108TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 4011
AN ACT
To promote human rights and freedom in the
Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, and for
other purposes.
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘North Korean Human
Rights Act of 2004’’.
SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS.
The table of contents for this Act is as follows:
Sec. 1. Short title.
Sec. 2. Table of contents.
Sec. 3. Findings.
Sec. 4. Purposes.
Sec. 5. Definitions.
TITLE I—PROMOTING THE HUMAN RIGHTS OF NORTH KOREANS
Sec. 101. Sense of Congress regarding negotiations with North Korea.
Sec. 102. Support for human rights and democracy programs.
Sec. 103. Radio broadcasting to North Korea.
Sec. 104. Actions to promote freedom of information.
Sec. 105. United Nations Commission on Human Rights.
TITLE II—ASSISTING NORTH KOREANS IN NEED
Sec. 201. Report on United States humanitarian assistance.
Sec. 202. Assistance provided inside North Korea.
Sec. 203. Assistance provided outside of North Korea.
TITLE III—PROTECTING NORTH KOREAN REFUGEES
Sec. 301. United States policy toward refugees and defectors.
Sec. 302. Eligibility for refugee or asylum consideration.
Sec. 303. Facilitating submission of applications for admission as a refugee.
Sec. 304. United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
Sec. 305. Annual reports.
SEC. 3. FINDINGS.
Congress makes the following findings:
(1) According to the Department of State, the
Government of North Korea is ‘‘a dictatorship under
the absolute rule of Kim Jong Il’’ that continues to
commit numerous, serious human rights abuses.
(2) The Government of North Korea attempts
to control all information, artistic expression, aca-
demic works, and media activity inside North Korea
and strictly curtails freedom of speech and access to
foreign broadcasts.
(3) The Government of North Korea subjects
all its citizens to systematic, intensive political and
ideological indoctrination in support of the cult of
personality glorifying Kim Jong Il and the late Kim
Il Sung that approaches the level of a state religion.
(4) The Government of North Korea divides its
population into categories, based on perceived loyalty
to the leadership, which determines access to food,
employment, higher education, place of residence,
medical facilities, and other resources.
(5) According to the Department of State,
‘‘[t]he [North Korean] Penal Code is [d]raconian,
stipulating capital punishment and confiscation of
assets for a wide variety of ‘crimes against the revo-
lution,’ including defection, attempted defection,
slander of the policies of the Party or State, listen-
ing to foreign broadcasts, writing ‘reactionary’ let-
ters, and possessing reactionary printed matter’’.
(6) The Government of North Korea executes
political prisoners, opponents of the regime, some re-
patriated defectors, some members of underground
churches, and others, sometimes at public meetings
attended by workers, students, and schoolchildren.
(7) The Government of North Korea holds an
estimated 200,000 political prisoners in camps that
its State Security Agency manages through the use
of forced labor, beatings, torture, and executions,
and in which many prisoners also die from disease,
starvation, and exposure.
(8) According to eyewitness testimony provided
to the United States Congress by North Korean
camp survivors, camp inmates have been used as
sources of slave labor for the production of export
goods, as targets for martial arts practice, and as
experimental victims in the testing of chemical and
biological poisons.
(9) According to credible reports, including eye-
witness testimony provided to the United States
Congress, North Korean Government officials pro-
hibit live births in prison camps, and forced abortion
and the killing of newborn babies are standard pris-
on practices.
(10) According to the Department of State,
‘‘[g]enuine religious freedom does not exist in North
Korea’’ and, according to the United States Com-
mission on International Religious Freedom, ‘‘[t]he
North Korean state severely represses public and
private religious activities’’ with penalties that re-
portedly include arrest, imprisonment, torture, and
sometimes execution.
(11) More than 2,000,000 North Koreans are
estimated to have died of starvation since the early
1990s because of the failure of the centralized agri-
cultural and public distribution systems operated by
the Government of North Korea.
(12) According to a 2002 United Nations-Euro-
pean Union survey, nearly one out of every ten chil-
dren in North Korea suffers from acute malnutrition
and four out of every ten children in North Korea
are chronically malnourished.
