H5842 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE September 11, 2012 

designated for submitting petitions and returned home that same day. However, some 

people falsely characterized and distorted 

what happened, claiming that the government 

suppressed and detained the petitioners. At 

present, the land-related petition of the Thai 

Ha Parish is being handled by the responsible 

agency according to the law. 

Muong Nhe: In late April and early May 

2011, in the Muong Nhe district of Dien Bien 

province, some H’Mong extremists deceived, 

incited, displaced and even forced a number 

of H’Mong people from several localities to 

move to some villages in the Muong Nhe district of Dien Bien province. The extremists 

then called for the establishment of a H’Mong 

kingdom, to secede from Viet Nam Attempting 

to foment secession from the Vietnamese nation violates Vietnam’s law and causes other 

threats to law and order. The actions of these 

extremists also negatively affected the people’s lives and livelihood. Due to the bad 

weather and bad living conditions at the place 

where the extremists took people, some got 

sick and one child died. 

After the bad experiences suffered by those 

tricked into following the extremists, the authorities and people’s mass organisations in 

Muong Nhe district were easily able to explain 

to people how they were misled by the unscrupulous secessionists. The people returned 

home voluntarily, with local authorities providing them with transportation, food, medication and financial support to help in their resettlement. Only the extremists who broke the 

law were detained. Those who failed to ignite 

a split among our people have now spread 

false and malicious rumours about fighting between the army and demonstrators claiming 

‘many are wounded and dead’. Nothing could 

be further from the truth. Now that the people 

are back in their homes, peace and order has 

been restored. 

In spite of economic difficulties, the Vietnamese government always cares about and 

supports people in mountainous and remote 

areas, including the H’Mong people. The government goes to great lengths to help stabilise 

their lives through socio-economic development programmes and poverty reduction 

projects as well as promoting their indigenous 

cultures and languages. In future, the Vietnamese government will continue to promote 

and fund programmes in housing, healthcare, 

education and development of production and 

infrastructure. 

Viet Nam has facilitated the travel of foreign 

press, foreign diplomatic missions (including 

the U.S. Embassy, EU Delegation and Norwegian embassy) and international media to 

Muong Nhe to cover the news and learn about 

the reality there. 

Cau Ram Parish: The current Cua Nam garden in Cua Nam ward of Vinh City was formerly the old Cau Ram church. This church 

was completely destroyed by U.S. bombing. At 

that time, the authorities of Nghe An allowed 

Cau Ram parish to build a new church on another plot of land, where the church still 

stands today. The former site of the church 

was allocated by the Nghe An People’s Committee to the Vinh City People’s Committee for 

the development of a public garden to provide 

8 green space to city residents. Since the Cau 

Ram parish received land for its church to replace the site that was destroyed by U.S. 

bombs and its former site is now zoned for 

use as a public park, the request for the return 

of the former site is groundless. 

Local authorities have handled the Cau 

Ram parish’s and parishioners’ request in accordance with the law. The Nghe An People’s 

Committee sent an official note to the officials 

in charge of the Vinh diocese and Cau Ram 

parish responding to the proposal made by the 

Cau Ram parish, making clear the government’s policy regarding use of public lands. 

Public opinion also supports the use of the 

land as a garden. The People’s Committee 

collected public opinion in the newspapers regarding the location for a Martyrs’ Memorial, 

and propose Cua Nam garden as one of 5 

possible locations. However, the Nghe An 

People’s Committee did not selected Cua 

Nam Garden as the place to build the Martyrs’ 

Memorial 

On August 17, 2011, the Cau Ram parish 

held a meeting to sum up its theological works 

and reward young parishioners. They then 

made a procession from Cau Ram church to 

Yen Dai Parish to attend a mass for the 

Blessed Virgin. As the procession went on, 

some parishioners violated traffic rules, causing public disorder. Following the mass, parishioners dispersed voluntarily. There was no 

such thing as building the Martyrs’ Memorial 

as given in some news. No one was arrested 

or detained. 

