARC; and

Whereas as the direct representatives of local constituencies,

elected municipal councils are a vital institution of democracy in Colombia: Now, therefore, be it


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•HRES 535 IH

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives—

2 (1) condemns all terrorist organizations in the

3 Republic of Colombia for their efforts to undermine

4 and remove local government officials such as may5 ors, judges, and municipal council members, through

6 assassination, kidnapping, coercion, or forcible dis7 placement from their communities;

8 (2) expresses its strong support for democrat9 ically-elected municipal council members in Colombia

10 in their efforts to continue governing in the face of

11 continuing and increasing threats by terrorist orga12 nizations;

13 (3) calls upon the Government of Colombia to

14 continue its campaign to restore legitimate govern15 ance throughout the entire country; and

16 (4) commends the efforts by the National Fed17 eration of Council Members of Colombia to provide

18 support for local elected officials in their struggle

19 against lawlessness and terror.

Æ


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H.L.C.

AMENDMENT TO THE AMENDMENT TO H. RES. 535

OFFERED BY MR. PAYNE

Page 1, line 5, insert after ‘‘judges’’ the following:

‘‘(including those who represent the most vulnerable communities, such as Afro-Colombian and indigenous leaders)’’.

Page 1, line 6, insert before ‘‘coercion’’ the following: ‘‘threatening their family members,’’.

Page 1, line 19, insert before the semicolon the following: ‘‘and, in doing so, to work closely with the Black

Mayor’s Association of Colombia and the Colombian Congressional Black Caucus to ensure support for communities that have been disproportionately affected by the

conflict’’.


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1

H.L.C.

AMENDMENT TO H. RES. 535

OFFERED BY MR. WELLER

Page 3, strike paragraphs (1) through (4) and insert

the following:

1 (1) condemns all terrorist organizations in the

2 Republic of Colombia for their efforts to undermine

3 and remove local government officials and regional

4 representatives, such as mayors, council members,

5 governors, and judges, through assassination, kid6 napping, coercion, or forcible displacement from

7 their communities, which constitute violations of

8 international humanitarian law;

9 (2) expresses its strong support for democrat10 ically elected municipal council members in Colombia

11 in their efforts to continue governing in the face of

12 continuing and increasing threats by terrorist orga13 nizations;

14 (3) commends the Government of Colombia for

15 its ongoing efforts to restore legitimate government

16 throughout the entire country;

17 (4) urges the Government of Colombia to ex18 pand its efforts to restore basic services to affected

19 municipalities and communities;


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H.L.C.

1 (5) calls upon the Government of Colombia to

2 investigate and prosecute to the fullest extent of the

3 law those persons responsible for the attacks and

4 threats against local government officials, regional

5 representatives, and civil society leaders; and

6 (6) commends the efforts by the National Fed7 eration of Municipal Councils of Colombia to provide

8 support for local government officials, regional rep9 resentatives, and civil society leaders in their strug10 gle against lawlessness and terror.


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1

H.L.C.

AMENDMENT TO H. RES 535

OFFERED BY MR. WELLER

Strike the preamble and insert the following:

Whereas attacks on the Government of the Republic of Colombia and civilian population of Colombia by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), the United

Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC), and the National Liberation Army (ELN), which have been designated as foreign terrorist organizations by the Government of the United States, pose a constant threat to the

oldest democracy in South America and undermine the

fundamental human rights of the people of Colombia;

Whereas threats by these terrorist organizations against

democratically elected local and regional representatives,

such as mayors, council members, governors, and judges,

hinders and, in many cases, prevents these representatives from carrying out their required duties;

Whereas the National Federation of Municipal Councils of

Colombia, a civil society organization representing elected

municipal council officials in Colombia, reports that 252

municipal council members were assassinated by the

FARC, AUC, and ELN between July 1996 and September 2003;

Whereas the National Federation of Municipal Councils of

Colombia has established a Department of Human Rights

and International Humanitarian Law in order to help

protect council members from assassinations and attacks

by terrorist organizations;

Whereas assassinations and attacks on municipal council

members in Colombia increased from an average of 21.5


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2

H.L.C.

during the years 1996 to 2001 to 64 in 2002, and 59

during the first 9 months of 2003;

Whereas in addition to the 59 council members killed through

September 2003, 1,180 council members were forcibly

displaced by terrorist organizations;

Whereas the terrorist attacks on the democratically elected

local and regional representatives as well as aspiring

council members constitute violations of international humanitarian law;

Whereas during the process leading to local elections in October 2003, 15 aspiring council members were killed and

at least 135 aspiring council members reported that they

ended their campaigns because of threats of assassination, principally from the FARC; and

Whereas, as the direct representatives of local constituencies,

elected municipal councils are a vital institution of democracy in Colombia: Now, therefore, be it


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1

IV

108TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. RES. 563

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding the oneyear anniversary of the human rights crackdown in Cuba.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 16, 2004

Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN (for herself, Mr. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART of Florida, Mr.

MENENDEZ, and Mr. MARIO DIAZ-BALART of Florida) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on International

Relations

RESOLUTION

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding the one-year anniversary of the human rights crackdown in Cuba.

Whereas in March 2003, Cuban dictator, Fidel Castro, arrested more than 75 journalists, labor union organizers,

civic leaders, and human rights activists as political prisoners;

Whereas the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which

guides global human rights policy, asserts that all human

beings are born free and live in dignity with rights;

Whereas the Castro regime sentenced these innocent men and

women to a total of more than 1,000 years in prison,


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•HRES 563 IH

many of whom are anticipated to die in prison before

their sentence is completed;

Whereas these arrests were an atrocious attempt by the Castro regime to crush the citizens’ movement for a free and

democratic Cuba;

Whereas the internal opposition in Cuba is working intensely

and valiantly to draw international attention to Cuba’s

deplorable human rights situation and continues to

strengthen and grow in its opposition to the Government

of Cuba;

Whereas Amnesty International has recognized all 75 journalists and activists arrested in the crackdown on March

18, 2003, in Cuba as prisoners of conscience;

Whereas Reporters Without Borders has called Cuba the

world’s biggest prison for journalists;

Whereas the Government of Cuba engages in torture and

other cruel, inhumane, and degrading treatment and punishment against political prisoners to force them into submission, including the use of electroshock, intense beatings, and extended periods of solitary confinement without nutrition or medical attention;

Whereas religious freedom in Cuba is severely circumscribed

and clergy and lay people suffer sustained persecution by

the Cuban State Security apparatus;

Whereas the Government of Cuba denies the people of Cuba

equal protection under the law, enforcing a judicial system which infringes upon fundamental rights while denying recourse against the violation of human rights and

civil liberties; and


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•HRES 563 IH

Whereas the United States Congress has stood, consistently,

on the side of the Cuban people and supported their right

to be free: Now, therefore, be it

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives—

2 (1) condemns in the strongest possible terms

3 the repressive crackdown by the Government of

4 Cuba against the brave internal opposition and the

5 independent press;

6 (2) expresses its profound admiration and firm

7 solidarity with the internal opposition and inde8 pendent press of Cuba;

9 (3) demands that the Government of Cuba re10 lease all political prisoners, legalize all political par11 ties, labor unions, and the press, and hold free and

12 fair elections;

13 (4) declares the acts of the Castro regime, in14 cluding its widespread and systematic violation of

15 human rights, to be in violation of the Charter of

16 the United Nations and the Universal Declaration of

17 Human Rights;

18 (5) declares that the rule of law for the Cuban

19 people should guarantee each and every fundamental

20 and inalienable right; and

21 (6) calls for the passage of a resolution at the

22 60th session of the United Nations Commission on

23 Human Rights that holds the Government of Cuba


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•HRES 563 IH

1 accountable for its gross violations of human rights

2 and civil liberties.

Æ


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1

H.L.C.

AMENDMENT IN THE NATURE OF A SUBSTITUTE

TO H. RES. 563

OFFERED BY MS. ROS-LEHTINEN

Strike the preamble and insert the following:

Whereas in March 2003, Cuban dictator, Fidel Castro, arrested more than 75 journalists, labor union organizers,

civic leaders, and human rights activists as political prisoners;

Whereas the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which

guides global human rights policy, asserts that all human

beings are born free and live in dignity with rights;

Whereas the Government of Cuba sentenced these innocent

men and women to a combined total of more than 1,000

years in prison, many of whom are anticipated to die in

prison before their sentence is completed;

Whereas these arrests were an atrocious attempt by the Government of Cuba to crush the citizens’ movement for a

free and democratic Cuba;

Whereas the internal opposition in Cuba is working intensely

and valiantly to draw international attention to Cuba’s

deplorable human rights situation and continues to

strengthen and grow in its opposition to the Government

of Cuba;

Whereas Amnesty International has recognized all 75 journalists and activists arrested in the crackdown in March

2003 in Cuba as prisoners of conscience;

Whereas Reporters Without Borders has called Cuba the

world’s biggest prison for journalists;


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H.L.C.

Whereas the Government of Cuba engages in torture and

other cruel, inhumane, and degrading treatment and punishment against political prisoners to force them into submission, including the use of electroshock, intense beatings, and extended periods of solitary confinement without nutrition or medical attention;

Whereas religious freedom in Cuba is severely circumscribed

and clergy and lay people suffer sustained persecution by

the Cuban State Security apparatus;

Whereas the Government of Cuba denies the people of Cuba

equal protection under the law, enforcing a judicial system which infringes upon fundamental rights while denying recourse against the violation of human rights and

civil liberties; and

Whereas the Congress has consistently stood on the side of

the Cuban people and supported their right to be free:

Now, therefore, be it

Strike all after the resolved clause and insert the following:

1 That the House of Representatives—

2 (1) condemns the repressive crackdown by the

3 Government of Cuba against the brave internal op4 position and the independent press;

5 (2) expresses its firm solidarity with the inter6 nal opposition and independent press of Cuba;

7 (3) demands that the Government of Cuba re8 lease all political prisoners, legalize all political parVerDate Mar 21 2002 15:47 Jul 19, 2004 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00137 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6601 F:\WORK\FULL\M033104\92867.000 HINTREL1 PsN: SHIRL

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H.L.C.

