To prohibit lifting of United States sanctions imposed with respect to North Korea.

To prohibit lifting of United States sanctions imposed with respect to North Korea. 1. Prohibition on lifting of United States sanctions imposed with respect to North Korea (a) Findings Congress finds the following: (1) The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) has a history of cheating on nuclear accords. (2) The United Nations Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in North Korea concluded in 2014 that Kim Jong Un and the North Korean leadership was perpetrating unspeakable atrocities widespread, systematic, and gross violations (3) The chair of the United Nations Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in North Korea called these atrocities strikingly similar (4) Under Kim Jong Un’s leadership, there are reports of newborn babies in prison being fed to guard dogs, punishment and possible execution of starving prisoners caught digging for edible plants, and forced abortions. (5) Kim Jong Un, after taking over the leadership of North Korea, launched political purges, encompassing relatives, including his uncle and half-brother, who was murdered by a chemical weapon in Malaysia in 2017. (6) Otto Warmbier, a 22-year-old American college student, was brutally tortured by the North Korean regime under Kim Jong Un and died shortly after his release from North Korea. (b) Sense of Congress It is the sense of Congress that— (1) any negotiation with North Korea regarding denuclearization should include an equivalent demand for transparency regarding North Korea’s human rights situation; (2) the United States should not trust Kim Jong Un and the leadership of North Korea to voluntarily and peacefully end its nuclear program as long as they continue to commit mass atrocities against the North Korean people; and (3) no sanctions relief should be provided to North Korea until the President certifies to the appropriate congressional committees that the lives of ordinary North Koreans are improving and the Kim family has made progress on North Korea’s deplorable human rights situation. (c) Limitation on waiver of sanctions The President may not waive, suspend, reduce, provide relief from, or otherwise limit the application of United States sanctions imposed with respect to North Korea until the President certifies to the appropriate congressional committees that North Korea— (1) has repudiated and ceased engaging in gross human rights abuses, including operation of slave-labor and political prisoner camps; (2) has established a disclosure and transparency process to identify crimes committed by the North Korean regime against its people; and (3) has issued a formal apology to the family of Otto Warmbier for the unlawful detention, torture, and murder of Otto Warmbier. (d) Appropriate congressional committees In this section, the term appropriate congressional committees (1) the congressional defense committees (as such term is defined in section 101 of title 10, United States Code); and (2) the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives.

Summary: This bill prohibits the President from waiving, reducing, or otherwise limiting the application of sanctions on North Korea until the President certifies to Congress that North Korea has ceased engaging in gross human rights abuses, including operation of slave-labor and political prisoner camps; established a disclosure and transparency process to identify crimes committed by the North Korean regime against its people; and issued a formal apology to the family of Otto Warmbier for his unlawful detention, torture, and murder.