(13) Since 1995, the United States has pro-
vided more than 2,000,000 tons of humanitarian
food assistance to the people of North Korea, pri-
marily through the World Food Program.
(14) Although United States food assistance
has undoubtedly saved many North Korean lives and
there have been minor improvements in transparency
relating to the distribution of such assistance in
North Korea, the Government of North Korea con-
tinues to deny the World Food Program forms of ac-
cess necessary to properly monitor the delivery of
food aid, including the ability to conduct random site
visits, the use of native Korean-speaking employees,
and travel access throughout North Korea.
(15) The risk of starvation, the threat of perse-
cution, and the lack of freedom and opportunity in
North Korea have caused large numbers, perhaps
even hundreds of thousands, of North Koreans to
flee their homeland, primarily into China.
(16) North Korean women and girls, particu-
larly those who have fled into China, are at risk of
being kidnapped, trafficked, and sexually exploited
inside China, where many are sold as brides or con-
cubines, or forced to work as prostitutes.
(17) The Governments of China and North
Korea have been conducting aggressive campaigns to
locate North Koreans who are in China without per-
mission and to forcibly return them to North Korea,
where they routinely face torture and imprisonment,
and sometimes execution.
(18) Despite China’s obligations as a party to
the 1951 United Nations Convention Relating to the
Status of Refugees and the 1967 Protocol Relating
to the Status of Refugees China routinely classifies
North Koreans seeking asylum in China as mere
‘‘economic migrants’’ and returns them to North
Korea without regard to the serious threat of perse-
cution they face upon their return.
(19) The Government of China does not provide
North Koreans whose asylum requests are rejected
a right to have the rejection reviewed prior to depor-
tation despite its obligations under the 1951 United
Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refu-
gees and the 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status
of Refugees.
(20) North Koreans who seek asylum while in
China are routinely imprisoned and tortured, and in
some cases killed, after they are returned to North
Korea.
(21) The Government of China has detained,
convicted, and imprisoned foreign aid workers at-
tempting to assist North Korean refugees, including
the Reverend Choi Bong Il, in proceedings that did
not comply with Chinese law or international stand-
ards.
(22) In January 2000, North Korean agents in-
side China allegedly abducted the Reverend Kim
Dong-shik, a United States permanent resident and
advocate for North Korean refugees, whose condition
and whereabouts remain unknown.
(23) Between 1994 and 2003, South Korea has
admitted approximately 3,800 North Korean refu-
gees for domestic resettlement, a number small in
comparison with the total number of North Korean
escapees, but far greater than the number legally
admitted by any other country.
(24) Although the principal responsibility for
North Korean refugee resettlement naturally falls to
the Government of South Korea, the United States
should play a leadership role in focusing inter-
national attention on the plight of these refugees,
and formulating international solutions to that pro-
found humanitarian dilemma.
(25) In addition to infringing the rights of its
own citizens, the Government of North Korea has
been responsible in years past for the abduction of
numerous citizens of South Korea and Japan, whose
condition and whereabouts remain unknown.
SEC. 4. PURPOSES.
The purposes of this Act are—
(1) to promote respect for and protection of
fundamental human rights in North Korea;
(2) to promote a more durable humanitarian so-
lution to the plight of North Korean refugees;
(3) to promote increased monitoring, access,
and transparency in the provision of humanitarian
assistance inside North Korea;
(4) to promote the free flow of information into
and out of North Korea; and
(5) to promote progress toward the peaceful re-
unification of the Korean peninsula under a demo-
cratic system of government.
SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) APPROPRIATE
CONGRESSIONAL
COMMIT-
TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com-
mittees’’ means—
(A) the Committee on International Rela-
tions of the House of Representatives; and
(B) the Committee on Foreign Relations of
the Senate.
(2) CHINA.—The term ‘‘China’’ means the Peo-
ple’s Republic of China.
(3) HUMANITARIAN
ASSISTANCE.—The term
‘‘humanitarian assistance’’ means assistance to meet
humanitarian needs, including needs for food, medi-
cine, medical supplies, clothing, and shelter.