1 ties, labor unions, and the press, and hold free and

2 fair elections;

3 (4) declares that the Government of Cuba’s

4 widespread and systematic violation of fundamental

5 freedoms to be in violation of the Universal Declara6 tion of Human Rights;

7 (5) declares that the rule of law should guar8 antee each and every fundamental and inalienable

9 right for the Cuban people; and

10 (6) calls for the passage of a resolution at the

11 60th session of the United Nations Commission on

12 Human Rights that holds the Government of Cuba

13 accountable for its gross violations of human rights

14 and civil liberties.


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1

IV

108TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. RES. 576

Urging the Government of the People’s Republic of China to improve its

protection of intellectual property rights, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 24, 2004

Ms. WATSON (for herself, Mr. LANTOS, and Mr. HYDE) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on International

Relations

RESOLUTION

Urging the Government of the People’s Republic of China

to improve its protection of intellectual property rights,

and for other purposes.

Whereas on December 11, 2001, the People’s Republic of

China acceded to the World Trade Organization (WTO)

and agreed to implement a set of sweeping reforms designed to protect intellectual property rights under the

terms of its accession;

Whereas the accession by China to the WTO included the

adoption by China of the Agreement on Trade-Related

Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement), which establishes minimum standards for intellectual property rights to be provided by each WTO member


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•HRES 576 IH

and certain general principles applicable to all intellectual

property rights enforcement procedures;

Whereas following its accession to the WTO and adoption of

the TRIPS Agreement, China initiated a series of measures and a comprehensive review of its intellectual property rights laws to bring itself in compliance with international standards in patent, trademark, copyright, trade

secret, and other intellectual property laws;

Whereas central and local Chinese Government officials continue to work with their counterparts in the United

States to improve China’s intellectual property rights enforcement through regular bilateral discussions, roundtable meetings, and numerous technical assistance programs;

Whereas China has initiated campaigns to seize illegal and

pirated goods, closed or fined several assembly operations

for illegal production lines, seized millions of illegal

audio-visual products, and expanded training of law enforcement officials relating to intellectual property rights

protection;

Whereas although China has made significant improvements

to its framework of law, regulations, rules, and judicial

interpretations regarding intellectual property rights, its

intellectual property rights enforcement mechanisms still

face major obstacles, which have resulted in continued

widespread piracy and counterfeiting of film, recorded

music, published products, software products, pharmaceuticals, chemical products, information technology

products, consumer goods, electrical equipment, automobiles and automotive parts, industrial products, and

research results throughout China;


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•HRES 576 IH

Whereas such widespread piracy and counterfeiting in China

harms not only the economic development of China but

also the economic and legal interests of United States

business enterprises that sell their products or services in

China, whether or not these United States business enterprises have invested in China or ever will invest in

China;

Whereas United States losses due to the piracy of copyrighted materials in China is estimated to exceed

$1,800,000,000 annually and counterfeited products to

account for 15 to 20 percent of all products made in

China, approximately 8 percent of the country’s gross national product;

Whereas the market value of counterfeit goods in China is between $19,000,000,000 and $24,000,000,000 annually,

causing enormous losses for intellectual property rights

holders worldwide;

Whereas more than 60 percent of all goods imported into the

United States that infringe intellectual property rights

and are seized by the Bureau of Customs and Border

Protection of the Department of Homeland Security

originate in China;

Whereas the export of pirated or counterfeit goods from

China to third country markets causes economic losses to

United States and other foreign producers of patented,

trademarked, and copyrighted products competing for

market share in those third country markets;

Whereas, according to the United States Trade Representative, current criminal laws and enforcement mechanisms

for intellectual property rights in China by administrative

authorities, criminal prosecutions, and civil actions for


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•HRES 576 IH

monetary damages have not effectively addressed widespread counterfeiting and piracy;

Whereas administrative authorities in China rarely forward

an administrative case relating to intellectual property

rights violations to the appropriate criminal justice authorities for criminal investigation and prosecution;

Whereas China currently has high criminal liability thresholds for infringements of intellectual property rights, with

an unreasonable proof-of-sale requirement totaling approximately $24,100 for business enterprises and $6,030

for individuals (according to current exchange rates) that

makes criminal prosecution against those enterprises or

individuals that violate intellectual property rights extremely difficult;

Whereas seizures and fines imposed by Chinese authorities

for intellectual property rights violations are perceived by

the violators to be a cost of doing business and such violators are usually able to resume their operations without

much difficulty;

Whereas China has the second largest number of Internet

users in the world, it still has not acceded to the 1996

World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Internet-related treaties that reflect international norms for

providing copyright protection over the Internet;

Whereas China’s market access barriers for United States

and other foreign cultural products such as movies,

music, and books stops or slows the legal entry of these

legitimate products into China, in turn increasing the demand for pirated products;

Whereas in the United States Trade Representative’s ‘‘Special 301’’ Report for 2003, the implementation by China


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•HRES 576 IH

of the 1995 bilateral agreement with the United States

on the protection of intellectual property rights is subject

to monitoring under section 306 of the Trade Act of

1974 (19 U.S.C. 2416); and

Whereas the United States Trade Representative is currently

preparing the ‘‘Special 301’’ Report for 2004, to be made

public on April 30, 2004: Now, therefore, be it

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives—

2 (1) commends the Government of the People’s

3 Republic of China for the steps it has taken to im4 prove its legal framework for intellectual property

5 rights protection and for efforts to bring itself to6 ward compliance with international standards for in7 tellectual property rights established by the World

8 Trade Organization (WTO);

9 (2) recognizes, despite the steps referred to in

10 paragraph (1), the continuing existence of wide11 spread intellectual property rights violations in

12 China and encourages the Chinese Government to

13 take further and immediate steps to improve en14 forcement of such rights;

15 (3) urges the Chinese Government to undertake

16 a coordinated nationwide intellectual property rights

17 enforcement campaign, to eliminate the high crimi18 nal liability threshold and procedural obstacles that

19 impede the effective use of criminal prosecution in

20 addressing intellectual property rights violations, to


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•HRES 576 IH

1 increase the criminal penalties provided for in its

2 laws and regulations, and to vigorously pursuit coun3 terfeiting and piracy cases;

4 (4) recommends that the Chinese Government

5 implement more effective customs and border meas6 ures to prevent the massive exportation of pirated

7 goods into the United States and other countries;

8 (5) encourages the Chinese Government to fully

9 and comprehensively implement a legal framework

10 and effective enforcement mechanisms that would

11 protect not only intellectual property rights held by

12 United States and foreign business enterprises with

13 or without investments in China, but also Chinese

14 intellectual property rights holders, which is crucial

15 to China’s own economic development and techno16 logical advancement;

17 (6) urges the Chinese Government to give

18 greater market access to the foreign producers of le19 gitimate products such as films and other audio-vis20 ual products in order to reduce demand for and

21 prevalence of pirated and counterfeit goods in their

22 absence;

23 (7) calls upon the Chinese Government to

24 promptly accede to the 1996 World Intellectual

25 property Organization (WIPO) Internet-related treaVerDate Mar 21 2002 15:47 Jul 19, 2004 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00144 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6601 F:\WORK\FULL\M033104\92867.000 HINTREL1 PsN: SHIRL

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•HRES 576 IH

1 ties and harmonize its regulations and implementing

2 rules with the treaties fully; and

3 (8) will continue to monitor closely and work

4 with the Administration to encourage China’s efforts

5 to bring its framework of laws, regulations and im6 plementing rules into compliance with the Agree7 ment on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Prop8 erty Rights (TRIPS Agreement) and to create and

9 maintain effective intellectual property rights en10 forcement mechanisms capable of deterring counter11 feiting and piracy activities.

Æ


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H.L.C.

AMENDMENT TO H. RES. 576

OFFERED BY MR. GREEN OF WISCONSIN

Page 5, lines 13 and 14, strike ‘‘to improve enforcement of such rights’’ and insert ‘‘and devote adequate resources to improve enforcement of such rights’’.


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1

IV

108TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. CON. RES. 326

Expressing the sense of Congress regarding the arbitrary detention of Dr.

Wang Bingzhang by the Government of the People’s Republic of China

and urging his immediate release.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

NOVEMBER 18, 2003

Mrs. NAPOLITANO (for herself, Mr. FARR, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. MCNULTY, Ms.

ROS-LEHTINEN, Mrs. TAUSCHER, and Mr. WOLF) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on

International Relations

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

Expressing the sense of Congress regarding the arbitrary

detention of Dr. Wang Bingzhang by the Government

of the People’s Republic of China and urging his immediate release.

