II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3908 

To expedite the provision of humanitarian assistance, including life-saving 

medical care, to the people of North Korea, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 8, 2020 

Mr. MURPHY (for himself, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. CARDIN, and Mr. MURPHY)) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 

A BILL 

To expedite the provision of humanitarian assistance, including life-saving medical care, to the people of North 

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 ‘‘Enhancing North 

5 Korea Humanitarian Assistance Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 

8 (1) Providing humanitarian assistance, includ9 ing to countries subject to sanctions imposed by the 


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1 United States, is an expression of American values 

2 that furthers United States interests around the 

3 world and is consistent with international humani4 tarian law. 

5 (2) As of February 2020, roughly 10,100,000 

6 people in North Korea are in urgent need of food as7 sistance and roughly 10,400,000 need nutrition sup8 port and improved access to basic services, including 

9 health care, water, sanitation, and hygiene facilities. 

10 (3) More than 40 percent of people in North 

11 Korea are undernourished, and 1 out of every 5 chil12 dren in the country younger than 5 years of age is 

13 stunted in growth. 

(4) More than 1 14 ⁄3 of household drinking water 

15 in North Korea is contaminated. 

16 (5) Independent experts have identified severe 

17 deficiencies in North Korea’s public health infra18 structure, trained medical personnel, ability to com19 municate important safety information, and commit20 ment to addressing those deficiencies. 

21 (6) North Korea has one of the highest burdens 

22 of tuberculosis in the world and humanitarian assist23 ance is critical for countering the spread of deadly 

24 infectious diseases such as tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, 


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1 hepatitis B, and the coronavirus disease 2019 (com2 monly known as ‘‘COVID–19’’). 

3 (7) North Korea cannot reliably maintain 

4 stocks of drugs to treat diseases such as tuberculosis 

5 and HIV/AIDS, posing the risk of interrupted treat6 ments, which can lead to treatment failures and re7 sistance to multiple therapies that make treatment 

8 significantly more difficult and costly. 

9 (8) The spread of COVID–19 in North Korea 

10 would likely have devastating consequences for the 

11 people of that country who are especially vulnerable 

12 to a pandemic because of deficiencies in public 

13 health infrastructure. 

14 (9) While the Government of North Korea has 

15 not reported any cases of COVID–19 in the country, 

16 the extent and results of testing are unknown, and 

17 government officials have not historically been open 

18 or transparent about humanitarian emergencies fac19 ing the people of North Korea. 

20 (10) Responses to the COVID–19 crisis, includ21 ing border closings and quarantines that may extend 

22 through the planting season, have impeded inter23 national efforts that would otherwise be providing 

24 life-saving support to the people of North Korea. 


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1 (11) In its final report published on March 5, 

2 2019, the United Nations Panel of Experts on 

3 North Korea found that ‘‘United Nations agencies 

4 and humanitarian organizations continue to experi5 ence unintended consequences on their humanitarian 

6 programmes that make it impossible to operate nor7 mally in the Democratic People’s Republic of 

8 Korea.’’. 

9 (12) Barriers to humanitarian access can result 

10 from decisions made or delayed by the Government 

11 of North Korea, by the governments of other coun12 tries, including the governments of the United 

13 States and the People’s Republic of China, and by 

14 the Committee of the United Nations Security Coun15 cil established by United Nations Security Council 

16 Resolution 1718 (2006) (referred to in this Act as 

17 the ‘‘1718 Sanctions Committee’’). 

18 (13) Nongovernmental organizations that pro19 vide humanitarian assistance in North Korea must 

20 typically seek simultaneous authorizations from the 

21 Department of the Treasury, the Department of 

22 State, the Department of Commerce, the 1718 Sanc23 tions Committee, customs officials in the People’s 

24 Republic of China, and the Government of North 


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1 Korea, adding further delays to humanitarian ac2 cess. 

3 (14) The 1718 Sanctions Committee issued the 

4 document entitled ‘‘Implementation Assistance No5 tice No. 7’’ on August 6, 2018, to clarify the process 

6 for granting requests for humanitarian exemptions 

7 by the United Nations and to reaffirm that sanc8 tions are not intended to have adverse humanitarian 

9 consequences for civilians in North Korea. 

10 (15) United States Government travel restric11 tions impede the access of United States employees 

12 of humanitarian organizations inside North Korea 

13 and can complicate the monitoring and evaluation 

14 procedures that nongovernmental organizations have 

15 used to ensure that aid reaches the most vulnerable 

16 populations. 

17 (16) Humanitarian exceptions in comprehensive 

18 sanctions programs, such as the exceptions under 

19 section 510.512 of the North Korea Sanctions Regu20 lations, are not effective unless the persons who pro21 vide assistance along with their financial institu22 tions, suppliers, shippers, and other entities can 

23 make practical use of the exceptions. 