(4) NORTH KOREA.—The term ‘‘North Korea’’
means the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
(5) NORTH KOREANS.—The term ‘‘North Kore-
ans’’ means persons who are citizens or nationals of
North Korea.
(6) SOUTH KOREA.—The term ‘‘South Korea’’
means the Republic of Korea.
TITLE 
I—PROMOTING 
THE
HUMAN RIGHTS OF NORTH
KOREANS
SEC. 101. SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING NEGOTIATIONS
WITH NORTH KOREA.
It is the sense of Congress that the human rights of
North Koreans should remain a key element in future ne-
gotiations between the United States, North Korea, and
other concerned parties in Northeast Asia.
SEC. 102. SUPPORT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS AND DEMOCRACY
PROGRAMS.
(a) SUPPORT.—The President is authorized to pro-
vide grants to private, nonprofit organizations to support
programs that promote human rights, democracy, rule of
law, and the development of a market economy in North
Korea. Such programs may include appropriate edu-
cational and cultural exchange programs with North Ko-
rean participants, to the extent not otherwise prohibited
by law.
(b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be
appropriated to the President $2,000,000 for each of
the fiscal years 2005 through 2008 to carry out this
section.
(2) AVAILABILITY.—Amounts appropriated pur-
suant to the authorization of appropriations under
paragraph (1) are authorized to remain available
until expended.
SEC. 103. RADIO BROADCASTING TO NORTH KOREA.
(a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con-
gress that the United States should facilitate the
unhindered dissemination of information in North Korea
by increasing its support for radio broadcasting to North
Korea, and that the Broadcasting Board of Governors
should increase broadcasts to North Korea from current
levels, with a goal of providing 12-hour-per-day broad-
casting to North Korea, including broadcasts by Radio
Free Asia and Voice of America.
(b) REPORT.—Not later than 120 days after the date
of the enactment of this Act, the Broadcasting Board of
Governors shall submit to the appropriate congressional
committees a report that—
(1) describes the status of current United
States broadcasting to North Korea; and
(2) outlines a plan for increasing such broad-
casts to 12 hours per day, including a detailed de-
scription of the technical and fiscal requirements
necessary to implement the plan.
SEC. 104. ACTIONS TO PROMOTE FREEDOM OF INFORMA-
TION.
(a) ACTIONS.—The President is authorized to take
such actions as may be necessary to increase the avail-
ability of information inside North Korea by increasing
the availability of sources of information not controlled by
the Government of North Korea, including sources such
as radios capable of receiving broadcasting from outside
North Korea.
(b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be
appropriated to the President $2,000,000 for each of
the fiscal years 2005 through 2008 to carry out sub-
section (a).
(2) AVAILABILITY.—Amounts appropriated pur-
suant to the authorization of appropriations under
paragraph (1) are authorized to remain available
until expended.
(c) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date
of the enactment of this Act, and in each of the 3 years
thereafter, the Secretary of State, after consultation with
the heads of other appropriate Federal departments and
agencies, shall submit to the appropriate congressional
committees a report, in classified form, on actions taken
pursuant to this section.
SEC. 105. UNITED NATIONS COMMISSION ON HUMAN
RIGHTS.
It is the sense of Congress that the United Nations
has a significant role to play in promoting and improving
human rights in North Korea, and that—
(1) the United Nations Commission on Human
Rights (UNCHR) has taken positive steps by adopt-
ing Resolution 2003/10 and Resolution 2004/13 on
the situation of human rights in North Korea, and
particularly by requesting the appointment of a Spe-
cial Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in
North Korea; and
(2) the severe human rights violations within
North Korea warrant country-specific attention and
reporting by the United Nations Working Group on
Arbitrary Detention, the Working Group on En-
forced and Involuntary Disappearances, the Special
Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary, or Arbitrary
Executions, the Special Rapporteur on the Right to
Food, the Special Rapporteur on the Promotion and
Protection of the Right to Freedom of Opinion and
Expression, the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of
Religion or Belief, and the Special Rapporteur on
Violence Against Women.