Con Dau: In Con Dau an urban planning 

project was implemented—a project that had 

been announced in advance and discussed 

with the public and was supported by most 

households, both religious and non-religious, 

in the area. To assure harmony, Catholic 

households who lost land due to eminent domain were given increased compensation by 

the Da Nang authorities. Despite the fact that 

this project was carried out in accordance with 

all laws and regulations, some persons with 

malicious intentions took advantage of a 

Christian funeral to incite people and cause 

chaos, cynically attempting to turn a sacred 

religious ceremony into a place to vent their 

hostility. 

Ky Dong: In the past, the Redemptorist 

Church donated the house at No. 8 Ba Huyen 

Thanh Quan Street, which was just in front the 

house at No. 38 Ky Dong, District 3, Ho Chi 

Minh City, to the government to turn it into a 

school. Now the school has been renovated 

and has become ‘Pre-school No. 9’. The 

Redemptorist Church would like to now 

change its mind and has asked for the building back. However, as the transfer was voluntary and accomplished in accordance with 

Vietnamese law and the building is now properly being used as a school for the education 

of the children of the district, the church has 

no legal or other claim as to the site. 

CONCLUSION

Vietnam is a diverse country of many nationalities, cultures and religions. We treasure 

this diversity, including the many religions and 

faiths that arise from our history and shape 

our future. In recent years, our laws have developed in parallel with our commitment to 

freedom of religious expression and worship. 

As is the case with every country, not every 

law is always perfectly applied in practice in 

every instance. However Viet Nam aspires 

and is working to apply our laws in keeping 

with our policy of guaranteeing religious rights 

to our people. 

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The 

question is on the motion offered by 

the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. 

ROS-LEHTINEN) that the House suspend 

the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 1410, as 

amended. 

The question was taken; and (twothirds being in the affirmative) the 

rules were suspended and the bill, as 

amended, was passed. 

A motion to reconsider was laid on 

the table. 

f 

NORTH KOREAN REFUGEE 

ADOPTION ACT OF 2011 

Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I 

move to suspend the rules and pass the 

bill (H.R. 1464) to develop a strategy for 

assisting stateless children from North 

Korea, and for other purposes. 

The Clerk read the title of the bill. 

The text of the bill is as follows: 

H.R. 1464 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in 

Congress assembled, 

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

This Act may be cited as the ‘‘North Korean Refugee Adoption Act of 2011’’. 

SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

It is the sense of Congress that— 

(1) thousands of North Korean children do 

not have families and are threatened with 

starvation and disease if they remain in 

North Korea or as stateless refugees in surrounding countries; 

(2) thousands of United States citizens 

would welcome the opportunity to adopt 

North Korean orphans living outside North 

Korea as de jure or de facto stateless refugees; and 

(3) the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Homeland Security should make 

every effort to facilitate the immediate care, 

family reunification, and, if necessary and 

appropriate, the adoption of any eligible 

North Korean children living outside North 

Korea as de jure or de facto stateless refugees. 

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

In this Act: 

(1) FOREIGN-SENDING COUNTRY.—The term 

‘‘foreign-sending country’’— 

(A) means— 

(i) the country of the orphan’s citizenship; 

or 

(ii) if the orphan is not permanently residing in the country of citizenship, the country 

of the orphan’s habitual residence; and 

(B) excludes any country to which the orphan— 

(i) travels temporarily; or 

(ii) travels as a prelude to, or in conjunction with, his or her adoption or immigration to the United States. 

(2) HAGUE COUNTRY.—The term ‘‘Hague 

country’’ means a country that is a signatory of the Convention on Protection of Children and Cooperation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption, done at The Hague on 

May 29, 1993. 

(3) NON-HAGUE COUNTRY.—The term ‘‘nonHague country’’ means a country that is not 

a signatory of the Convention on Protection 

of Children and Cooperation in Respect of 

Intercountry Adoption, done at The Hague 

on May 29, 1993. 