24 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

25 It is the sense of Congress that— 


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1 (1) national governments and multilateral au2 thorities must take action to mitigate documented 

3 delays and ensure that sanctions imposed with re4 spect to North Korea do not hinder efforts to pro5 vide humanitarian relief, including life-saving med6 ical care, to the people of North Korea; 

7 (2) the Department of the Treasury should pro8 vide timely and meaningful responses to requests for 

9 specific licenses given that humanitarian organiza10 tions typically have a limited time to execute 

11 projects that must be approved by multiple United 

12 States Government agencies and foreign govern13 ments; 

14 (3) because humanitarian assistance is unlikely 

15 to enable large-scale sanctions evasion and revenue 

16 generation, sanctions enforcement should focus on 

17 ongoing North Korean activities, including ship-to18 ship transfers of coal and other goods, cyberattacks, 

19 and the use of forced labor abroad, all highlighted 

20 in reports issued by the United Nations Panel of Ex21 perts on North Korea and other authoritative 

22 sources; and 

23 (4) financial institutions should recognize and 

24 consider the reputational and practical costs of imVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:07 Jun 24, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3908.IS S3908

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1 peding legitimate efforts to deliver life-saving aid to 

2 North Korea. 

3 SEC. 4. ENHANCING EXEMPTIONS FROM UNITED STATES 

4 SANCTIONS. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after the 

6 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Treas7 ury, acting through the Director of the Office of Foreign 

8 Assets Control, shall take 1 or more of the following ac9 tions: 

10 (1) Modify the humanitarian exception under 

11 section 510.512 of the North Korea Sanctions Regu12 lations to cover, in addition to the food and medicine 

13 already exempted, goods and other items that are 

14 not subject to the Export Administration Regula15 tions and that support humanitarian projects to 

16 meet basic human needs in North Korea so that no 

17 specific license is required for such items. 

18 (2)(A) Modify the North Korea Sanctions Reg19 ulations to exempt from a requirement for a specific 

20 license a published list of nonsensitive items, in addi21 tion to the food and medicine already covered by sec22 tion 510.512 of the North Korea Sanctions Regula23 tions, used in humanitarian operations in North 

24 Korea in furtherance of the purposes set forth in 


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1 section 4 of the North Korean Human Rights Act 

2 of 2004 (22 U.S.C. 7802); 

3 (B) ensure that the list reflects the relevant 

4 recommendations included in the final report, pub5 lished on March 5, 2019, of the Panel of Experts es6 tablished pursuant to United Nations Security 

7 Council Resolution 1874 (2009); and 

8 (C) review and republish the list, in consulta9 tion with the Secretary of State and the Adminis10 trator of the United States Agency for International 

11 Development, every 180 days and in response to re12 quests by nongovernmental organizations that have 

13 previously engaged in authorized humanitarian ac14 tivities in North Korea. 

15 (3) Modify the North Korea Sanctions Regula16 tions so that— 

17 (A) a specific license from the Office of 

18 Foreign Assets Control of the Department of 

19 the Treasury is not required for partnerships 

20 and partnership agreements between non21 governmental organizations and persons owned 

22 or controlled by the Government of North 

23 Korea that are necessary for nongovernmental 

24 organizations to provide otherwise authorized 


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1 services related to humanitarian activity in 

2 North Korea; and 

3 (B) a specific license is still required for 

4 any partnerships and partnership agreements 

5 with persons on the list of specially designated 

6 nationals and blocked persons maintained by 

7 the Office of Foreign Assets Control. 

8 (b) BRIEFING.—Not later than 120 days after the 

9 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Treas10 ury shall provide to the appropriate congressional commit11 tees a briefing— 

12 (1) for each action described in subsection (a), 

13 describing whether the action was taken and pro14 viding a justification for the decision to take or not 

15 take the action; and 

16 (2) detailing the benefits and risks associated 

17 with establishing a category of recognized non18 governmental organizations that would be exempt 

19 from requirements for specific licenses related to 

20 dealings with the Government of North Korea or 

21 persons on the list of specially designated nationals 

22 and blocked persons maintained by the Office of 

23 Foreign Assets Control for purposes of transactions 

24 involving goods other than food or medicine to supVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:07 Jun 24, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3908.IS S3908

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1 port authorized humanitarian activities in North 

2 Korea. 

3 (c) MODIFICATION TO NORTH KOREA SANCTIONS

4 REGULATIONS.—Not later than 90 days after the date of 

5 the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Treasury 

6 shall modify the North Korea Sanctions Regulations so 

7 that personal computers and related peripherals that sup8 port authorized humanitarian activities by nongovern9 mental organizations are not considered to be ‘‘luxury 

10 goods’’. 

11 (d) GUIDANCE.—Not later than 120 days after the 

12 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the 

13 Treasury, acting through the Director of the Office of 

14 Foreign Assets Control, shall issue plainly worded guid15 ance intended for financial institutions, shipping compa16 nies, foreign customs officials, and others involved in 

17 transactions related to humanitarian assistance that— 

18 (1) clarifies the applicability of the humani19 tarian exception under the North Korea Sanctions 

20 Regulations; and 

21 (2) describes best practices for ensuring that 

22 activities are consistent with that exception. 