TITLE II—ASSISTING NORTH
KOREANS IN NEED
SEC. 201. REPORT ON UNITED STATES HUMANITARIAN AS-
SISTANCE.
(a) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the date
of the enactment of this Act, and in each of the 2 years
thereafter, the Administrator of the United States Agency
for International Development, in conjunction with the
Secretary of State, shall submit to the appropriate con-
gressional committees a report that describes—
(1) all activities to provide humanitarian assist-
ance inside North Korea, and to North Koreans out-
side of North Korea, that receive United States
funding;
(2) any improvements in humanitarian trans-
parency, monitoring, and access inside North Korea
during the previous 1-year period, including progress
toward meeting the conditions identified in para-
graphs (1) through (4) of section 202(b); and
(3) specific efforts to secure improved humani-
tarian transparency, monitoring, and access inside
North Korea made by the United States and United
States grantees, including the World Food Program,
during the previous 1-year period.
(b) FORM.—The information required by subsection
(a)(1) may be provided in classified form if necessary.
SEC. 202. ASSISTANCE PROVIDED INSIDE NORTH KOREA.
(a) HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE THROUGH NON-
GOVERNMENTAL
AND
INTERNATIONAL
ORGANIZA-
TIONS.—It is the sense of the Congress that—
(1) at the same time that Congress supports
the provision of humanitarian assistance to the peo-
ple of North Korea on humanitarian grounds, such
assistance also should be provided and monitored so
as to minimize the possibility that such assistance
could be diverted to political or military use, and to
maximize the likelihood that it will reach the most
vulnerable North Koreans;
(2) significant increases above current levels of
United States support for humanitarian assistance
provided inside North Korea should be conditioned
upon substantial improvements in transparency,
monitoring, and access to vulnerable populations
throughout North Korea; and
(3) the United States should encourage other
countries that provide food and other humanitarian
assistance to North Korea to do so through mon-
itored, transparent channels, rather than through di-
rect, bilateral transfers to the Government of North
Korea.
(b) HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE TO THE GOVERN-
MENT OF NORTH KOREA.—No department, agency, or en-
tity of the United States Government may provide human-
itarian assistance to any department, agency, or entity of
the Government of North Korea unless such United States
Government department, agency, or entity certifies in
writing to the appropriate congressional committees that
the Government of North Korea has taken steps to ensure
that—
(1) such assistance is delivered, distributed, and
monitored according to internationally recognized
humanitarian standards;
(2) such assistance is provided on a needs basis,
and is not used as a political reward or tool of coer-
cion;
(3) such assistance reaches the intended bene-
ficiaries, who are informed of the source of the as-
sistance; and
(4) humanitarian access to all vulnerable
groups in North Korea is allowed, no matter where
in the country they may be located.
(c) NONHUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE TO THE GOV-
ERNMENT OF NORTH KOREA.—No department, agency,
or entity of the United States Government may provide
nonhumanitarian assistance to any department, agency, or
entity of the Government of North Korea unless such
United States Government department, agency, or entity
certifies in writing to the appropriate congressional com-
mittees that the Government of North Korea has made
substantial progress toward—
(1) respecting and protecting basic human
rights, including freedom of religion, of the people of
North Korea;
(2) providing for significant family reunification
between North Koreans and their descendants and
relatives in the United States;
(3) fully disclosing all information regarding
citizens of Japan and the Republic of Korea ab-
ducted by the Government of North Korea;
(4) allowing such abductees, along with their
families, complete and genuine freedom to leave
North Korea and return to the abductees’ original
home countries;
(5) significantly reforming its prison and labor
camp system, and subjecting such reforms to inde-
pendent international monitoring; and
(6) decriminalizing political expression and ac-
tivity.
(d) WAIVER.—The President may waive the prohibi-
tion contained in subsection (b) or (c) if the President de-
termines that it is in the national security interest of the
United States to do so. Prior to exercising the waiver au-
thority contained in the preceding sentence, the President
shall transmit to the appropriate congressional committees
a report that contains the determination of the President
pursuant to the preceding sentence and a description of
the assistance to be provided.