SEC. 4. STRATEGY ON ADOPTION OF NORTH KOREAN CHILDREN BY UNITED STATES 

CITIZENS. 

(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State, 

in consultation with the Secretary of Homeland Security, shall develop a comprehensive 

strategy for facilitating the adoption of 

North Korean children by United States citizens. 

(b) CONSIDERATIONS.—In developing the 

strategy under this section, the Secretary 

shall— 


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September 11, 2012 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE H5843 

(1) consider the challenges that United 

States citizens would encounter in attempting to adopt children from North Korea who 

are currently living in Hague countries and 

non-Hague countries regardless of their legal 

status in such countries; 

(2) propose solutions to dealing with the 

situation in which a North Korean refugee 

child does not have access to a competent 

authority in the foreign-sending country; 

(3) propose solutions to dealing with North 

Korean refugee children who are not considered habitual residents of the countries in 

which they are located; 

(4) evaluate alternative mechanisms for 

foreign-sending countries to prove that 

North Korean refugee children are orphans 

when documentation, such as birth certificates, death certificates of birth parents, and 

orphanage documentation, is missing or destroyed; 

(5) provide suggestions for working with 

South Korea to establish pilot programs that 

identify, provide for the immediate care of, 

assist in the family reunification of, and assist in the international adoption of, orphaned North Korean children living within 

South Korea; 

(6) provide suggestions for working with 

international adoption agencies and aid organizations in Asia to identify and establish 

pilot programs for the identification, immediate care, family reunification, and international adoption of North Korean orphans 

living outside North Korea as de jure or de 

facto stateless refugees; 

(7) identify other nations in which large 

numbers of stateless, orphaned children are 

living who might be helped by international 

adoption; and 

(8) propose solutions for assisting orphaned 

children with Chinese fathers and North Korean mothers who are living in China and 

have no access to Chinese or North Korean 

resources. 

(c) REPORTING REQUIREMENT.—Not later 

than 180 days after the date of the enactment 

of this Act, the Secretary of State shall submit a written report to Congress that contains the details of the strategy developed 

under this section. 

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from 

Florida (Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN) and the 

gentleman from California (Mr. BERMAN) each will control 20 minutes. 

The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Florida. 

GENERAL LEAVE

Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I 

kindly ask unanimous consent that all 

Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to 

insert extraneous materials into the 

RECORD on this measure. 

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there 

objection to the request of the gentlewoman from Florida? 

There was no objection. 

Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I 

yield myself such time as I may consume. 

I rise in strong support of H.R. 1464, 

the North Korean Refugee Adoption 

Act, of which I am a proud cosponsor. 

I want to thank my good friend from 

California (Mr. ROYCE), who is the 

chairman of the Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade on 

our Foreign Affairs Committee and 

who is a longtime advocate on North 

Korean human rights and refugee 

issues, for introducing this important 

bill. 

We are all too keenly aware of the 

extreme repression, the malnutrition, 

and the poverty suffered by so many 

inside North Korea today. Those 

threats often take the greatest toll on 

children. 

b 1820 

Imagine what happens when a child’s 

natural protectors—parents—are no 

longer in the picture. Imagine what 

happens when that child is born or orphaned inside China when the child 

lacks legal status or dependable access 

to social services: malnutrition, abuse, 

exploitation, lack of education. These 

are the horrors that are faced by orphans of North Korean origin who are 

effectively stateless and without protection. 

Mr. Speaker, the United States is 

home to the largest ethnic Korean population outside of Northeast Asia, and 

many of the nearly 2 million Americans of Korean descent have family ties 

to North Korea. Numerous American 

families would like to provide caring 

homes to these stateless North Korean 

orphans. H.R. 1464 is a responsible first 

step toward making that possible. 

