I

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 484

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 25, 2000

Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee

on International Relations, 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

AN ACT

To provide for the granting of refugee status in the United

States to nationals of certain foreign countries in which

American Vietnam War POW/MIAs or American Korean

War POW/MIAs may be present, if those nationals assist

in the return to the United States of those POW/MIAs

alive.

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 ‘‘Bring Them Home

5 Alive Act of 2000’’.
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1 SEC. 2. AMERICAN VIETNAM WAR POW/MIA ASYLUM PRO2 GRAM.

3 (a) ASYLUM FOR ELIGIBLE ALIENS.—Notwith4 standing any other provision of law, the Attorney General

5 shall grant refugee status in the United States to any alien

6 described in subsection (b), upon the application of that

7 alien.

8 (b) ELIGIBILITY.—Refugee status shall be granted

9 under subsection (a) to—

10 (1) any alien who—

11 (A) is a national of Vietnam, Cambodia,

12 Laos, China, or any of the independent states

13 of the former Soviet Union; and

14 (B) personally delivers into the custody of

15 the United States Government a living Amer16 ican Vietnam War POW/MIA; and

17 (2) any parent, spouse, or child of an alien de18 scribed in paragraph (1).

19 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section:

20 (1) AMERICAN VIETNAM WAR POW/MIA.—

21 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in

22 subparagraph (B), the term ‘‘American Viet23 nam War POW/MIA’’ means an individual—

24 (i) who is a member of a uniformed

25 service (within the meaning of section

26 101(3) of title 37, United States Code) in
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1 a missing status (as defined in section

2 551(2) of such title and this subsection) as

3 a result of the Vietnam War; or

4 (ii) who is an employee (as defined in

5 section 5561(2) of title 5, United States

6 Code) in a missing status (as defined in

7 section 5561(5) of such title) as a result of

8 the Vietnam War.

9 (B) EXCLUSION.—Such term does not in10 clude an individual with respect to whom it is

11 officially determined under section 552(c) of

12 title 37, United States Code, that such indi13 vidual is officially absent from such individual’s

14 post of duty without authority.

15 (2) MISSING STATUS.—The term ‘‘missing sta16 tus’’, with respect to the Vietnam War, means the

17 status of an individual as a result of the Vietnam

18 War if immediately before that status began the

19 individual—

20 (A) was performing service in Vietnam; or

21 (B) was performing service in Southeast

22 Asia in direct support of military operations in

23 Vietnam.

24 (3) VIETNAM WAR.—The term ‘‘Vietnam War’’

25 means the conflict in Southeast Asia during the pe-
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1 riod that began on February 28, 1961, and ended on

2 May 7, 1975.

3 SEC. 3. AMERICAN KOREAN WAR POW/MIA ASYLUM PRO4 GRAM.

5 (a) ASYLUM FOR ELIGIBLE ALIENS.—Notwith6 standing any other provision of law, the Attorney General

7 shall grant refugee status in the United States to any alien

8 described in subsection (b), upon the application of that

9 alien.

10 (b) ELIGIBILITY.—Refugee status shall be granted

11 under subsection (a) to—

12 (1) any alien—

13 (A) who is a national of North Korea,

14 China, or any of the independent states of the

15 former Soviet Union; and

16 (B) who personally delivers into the cus17 tody of the United States Government a living

18 American Korean War POW/MIA; and

19 (2) any parent, spouse, or child of an alien de20 scribed in paragraph (1).

21 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section:

22 (1) AMERICAN KOREAN WAR POW/MIA.—

23 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in

24 subparagraph (B), the term ‘‘American Korean

25 War POW/MIA’’ means an individual—
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1 (i) who is a member of a uniformed

2 service (within the meaning of section

3 101(3) of title 37, United States Code) in

4 a missing status (as defined in section

5 551(2) of such title and this subsection) as

6 a result of the Korean War; or

7 (ii) who is an employee (as defined in

8 section 5561(2) of title 5, United States

9 Code) in a missing status (as defined in

10 section 5561(5) of such title) as a result of

11 the Korean War.

12 (B) EXCLUSION.—Such term does not in13 clude an individual with respect to whom it is

14 officially determined under section 552(c) of

15 title 37, United States Code, that such indi16 vidual is officially absent from such individual’s

17 post of duty without authority.

18 (2) KOREAN WAR.—The term ‘‘Korean War’’

19 means the conflict on the Korean peninsula during

20 the period that began on June 27, 1950, and ended

21 January 31, 1955.

22 (3) MISSING STATUS.—The term ‘‘missing sta23 tus’’, with respect to the Korean War, means the

24 status of an individual as a result of the Korean
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1 War if immediately before that status began the

2 individual—

3 (A) was performing service in the Korean

4 peninsula; or

5 (B) was performing service in Asia in di6 rect support of military operations in the Ko7 rean peninsula.

8 SEC. 4. BROADCASTING INFORMATION ON THE ‘‘BRING

9 THEM HOME ALIVE’’ PROGRAM.

10 (a) REQUIREMENT.—

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—The International Broad12 casting Bureau shall broadcast, through

13 WORLDNET Television and Film Service and

14 Radio, VOA–TV, VOA Radio, or otherwise, informa15 tion that promotes the ‘‘Bring Them Home Alive’’

16 refugee program under this Act to foreign countries

17 covered by paragraph (2).

18 (2) COVERED COUNTRIES.—The foreign coun19 tries covered by paragraph (1) are—

20 (A) Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, China, and

21 North Korea; and

22 (B) Russia and the other independent

23 states of the former Soviet Union.

24 (b) LEVEL OF PROGRAMMING.—The International

25 Broadcasting Bureau shall broadcast—
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1 (1) at least 20 hours of the programming de2 scribed in subsection (a)(1) during the 30-day period

3 that begins 15 days after the date of enactment of

4 this Act; and

5 (2) at least 10 hours of the programming de6 scribed in subsection (a)(1) in each calendar quarter

7 during the period beginning with the first calendar

8 quarter that begins after the date of enactment of

9 this Act and ending five years after the date of en10 actment of this Act.

11 (c) AVAILABILITY OF INFORMATION ON THE INTER12 NET.—International Broadcasting Bureau shall ensure

13 that information regarding the ‘‘Bring Them Home Alive’’

14 refugee program under this Act is readily available on the

15 World Wide Web sites of the Bureau.

16 (d) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con17 gress that RFE/RL, Incorporated, Radio Free Asia, and

18 any other recipient of Federal grants that engages in

19 international broadcasting to the countries covered by sub20 section (a)(2) should broadcast information similar to the

21 information required to be broadcast by subsection (a)(1).

22 (e) DEFINITION.—The term ‘‘International Broad23 casting Bureau’’ means the International Broadcasting

24 Bureau of the United States Information Agency or, on

25 and after the effective date of title XIII of the Foreign
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1 Affairs Reform and Restructuring Act of 1998 (as con2 tained in division G of Public Law 105–277), the Inter3 national Broadcasting Bureau of the Broadcasting Board

4 of Governors.

5 SEC. 5. INDEPENDENT STATES OF THE FORMER SOVIET

6 UNION DEFINED.

7 In this Act, the term ‘‘independent states of the

8 former Soviet Union’’ has the meaning given the term in

9 section 3 of the FREEDOM Support Act (22 U.S.C.

10 5801).

Passed the Senate May 24, 2000.

Attest: GARY SISCO,

Secretary.