Whereas Dr. Wang Bingzhang is a permanent resident of the

United States and his sister and daughter are United

States citizens;

Whereas Dr. Wang received his Ph.D. at McGill University

in Canada in coronary-arterial research and is a well-respected leader of the overseas Chinese pro-democracy

movement and the founder of China Spring magazine;


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Whereas Dr. Wang is currently serving a life sentence in

prison in the People’s Republic of China and is suffering

from gastritis, varicose veins, phlebitis, and depression;

Whereas Dr. Wang was abducted in northern Vietnam in

June 2002 after meeting with a Chinese labor activist;

Whereas Dr. Wang was driven to the border between Vietnam and the People’s Republic of China and forced back

to China by boat;

Whereas Dr. Wang was blindfolded and bound and held in

various places in Guangxi Province and his captors demanded a $10,000,000 ransom, which Dr. Wang was unable to pay;

Whereas Dr. Wang although provided his captors with the

names and telephone numbers of his relatives, they were

never contacted;

Whereas Dr. Wang was finally taken to a Buddhist temple

in Fangchenggang City in southern Guangxi Province

where his abductors unexpectedly left and moments later

he was ‘‘rescued’’ by the Chinese police;

Whereas Dr. Wang was detained by the Chinese police and

then transported to Nanning, the capital of Guangxi

Province;

Whereas Dr. Wang was held incommunicado for six months,

during which time the Government of the People’s Republic of China denied any knowledge of his whereabouts;

Whereas on December 4, 2002, the Chinese Government reversed itself, admitting that Dr. Wang had been in its

custody since July 3, 2002;


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Whereas on December 5, 2002, Dr. Wang was charged with

‘‘offenses of espionage’’ and ‘‘the conduct of terrorist activities’’;

Whereas on January 22, 2003, Dr. Wang was tried by the

Intermediate People’s Court in the city of Shenzhen in

Guangdong Province;

Whereas Dr. Wang’s trial lasted only half a day and was

closed to the public because the Chinese Government indicated that ‘‘state secrets’’ might be revealed, thereby

precluding family members, supporters, and reporters

from attending;

Whereas at the trial, Dr. Wang declared himself innocent of

all charges;

Whereas at the trial, the Chinese Government refused to release any evidence of Dr. Wang’s wrongdoing;

Whereas at the trial, Dr. Wang was denied the right to due

process, specifically the right to the presumption of innocence, the right to adequate time and facilities to prepare

for his own defense, the right to a fair trial before an

independent and impartial tribunal, the right to call witnesses on his own behalf, the right to cross-examine witnesses testifying against him, and in general, the lack of

other due process guarantees that would ensure his adequate defense and a full hearing;

Whereas Dr. Wang’s trial represented the first time the Chinese Government had brought charges against a pro-democracy dissident under its new terrorism laws;

Whereas although Dr. Wang was convicted and sentenced to

life in prison on February 10, 2003, Dr.Wang’s lawyers

stated that there was insufficient evidence to convict him;


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Whereas Dr. Wang’s lawyers immediately appealed the

court’s verdict, but the appeal was rejected on February

28, 2003;

Whereas a human rights petition was submitted on Dr.

Wang’s behalf to the United Nations Arbitrary Working

Group of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights;

Whereas the petition claimed that Dr. Wang was being arbitrarily detained and that the judicial standards employed

in his trial fell far short of internationally recognized

standards for judicial proceedings under provisions of the

United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights;

Whereas in its opinion, the United Nations Working Group

noted that Dr. Wang is an internationally recognized prodemocracy activist as opposed to the Chinese Government’s characterization of Dr. Wang as an individual

who advocates violence and suggests the use of methods

such as kidnapping and bombings to achieve his goals,

and that Dr. Wang had boasted of carrying out many

violent terrorist activities;

Whereas in its opinion, the United Nations Working Group

further noted that the Chinese Government offered ‘‘no

evidence of any specific occasion on which Wang made

the alleged calls to violence’’ and that ‘‘[o]ther than the

kidnapping of which Wang himself was a victim, as the

Government itself acknowledges, no information has been

given about other kidnappings or acts of violence initiated

by Wang’’;

Whereas in its opinion, the United Nations Working Group

further stated that ‘‘Wang, during his first five months

in detention, did not have knowledge of the charges, the


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right to legal counsel, or the right to judicial review of

the arrest and detention; and that, after that date, he did

not benefit from the right to the presumption of innocence, the right to adequate time and facilities for defense, the right to a fair trial before an independent and

impartial tribunal, the right to a speedy trial and the

right to cross-examine witnesses’’;

Whereas in conclusion, the United Nations Working Group

declared that ‘‘the detention of Wang Bingzhang is arbitrary, being in contravention of articles 9, 10 and 11 of

the Universal Declaration of Human Rights’’ and requested ‘‘the [Chinese] Government to take the necessary

steps to remedy the situation of Wang Bingzhang and

bring it into conformity with the standards and principles

set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights’’;

Whereas the United States Congressional-Executive Commission on China made the following recommendation in its

2003 annual report: ‘‘The President and the Congress

should increase diplomatic efforts to hold the Chinese

government to [its commitments on human rights matters during the December 2002 U.S.-China human rights

dialogue], particularly the release of those arbitrarily detained’’;

Whereas the report also stated the following: ‘‘The Chinese

[G]overnment has also taken advantage of the global war

on terrorism to persecute . . . political dissidents. In February 2003, Wang Bingzhang, a U.S. permanent resident

and veteran pro-democracy activist, was convicted of

‘leading a terrorism organization’ and ‘spying’ and sentenced to life imprisonment’’; and

Whereas the report finally noted that ‘‘[i]n July 2003, the

UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention declared that


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Wang’s arrest and imprisonment violated international

law’’: Now, therefore, be it

1 Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate

2 concurring), That it is the sense of Congress that—

3 (1) Dr. Wang Bingzhang, a permanent resident

4 of the United States, is being arbitrarily detained in

5 the People’s Republic of China in violation of inter6 national law;

7 (2) the United States Government should re8 quest the Government of the People’s Republic of

9 China to release Dr. Wang, permitting him to imme10 diately return to the United States; and

11 (3) the President should make the immediate

12 release of Dr. Wang by the Government of the Peo13 ple’s Republic of China a top priority of United

14 States foreign policy.

Æ


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IV

108TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. CON. RES. 336

Expressing the sense of Congress that the continued participation of the

Russian Federation in the Group of 8 nations should be conditioned

on the Russian Government voluntarily accepting and adhering to the

norms and standards of democracy.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

NOVEMBER 21, 2003

Mr. LANTOS (for himself and Mr. COX) submitted the following concurrent

resolution; which was referred to the Committee on International Relations

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

Expressing the sense of Congress that the continued participation of the Russian Federation in the Group of 8

nations should be conditioned on the Russian Government voluntarily accepting and adhering to the norms

and standards of democracy.

Whereas the countries that comprise the Group of 7 nations

are pluralistic societies with democratic political institutions and practices, committed to the observance of universally recognized standards of human rights, respect

for individual liberties, and democratic political practices;

Whereas in 1991 and subsequent years, the leaders of the

Group of 7 nations, heads of the governments of the

major free-market economies of the world who meet anVerDate Mar 21 2002 15:47 Jul 19, 2004 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00153 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6601 F:\WORK\FULL\M033104\92867.000 HINTREL1 PsN: SHIRL

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nually in a summit meeting, invited then-Russian President Boris Yeltsin to a post-summit dialogue;

Whereas in 1998, the leaders of the Group of 7 nations formally invited the president of Russia to participate in an

annual gathering that subsequently was known as the

Group of 8 nations, although the Group of 7 nations have

continued to hold informal summit meetings and ministerial meetings that do not include the Russian Federation;

Whereas the invitation to President Yeltsin to participate in

the annual summits was in recognition of the commitment of President Yeltsin to democratization and economic liberalization, despite the fact that the Russian

economy remained weak and the commitment of the Russian Government to democratic principles was uncertain;

Whereas under the leadership of President Vladimir Putin,

the Russian Government has attempted to control the activities of independent media enterprises, nongovernmental organizations, religious organizations, and other

pluralistic elements of Russian society in an attempt to

mute criticism of the government;

Whereas the suppression by the Russian Government of independent media enterprises has resulted in widespread

government control and influence over the media in Russia, stifling freedom of expression and individual liberties

that are essential to any functioning democracy;

Whereas the arrest and prosecution of prominent Russian

business leaders who had supported the political opposition to President Putin are examples of selective application of the rule of law for political purposes;

Whereas the courts of Great Britain, Spain, and Greece have

consistently ruled against extradition warrants issued by


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the Russian Government after finding that the cases presented by the Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation have been inherently political in nature;

Whereas Russian military forces continue to commit brutal

atrocities against the civilian population in Chechnya;

Whereas the rise to influence within the Russian Government

of unelected security officials from the KGB of the

former Soviet Union is increasingly undermining the

Russian Government’s commitment to democratic principles, accountability, and transparency;

Whereas a wide range of observers at think tanks and nongovernmental organizations have expressed deep concern

that the Russian Federation is moving away from the political and legal underpinnings of a market economy; and

Whereas the continued participation of the Russian Federation in the Group of 8 nations, including the Russian

Government’s opportunity to host the G–8 summit in

2006 as planned, is a privilege that is premised on the

Russian Government voluntarily accepting and adhering

to the norms and standards of democracy: Now, therefore, be it

1 Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate

2 concurring), That it is the sense of Congress that—

3 (1) the selective prosecution of political oppo4 nents and the suppression of free media by the Rus5 sian Federation, and the continued commission of

6 widespread atrocities in the conduct of the brutal

7 war in Chechnya, do not reflect the minimum standVerDate Mar 21 2002 15:47 Jul 19, 2004 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00155 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6601 F:\WORK\FULL\M033104\92867.000 HINTREL1 PsN: SHIRL

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1 ards of civilized nations that characterize every other

2 member state in the Group of 8;

3 (2) the continued participation of the Russian

4 Federation in the Group of 8 nations, including the

5 Russian Government’s opportunity to host the G–8

6 summit in 2006 as planned, should be conditioned

7 on the Russian Government voluntarily accepting

8 and adhering to the norms and standards of free,

9 democratic societies as generally practiced by every

10 other member nation, including—

11 (A) the rule of law, including protection

12 from selective prosecution and protection from

13 arbitrary state-directed violence;

14 (B) a court system free of political influ15 ence and manipulation;

16 (C) a free and independent media;

17 (D) a political system open to participation

18 by all citizens and which protects freedom of ex19 pression and association; and

20 (E) the protection of universally recognized

21 human rights; and

22 (3) the President of the United States and the

23 Secretary of State should work with the other mem24 bers of the Group of 7 to take all necessary steps

25 to suspend the participation of the Russian FederaVerDate Mar 21 2002 15:47 Jul 19, 2004 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00156 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6601 F:\WORK\FULL\M033104\92867.000 HINTREL1 PsN: SHIRL

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1 tion in the Group of 8 nations until the President,

2 after consultation with the other members of the

3 Group of 7, determines and reports to Congress that

4 the Russian Government is committed to respecting

5 and upholding the democratic principles described in

6 paragraph (2).