23 (e) REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than 90 days 

24 after the date of the enactment of this Act, and every 120 

25 days thereafter, the Secretary of the Treasury, acting 


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1 through the Director of the Office of Foreign Assets Con2 trol and in consultation with the Secretary of State, shall 

3 submit to the appropriate congressional committees a re4 port that includes— 

5 (1) a list of specific licenses related to humani6 tarian assistance in North Korea issued by the Of7 fice of Foreign Assets Control during the 120-day 

8 period immediately preceding the submission of the 

9 report; 

10 (2) a list of requests for specific licenses related 

11 to humanitarian assistance in North Korea denied 

12 by the Office of Foreign Assets Control during such 

13 120-day period, including explanations for the deni14 als; 

15 (3) a list of requests for specific licenses related 

16 to humanitarian assistance in North Korea that 

17 have been pending for 30 days or more as of the 

18 date on which the report is submitted, including ex19 planations for the delays; 

20 (4) a list of requests by non-United States per21 sons for sanctions waivers related to humanitarian 

22 assistance in North Korea that have been pending 

23 for 30 days or more as of the date on which the re24 port is submitted, including explanations for the 

25 delays; and 


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1 (5) a description of recent efforts to streamline 

2 the process by which nongovernmental organizations 

3 engaged in humanitarian activity in North Korea 

4 apply for and are granted specific licenses or waiv5 ers. 

6 SEC. 5. ENHANCING MULTILATERAL SANCTIONS EXEMP7 TIONS. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State shall di9 rect the United States Permanent Representative to the 

10 United Nations to use the voice, vote, and influence of the 

11 United States to urge the United Nations— 

12 (1) to extend the period for humanitarian ex13 emptions from the 1718 Sanctions Committee to 1 

14 year and remove the limitation on exemption appli15 cations per organization per year; 

16 (2) to apply lessons learned from expedited ap17 provals of requests for humanitarian exemptions 

18 during the COVID–19 pandemic to speed approval 

19 at the 1718 Sanctions Committee of other critical 

20 exemption requests, such as requests that would ad21 dress urgent needs identified in the annual reports 

22 of the United Nations on needs and priorities for 

23 North Korea; and 

24 (3) to modify applications for humanitarian ex25 emptions from the 1718 Sanctions Committee to be 


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1 less burdensome for nongovernmental organizations, 

2 drawing as appropriate on successes in approaches 

3 taken by other United Nations sanctions commit4 tees. 

5 (b) REPORTING.—Not later than 90 days after the 

6 date of the enactment of this Act, and every 180 days 

7 thereafter, the Secretary of State shall submit to the ap8 propriate congressional committees a report— 

9 (1) describing any requests for humanitarian 

10 exemptions to the 1718 Sanctions Committee known 

11 to have been denied in the 180 days preceding sub12 mission of the report or known to have been in proc13 ess for more than 30 days as of the date of the re14 port, and any known explanations for such denials 

15 and delays; 

16 (2) detailing any action by a foreign govern17 ment in the 180 days preceding submission of the 

18 report that has delayed or impeded humanitarian as19 sistance approved by the 1718 Sanctions Committee, 

20 including the status of obstacles to humanitarian as21 sistance posed by customs officials in the People’s 

22 Republic of China; and 

23 (3) describing efforts in the 180 days preceding 

24 submission of the report to establish or maintain an 


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1 approved banking channel for transactions related to 

2 humanitarian assistance for North Korea. 

3 SEC. 6. STREAMLINING HUMANITARIAN TRAVEL AUTHOR4 IZATIONS. 

5 Not later than 90 days after the date of the enact6 ment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall provide to 

7 the appropriate congressional committees a briefing— 

8 (1) detailing the benefits and risks associated 

9 with issuing a ‘‘multi-entry special validation pass10 port’’ to individuals employed by a nongovernmental 

11 organization known to be engaged in authorized hu12 manitarian activity in North Korea, with the pur13 pose of reducing costs and delays associated with re14 peated passport applications; and 

15 (2) setting forth a strategy to otherwise expe16 dite and simplify the process to obtain a special 

17 travel permit to travel to North Korea on behalf of 

18 a humanitarian organization or to travel to North 

19 Korea using a United States passport to deliver or 

20 oversee humanitarian assistance. 

21 SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS. 

22 In this Act: 

23 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT24 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com25 mittees’’ means the Committee on Foreign Relations 


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1 of the Senate and the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

2 of the House of Representatives. 

3 (2) EXPORT ADMINISTRATION REGULATIONS.— 

4 The term ‘‘Export Administration Regulations’’ 

5 means the regulations set forth in subchapter C of 

6 chapter VII of title 15, Code of Federal Regulations, 

7 or successor regulations. 

8 (3) NORTH KOREA SANCTIONS REGULATIONS.— 

9 The term ‘‘North Korea Sanctions Regulations’’ 

10 means the regulations set forth in part 510 of title 

11 31, Code of Federal Regulations, or successor regu12 lations. 

Æ 


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