I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2061 
To reauthorize the North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004, and for 
other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 6, 2017 
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN (for herself, Mr. ENGEL, Mr. YOHO, and Mr. SHERMAN) 
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
Foreign Affairs 
A BILL 
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, 
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 
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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-
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. 
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(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 
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. 
It is the sense of Congress that— 
(1) the United States should continue to seek 
cooperation from all foreign governments to allow 
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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— 
(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-
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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). 
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 by striking ‘‘2017’’ in each 
place it appears 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 
(22 U.S.C. 7831) is amended in the matter preceding 
paragraph (1) by striking ‘‘2017’’ and inserting ‘‘2022’’. 
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(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. 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. 
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(b) FORM.—The report required under subsection (a) 
shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may include 
a classified annex. 
(c) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES.— 
In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate congressional com-
mittees’’ has the meaning given such term in section 5 
of the North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004 (22 
U.S.C. 7803). 
Æ 
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