IIB 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2061 
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 
SEPTEMBER 26, 2017 
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 
AN ACT 
To reauthorize the North Korean Human Rights Act of 
2004, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘North Korean Human 
Rights Reauthorization Act of 2017’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) The North Korean Human Rights Act of 
2004 (22 U.S.C. 7801 et seq.), the North Korean 
Human Rights Reauthorization Act of 2008 (Public 
Law 110–346), and the Ambassador James R. 
Lilley and Congressman Stephen J. Solarz North 
Korea Human Rights Reauthorization Act of 2012 
(Public Law 112–172) were the products of broad, 
bipartisan consensus regarding the promotion of 
human rights, transparency in the delivery of hu-
manitarian assistance, and the importance of refugee 
protection. 
(2) Fundamental human rights and humani-
tarian conditions inside North Korea remain deplor-
able, North Korean refugees remain acutely vulner-
able, and the congressional findings included in the 
Acts listed in paragraph (1) remain substantially ac-
curate today. 
(3) The United States, which has the largest 
international refugee resettlement program in the 
world, has resettled 212 North Koreans since the en-
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actment of the North Korean Human Rights Act of 
2004. 
(4) In addition to the longstanding commitment 
of the United States to refugee and human rights 
advocacy, the United States is home to the largest 
Korean population outside of northeast Asia, and 
many people in the Korean-American community 
have family ties to North Korea. 
(5) Notwithstanding high-level advocacy by the 
United States, South Korea, and the United Nations 
High Commissioner for Refugees, China has forcibly 
repatriated tens of thousands of North Koreans. 
(6) Congressman Eni F.H. Faleomavaega 
served 25 years in the House of Representatives, in-
cluding as the Chairman and the Ranking Member 
of the Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia and 
the Pacific, was a leader in strengthening the rela-
tionship between the American and Korean peoples, 
authored multiple resolutions regarding issues on the 
Korean Peninsula, was a champion of human rights, 
and stated, in support of the Ambassador James R. 
Lilley and Congressman Stephen J. Solarz North 
Korea Human Rights Reauthorization Act of 2012, 
that ‘‘just as Ambassador Lilley and Congressman 
Solarz worked hard to protect the human rights of 
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the North Korean people, we must remain vigilant 
in helping the people of North Korea who struggle 
daily to escape the oppression and tyranny of the 
North Korean regime’’. 
SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—It is the sense of Congress that— 
(1) the United States should continue to seek 
cooperation from all foreign governments to allow 
the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees 
access to process North Korean refugees overseas 
for resettlement and to allow United States officials 
access to process refugees for resettlement in the 
United States (if that is the destination country of 
the refugees’ choosing); 
(2) the Secretary of State, through persistent 
diplomacy by senior officials, including United 
States ambassadors to Asia-Pacific countries, and in 
close cooperation with United States ally South 
Korea, should make every effort to promote the pro-
tection of North Korean refugees and defectors; and 
(3) because North Koreans fleeing into China 
face a well-founded fear of persecution upon their 
forcible repatriation, the United States should urge 
China to— 
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(A) immediately halt the forcible repatri-
ation of North Koreans; 
(B) allow the United Nations High Com-
missioner for Refugees unimpeded access to 
North Koreans inside China to determine 
whether such North Koreans require protection 
as refugees; and 
(C) fulfill its obligations under the 1951 
United Nations Convention Relating to the Sta-
tus of Refugees, the 1967 Protocol Relating to 
the Status of Refugees, and the 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 (signed 
December 1, 1995). 
(b) CONTINUING SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It remains 
the sense of Congress, as specified in section 3(3) of the 
North Korean Human Rights Reauthorization Act of 2008 
(Public Law 110–346; 22 U.S.C. 7801 note), that ‘‘the 
Special Envoy for North Korean Human Rights Issues 
should be a full-time position within the Department of 
State in order to properly promote and coordinate North 
Korean human rights and humanitarian issues, and to 
participate in policy planning and implementation with re-
spect to refugee issues, as intended by the North Korean 
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Human Rights Act of 2004 (Public Law 108–333; 22 
U.S.C. 7801 et seq.)’’. 
SEC. 4. REAUTHORIZATION OF THE NORTH KOREAN 
HUMAN RIGHTS ACT OF 2004. 
(a) HUMAN RIGHTS AND DEMOCRACY PROGRAMS.— 
Paragraph (1) of section 102(b) of the North Korean 
Human Rights Act of 2004 (22 U.S.C. 7812(b)) is amend-
ed by striking ‘‘2017’’ and inserting ‘‘2022’’. 
(b) PROMOTING FREEDOM OF INFORMATION.—Sec-
tion 104 of the North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004 
(22 U.S.C. 7814) is amended— 
(1) in subsection (b)(1)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘$2,000,000’’ and inserting 
‘‘$3,000,000’’; and 
(B) by striking ‘‘2017’’ and inserting 
‘‘2022’’; and 
(2) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘2017’’ and 
inserting ‘‘2022’’. 
(c) REPORT BY SPECIAL ENVOY ON NORTH KOREAN 
HUMAN RIGHTS.—Subsection (d) of section 107 of the 
North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004 (22 U.S.C. 
7817) is amended by striking ‘‘2017’’ and inserting 
‘‘2022’’. 
(d) REPORT ON HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE.—Sec-
tion 201 of the North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004 
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(22 U.S.C. 7831) is amended in the matter preceding 
paragraph (1) by striking ‘‘2017’’ and inserting ‘‘2022’’. 
(e) ASSISTANCE PROVIDED OUTSIDE
OF NORTH 
KOREA.—Paragraph (1) of section 203(c) of the North 
Korean Human Rights Act of 2004 (22 U.S.C. 7833(c)) 
is amended by striking ‘‘2017’’ and inserting ‘‘2022’’. 