Æ


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IV

108TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. CON. RES. 352

Recognizing the contributions of people of Indian origin to the United States

and the benefits of working together with India towards promoting peace,

prosperity, and freedom among all countries of the world.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 28, 2004

Ms. MILLENDER-MCDONALD submitted the following concurrent resolution;

which was referred to the Committee on International Relations

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

Recognizing the contributions of people of Indian origin to

the United States and the benefits of working together

with India towards promoting peace, prosperity, and freedom among all countries of the world.

Whereas India is the largest democratic country in the world

and enjoys a close and mutual friendship with the United

States based on common values and common interests;

Whereas people of Indian origin who have for decades immigrated to the United States have made extraordinary

contributions to the United States, helping to make the

United States a more efficient and prosperous country;

Whereas these contributions have spanned disciplines ranging

from science, technology, business development, and pubVerDate Mar 21 2002 15:47 Jul 19, 2004 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00158 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6601 F:\WORK\FULL\M033104\92867.000 HINTREL1 PsN: SHIRL

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lic service, to social justice, philanthropy, literature, and

the arts;

Whereas generations of doctors and nurses of Indian origin

have attended to the sick in large cities as well as in

rural regions of the United States that are otherwise underserved;

Whereas people of Indian origin have designed defense systems that protect United States naval ships while at sea,

and have contributed to engineering, designing, and participating in the United States space shuttle program, at

great personal sacrifice;

Whereas people of Indian origin have invented many of the

technologies that power the computer and the internet,

have created and directed laboratories that produced significant breakthroughs in modern medicine, and have

taught at, and are leaders of, many United States institutions of higher learning;

Whereas people of Indian origin have made invaluable contributions to the vitality and viability of the United

States economy through creative entrepreneurship and

leadership in both large and small businesses;

Whereas people of Indian origin have shared and integrated

their rich culture into the fabric of American daily life;

Whereas trade with India integrates a democratic country of

more than one billion people into the flow of commerce,

offering the United States a large and rapidly growing

market and unlocking vast reservoirs of talent;

Whereas the United States is India’s largest trading partner

and a major source of foreign direct investment and foreign institutional investment in India;


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Whereas United States exports to India are growing at 25

percent, making India one of the fastest growing foreign

markets for United States goods and services;

Whereas India’s industrial tariffs have fallen from 150 percent in 1988 to a peak rate of 20 percent today;

Whereas United States exports to India will accelerate as

India continues reducing tariffs and instituting liberalization measures in its trade and investment regime, thereby

expanding the trade relationship of the two countries and

bringing mutual benefits;

Whereas India has been a key partner in the war against terrorism;

Whereas India and the United States have agreed to increase

cooperation in the areas of nuclear activities, civilian

space programs, high-technology trade, and missile defense;

Whereas multi-faceted cooperation between India and the

United States will strengthen the bonds of friendship and

commerce between the two countries, lead to the peaceful

use of space technology, and increase global stability and

security; and

Whereas United States efforts, whether in combating global

HIV/AIDS, pursuing nuclear non-proliferation, promoting democracy, enhancing stability of the world economy, eliminating poverty, fighting terrorism, and expanding and strengthening global trade, will be more effective

and successful with India as a strategic partner: Now

therefore, be it

1 Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate

2 concurring), That Congress—


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1 (1) honors the contributions of people of Indian

2 origin to the Untied States, and

3 (2) is committed to working together with India

4 towards promoting peace, prosperity, and freedom

5 among all countries of the world.

Æ


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IV

108TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. CON. RES. 378

Calling on the Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam to immediately and unconditionally release Father Thaddeus Nguyen Van Ly,

and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 4, 2004

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey (for himself, Ms. LORETTA SANCHEZ of California,

Mr. TOM DAVIS of Virginia, Ms. LOFGREN, Mr. ROHRABACHER, Mr.

ROYCE, Mr. COX, Mr. BURTON of Indiana, Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN, Mr.

GREEN of Wisconsin, Mr. AKIN, Mr. PITTS, Mr. SHIMKUS, Mr. FRANKS

of Arizona, Mr. KENNEDY of Rhode Island, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts,

Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. MORAN of Virginia, Mr.

LANGEVIN, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Mr. BERMAN, Ms. MCCARTHY

of Missouri, and Mr. WEXLER) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on International Relations

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

Calling on the Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam to immediately and unconditionally release Father

Thaddeus Nguyen Van Ly, and for other purposes.

Whereas in February 2001, Father Thaddeus Nguyen Van

Ly, a Roman Catholic priest was formally invited to testify before the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom but was denied permission to

leave the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and thus, instead,

submitted written testimony critical of Vietnam which


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was read into the Commission record on February 13,

2001;

Whereas Father Ly’s testimony before the Commission documents numerous specific actions of the Government of

Vietnam against religious freedom which he classified as

collectively being ‘‘extremely cruel’’ and requiring a ‘‘nonviolent and persistent campaign’’ to achieve full religious

freedom for all people in Vietnam;

Whereas Father Ly has been detained by the Government of

Vietnam since February 2001, when it placed Father Ly

under administrative detention—as a direct response to

his testimony, branding him a traitor for ‘‘slandering’’

the Communist party and ‘‘distorting’’ the religious policy of the Government of Vietnam;

Whereas the Government of Vietnam issued a second decree

suspending Father Ly’s ability to ‘‘carry on any religious

responsibility and functions’’ and later formally removed

Father Ly from his church, detained him, and denied

him access to adequate legal counsel;

Whereas on October 19, 2001, the Thua Thien Hue Provincial People’s Court convicted Father Ly of all charges

after a one day, closed trial, without the benefit of counsel and sentenced him to two years in prison for violating

the terms of his administrative detention, thirteen years

in prison for ‘‘damaging the Government’s unity policy’’,

and 5 years of administrative probation upon release

from prison;

Whereas after pleas from United States Government officials

and the world community Father Ly’s sentence was reduced by 5 years;


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Whereas in June 2001, Father Ly’s nephews Nguygen Vu

Viet, age 27, and Nguyen Truc Cuong, age 36, and his

niece Nguyen Thi Hoa, age 44, were arrested for allegedly being in contact and receiving support from organizations in the United States concerning the religious situation in Vietnam and disseminating information concerning the detention of Father Ly;

Whereas after their cases generated much concern in Congress, Nguyen Thi Hoa, Nguyen Vu Viet and Nguyen

Truc Cuong all have been or are expected to be released

shortly;

Whereas on November 27, 2003, the United Nations Working

Group on Arbitrary Detention issued Opinion No. 20/

2003 stating ‘‘the Group is convinced that [Father Ly]

has been arrested and detained only for his opinions . .

. [and] the deprivation of the liberty of Father Thaddeus

Nguyen Van Ly is arbitrary, as being in contravention of

Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

and of Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil

and Political Rights’’;

Whereas Father Ly has been deprived of his basic human

rights by being denied his ability to exercise freedom of

opinion and expression; and

Whereas the arbitrary imprisonment and the violation of the

human rights of citizens of Vietnam are sources of continuing, grave concern to Congress: Now, therefore, be it

1 Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate

2 concurring), That—

3 (1) Congress—


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1 (A) condemns and deplores the arbitrary

2 detention of Father Thaddeus Nguyen Van Ly

3 by the Government of the Socialist Republic of

4 Vietnam and calls for his immediate and uncon5 ditional release;

6 (B) condemns and deplores the violations

7 of freedom of speech, religion, movement, asso8 ciation, and the lack of due process afforded to

9 individuals in Vietnam;

10 (C) strongly urges the Government of Viet11 nam to consider the implications of its actions

12 for the broader relationship between the United

13 States and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam;

14 and

15 (D) strongly urges the Government of

16 Vietnam to consider the implications of its ac17 tions in the context of the United States-Viet18 nam Bilateral Trade Agreement under which

19 Vietnam currently receives normal trade rela20 tions (NTR) treatment, subject to the provi21 sions of chapter 1 of title IV of the Trade Act

22 of 1974; and

23 (2) it is the sense of Congress that the United

24 States—


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1 (A) should make the immediate release of

2 Father Ly a top concern;

3 (B) should continue to urge the Govern4 ment of Vietnam to comply with internationally

5 recognized standards for basic freedoms and

6 human rights;

7 (C) should make it clear to the Govern8 ment of Vietnam that the detention of Father

9 Ly and other persons and the infliction of

10 human rights violations on these individuals are

11 not in the interest of Vietnam because they cre12 ate obstacles to improved bilateral relations and

13 cooperation with the United States; and

14 (D) should reiterate the deep concern of

15 the United States regarding the continued im16 prisonment of Father Ly, and other persons

17 whose human rights are being violated, and dis18 cuss their legal status and immediate humani19 tarian needs with the Government of Vietnam.

Æ


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IV

108TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. CON. RES. 398

Expressing the concern of Congress over Iran’s development of the means

to produce nuclear weapons.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 25, 2004

Mr. HYDE (for himself, Mr. LANTOS, Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN, Mr. ACKERMAN,

Mr. BLUNT, Mr. BERMAN, Mr. SHERMAN, and Mr. CHABOT) submitted

the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee

on International Relations

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

Expressing the concern of Congress over Iran’s development

of the means to produce nuclear weapons.

