SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘North Korean Refugee 
Adoption Act of 2012’’. 
SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 
It is the sense of Congress that— 
(1) thousands of North Korean children do not 
have families and are threatened with starvation and 
disease if they remain in North Korea or as stateless 
refugees in surrounding countries; 
(2) thousands of United States citizens would 
welcome the opportunity to adopt North Korean or-
phans living outside North Korea as de jure or de 
facto stateless refugees; and 
(3) the Secretary of State and the Secretary of 
Homeland Security should make every effort to fa-
cilitate the immediate care, family reunification, and, 
if necessary and appropriate, the adoption of any eli-
gible North Korean children living outside North 
Korea as de jure or de facto stateless refugees. 
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) FOREIGN-SENDING
COUNTRY.—The term 
‘‘foreign-sending country’’— 
(A) means— 
(i) the country of the orphan’s citizen-
ship; or
(ii) if the orphan is not permanently 
residing in the country of citizenship, the 
country of the orphan’s habitual residence; 
and 
(B) excludes any country to which the or-
phan— 
(i) travels temporarily; or 
(ii) travels as a prelude to, or in con-
junction with, his or her adoption or immi-
gration to the United States. 
(2) HAGUE
COUNTRY.—The term ‘‘Hague 
country’’ means a country that is a signatory of the 
Convention on Protection of Children and Coopera-
tion in Respect of Intercountry Adoption, done at 
The Hague on May 29, 1993. 
(3) NON-HAGUE
COUNTRY.—The term ‘‘non- 
Hague country’’ means a country that is not a sig-
natory of the Convention on Protection of Children 
and Cooperation in Respect of Intercountry Adop-
tion, done at The Hague on May 29, 1993. 
SEC. 4. STRATEGY ON ADOPTION OF NORTH KOREAN CHIL-
DREN BY UNITED STATES CITIZENS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State, in con-
sultation with the Secretary of Homeland Security, shall
develop a comprehensive strategy for facilitating the adop-
tion of North Korean children by United States citizens. 
(b) CONSIDERATIONS.—In developing the strategy 
under this section, the Secretary shall— 
(1) consider the challenges that United States 
citizens would encounter in attempting to adopt chil-
dren from North Korea who are currently living in 
Hague countries and non-Hague countries regard-
less of their legal status in such countries; 
(2) propose solutions to dealing with the situa-
tion in which a North Korean refugee child does not 
have access to a competent authority in the foreign- 
sending country; 
(3) propose solutions to dealing with North Ko-
rean refugee children who are not considered habit-
ual residents of the countries in which they are lo-
cated; 
(4) evaluate alternative mechanisms for foreign- 
sending countries to prove that North Korean ref-
ugee children are orphans when documentation, such 
as birth certificates, death certificates of birth par-
ents, and orphanage documentation, is missing or 
destroyed; 
(5) provide suggestions for working with South 
Korea to establish pilot programs that identify, pro-
vide for the immediate care of, assist in the family 
reunification of, and assist in the international adop-
tion of, orphaned North Korean children living with-
in South Korea; 
(6) provide suggestions for working with inter-
national adoption agencies and aid organizations in 
Asia to identify and establish pilot programs for the 
identification, immediate care, family reunification, 
and international adoption of North Korean orphans 
living outside North Korea as de jure or de facto 
stateless refugees; 
(7) identify other nations in which large num-
bers of stateless, orphaned children are living who 
might be helped by international adoption; and 
(8) propose solutions for assisting orphaned 
children with Chinese fathers and North Korean 
mothers who are living in China and have no access 
to Chinese or North Korean resources. 
(c) REPORTING REQUIREMENT.—Not later than 180 
days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec-
retary of State shall submit a written report to Congress
that contains the details of the strategy developed under 
this section. 
Passed the House of Representatives September 11, 
2012. 
Attest: 
Clerk.