Title: Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives concerning negotiations with North Korea.
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that U.S. policy and any negotiations with North Korea should incorporate U.S. values, including concern for human rights and the welfare of the North Korean people.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 866 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 866

    Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives concerning 
                     negotiations with North Korea.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 1, 2018

     Mr. Brendan F. Boyle of Pennsylvania submitted the following 
   resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
    Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives concerning 
                     negotiations with North Korea.

Whereas the leadership of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), 
        including its current heir, Kim Jong Un, has committed grave atrocities 
        against its own people and acts of aggression against its neighbors;
Whereas up to 120,000 are estimated to be imprisoned in brutal North Korean 
        gulags, political prison camps known as the kwan-li-so;
Whereas the United Nations Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in North Korea 
        concluded in 2014 that Kim Jong Un and DPRK leadership was perpetrating 
        ``unspeakable atrocities'' against its own people on a vast scale and 
        committed ``widespread, systematic, and gross violations'' that amount 
        to crimes against humanity;
Whereas the Chair of the Commission called these atrocities ``strikingly 
        similar'' to crimes committed by Nazi Germany in World War II, including 
        execution, enslavement, starvation, rape, and forced abortion, and 
        warned Kim Jong Un of his own personal culpability in a special letter 
        attached to the report;
Whereas under Kim Jong Un's leadership, there are reports of newborn babies in 
        prison being fed to guard dogs, punishment and possible execution of 
        starving prisoners caught digging for edible plants, and forced 
        abortions;
Whereas the Commission stated that ``persons who are forcibly repatriated from 
        China are commonly subjected to torture, arbitrary detention, summary 
        execution, forced abortion, and other forms of sexual violence'';
Whereas the Commission further observed that ``many [North Korean] suspects die 
        . . . as a result of torture, deliberate starvation, or illnesses 
        developed or aggravated by the terrible living conditions'';
Whereas according to the Commission, Kim Jong Un ``continues allocating a 
        significant amount of the state's resources for the purchase and 
        importation of luxury goods'' and diverting state funds to North Korea's 
        nuclear and military programs, while a majority of North Korea's 
        population suffers;
Whereas according to the Commission, crimes against humanity in North Korea have 
        been committed ``pursuant to policies at the highest level of the 
        state'';
Whereas Kim Jong Un, after taking over the leadership of North Korea, launched 
        political purges, encompassing relatives, including his uncle and half-
        brother, who was murdered by a chemical weapon in Malaysia in 2017;
Whereas Otto Warmbier, a 22-year-old American college student, was brutally 
        tortured by the North Korean regime under Kim Jong Un and died shortly 
        after his release from North Korea;
Whereas Kim Jong Un has expanded an illicit nuclear weapons program and directly 
        threatened the United States and its allies;
Whereas the strength of the United States stems from its values and principles;
Whereas the National Security Strategy of 2017 states that the ``America's 
        values and influence, underwritten by American power, make the world 
        more free, secure, and prosperous,'' and ``[W]e will never lose sight of 
        our values and their capacity to inspire, uplift, and renew.'': Now, 
        therefore, be it
    Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Representatives 
that--
            (1) President Trump's statement on April 26, 2018, that Kim 
        Jong Un is an ``honorable man'' is an affront to American 
        values and grossly inconsistent with the reality in North Korea 
        and the President's own public statements about the nature of 
        the regime; and
            (2) President Trump should ensure that any negotiations 
        with North Korea--and United States policy towards North Korea, 
        generally--incorporate United States values, including concern 
        for human rights and the welfare of the North Korean people.
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