Whereas the United States has for years attempted to alert

the international community to Iran’s covert nuclear activities in support of an intention to develop a nuclear

weapon, contrary to its obligations under the Treaty on

the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT);

Whereas Iran’s covert activities to develop the means to

produce nuclear weapons are finally beginning to be revealed to the international community;

Whereas Iran did not declare to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) the existence of the Natanz Pilot

Fuel Enrichment Plant and the production-scale Fuel


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Enrichment Facility under construction at Natanz until

February 2003, after the existence of the plant and facility was revealed by an opposition group;

Whereas it is estimated that the Pilot Fuel Enrichment Plant

could produce enough highly enriched uranium for a nuclear weapon every year-and-a-half to two years;

Whereas it is estimated that the Natanz Fuel Enrichment

Facility could, when completed, produce enough highly

enriched uranium for as many as 25–30 nuclear weapons

per year;

Whereas in his report of June 6, 2003, the Director-General

of the IAEA stated that Iran had failed to meet its obligations under its Safeguards Agreement with the IAEA

to report all nuclear material imported into Iran—specifically, the importation of uranium hexafluoride from

China in 1991—the processing and use of that material,

and the facilities involved in the use and processing of

the material;

Whereas the IAEA Board of Governors urged Iran in June

2003 to promptly rectify its failures to meet its obligations under its Safeguards Agreement, not to introduce

nuclear material into the Natanz Pilot Fuel Enrichment

Plant, and to cooperate fully with the Agency in resolving

questions about its nuclear activities;

Whereas the IAEA Director General reported to the Board

of Governors in August 2003 that, after further investigation, Iran failed to disclose additional nuclear activities as required by its Safeguards Agreement and continued to fail to resolve questions about its undeclared uranium enrichment activities;


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•HCON 398 IH

Whereas the IAEA Board of Governors on September 12,

2003, called on Iran to suspend all further uranium enrichment and any plutonium reprocessing activities, disclose all its nuclear activities, and cooperate fully with

the Agency, and to sign, ratify, and fully implement the

Additional Protocol between Iran and the IAEA for the

application of safeguards to strengthen investigation of

all nuclear activities within Iran, and requested all third

countries to cooperate closely and fully with the Agency

in resolving questions about Iran’s nuclear program;

Whereas IAEA inspectors and officials continued to confront

Iran with discrepancies in its explanations of its nuclear

activities;

Whereas on October 9, 2003, in a letter to the Director General of the IAEA, Iran finally confirmed that it had conducted research on uranium conversion processes at the

Esfahan Nuclear Technology Centre and the Tehran Nuclear Research Centre, despite its earlier denials of such

activities;

Whereas on October 21, 2003, Iran and the Foreign Ministers of France, Germany, and the United Kingdom

issued a joint statement in which Iran indicated that it

had decided to suspend all uranium enrichment and reprocessing activities as defined by the IAEA;

Whereas this statement also foresaw the provision of unspecified nuclear technical cooperation once Iran had satisfied

international concerns about its nuclear development program;

Whereas in a subsequent letter on October 23, 2003, Iran

further admitted that it had tested uranium enrichment

centrifuges at the Kalaye Electric Company between


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•HCON 398 IH

1998 and 2002 using its previously undeclared imported

uranium hexafluoride from China;

Whereas in that same letter, Iran admitted that it had a

laser uranium enrichment program, in which it used 30

kg of uranium not previously declared to the IAEA, another violation of its Safeguards Agreement;

Whereas in that same letter, Iran also admitted that it had

irradiated 7 kg of uranium dioxide targets and reprocessed them to extract plutonium, another violation of its

legal obligation to disclose such activities under its Safeguards Agreement;

Whereas Iran told the IAEA on November 10, 2003, that it

would sign and ratify the Additional Protocol agreement

for further safeguards, and would act in accordance with

the Additional Protocol pending its full entry-into-force;

Whereas on November 10, 2003, Iran further informed the

IAEA Director General that it had decided to suspend all

enrichment and reprocessing activities in Iran, not to

produce feed material for enrichment processes, and not

to import enrichment related items;

Whereas the IAEA, through its investigative and forensic activities in Iran and elsewhere, has uncovered and confronted Iran in numerous lies about its nuclear activities;

Whereas the Director General of the IAEA reported to the

IAEA Board of Governors on November 10, 2003, that

Iran has concealed many aspects of its nuclear activities

from the IAEA, which constituted breaches of its obligations under its Safeguards Agreement;

Whereas despite Iran’s subsequent pledge to, once again,

fully disclose all of its nuclear activities to the IAEA, the

Director General of the IAEA, in his report of February


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•HCON 398 IH

24, 2004, found that Iran continued to engage in deception regarding its nuclear activities, including failing to

disclose a more sophisticated enrichment program using

more advanced enrichment centrifuge technology imported from foreign sources, and noncredible explanations

involving experiments to create a highly toxic isotope of

polonium that is useful as a neutron initiator in nuclear

weapons and a firm indicator of a nuclear weapons development program;

Whereas these deceptions by Iran were continuing violations

of Iran’s Safeguards Agreement and of Iran’s previous

assurances to the IAEA and the international community

for full transparency;

Whereas despite Iran’s commitment to the IAEA and to

France, Germany, and the United Kingdom that it would

suspend uranium enrichment activities, it has repeatedly

emphasized that this suspension is temporary and continued to import and manufacture uranium enrichment centrifuge parts and equipment, allowing it to resume and

expand its uranium enrichment activities whenever it

chooses;

Whereas the statements on February 25, 2004, of Hassan

Rowhani, Secretary of the Supreme National Security

Council of Iran, that Iran was not required to reveal to

the IAEA its research into more sophisticated ‘‘P2’’ uranium enrichment centrifuges, and that Iran has other

projects which it has no intention of declaring to the

IAEA, are contrary to—

(1) Iran’s commitment to the IAEA in a letter on

October 16, 2003, by the Vice President of Iran and

President of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization that


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•HCON 398 IH

Iran would present a ‘‘full picture of its nuclear activities’’ and ‘‘full transparency’’;

(2) its commitment to the foreign ministers of the

United Kingdom, France, and Germany of October 21,

2003, to full transparency and to resolve all outstanding

issues; and

(3) its statement to the IAEA’s Board of Governors

of September 12, 2003, of its commitment to full transparency and to ‘‘leave no stone unturned’’ to assure the

IAEA of its peaceful objectives;

Whereas it is abundantly clear that Iran remains committed

to a nuclear weapons program;

Whereas Libya received enrichment equipment and technology, and a nuclear weapons design, from the same nuclear black market that Iran has used, raising the question of whether Iran, as well, received a nuclear weapon

design that it has refused to reveal to international inspectors;

Whereas the Ministry of the Atomic Energy of the Russian

Federation has recently announced that it will soon conclude an agreement to supply Iran with enriched nuclear

fuel for the Bushehr nuclear power reactor, ignoring the

need to sanction Iran to persuade it to cease its nuclear

weapons development program;

Whereas the IAEA Board of Governors’ resolution of March

13, 2004, which was adopted unanimously, noted with

‘‘serious concern that the declarations made by Iran in

October 2003 did not amount to the complete and final

picture of Iran’s past and present nuclear programme

considered essential by the Board’s November 2003 resolution’’, and also noted that the Agency has discovered

that Iran had hidden more advanced centrifuge associVerDate Mar 21 2002 15:47 Jul 19, 2004 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00172 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6601 F:\WORK\FULL\M033104\92867.000 HINTREL1 PsN: SHIRL

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•HCON 398 IH

ated research, manufacturing, and testing activities; two

mass spectrometers used in the laser enrichment program; and designs for hot cells to handle highly radioactive materials;

Whereas the same resolution also noted ‘‘with equal concern

that Iran has not resolved all questions regarding the development of its enrichment technology to its current extent, and that a number of other questions remain unresolved, including the sources of all HEU contamination

in Iran; the location, extent and nature of work undertaken on the basis of the advanced centrifuge design; the

nature, extent, and purpose of activities involving the

planned heavy-water reactor; and evidence to support

claims regarding the purpose of polonium-210 experiments’’;

Whereas Hassan Rowhani on March 13, 2004, declared that

IAEA inspections would be indefinitely suspended as a

protest against the IAEA Board of Governors’ resolution

of March 13, 2004, and while Iran subsequently agreed

to readmit inspectors by March 27, 2004, this suspension

calls into serious question Iran’s commitment to full

transparency about its nuclear activities; and

Whereas Iran’s pattern of deception and concealment in dealing with the IAEA, the Foreign Ministers of France,

Germany, and the United Kingdom, and the international

community, its receipt from other countries of the means

to enrich uranium, and its repeated breaches of its IAEA

Safeguards Agreement, indicate that Iran has also violated its legal obligation under article II of the NPT not

to acquire or seek assistance in acquiring nuclear weapons: Now, therefore, be it


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8

•HCON 398 IH

1 Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate

2 concurring), That the Congress—

3 (1) condemns in the strongest possible terms

4 Iran’s continuing deceptions and falsehoods to the

5 International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and

6 the international community about its nuclear pro7 grams and activities;

8 (2) calls upon all State Parties to the Treaty on

9 the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT),

10 including the United States, to use all appropriate

11 means to deter, dissuade, and prevent Iran from ac12 quiring nuclear weapons, including ending all nu13 clear and other cooperation with Iran (including the

14 provision of dual use items), until Iran fully imple15 ments the Additional Protocol between Iran and the

16 IAEA for the application of safeguards;

17 (3) declares that Iran, through its many

18 breaches for 18 years of its Safeguards Agreement

19 with the IAEA, has forfeited the right to be trusted

20 with development of a nuclear fuel cycle, especially

21 with uranium conversion and enrichment and pluto22 nium reprocessing technology, equipment, and facili23 ties;

24 (4) declares that the recent revelations of Iran’s

25 nondisclosure of additional enrichment and nuclearVerDate Mar 21 2002 15:47 Jul 19, 2004 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00174 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6601 F:\WORK\FULL\M033104\92867.000 HINTREL1 PsN: SHIRL

