Title: North Korean Human Rights Reauthorization Act of 2017
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
North Korean Human Rights Reauthorization Act of 2017
This bill amends the North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004 to reauthorize through FY2022: (1) programs that promote human rights, democracy, rule of law, and the development of a market economy in North Korea; (2) actions to promote freedom of information in North Korea; and (3) humanitarian assistance to North Koreans who are outside of North Korea without the permission of the government.
The bill extends through 2022 the requirements for annual reports from: (1) the Department of State on freedom of information inside North Korea, (2) the Special Envoy on North Korean human rights issues, (3) the U.S. Agency for International Development on U.S. humanitarian assistance activities both inside North Korea and for North Koreans outside of North Korea, and (4) the State Department and Department of Homeland Security on North Korean refugees and immigration.
The Broadcasting Board of Governors shall report to Congress regarding: (1) the status of current U.S. broadcasting to North Korea and the extent to which the Board has achieved the goal of 12-hour-per-day broadcasting to North Korea; and (2) a strategy to overcome obstacles to communication with the North Korean people, including through electronic means.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2061 Introduced in House (IH)]

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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 Representatives 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 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 
        humanitarian assistance, and the importance of refugee 
        protection.
            (2) Fundamental human rights and humanitarian conditions 
        inside North Korea remain deplorable, North Korean refugees 
        remain acutely vulnerable, and the congressional findings 
        included in the Acts listed in paragraph (1) remain 
        substantially accurate today.
            (3) The United States, which has the largest international 
        refugee resettlement program in the world, has resettled 212 
        North Koreans since the enactment 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, including as the Chairman and the 
        Ranking Member of the Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia and 
        the Pacific, was a leader in strengthening the relationship 
        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 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 
        protection 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 repatriation of 
                North Koreans;
                    (B) allow the United Nations High Commissioner 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 Status 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 amended by striking ``2017'' and inserting ``2022''.
    (b) Promoting Freedom of Information.--Section 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.--Section 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''.
    (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 striking ``2017'' and inserting ``2022''.

SEC. 5. REPORT BY THE BROADCASTING BOARD OF GOVERNORS.

    (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 accordance 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 inexpensive electronic means.
    (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 committees'' has the meaning given 
such term in section 5 of the North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004 (22 
U.S.C. 7803).
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