I
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1926
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.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MAY 25, 1999
Mr. HEFLEY (for himself, Mr. ROHRABACHER, Mrs. MCCARTHY of New York,
Mr. SHOWS, Mr. HOLDEN, Mr. DIAZ-BALART, Mr. MCHUGH, Mr. ORTIZ,
Mr. SCHAFFER, Mr. FOSSELLA, Mr. ENGLISH, Mr. GREEN of Texas, Mr.
WHITFIELD, Ms. GRANGER, Mr. BURTON of Indiana, Mrs. KELLY, Mr.
GUTIERREZ, Mr. DAVIS of Virginia, Mr. FLETCHER, Mr. FORBES, Mr.
CUNNINGHAM, Mr. SHAYS, Mr. FILNER, Mr. MCCOLLUM, Mr. HILLEARY,
Mr. LUCAS of Kentucky, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. KING, Mr. LEWIS of Ken-
tucky, Mr. HUNTER, and Mr. HOSTETTLER) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition
to the Committee on International Relations, for a period to be subse-
quently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such
provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
A BILL
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.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Bring Them Home
Alive Act of 1999’’.
SEC. 2. AMERICAN VIETNAM WAR POW/MIA ASYLUM PRO-
GRAM.
(a) ASYLUM
FOR
ELIGIBLE
ALIENS.—Notwith-
standing any other provision of law, the Attorney General
shall grant refugee status in the United States to any alien
described in subsection (b), upon the application of that
alien.
(b) ELIGIBILITY.—Refugee status shall be granted
under subsection (a) to—
(1) any alien who—
(A) is a national of Vietnam, Cambodia,
Laos, China, or any of the independent states
of the former Soviet Union; and
(B) personally delivers into the custody of
the United States Government a living Amer-
ican Vietnam War POW/MIA; and
(2) any parent, spouse, or child of an alien de-
scribed in paragraph (1).
(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section:
(1) AMERICAN VIETNAM WAR POW/MIA.—
(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in
subparagraph (B), the term ‘‘American Viet-
nam War POW/MIA’’ means an individual—
(i) who is a member of a uniformed
service (within the meaning of section
101(3) of title 37, United States Code) in
a missing status (as defined in section
551(2) of such title and this subsection) as
a result of the Vietnam War; or
(ii) who is an employee (as defined in
section 5561(2) of title 5, United States
Code) in a missing status (as defined in
section 5561(5) of such title) as a result of
the Vietnam War.
(B) EXCLUSION.—Such term does not in-
clude an individual with respect to whom it is
officially determined under section 552(c) of
title 37, United States Code, that such indi-
vidual is officially absent from such individual’s
post of duty without authority.
(2) MISSING STATUS.—The term ‘‘missing sta-
tus’’, with respect to the Vietnam War, means the
status of an individual as a result of the Vietnam
War if immediately before that status began the
individual—
(A) was performing service in Vietnam; or
(B) was performing service in Southeast
Asia in direct support of military operations in
Vietnam.
(3) VIETNAM WAR.—The term ‘‘Vietnam War’’
means the conflict in Southeast Asia during the pe-
riod that began on February 28, 1961, and ended on
May 7, 1975.
SEC. 3. AMERICAN KOREAN WAR POW/MIA ASYLUM PRO-
GRAM.
(a) ASYLUM
FOR
ELIGIBLE
ALIENS.—Notwith-
standing any other provision of law, the Attorney General
shall grant refugee status in the United States to any alien
described in subsection (b), upon the application of that
alien.
(b) ELIGIBILITY.—Refugee status shall be granted
under subsection (a) to—
(1) any alien—
(A) who is a national of North Korea,
China, or any of the independent states of the
former Soviet Union; and
(B) who personally delivers into the cus-
tody of the United States Government a living
American Korean War POW/MIA; and
(2) any parent, spouse, or child of an alien de-
scribed in paragraph (1).
(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section:
(1) AMERICAN KOREAN WAR POW/MIA.—
(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in
subparagraph (B), the term ‘‘American Korean
War POW/MIA’’ means an individual—
(i) who is a member of a uniformed
service (within the meaning of section
101(3) of title 37, United States Code) in
a missing status (as defined in section
551(2) of such title and this subsection) as
a result of the Korean War; or
(ii) who is an employee (as defined in
section 5561(2) of title 5, United States
Code) in a missing status (as defined in
section 5561(5) of such title) as a result of
the Korean War.
(B) EXCLUSION.—Such term does not in-
clude an individual with respect to whom it is
officially determined under section 552(c) of
title 37, United States Code, that such indi-
vidual is officially absent from such individual’s
post of duty without authority.
(2) KOREAN WAR.—The term ‘‘Korean War’’
means the conflict on the Korean peninsula during
the period that began on June 27, 1950, and ended
January 31, 1955.
(3) MISSING STATUS.—The term ‘‘missing sta-
tus’’, with respect to the Korean War, means the
status of an individual as a result of the Korean
War if immediately before that status began the
individual—
(A) was performing service in the Korean
peninsula; or
(B) was performing service in Asia in di-
rect support of military operations in the Ko-
rean peninsula.
SEC. 4. BROADCASTING INFORMATION ON THE ‘‘BRING
THEM HOME ALIVE’’ PROGRAM.
(a) REQUIREMENT.—
(1) IN
GENERAL.—The International Broad-
casting 
Bureau 
shall 
broadcast, 
through
WORLDNET Television and Film Service and
Radio or otherwise, information that promotes the
‘‘Bring Them Home Alive’’ refugee program under
this Act to foreign countries covered by paragraph
(2).
(2) COVERED COUNTRIES.—The foreign coun-
tries covered by paragraph (1) are—
(A) Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, China, and
North Korea; and
(B) Russia and the other independent
states of the former Soviet Union.
(b) LEVEL OF PROGRAMMING.—The International
Broadcasting Bureau shall broadcast—
(1) at least 20 hours of the programming de-
scribed in subsection (a)(1) during the 10-day period
that begins on the date of enactment of this Act;
and
(2) at least 10 hours of the programming de-
scribed in subsection (a)(1) in each calendar quarter
during the period beginning with the first calendar
quarter that begins after the date of enactment of
this Act and ending five years after the date of en-
actment of this Act.
(c) AVAILABILITY OF INFORMATION ON THE INTER-
NET.—International Broadcasting Bureau shall ensure
that information regarding the ‘‘Bring Them Home Alive’’
refugee program under this Act is readily available on the
World Wide Web sites of the Bureau.
(d) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con-
gress that RFE/RL, Incorporated, Radio Free Asia, and
any other recipient of Federal grants that engages in
international broadcasting to the countries covered by sub-
section (a)(2) should broadcast information similar to the
information required to be broadcast by subsection (a)(1).
(e) DEFINITION.—The term ‘‘International Broad-
casting Bureau’’ means the International Broadcasting
Bureau of the United States Information Agency or, on
and after the effective date of title XIII of the Foreign
Affairs Reform and Restructuring Act of 1998 (as con-
tained in division G of Public Law 105–277), the Inter-
national Broadcasting Bureau of the Broadcasting Board
of Governors.
SEC. 5. INDEPENDENT STATES OF THE FORMER SOVIET
UNION DEFINED.
In this Act, the term ‘‘independent states of the
former Soviet Union’’ has the meaning given the term in
section 3 of the FREEDOM Support Act (22 U.S.C.
5801).
Æ