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•HCON 398 IH

1 weapons-applicable research activities, as detailed in

2 the report of February 24, 2004, by the Director

3 General of the IAEA, along with the statement by

4 the Government of Iran that it will not disclose

5 other research programs, constitute ample evidence

6 of Iran’s continuing policy of noncompliance with

7 the letter and spirit of its obligations under its Safe8 guards Agreement and the Additional Protocol;

9 (5) demands that Iran immediately and perma10 nently cease all efforts to acquire nuclear fuel cycle

11 capabilities and to immediately, unconditionally, and

12 permanently cease all nuclear enrichment activities,

13 including manufacturing and importing related

14 equipment;

15 (6) demands that Iran honor its stated commit16 ments and legal obligations to grant the IAEA in17 spectors full unrestricted access and cooperate fully

18 with the investigation of its nuclear activities and

19 demonstrate a new openness and honesty about all

20 its nuclear programs;

21 (7) contrasts Iran’s behavior with Libya’s, in

22 which Libya’s decision to renounce and dismantle its

23 nuclear weapons program and to provide full, com24 plete, and transparent disclosure of all its nuclear

25 activities has enabled the IAEA to rapidly underVerDate Mar 21 2002 15:47 Jul 19, 2004 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00175 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6601 F:\WORK\FULL\M033104\92867.000 HINTREL1 PsN: SHIRL

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•HCON 398 IH

1 stand and verify with high confidence the extent and

2 scope of Libya’s program;

3 (8) calls upon the members of the European

4 Union not to resume discussions with Iran on multi5 lateral trade agreements until such time that Iran

6 has verifiably and permanently ceased all nuclear

7 weapons development activity, including a permanent

8 cessation of uranium conversion and enrichment and

9 plutonium reprocessing activities;

10 (9) further calls upon the European Union to

11 consider what further measures, including sanctions,

12 may be necessary to persuade Iran to fulfill its obli13 gations and commitments to the IAEA;

14 (10) in light of ongoing revelations of the non15 compliance of the Government of Iran regarding its

16 obligations under the NPT and pledges to the IAEA,

17 and in light of the consequent and ongoing questions

18 and concerns of the IAEA, the United States, and

19 the international community regarding Iran’s mili20 tary nuclear activities—

21 (A) urges Japan to ensure that Japanese

22 commercial entities not proceed with the devel23 opment of Iran’s Azadegan oil field;

24 (B) urges France and Malaysia to ensure

25 that French and Malaysian commercial entities


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11

•HCON 398 IH

1 not proceed with their agreement for further co2 operation in expanding Iran’s liquid natural gas

3 production field;

4 (C) calls on all countries to intercede with

5 their commercial entities to ensure that these

6 entities refrain from or cease all investment and

7 investment-related activities that support Iran’s

8 energy industry; and

9 (D) calls on the President to enforce the

10 provisions of the Iran and Libya Sanctions Act

11 of 1996 to discourage foreign commercial enti12 ties from investing in Iran’s energy industry;

13 (11) deplores any effort by any country to pro14 vide any nuclear power-related assistance whatsoever

15 to Iran, and calls upon Russia to suspend nuclear

16 cooperation with Iran and not conclude a nuclear

17 fuel supply agreement for the Bushehr reactor, until

18 the conditions of paragraph (8) are satisfied;

19 (12) calls upon the governments of the coun20 tries whose nationals and corporations are impli21 cated in assisting Iranian nuclear activities, espe22 cially Pakistan, Malaysia, the United Arab Emir23 ates, and Germany, to fully investigate such assist24 ance, to grant the IAEA full access to individuals,

25 sites, and all information related to the investigaVerDate Mar 21 2002 15:47 Jul 19, 2004 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00177 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6601 F:\WORK\FULL\M033104\92867.000 HINTREL1 PsN: SHIRL

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•HCON 398 IH

1 tions, and to immediately review and rectify their ex2 port control laws, regulations, and practices in order

3 to prevent further assistance to countries seeking to

4 develop nuclear programs that could support the de5 velopment of nuclear weapons;

6 (13) urges the IAEA Board of Governors, at its

7 earliest opportunity, to report to the United Nations

8 Security Council that Iran is in noncompliance with

9 its agreements with the IAEA;

10 (14) urges the President of the United States

11 to provide whatever financial, material, or intel12 ligence resources are necessary to the IAEA to en13 able it to fully investigate Iran’s nuclear activities;

14 (15) urges the United Nations Security Council,

15 the Nuclear Suppliers Group, the Zangger Com16 mittee, and other relevant international entities to

17 declare that non-nuclear-weapon states under the

18 Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons

19 (NPT), who commit violations of their safeguards

20 agreements regarding uranium enrichment or pluto21 nium reprocessing, or engage in activities which

22 could support a military nuclear program, thereby

23 forfeit their right under the NPT to engage in nu24 clear fuel-cycle activities;


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1 (16) further urges the United Nations Security

2 Council to consider measures necessary to support

3 the inspection efforts by the IAEA and to prevent

4 Iran from further engaging in clandestine nuclear

5 activities; and

6 (17) urges the President to keep the Congress

7 fully and currently informed concerning the matters

8 addressed in this resolution.

Æ


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Chairman HYDE. The gentlelady from California, Ms. Watson, reserves her right to object and is recognized. 

Ms. WATSON. Thank you so much, Chairman Hyde and Ranking 

Member Lantos, for your leadership in co-sponsoring and agreeing 

to mark up my resolution, H.R. 576, that urges the Chinese Government to improve its protection of intellectual property rights, 

and I also want to thank Members of the Committee for their bipartisan support of this important measure. 

I am grateful for the Committee expediting the consideration of 

this very timely resolution. As many of you know, I represent the 

33rd congressional district of Los Angeles and Culver City, which 

contains a number of the entertainment studios. The protection of 

U.S. intellectual property rights abroad is especially crucial to the 

health and vitality of the U.S. entertainment sector, which brought 

in an estimated $535.1 million to the U.S. economy in 2001 and remains one of our nation’s biggest export sectors. 

However, the impact of intellectual property rights violations extends far beyond the entertainment sector and affects all of our 

congressional districts across the country, so this resolution urges 

the Chinese Government to take further and immediate steps to 

improve its IPR mechanism, especially in the enforcement of such 

rights by changing and updating its criminal law and enforcement 

procedures. 

It also asks China to improve the Customs and border measures 

to prevent the massive exportation of pirated goods and to give 

greater market access to legitimate foreign products as to reduce 

the market demand for pirated and shall I say the counterfeit 

goods, among other purposes. 

I also want to tie in Mr. Lantos’ bill to improve the workings of international organizations. It contains language to authorize $10 

million for the Department of State to work with the non-OECD 

countries in assisting foreign law enforcement officials, judges and 

prosecutors to combat the piracy of U.S. copyright materials. 

I would like to thank the Chair, Mr. Lantos and the Members 

for recognizing the importance of these types of initiatives in the 

workings of international organizations and multilateral institutions. 

Thank you so much, Mr. Chairman. 

Chairman HYDE. I thank the gentlelady who withdraws her reservation. 

Does Mr. Payne wish to be heard? 

Mr. PAYNE. Yes, Mr. Chairman. I reserve the right to object for 

the purposes of speaking on H. Con. Res. 535. 

Mr. Chairman, I commend Mr. Weller for his resolution, H. Res. 

535, which highlights a disturbing trend in Colombia’s protracted 

conflict of local elected officials being targeted by various armed 

forces. My amendment seeks to highlight the most vulnerable communities in this context. 

Colombia’s Afro-Cuban minority comprises about 30 percent of 

the national population. Nevertheless, Colombia’s African descendent population has been confined to margins of society. 

The predicament of this population is aggravated by the present 

civil war. We have spoken to President Uribe, who was here just 

last week, about our concerns for African Colombians and indigeVerDate Mar 21 2002 15:47 Jul 19, 2004 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00180 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6601 F:\WORK\FULL\M033104\92867.000 HINTREL1 PsN: SHIRL
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nous communities which are disproportionately affected by the conflict and are often targets for displacement and violent massacres. 

President Uribe has told us, in regard to these communities in 

Colombia, that he plans to focus more on the vulnerable groups in 

the coming months actually to create a cabinet level position to 

look at the situation there to appoint a minority indigenous or 

Afro-Colombian to the position, but it is critical that we encourage 

the Colombian Government to pay special attention to and support 

these communities. 

Elected officials are often times targeted by armed groups because they are not part of the natural apparatus of the government 

and in many instances are trying to make inroads into the government and, therefore, are victimized. 

I urge President Uribe to continue working on a national plan for 

Afro-Colombian groups and to ensure the safety of all elected officials, especially those locally elected officials who find themselves 

most vulnerable. 

Mr. Chairman, with that I will then withdraw the objection. 

Chairman HYDE. I thank the gentleman. 

Ms. Napolitano? 

Ms. NAPOLITANO. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I reserve the right to 

object to House Congressional Resolution 326 for purposes of 

speaking to the resolution. 

Chairman HYDE. The gentlelady is recognized for that purpose. 

Ms. NAPOLITANO. Thank you. I would like to thank you, Mr. 

Chair, and the Ranking Member, as well as the Committee and the 

17 bipartisan Members who are supporting and taking up the resolution today. 

I certainly want to thank my colleague, Representative Chris 

Smith, for earlier introducing this resolution as 530 to call on 

China to respect and protect human rights. This is a clear case of 

a human rights violation. 

Dr. Wang was held for 6 months while in China, denied any 

knowledge of his whereabouts. He was then sentenced to life imprisonment after an abrupt, short, 1⁄2-day trial. He was not allowed 

time to prepare a defense. He was not allowed to cross-examine the 

government’s witnesses, nor was he allowed to call any witnesses 

of his own. 

To date, the Chinese Government has produced no evidence linking him to any crime. It is no surprise the United Nations working 

group has declared this detention illegal. We must continue to put 

international pressure on China, and indeed many of the countries, 

to improve its human rights record. 

