Title: Divided Families Reunification Act
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
Divided Families Reunification Act
This bill directs the Department of State to consult with South Korea on potential opportunities to reunite Korean Americans with family in North Korea. The State Department's Special Envoy on North Korean Human Rights Issues shall periodically consult with representatives of Korean Americans with family in North Korea on reunification efforts.
The State Department shall periodically report to Congress on the progress of such consultations. The special envoy shall report to Congress on the possible use of video reunions between Korean Americans and their family in North Korea.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1771 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1771

  To require consultations on reuniting Korean Americans with family 
                        members in North Korea.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 14, 2019

    Ms. Meng (for herself, Mr. Sherman, Ms. Lee of California, Mr. 
 McGovern, Ms. Schakowsky, Ms. Norton, Mr. Cisneros, Mr. Woodall, Ms. 
    Bass, and Ms. Gabbard) introduced the following bill; which was 
              referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To require consultations on reuniting Korean Americans with family 
                        members in North Korea.

    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 ``Divided Families Reunification 
Act''.

SEC. 2. CONSULTATIONS ON REUNITING KOREAN AMERICANS WITH FAMILY MEMBERS 
              IN NORTH KOREA.

    (a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) The division of the Korean Peninsula into South Korea 
        and North Korea separated thousands of Koreans from family 
        members.
            (2) Since the signing of the Agreement Concerning a 
        Military Armistice in Korea, signed at Panmunjom July 27, 1953 
        (commonly referred to as the ``Korean War Armistice 
        Agreement''), there has been little to no contact between 
        Korean Americans and family members who remain in North Korea.
            (3) North Korea and South Korea first agreed to reunions of 
        divided families in 1985 and have since held 20 face-to-face 
        reunions and 7 video link reunions.
            (4) Those reunions have subsequently given approximately 
        22,000 Koreans the opportunity to briefly reunite with loved 
        ones.
            (5) The most recent family reunions between North Korea and 
        South Korea took place in August 2018 and did not include any 
        Korean Americans.
            (6) The United States and North Korea do not maintain 
        diplomatic relations and certain limitations exist on Korean 
        Americans participating in face-to-face reunions.
            (7) According to the most recent census, more than 
        1,700,000 people living in the United States are of Korean 
        descent.
            (8) The number of first generation Korean and Korean 
        American family members divided from family members in North 
        Korea is rapidly diminishing given the advanced age of those 
        family members. More than 3,000 elderly South Koreans die each 
        year without having been reunited with their family members.
            (9) Many Korean Americans with family members in North 
        Korea have not seen or communicated with those family members 
        in more than 60 years.
            (10) The inclusion of Korean American families in the 
        reunion process would constitute a positive humanitarian 
        gesture by the Government of North Korea.
            (11) Section 1265 of the National Defense Authorization Act 
        for Fiscal Year 2008 (Public Law 110-181; 122 Stat. 407) 
        required the President to submit to Congress a report on 
        ``efforts, if any, of the United States Government to 
        facilitate family reunions between United States citizens and 
        their relatives in North Korea''.
            (12) The position of Special Envoy on North Korean Human 
        Rights Issues has been vacant since January 2017, although the 
        President is required to appoint a Senate-confirmed Special 
        Envoy to fill this position in accordance with section 107 of 
        the North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004 (22 U.S.C. 7817).
            (13) In the report of the Committee on Appropriations of 
        the House of Representatives accompanying H.R. 3081, 111th 
        Congress (House Report 111-187), the Committee urged ``the 
        Special Representative on North Korea Policy, as the senior 
        official handling North Korea issues, to prioritize the issues 
        involving Korean divided families and to, if necessary, appoint 
        a coordinator for such families''.
    (b) Consultations Required.--
            (1) Consultations with south korea.--The Secretary of 
        State, or a designee of the Secretary, shall consult with 
        officials of South Korea, as appropriate, on potential 
        opportunities to reunite Korean American families with family 
        members in North Korea from which such Korean American families 
        were divided after the signing of the Korean War Armistice 
        Agreement.
            (2) Consultations with korean americans.--Not less 
        frequently than once every 180 days, the Special Envoy on North 
        Korean Human Rights Issues of the Department of State shall 
        consult with representatives of Korean Americans with family 
        members in North Korea with respect to efforts to reunite 
        families divided after the signing of the Korean War Armistice 
        Agreement.
            (3) No additional authorization of appropriations.--No 
        additional amounts are authorized to be appropriated to the 
        Department of State to carry out consultations under this 
        subsection.
    (c) Reports Required.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary of State, acting through the 
        Special Envoy on North Korean Human Rights Issues, shall submit 
        to Congress, as part of each report required under section 
        107(d) of the North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004 (22 U.S.C. 
        7817(d)), a report on consultations described in subsection (b) 
        conducted during the year preceding the submission of each 
        report required under such section 107(d).
            (2) Integration of technology into family reunions.--Not 
        later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, 
        the Special Envoy on North Korean Human Rights Issues of the 
        Department of State shall submit to the Committee on Foreign 
        Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Committee on 
        Foreign Relations of the Senate a report on the opportunities 
        for video reunions between Korean Americans with family members 
        in North Korea.
            (3) Form.--The reports required by paragraphs (1) and (2) 
        shall be submitted in unclassified form to the maximum extent 
        possible, but may include classified annexes.
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