Title: To establish a joint commission on North Korea, and for other purposes.
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
This bill authorizes the Department of State to seek to establish a joint commission with countries in the Indo-Asia Pacific region to:
The bill declares that it is U.S. policy: (1) to continue to maintain robust and multifaceted diplomatic engagement in the region, to include promoting U.S. values and economic interests and a strong military posture; and (2) that diplomacy, development, and defense should be used to enhance U.S. national security, promote U.S. interests, reassure U.S. allies, deter aggression, and respond swiftly to crises.
DOD may conduct routine and enhanced ports of call with key allies in the region.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2231 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2231

To establish a joint commission on North Korea, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 28, 2017

 Ms. DelBene (for herself, Mr. Moulton, Mr. Peters, and Mrs. Murphy of 
   Florida) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on Armed 
Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 
   each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the 
                jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To establish a joint commission on North Korea, 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. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    (a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) Preventing North Korea from proliferating illegal 
        nuclear weapons and related material is a top priority for the 
        United States and regional partners, including Japan, China, 
        and South Korea.
            (2) Presidential transitions in Washington, DC, and Seoul, 
        South Korea, create opportunities for instability that North 
        Korea could exploit for additional provocations.
            (3) North Korea is already violating the letter and spirit 
        of numerous United Nations Security Council resolutions.
            (4) North Korea allegedly test-fired a ballistic missile on 
        February 11, 2017.
            (5) Strengthening high-level dialogue about North Korean 
        nuclear proliferation between the United States, regional 
        partners, and the United Nations would bring necessary 
        attention to the issue, which has languished over successive 
        Republican and Democratic Administrations.
            (6) The United States would benefit from a comprehensive 
        strategy, jointly implemented with its regional partners, 
        including China, to prevent North Korea from becoming armed 
        with nuclear weapons and strengthen the shared goal of 
        achieving a denuclearized Korean Peninsula.
            (7) In addition to supporting the work of the United 
        Nations Panel of Experts on North Korea, the United States and 
        its partners would benefit from a senior-level dialogue to 
        coordinate sanctions enforcement, to detect North Korea 
        proliferation activities, and to prepare contingency responses 
        in the event of North Korean nuclear or conventional 
        provocations.
            (8) The United States, along with its allies and partners, 
        have highly capable military and nuclear experts who can refine 
        plans to respond to a North Korea capability development that 
        endangers the United States homeland and could recommend 
        defensive measures to address vulnerabilities.
            (9) The trilateral relationship between the United States, 
        Japan, and South Korea has served as an important node for 
        sharing information about the North Korean threat and the 
        trilateral relationship should be expanded to serve as a focal 
        point for regional cooperation regarding North Korea.
            (10) Generally, it is in the interest of the United States 
        to remain the security partner of choice for allies and 
        partners in the Indo-Asia Pacific region and to strengthen 
        norms based on the liberal international order that has 
        undergirded peace and stability in the region since the end of 
        World War II.
    (b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that the United 
States should expand the trilateral mechanism to serve as a focal point 
for regional cooperation regarding North Korea.

SEC. 2. JOINT COMMISSION ON NORTH KOREA.

    (a) Authorization.--The President, acting through the Secretary of 
State, may seek to establish a joint commission with countries in the 
Indo-Asia Pacific region (hereinafter referred to as ``the 
Commission'').
    (b) Activities.--The Commission may undertake the following 
activities:
            (1) Supporting professional dialogues, including by 
        convening or sponsoring travel to meetings with nongovernmental 
        experts, to--
                    (A) coordinate the detection of North Korean 
                violations of existing United Nations Security Council 
                resolutions;
                    (B) develop possible responses to such violations; 
                and
                    (C) enhance monitoring of nuclear weapons 
                proliferation capabilities.
            (2) Coordinating sub-cabinet-level political discussions on 
        contingency responses to North Korean violations of United 
        Nations Security Council resolutions.
            (3) Facilitating technical discussions among the 
        Departments of State, Defense, Energy, and the Treasury and the 
        Intelligence Community and their counterparts in countries in 
        the Indo-Asia Pacific region on technical aspects of North 
        Korea's nuclear program and accompanying United States 
        sanctions.
            (4) Coordinating the sharing of information among the 
        intelligence services of the countries participating in the 
        Commission, to the extent practicable, to identify immediate 
        threats and inform the security services of such countries.
            (5) Creating guidelines for the coordination of 
        multilateral direct action against shared threats.
    (c) Chair; Membership.--
            (1) In general.--The Commission shall be chaired by the 
        Secretary of State and shall include as members--
                    (A) the Secretary of the Treasury;
                    (B) the Secretary of Energy;
                    (C) the Secretary of Defense; and
                    (D) the Director of National Intelligence.
            (2) Counterpart members.--The Secretary of State shall 
        encourage participation of relevant counterparts in the 
        governments of the participating countries.
    (d) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated such sums as may be necessary to carry out the activities 
of the Commission.

SEC. 3. COORDINATION OF MILITARY AND DIPLOMATIC PLANNING.

    (a) Statement of Policy.--It is the policy of the United States--
            (1) to continue to maintain robust and multifaceted 
        diplomatic engagement in the Indo-Asia Pacific region, to 
        include the promotion of United States values and United States 
        economic interests alongside a strong United States military 
        posture; and
            (2) that the tools of diplomacy and development, along with 
        defense as critical tools of national power, should be used to 
        enhance the national security of the United States, promote 
        United States interests reassure United States allies, deter 
        aggression, and respond swiftly to crises.
    (b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that the 
Secretary of State should conduct comprehensive regional and global 
diplomacy, in close coordination with United States allies in the Indo 
Asia Pacific Region, to coordinate responses to North Korean 
provocations and enhance enforcement of United Nations Security Council 
resolutions.
    (c) Enhanced Ports of Call.--The Secretary of Defense is 
authorized, in consultation with Secretary of State, to conduct routine 
and enhanced ports of call with key allies in the Indo-Asia Pacific 
region.
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