(f) ANNUAL REPORTING.—Section 305 of the North 
Korean Human Rights Act of 2004 (22 U.S.C. 7845) is 
amended in the matter preceding paragraph (1) by strik-
ing ‘‘2017’’ and inserting ‘‘2022’’. 
SEC. 5. ACTIONS TO PROMOTE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION 
AND DEMOCRACY IN NORTH KOREA. 
The North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004, as 
amended by this Act, is further amended— 
(1) in subsection (a) of section 103 (22 U.S.C. 
7813)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘radio broadcasting’’ and 
inserting ‘‘broadcasting, including news re-
broadcasting,’’; and 
(B) by striking ‘‘increase broadcasts’’ and 
inserting ‘‘increase such broadcasts, including 
news rebroadcasts,’’; and 
(2) in subsection (a) of section 104 (22 U.S.C. 
7814)— 
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(A) by striking ‘‘The President’’ and in-
serting the following: 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The President’’; 
(B) by inserting ‘‘, USB drives, micro SD 
cards, audio players, video players, cell phones, 
wi-fi, wireless internet, webpages, internet, wire-
less telecommunications, and other electronic 
media that share information’’ before the period 
at the end; and 
(C) by adding at the end the following new 
paragraphs: 
‘‘(2) DISTRIBUTION.—In accordance with the 
sense of Congress described in section 103, the 
President, acting through the Secretary of State, is 
authorized to distribute or provide grants to dis-
tribute information receiving devices, electronically 
readable devices, and other informational sources 
into North Korea, including devices and informa-
tional sources specified in paragraph (1). To carry 
out this paragraph, the President is authorized to 
issue directions to facilitate the free-flow of informa-
tion into North Korea. 
‘‘(3) RESEARCH
AND
DEVELOPMENT
GRANT 
PROGRAM.—In accordance with the authorization de-
scribed in paragraphs (1) and (2) to increase the 
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availability and distribution of sources of informa-
tion inside North Korea, the President, acting 
through the Secretary of State, is authorized to es-
tablish a grant program to make grants to eligible 
entities to develop or distribute (or both) new prod-
ucts or methods to allow North Koreans easier ac-
cess to outside information. Such program may in-
volve public-private partnerships. 
‘‘(4) CULTURE.—In accordance with the sense 
of Congress described in section 103, the Broad-
casting Board of Governors may broadcast Amer-
ican, Korean, and other popular music, television, 
movies, and popular cultural references as part of its 
programming. 
‘‘(5) RIGHTS AND LAWS.—In accordance with 
the sense of Congress described in section 103, the 
Broadcasting Board of Governors shall broadcast to 
North Korea in the Korean language information on 
rights, laws, and freedoms afforded through the 
North Korean Constitution, the Universal Declara-
tion of Human Rights, the United Nations Commis-
sion of Inquiry on Human Rights in the Democratic 
People’s Republic of Korea, and any other applicable 
treaties or international agreements to which North 
Korea is bound. 
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‘‘(6) 
BROADCASTING
REPORT.—Not 
later 
than— 
‘‘(A) 180 days after the date of the enact-
ment of this paragraph, the Secretary of State, 
in consultation with the Broadcasting Board of 
Governors, shall submit to the appropriate con-
gressional committees a report that sets forth a 
detailed plan for improving broadcasting con-
tent for the purpose of reaching additional au-
diences and increasing consumption of uncen-
sored news and information using all available 
and reasonable means; and 
‘‘(B) 1 year after the date of the enact-
ment of this paragraph and annually thereafter 
for each of the next 5 years, the Secretary of 
State, in consultation with the Broadcasting 
Board of Governors, shall submit to the appro-
priate congressional committees a report on the 
effectiveness of actions taken pursuant to this 
section, including data reflecting audience and 
listenership, device distribution and usage, tech-
nological development and advancement usage, 
and other information as requested by such 
committees.’’. 
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SEC. 6. REPEAL OF DUPLICATE AUTHORIZATIONS. 
Section 403 of the North Korea Sanctions and Policy 
Enhancement Act of 2016 (Public Law 114–122; 22 
U.S.C. 9253) is hereby repealed. 
SEC. 7. REPORT BY THE BROADCASTING BOARD OF GOV-
ERNORS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—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 the extent 
to which the Board has achieved the goal of 12- 
hour-per-day broadcasting to North Korea, in ac-
cordance with section 103(a) of the North Korean 
Human Rights Act of 2004 (22 U.S.C. 7813(a)); 
and 
(2) includes a strategy to overcome obstacles to 
such communication with the North Korean people, 
including through unrestricted, unmonitored, and in-
expensive electronic means. 
(b) FORM.—The report required under subsection (a) 
shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may include 
a classified annex. 
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(c) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES.— 
In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate congressional com-
mittees’’ means— 
(1) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the 
Committee on Appropriations of the House of Rep-
resentatives; and 
(2) the Committee on Foreign Relations and 
the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate. 
SEC. 8. REPORT BY THE DEPARTMENT OF STATE. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—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 relevant Federal 
departments and agencies, shall submit to the appropriate 
congressional committees a report that includes a descrip-
tion of any ongoing or planned efforts of the Department 
of State with respect to each of the following: 
(1) Resuming the repatriation from North 
Korea of members of the United States Armed 
Forces missing or unaccounted for during the Ko-
rean War. 
(2) Reuniting Korean Americans with their rel-
atives in North Korea. 
(3) Assessing the security risks posed by travel 
to North Korea for United States citizens. 
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