This bill does not ignore the unique 

challenges involved with ensuring that 

North Korean adoptees are genuine orphans and not fraudulent victims of 

trafficking. It does not change U.S. immigration law, nor the legal standards 

for adoption. It does not reduce the 

need for China to begin abiding by its 

refugee convention obligations to vulnerable North Koreans within its borders. And it does not diminish our commitment to assisting intact refugee 

families or to reunifying families that 

are separated. 

What it does do, Mr. Speaker, is require that our State Department take 

a broad look at the diplomatic and documentation challenges facing American families who would like to adopt 

North Korean orphans and report to 

Congress on potential strategies to address them. 

Doing the right thing is not always 

easy. 

I especially want to applaud those 

adoptive parents, both past and future, 

who invest their own lives and homes 

to provide loving families for some of 

the world’s most endangered children. 

H.R. 1464 is a welcome step forward, 

Mr. Speaker, and deserves our unanimous support. 

With that, I reserve the balance of 

my time. 

Mr. BERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 

myself such time as I may consume. 

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support 

of H.R. 1464. 

I would like to thank the sponsor of 

this legislation, the gentleman from 

California (Mr. ROYCE), as well as the 

chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN, for their 

leadership on this issue and for their 

work in supporting the plight of North 

Korean refugees. 

Despite North Korea’s efforts to appear ‘‘strong and prosperous’’ this year 

to celebrate the 100th birthday of the 

country’s founder, vast numbers of its 

people live in dire conditions. Sadly, 

the North Korean regime’s misguided 

priorities, pouring hundreds of millions 

of dollars into its so-called ‘‘space program,’’ its nuclear programs, and its 

massive military only underscore its 

cold-hearted callousness and blatant 

disregard for its own citizens. 

Thousands of North Korean children 

do not have families to care for them 

and are threatened with starvation and 

disease if they remain in North Korea 

or as refugees in neighboring countries, 

especially China. Many of the children 

that have fled the north are hiding and 

live in mortal fear of being caught and 

sent back to North Korea where they 

would face severe punishment and even 

death. Equally terrifying is the prospect of being sold into bondage by 

human traffickers in China. 

As a beacon of hope for the rest of 

the world, the United States must do 

all it can to help these vulnerable and 

destitute children. That’s why I’m 

proud to be a cosponsor of Mr. ROYCE’s 

legislation, H.R. 1464, the North Korea 

Refugee Adoption Act. This bill calls 

on the Secretaries of State and Homeland Security to formulate and report 

to Congress on a strategy for facilitating the adoption of North Korean 

children by U.S. citizens. Passage of 

this bill will be the first step in helping 

the thousands of North Korean child 

refugees living alone in foreign lands, 

and it would provide a glimmer of hope 

to the American families who would 

welcome the opportunity to adopt 

North Korean orphans. 

The impending passage of this bill 

speaks to the broad bipartisan consensus in Congress regarding the atrocious human rights situation in North 

Korea. As innocent men, women, and 

children flee the repressive North Korean regime at great personal risk, we 

have a moral obligation to assist them. 

H.R. 1464 is not merely about adoption, 

but also an issue of human rights for 

the North Korean people. We must continue working to ensure that the North 

Korean people are not forgotten and 

that orphaned North Korean children 

will get the care and support they 

need. 

I urge my colleagues to support this 

bill, and I reserve the balance of my 

time. 

Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, 

I’m so pleased to yield 6 minutes to the 

other gentleman from California (Mr. 

ROYCE), the chairman of the Foreign 

Affairs Subcommittee on Terrorism, 

Nonproliferation and Trade, and the 

author of this important bill. 

Mr. ROYCE. I thank the gentlelady 

for yielding. 