I thank my colleagues who have already co-signed again on this 

resolution and urge you to stand up for human rights and human 

decency. This calls on China to do such. 

I withdraw my objection. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Chairman HYDE. I thank the gentlelady. 

Ms. Berkley of Nevada? 

Ms. BERKLEY. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I reserve the right to 

object to H.R. 4053, Congressman Lantos’ U.S. International Leadership Act, for purposes of speaking on the resolution. 

Chairman HYDE. The gentleman is recognized for that purpose. 

Ms. BERKLEY. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

178

Magen David Adom is Israel’s national emergency medical service. Fielding over 650 emergency ambulances, they provide constant emergency medical and ambulance services throughout 

Israel. They have borne the burden of responding to hundreds of 

terrorist attacks since the Interfada began. 

Since its founding in 1930, the American Red Cross has regarded 

it as a sister national society and signed an important memorandum of understanding in November 2002. MDA is the equivalent of the Red Cross in Israel. 

However, the International Committee of the Red Cross still refuses to make MDA a full member of the International Red Cross. 

Why, you may ask? Because MDA uses the Star of David as its 

symbol. This refusal is the height of hypocracy. 

MDA has been providing humanitarian relief and assistance for 

70 years, and its work is recognized throughout the Middle East 

and the world. The International Red Cross’ refusal to recognize 

MDA sends a message of hostility and runs contrary to its declared 

position of impartiality and neutrality. 

I applaud my dear colleague, Mr. Lantos, for including language 

on this issue, bringing it to the attention of the Congress, and I 

look forward to its quick passage. 

With that, I withdraw my objection, Mr. Chairman. 

Chairman HYDE. It is so ordered. The staff if directed to make 

any technical and conforming amendments, and the Committee 

stands adjourned. 

[Whereupon, at 11:04 a.m. the Committee was adjourned.] 

(179)

A P P E N D I X 

MATERIAL SUBMITTED FOR THE HEARING RECORD

PREPARED STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE JAMES A. LEACH, A REPRESENTATIVE IN

CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF IOWA

H.R. 4011

Mr. Chairman, at the outset I would like to thank the many Committee Members 

who have cosponsored this legislation, including Representatives Tom Lantos, Chris 

Smith, Howard Berman, Dan Burton, Gary Ackerman, Elton Gallegly, Eni 

Faleomavaega, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Donald Payne, Ed Royce, Earl Blumenauer, 

Steve Chabot, and Joseph Pitts. I would also like to register my high regard for the 

thoughtfulness of Senator Brownback who has provided such impressive leadership 

on this issue. 

The people of North Korea have endured some of the great humanitarian traumas 

of our time. Inside North Korea, they suffer at the hands of a totalitarian dynasty 

that permits no dissent and maintains an inhumane system of prison camps that 

house an estimated 200,000 political inmates. The regime strictly curtails freedoms 

of speech, press, religion, assembly, and movement. Since the collapse of the centralized agricultural system in the 1990s, more than 2,000,000 North Koreans are estimated to have died of starvation. 

North Koreans outside of North Korea are also uniquely vulnerable. Many thousands are hiding inside China, which currently refuses to allow the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to evaluate and identify genuine refugees among 

the North Korean migrant population. China forcibly returns North Koreans to 

North Korea, where they routinely face imprisonment and torture, and sometimes 

execution. Inside China, North Korean women and girls are particularly vulnerable 

to trafficking and sexual exploitation. 

Provoked by these crises, this broadly bipartisan legislation aims to promote international cooperation on human rights and refugee protection, and increased transparency in the provision of humanitarian assistance to the people of North Korea. 

On the human rights front, this bill underscores the importance of human rights 

issues in future negotiations with North Korea, and authorizes $2 million per year 

for programs to promote human rights, democracy, rule of law, and a market economy. It also authorizes a similar amount to increase the availability of information 

sources not controlled by the North Korean government. Finally, it urges additional 

North Korea-specific attention by appropriate UN human rights authorities. 

On the humanitarian front, the bill authorizes increased funding ($20 million/

year) for assistance to North Koreans outside of North Korea. It also attempts to 

secure greater transparency for aid delivered inside North Korea by authorizing a 

significant increase in such aid (to not less than $100 million/year), but tying increases to substantive improvements in monitoring. Finally, it conditions direct aid 

to the North Korean government on human rights and transparency benchmarks, 

but allows the President to waive those restrictions for national security purposes 

after reporting to Congress. 

In terms of refugee protection, the bill clarifies U.S. policy and urges UNHCR to 

use all available means to gain access to North Koreans in China. It also attempts 

to formulate prudent solutions to the practical and legal barriers that presently 

keep North Koreans from having effective access to U.S. refugee and asylum programs. It does not mandate the admission of any number of North Koreans to the 

United States, raise the annual U.S. refugee cap, or in any way limit the authority 

of the Department of Homeland Security to regulate and condition the entry of 

North Koreans into the U.S. on a case-by-case basis. 

180

Although the principal responsibility for North Korean refugee resettlement naturally falls to the Government of South Korea, the United States should play a leadership role in focusing international attention on the plight of these refugees and 

formulating international solutions to that profound humanitarian dilemma, which 

may include accepting an unspecified but credible number of refugees for domestic 

resettlement. Here, it must be noted that our government must maintain a prudent, 

case-by-case approach in part due to the circumstance that, not only is the North 

Korean government oppressive, it has instituted a virtual anti-American brainwashing of its population. Unlike refugees from the former Communist bloc of Eastern Europe, the North Korean people do not yet broadly share the idea of America 

as a beacon of freedom. 

At this point I would like to note that, with regard to China, this bill is not solely 

critical, it is also aspirational. It makes clear that the United States and the international community stand ready to provide more assistance to help defray the costs 

associated with the North Korean refugee presence when China begins fulfilling its 

obligations as a party to the 1951 UN Refugee Convention. We genuinely hope for 

that opportunity. 

I would like to thank my Committee colleagues for the strong, bipartisan support 

they have given this bill. I urge its favorable consideration. 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE DAN BURTON, A REPRESENTATIVE IN

CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF INDIANA

H. RES. 402

Good Morning. I want to thank Chairman Hyde for allowing this most important 

legislation, H. Res. 402, to be considered before the Committee today. This resolution expresses the great need for democratic reform, including the recognition of 

basic human rights and religious liberty for all citizens of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic. 

During my six-year tenure as Chairman of the full Committee on Government Reform, I initiated several investigations into human rights violations both in the 

United States and abroad. I have continued this oversight as Chairman of the newly 

created Government Reform Subcommittee on Human Rights & Wellness. As part 

of my continued commitment to oversight in this arena, I felt it was necessary to 

address the current human rights situation, or more accurately put the lack thereof, 

in the country of Laos. 

From an outsider’s perspective, Laos is a seemingly democratic country. Technically speaking, 1989 marked the first year of democratically-held elections in the 

Lao People’s Democratic Republic, since the country was taken over by Marxist 

Communists in 1975. That event gave many Lao citizens hope that their country 

had taken the first step toward independence and self-government. Tragically, this 

has not proven to be true. 

The Lao People’s Revolutionary Party—the ruling political force in Laos—has provided the world with a great fac ̧ade of espousing and promoting democratic 

ideologies, when in actuality they are a unilateral Communist regime. 

Only members of this communist party are permitted to run for political office, 

which coincidentally is the only political party legally recognized in the country. 

The Lao People’s Revolutionary Party not only monopolizes the National Assembly, but also directs the armed forces and security services of the country—in addition to controlling the finances of Laos by promulgating 5-year economic plans that 

are observed in the time difference between these so-called ‘‘Congressional’’ meetings, which have further crippled the already fragile economy of that nation. 

This is not the only deception that the Lao government misrepresents to the 

world. In 1991, Laos adopted its first constitution, which supposedly granted Laotian citizens many of the same rights that we enjoy here in the United States—such 

as the freedom to peacefully assemble, the freedom of religion, and the freedom of 

speech. 

Unfortunately, 13 years after this so-called ‘‘constitution’’ was adopted, these most 

basic of human rights have yet to be observed in Laos. In fact, the Laotian government has worked hard to prevent any real democratic progress or forward-thinking 

in the nation. 

For example, in 1999 several student leaders who engaged in a peaceful pro-democracy demonstration were unlawfully arrested for their opposition to the communist government. According to the human rights organization Amnesty International, many of these student leaders continue to be held in the Lao prison system, or even worse, remain unaccounted for. 

181

Sadly, this is not the only instance of peaceful activists being held improperly for 

opposing the Lao government. In 2001, during a peaceful protest requesting the release of the jailed student leaders, Olivier Dupuis, a Member of the European Parliament, was arrested and jailed with other demonstrators. He was sentenced to 21⁄2

years in prison after a brief trial, and later expelled from the country. 

I am not alone in this fight to bring basic human rights to the people of Laos. 

I have been joined on this resolution by 44 Cosponsors, including 10 of my esteemed 

colleagues who serve diligently as Members of this Committee. 

Additionally, President Bush and his Administration have begun to address the 

human rights violations in Laos as well. In the most recent U.S. Department of 

State report on international human rights practices, it was affirmed that the Laotian government has restricted its citizens from enjoying the freedoms of speech, assembly, and religion, and for undertaking activities to change their government. 

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom has mirrored the findings of these reports, and recommended that the President designate Laos as a 

‘‘country of particular concern’’. 

As Members of Congress, we have sworn an oath to uphold the rights and freedoms that Americans hold so dear. By passing this resolution, we will shed light 

on the egregious human rights violations occurring in Laos, and take the necessary 

first steps toward establishing true democracy in Laos. I ask that the Members of 

this Committee vote ‘‘Aye’’ and give the people of Laos hope that one day they will 

be able to live free of fear from their government. 

