I 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4986 

To develop a strategy for assisting stateless children from North Korea, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 25, 2010 

Mr. ROYCE (for himself, Ms. WATSON, and Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN) introduced 

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

A BILL 

To develop a strategy for assisting stateless children from 

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 ‘‘North Korean Refugee 

5 Adoption Act of 2010’’. 

6 SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

7 It is the sense of Congress that— 

8 (1) thousands of North Korean children do not 

9 have families and are threatened with starvation and 


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1 disease if they remain in North Korea or as stateless 

2 refugees in surrounding countries; 

3 (2) thousands of United States citizens would 

4 welcome the opportunity to adopt North Korean or5 phans; and 

6 (3) the Secretary of State and the Secretary of 

7 Homeland Security should make every effort to fa8 cilitate the adoption of any eligible North Korean 

9 children. 

10 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

11 In this Act: 

12 (1) FOREIGN-SENDING COUNTRY.—The term 

13 ‘‘foreign-sending country’’— 

14 (A) means— 

15 (i) the country of the orphan’s citizen16 ship; or 

17 (ii) if the orphan is not permanently 

18 residing in the country of citizenship, the 

19 country of the orphan’s habitual residence; 

20 and 

21 (B) excludes any country to which the or22 phan— 

23 (i) travels temporarily; or 


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1 (ii) travels as a prelude to, or in con2 junction with, his or her adoption or immi3 gration to the United States. 

4 (2) HAGUE COUNTRY.—The term ‘‘Hague 

5 countries’’ means a country that is a signatory of 

6 the Convention on Protection of Children and Co7 operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption, done 

8 at The Hague on May 29, 1993. 

9 (3) NON-HAGUE COUNTRY.—The term ‘‘non10 Hague country’’ means a country that is not a sig11 natory of the Convention on Protection of Children 

12 and Cooperation in Respect of Intercountry Adop13 tion, done at The Hague on May 29, 1993. 

14 SEC. 4. STRATEGY ON ADOPTION OF NORTH KOREAN CHIL15 DREN BY UNITED STATES CITIZENS. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State, in con17 sultation with the Secretary of Homeland Security and the 

18 Secretary of Health and Human Services, shall develop 

19 a comprehensive strategy for facilitating the adoption of 

20 North Korean children by United States citizens. 

21 (b) CONSIDERATIONS.—In developing the strategy 

22 under this section, the Secretary shall— 

23 (1) consider the challenges that United States 

24 citizens would encounter in attempting to adopt chil25 dren from North Korea who are currently living in 


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1 Hague countries and non-Hague countries regard2 less of their legal status in such countries; 

3 (2) propose solutions to deal with the situation 

4 in which a North Korean child does not have access 

5 to a competent authority in the foreign-sending 

6 country; 

7 (3) propose solutions to deal with North Korean 

8 children who are not considered habitual residents of 

9 the countries in which they are located; 

10 (4) evaluate alternative mechanisms for foreign11 sending countries to prove that North Korean chil12 dren are orphans when documentation, such as birth 

13 certificates, death certificates of birth parents, or or14 phanage documentation, is missing or destroyed; 

15 (5) provide suggestions for working with South 

16 Korea to establish pilot programs that identify, pro17 vide for the immediate care of, and assist in the 

18 international adoption of, orphaned North Korean 

19 children living within South Korea; 

20 (6) provide suggestions for working with aid or21 ganizations in Southeast Asia to identify and estab22 lish pilot programs for the identification, immediate 

23 care, and eventual international adoption of or24 phaned children from North Korea; 


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1 (7) identify other countries in which large num2 bers of stateless, orphaned children are living who 

3 might be helped by international adoption; and 

4 (8) propose solutions for assisting orphaned 

5 children with Chinese fathers and North Korean 

6 mothers who are living in China and have no access 

7 to Chinese or North Korean resources. 

8 (c) REPORTING REQUIREMENT.—Not later than 90 

9 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec10 retary of State shall submit to Congress a report that con11 tains the details of the strategy developed under this sec12 tion. 

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