Mr. Speaker, this is the North Korean Refugee Adoption Act of 2011, and 

I want to thank Chairman ROSLEHTINEN and Ranking Member BERMAN for their support of this bill, and 

also I think we should thank the numerous Korean American organizations 


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H5844 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE September 11, 2012 

from around this country that tirelessly advocated on behalf of its passage. They are the groups that originally came to me with the heartwrenching problem that these orphans 

face, and they suggested an idea for a 

solution. I would like to recognize the 

Defense Forum Foundation, the North 

Korea Freedom Coalition, the Korean 

Church Coalition for North Korea Freedom, the Korean American Coalition, 

the Korean Churches for Community 

Development, the 300 Pastoral Coalition, and the 318 Partners. These are 

the groups that suggested that with a 

lot of hard work we might get this legislation through. They put through 

countless phone calls and meetings and 

rallies up here on Capitol Hill and I 

think really helped generate the widespread support that this bill has today. 

Of course, the bill stems from the 

problem that for over 50 years North 

Korea has been one of the world’s most 

repressive regimes. Every imaginable 

freedom that we enjoy here—speech or 

assembly or association or worship, 

and actually oddly enough, even the 

right to smile—is denied in North 

Korea by one statute or another. Meanwhile, the regime’s elites live in luxury. Of course, the people, especially in 

the rural areas of North Korea, starve. 

It is little wonder why tens of thousands of North Koreans, many of them 

women and children, flee to China. For 

many, it’s a last resort. It’s a final 

chance to avoid starvation for those 

children and avoid unspeakable oppression. Yet that choice is not always an 

easy one. That path to freedom is very 

perilous. Those fleeing North Korea 

often make their journey during the 

winter, and they cross over that Tumen 

River as it’s frozen. Those temperatures there are subzero, and the terrain 

is treacherous. It is an obstacle course 

of checkpoints and of informants, and 

they make that a very dangerous journey. Sadly, but not surprisingly, many 

refugees succumb to the elements. 

There are many bodies frozen along 

that bank. 

Those that survive also face dangers 

from human traffickers. As one dissident told National Geographic, crossing the Tumen was easy compared to 

what happened next as she was tricked 

into getting into a car that belonged to 

a sex trafficker. For the next year, she 

remained locked in a room, forced into 

selling her body. The result of all of 

this is that many North Korean orphans are left in China. Worse yet, 

they are stateless and they are without 

identification. Estimates show that 

thousands of children are left stateless 

in the border region between North 

Korea and China, and there they suffer. 

If they’re sent back to North Korea, 

they suffer unimaginably. 

Mr. Speaker, this is why we need to 

pass this legislation. This bill is a good 

first step in responding to this human 

rights crisis. Specifically, this bill 

would have the State Department develop a strategy for assisting stateless 

children from North Korea. 

b 1830 

While many American families would 

welcome the opportunity to adopt a 

North Korean orphan, many hurdles remain. For example, children must certify that they have lost their parents 

or legal guardians and that they have 

absolutely no one to rely on. A child 

orphan in North Korea would have a 

very hard time proving that attestation. 

Most of these children have great difficulty proving this to their own understanding, and they have no death certificate of parents, and many have no 

proof that they truly are orphans. By 

passing this bill, we will be taking an 

important step towards solving these 

problems. 

We are not committing to any particular policies, but we are committing 

to doing what we can to help these defenseless children. We are trying to 

create a win/win for these desperate 

young ones, orphans living in deplorable conditions and their potential new 

families. 

Again, I thank you, Chairman ROSLEHTINEN, I thank you for your support, and we thank the numerous 

American Korean organizations, and 

we thank Ranking Member BERMAN for 

all of this help. I urge my colleagues to 

support this important bill. 

Mr. BERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I have no 

further requests for time, and I urge 

support for the legislation. 

I yield back the balance of my time. 

Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I 

think Mr. ROYCE did a wonderful job in 

summing up our bipartisan position. 

With that, I yield back the balance of 

my time. 

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The 

question is on the motion offered by 

the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. 

ROS-LEHTINEN) that the House suspend 

the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 1464. 

The question was taken; and (twothirds being in the affirmative) the 

rules were suspended and the bill was 

passed. 