Again, thank you Mr. Chairman for allowing me to speak on this important 

human rights Resolution. I yield back the balance of my time. 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE JERRY WELLER, A REPRESENTATIVE IN

CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF ILLINOIS

H. RES. 535

Mr. Chairman, I am pleased that the House International Relations Committee 

scheduled this important mark-up today of H. Res. 535. This legislation, which I introduced, expresses the concern and support of the House of Representatives for 

local elected officials under threat of assassination, kidnapping, forcible displacement, and coercion by terrorist organizations in the Republic of Colombia. 

Mr. Chairman, Colombia is the oldest democracy in South America and has a long 

tradition of democratically elected leaders. Colombia’s democracy, her leaders, and 

the people of Colombia themselves are under attack, however, by terrorist organizations. The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia or the FARC, the United SelfDefense Forces of Colombia or the AUC and the National Liberation Army or the 

ELN pose a constant threat to this democracy and the human rights of the people 

of Colombia. 

Without regard for human rights, these terrorist organizations carry out their 

atrocities not only through threat and intimidation, but through murder. Threats 

against democratically elected local and regional representatives often hinders or 

prevents these representatives from carrying out their official duties. 

The National Federation of Council Members of Colombia, a civil society organization representing elected municipal council officials in Colombia, reports that 252 

municipal council members were assassinated by the FARC, ELN, AUC and other 

terrorist organizations between July 1996 and September 2003. 

Equally disturbing is an increase in the number and intensity of these attacks. 

During the time period from 1996 to 2001, there was an average of around 21 attacks each year. However, there were 64 in 2002 and in just the first nine months 

of 2003, there were 59. In the same 2003 time period, 1180 council members were 

forcibly displaced by terrorist organizations. 

And in the run-up to local elections of October 2003, 15 aspiring council members—people who wanted to legitimately serve as direct representatives of local constituencies—were killed. 

President Uribe has been working tirelessly to restore legitimate government 

throughout Colombia, and we in the House commend the President for his actions. 

President Uribe has proven to be a successful leader for the people of Colombia and 

a solid partner with the United States. 

This resolution sends a strong and clear message that the House of Representatives condemns all terrorist organizations in the Republic of Colombia. It also expresses strong support for democratically elected municipal council members in Colombia who continue governing under threat and danger. 

182

Further, this resolution commends and encourages the Government of Colombia 

to continue its campaign to restore legitimate governance throughout the country 

and to restore basic services to affected municipalities and communities, as well as 

commending the efforts by the National Federation of Council Members of Colombia 

to provide support for local elected officials in their struggle against lawlessness and 

terror. 

Mr. Chairman, this is an important resolution and I am pleased to see it pass 

the House International Relations Committee today, and encourage my colleagues 

to support its passage before the full House of Representatives. 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE ROBERT MENENDEZ, A REPRESENTATIVE

IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF NEW JERSEY

H. RES. 563

First, I would like to thank my good friend Ileana Ros-Lehtinen for putting this 

resolution together. 

Today, I call on all the Members of this Committee from both sides of the aisle 

to stand with me for a universal cause: human rights. 

A little over a year ago today, the Cuban dictatorship showed its true colors to 

the world and began its most repressive and violent action against dissidents in recent history. 

The whole world was horrified as more than 75 journalists, human rights activists, and opposition political figures were arrested, given summary trials and then 

sentenced to prison terms of up to 28 years. 

Many of the prisoners, along with other prisoners of conscience, have spent the 

past year in solitary confinement and in prisons far away from their families. Some 

have been deprived of adequate medical treatment and reports from Cuba detail 

beatings and harassment. 

Clearly, the Castro regime has no respect for the Universal Declaration of Human 

Rights which states in Article 4 that, ‘‘No one shall be subjected to torture or to 

cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.’’

Cuba stands alone. 

The world has recognized these injustices. 

In a recent statement, Amnesty International said that these ‘‘prisoners of conscience’’ should be immediately released and called on the Cuban regime to, ‘‘comply 

with the principles laid out in international rights standards for the treatment of 

prisoners.’’

So I call on the Cuban regime to immediately release these prisoners of conscience 

who were jailed for standing up for democracy and human rights against a brutal 

dictatorship. 

To my brothers and sisters who suffer in Castro’s jails, to their families and 

friends both here in the United States and Cuba, and to the Cuban people, I say 

that Castro will not succeed in his vain attempt to suppress the spirit of the Cuban 

people. I look forward to the day, which is coming soon, when we will all celebrate 

a free and democratic Cuba. It is the spirit of the Cuban human rights activists and 

their courage that will ultimately be Castro’s downfall. 

To my friends and colleagues here in Congress, now is the time for us stand together against brutality, torture and dictatorship. 

Now is the time for us to stand together for freedom, for the right to free speech, 

and free association, and for human rights in general. 

So I ask each of you to join me in voting yes for this resolution. 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE SHERROD BROWN, A REPRESENTATIVE IN

CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF OHIO

H.R. 4019

Mr. Chairman, once again I join my colleagues in urging Congress to authorize 

the U.S. to endorse and obtain observer status for Taiwan at the annual summit 

of the World Health Assembly (WHA) set for May 2004 in Geneva. 

I would like to thank the co-chairs of the Congressional Taiwan Caucus, Steve 

Chabot, Dana Rohrabacher and Robert Wexler for all of their hard work and dedication to the Taiwanese people. 

H.R. 4019 is another important step in fulfilling the commitment the U.S. made 

in the 1994 Taiwan Policy Review to more actively support Taiwan’s membership 

in organizations such as the United Nations and World Health Organization (WHO). 

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Last year the outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) caused 73 

deaths in Taiwan. This year avian influenza has reemerged in Asia and has been 

reported in Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Pakistan, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam. 

SARS and the avian influenza continue to threaten Taiwan. The case has never 

been stronger for allowing the people of Taiwan access to the WHO. As globalization 

quickens and the spread of infectious disease accelerates it is crucial that the people 

of Taiwan be given the opportunity to participate in international health organizations such as the WHO. 

The bill authorizes Secretary of State Colin Powell to endorse and help obtain observer status for Taiwan at the annual week-long summit of the WHA, and authorizes the State Department to introduce a resolution on the floor of the World Health 

Assembly in support of Taiwan’s participation in the World Health Organization. 

The bill also directs the State Department to submit a plan to Congress on how to 

accomplish this objective. 

Taiwan has eradicated smallpox, cholera, and polio, and has achieved infant mortality rates on par with Western Countries. These accomplishments warrant an invitation to participate in international health policy discussions. With a population of 

23.5 million, Taiwan is larger than 75% of the countries that belong to the WHO. 

Taiwan is prepared to contribute meaningfully to the global health efforts discussed 

at World Health Assembly (WHA), but without observer status, its delegates can’t 

even enter the room. This bill would prevent the international community from 

missing out on the insight and experience Taiwanese health officials can offer. 

I urge my colleagues to support access to the WHO for the 23 million people of 

Taiwan. Support H.R. 4019. 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE DIANE E. WATSON, A REPRESENTATIVE IN

CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

H. RES. 576

Chairman Hyde, Ranking Member Lantos, thank you for your leadership in cosponsoring and agreeing to mark up my resolution, H. Res. 576, that urges the Chinese government to improve its protection of intellectual property rights. I want to 

also thank members of this Committee for their bi-partisan support of this important measure. I am grateful for the Committee in expediting the consideration of 

this very timely resolution. 

As many of you know, I represent the 33rd Congressional District of Los Angeles 

and Culver City, California, which contains a number of entertainment studios. The 

protection of U.S. intellectual property rights abroad is especially crucial to the 

health and vitality of the U.S. entertainment sector, which brought in an estimated 

$535.1 billion to the U.S. economy in 2001 and remains one of our nation’s biggest 

export sectors. However, the impact of intellectual property rights violations extends 

far beyond the entertainment sector and affects all of our congressional districts 

across the country. 

In the case of China, the United States continues to lose more than $18 billion 

each year due to the piracy of copyrighted materials, and counterfeited products continue to account for 15 to 20 percent of all products made in China, approximately 

8 percent of its gross national product. These losses range from piracy and counterfeiting of film, recorded music, published products and software, to pharmaceuticals, 

electrical equipment, industrial products, research results, auto parts, and even cars 

themselves. Moreover, many of these counterfeit products end up re-entering our domestic U.S. market in record quantities. In fact, the U.S. Customs Service estimates 

that over 60 percent of all pirated goods it seizes originate in China. As you can 

see, IPR theft has reached epidemic levels in China, and its impact is being felt not 

only in the United States but around the world. 

H. Res. 576 urges the Chinese government to take further and immediate steps 

to improve its IPR mechanism, especially in the enforcement of such rights by 

changing and updating its criminal law and enforcement procedures. It also asks 

China to improve its customs and border measures to prevent the massive exportation of pirated goods, and to give greater market access to legitimate foreign products as to reduce the market demand for pirated and counterfeit goods, among other 

purposes. 

My staff has shared this resolution with various agencies within the Administration, including the State Department, Department of Commerce, U.S. Customs, and 

the U.S. Copyright and U.S. Patent and Trademark offices. I want to recognize their 

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assistance and support, and commend them for their tireless effort to engage the 

Government of China on these important issues. 

Finally, I am aware that USTR Ambassador Zoellick and Secretary of Commerce 

Evans will co-chair an expanded Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade meeting 

with Chinese Vice Premier Wu Yi next month to discuss problems relating to WTO 

implementation. I believe this resolution will put Congress on the record in calling 

for the Government of China to take immediate and serious steps to rectify this 

problem. 

Once again I thank you for this opportunity to mark up my resolution. 

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LETTER SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD BY THE HONORABLE DIANE E. WATSON, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA, FROM MARYBETH PETERS, REGISTER OF COPYRIGHTS, UNITED STATES COPYRIGHT OFFICE


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