SEC. 203. ASSISTANCE PROVIDED OUTSIDE OF NORTH
KOREA.
(a) ASSISTANCE.—The President is authorized to
provide assistance to support organizations or persons
that provide humanitarian assistance to North Koreans
who are outside of North Korea without the permission
of the Government of North Korea.
(b) TYPES
OF ASSISTANCE.—Assistance provided
under subsection (a) should be used to provide—
(1) humanitarian assistance to North Korean
refugees, defectors, migrants, and orphans outside of
North Korea, which may include support for refugee
camps or temporary settlements; and
(2) humanitarian assistance to North Korean
women outside of North Korea who are victims of
trafficking, as defined in section 103(14) of the
Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22
U.S.C. 7102(14)), or are in danger of being traf-
ficked.
(c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—In addition to funds other-
wise available for such purposes, there are author-
ized 
to 
be 
appropriated 
to 
the 
President
$20,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2005
through 2008 to carry out this section.
(2) AVAILABILITY.—Amounts appropriated pur-
suant to the authorization of appropriations under
paragraph (1) are authorized to remain available
until expended.
TITLE III—PROTECTING NORTH
KOREAN REFUGEES
SEC. 301. UNITED STATES POLICY TOWARD REFUGEES AND
DEFECTORS.
(a) REPORT.—Not later than 120 days after the date
of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, in
consultation with the heads of other appropriate Federal
departments and agencies, shall submit to the appropriate
congressional committees and the Committees on the Ju-
diciary of the House of Representatives and the Senate
a report that describes the situation of North Korean refu-
gees and explains United States Government policy toward
North Korean nationals outside of North Korea.
(b) CONTENTS.—The report shall include—
(1) an assessment of the circumstances facing
North Korean refugees and migrants in hiding, par-
ticularly in China, and of the circumstances they
face if forcibly returned to North Korea;
(2) an assessment of whether North Koreans in
China have effective access to personnel of the
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees,
and of whether the Government of China is fulfilling
its obligations under the 1951 Convention Relating
to the Status of Refugees, particularly Articles 31,
32, and 33 of such Convention;
(3) an assessment of whether North Koreans
presently have unobstructed access to United States
refugee and asylum processing, and of United States
policy toward North Koreans who may present
themselves at United States embassies or consulates
and request protection as refugees or asylum seekers
and resettlement in the United States;
(4) the total number of North Koreans who
have been admitted into the United States as refu-
gees or asylees in each of the past five years;
(5) an estimate of the number of North Kore-
ans with family connections to United States citi-
zens; and
(6) a description of the measures that the Sec-
retary of State is taking to carry out section 303.
(c) FORM.—The information required by paragraphs
(1) through (5) of subsection (b) shall be provided in un-
classified form. All or part of the information required by
subsection (b)(6) may be provided in classified form, if
necessary.
SEC. 302. ELIGIBILITY FOR REFUGEE OR ASYLUM CONSID-
ERATION.
(a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to clar-
ify that North Koreans are not barred from eligibility for
refugee status or asylum in the United States on account
of any legal right to citizenship they may enjoy under the
Constitution of the Republic of Korea. It is not intended
in any way to prejudice whatever rights to citizenship
North Koreans may enjoy under the Constitution of the
Republic of Korea, or to apply to former North Korean
nationals who have availed themselves of those rights.
(b) 
TREATMENT
OF
NATIONALS
OF
NORTH
KOREA.—For purposes of eligibility for refugee status
under section 207 of the Immigration and Nationality Act
(8 U.S.C. 1157), or for asylum under section 208 of such
Act (8 U.S.C. 1158), a national of the Democratic Peo-
ple’s Republic of Korea shall not be considered a national
of the Republic of Korea.
SEC. 303. FACILITATING SUBMISSION OF APPLICATIONS
FOR ADMISSION AS A REFUGEE.
The Secretary of State shall undertake to facilitate
the submission of applications under section 207 of the
Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1157) by citi-
zens of North Korea seeking protection as refugees (as
defined in section 101(a)(42) of such Act (8 U.S.C.