A motion to reconsider was laid on 

the table. 

f 

CALLING ON VIETNAM TO RESPECT BASIC HUMAN RIGHTS 

AND CEASE ABUSING VAGUE NATIONAL SECURITY PROVISIONS 

Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I 

move to suspend the rules and agree to 

the resolution (H. Res. 484) calling on 

the Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam to respect basic 

human rights and cease abusing vague 

national security provisions such as articles 79 and 88 of the Vietnamese penal 

code, which are often the pretext to arrest and detain citizens who peacefully 

advocate for religious and political 

freedom, as amended. 

The Clerk read the title of the resolution. 

The text of the resolution is as follows: 

H. RES. 484 

Whereas article 79, which penalizes ‘‘carrying out activities aimed at overthrowing 

the people’s administration’’, carries a maximum penalty of death and is used by the 

Government of the Socialist Republic of 

Vietnam to crack down on citizens advocating for political pluralism or associating 

with prodemocracy parties, including— 

(1) Le Cong Dinh, Tran Huynh Duy Thuc, 

Nguyen Tien Trung, Le Thang Long, and 

Tran Anh Kim arrested in 2009; 

(2) Cao Van Tinh, Duong Kim Khai, Nguyen 

Chi Thanh, Nguyen Thanh Tam, Pham Minh 

Hoang, Pham Ngoc Hoa, Pham Van Thong, 

and Tran Thi Thuy arrested in 2010; and 

(3) Dang Xuan Dieu, Ho Duc Hoa, Ho Van 

Oanh, Nguyen Dinh Cuong, Nguyen Van 

Duyet, Nguyen Van Oai, Nguyen Xuan Anh, 

Nong Hung Anh, Paulus Le Son, Thai Van 

Dung, and Tran Minh Nhat arrested during 

the summer of 2011; 

Whereas article 88, which penalizes ‘‘conducting propaganda against the State’’, carries a maximum sentence of 12 years imprisonment and is used by the Government of 

Vietnam to detain writers and bloggers, including— 

(1) Father Nguyen Van Ly, Nguyen Phong, 

and Tran Quoc Hien arrested in 2007; 

(2) Nguyen Van Hai (‘‘Dieu Cay’’), Nguyen 

Xuan Nghia, Pham Thanh Nghien, and Pham 

Van Troi arrested in 2008; 

(3) Cu Huy Ha Vu, Phan Thanh Hai, and Vi 

Duc Hoi arrested in 2010; and 

(4) Chu Manh Son, Dinh Dang Dinh, Dinh 

Van Nhuong, Do Van Hoa, Hoang Phong, Lu 

Van Bay, Nguyen Kim Nhan, Ta Phong Tan, 

Tran Huu Duc, and Viet Khang arrested in 

2011; 

Whereas Vietnam is a signatory to the 

Universal Declaration of Human Rights and 

the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; and 

Whereas closer economic and security ties 

between the United States and Vietnam are 

ultimately contingent on the Government of 

Vietnam’s respect for basic freedoms: Now, 

therefore, be it 

Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

(1) condemns the continued and worsening 

crackdown in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam against community organizers, 

bloggers, and democracy activists; 

(2) calls on the Government of Vietnam to 

repeal articles 79 and 88 of the Vietnamese 

penal code and similar vague national security measures used to persecute peaceful political opposition and dissent; 

(3) calls on the Government of Vietnam to 

release all political prisoners, especially all 

activists, writers, and bloggers who have 

been detained or sentenced under articles 79 

and 88 of the Vietnamese penal code; and 

(4) urges the United States Department of 

State to monitor rule of law developments in 

Vietnam, to help ensure that Vietnamese 

laws are administered in ways that are consistent with Vietnam’s international human 

rights commitments. 

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from 

Florida (Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN) and the 

gentleman from California (Mr. BERMAN) each will control 20 minutes. 

The recognizes the gentlewoman 

from Florida. 

GENERAL LEAVE

Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I 

ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to 

insert extraneous material into the 

RECORD on this measure. 

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there 

objection to the request of the gentlewoman from Florida? 


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