1101(a)(42)).
SEC. 304. UNITED NATIONS HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REF-
UGEES.
(a) ACTIONS IN CHINA.—It is the sense of Congress
that—
(1) the Government of China has obligated
itself to provide the United Nations High Commis-
sioner for Refugees (UNHCR) with unimpeded ac-
cess to North Koreans inside its borders to enable
the UNHCR to determine whether they are refugees
and whether they require assistance, pursuant to the
1951 United Nations Convention Relating to the
Status of Refugees, the 1967 Protocol Relating to
the Status of Refugees, and Article III, paragraph
5 of the 1995 Agreement on the Upgrading of the
UNHCR Mission in the People’s Republic of China
to UNHCR Branch Office in the People’s Republic
of China (referred to in this section as the
‘‘UNHCR Mission Agreement’’);
(2) the United States, other UNHCR donor
governments, and UNHCR should persistently and
at the highest levels continue to urge the Govern-
ment of China to abide by its previous commitments
to allow UNHCR unimpeded access to North Ko-
rean refugees inside China;
(3) the UNHCR, in order to effectively carry
out its mandate to protect refugees, should liberally
employ as professionals or Experts on Mission per-
sons with significant experience in humanitarian as-
sistance work among displaced North Koreans in
China;
(4) the UNHCR, in order to effectively carry
out its mandate to protect refugees, should liberally
contract with appropriate nongovernmental organi-
zations that have a proven record of providing hu-
manitarian assistance to displaced North Koreans in
China;
(5) the UNHCR should pursue a multilateral
agreement to adopt an effective ‘‘first asylum’’ pol-
icy that guarantees safe haven and assistance to
North Korean refugees; and
(6) should the Government of China begin ac-
tively fulfilling its obligations toward North Korean
refugees, all countries, including the United States,
and relevant international organizations should in-
crease levels of humanitarian assistance provided in-
side China to help defray costs associated with the
North Korean refugee presence.
(b) ARBITRATION PROCEEDINGS.—It is further the
sense of Congress that—
(1) if the Government of China continues to
refuse to provide the UNHCR with access to North
Koreans within its borders, the UNHCR should ini-
tiate arbitration proceedings pursuant to Article
XVI of the UNHCR Mission Agreement and appoint
an arbitrator for the UNHCR; and
(2) because access to refugees is essential to the
UNHCR mandate and to the purpose of a UNHCR
branch office, a failure to assert those arbitration
rights in present circumstances would constitute a
significant abdication by the UNHCR of one of its
core responsibilities.
SEC. 305. ANNUAL REPORTS.
(a) IMMIGRATION INFORMATION.—Not later than 1
year after the date of the enactment of this Act, and every
12 months thereafter for each of the following 5 years,
the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Homeland Se-
curity shall submit a joint report to the appropriate con-
gressional committees and the Committees on the Judici-
ary of the House of Representatives and the Senate on
the operation of this title during the previous year, which
shall include—
(1) the number of aliens who are nationals or
citizens of North Korea who applied for political asy-
lum and the number who were granted political asy-
lum; and
(2) the number of aliens who are nationals or
citizens of North Korea who applied for refugee sta-
tus and the number who were granted refugee sta-
tus.
(b) COUNTRIES
OF PARTICULAR CONCERN.—The
President shall include in each annual report on proposed
refugee admission pursuant to section 207(d) of the Immi-
gration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1157(d)), informa-
tion about specific measures taken to facilitate access to
the United States refugee program for individuals who
have fled countries of particular concern for violations of
religious freedom, identified pursuant to section 402(b) of
the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22
U.S.C. 6442(b)). The report shall include, for each coun-
try of particular concern, a description of access of the
nationals or former habitual residents of that country to
a refugee determination on the basis of—
(1) referrals by external agencies to a refugee
adjudication;
(2) groups deemed to be of special humani-
tarian concern to the United States for purposes of
refugee resettlement; and
(3) family links to the United States.
Passed the House of Representatives July 21, 2004.
Attest:
Clerk.