No Student Exchanges with North Korean Schools Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4004 To prohibit Federal funding for institutions of higher education that have partnerships with schools or other organizations funded by North Korea, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 17, 2021 Mrs. LESKO (for herself, Mr. BABIN, Mr. DESJARLAIS, Mr. LAMALFA, and Mr. ROSE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on Edu- cation and Labor, 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 prohibit Federal funding for institutions of higher edu- cation that have partnerships with schools or other orga- nizations funded by North Korea, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘No Student Exchanges 4 with North Korean Schools Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds the following: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:57 Jul 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4004.IH H4004 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 4004 IH (1) The General Association of Korean Resi- 1 dents in Japan, also known as Chongryon, is an af- 2 filiated organization with the Government of the 3 Democratic People’s Republic of North Korea, also 4 known as North Korea. 5 (2) Chongryon has a long history of assisting 6 the North Korean Government, including operating 7 a ferry that was suspected to have smuggled mate- 8 rials for the country’s illegal weapons programs. 9 (3) Due to these actions, Chongryon is under 10 surveillance from Japanese law enforcement agen- 11 cies. 12 (4) Chongryon and its members run numerous 13 organizations and companies, including banks and 14 educational institutions in various cities across 15 Japan. 16 (5) Chongryon operates over 100 educational 17 institutions, including Korea University, located in 18 Kodaira, Tokyo. 19 (6) Korea University received funding directly 20 from the North Korean government every year since 21 1957, including over 132.4 million yen in 2002. 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:57 Jul 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4004.IH H4004 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 4004 IH SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS FOR 1 CERTAIN INSTITUTIONS. 2 Section 105 of the Mutual Educational and Cultural 3 Exchange Act of 1961 (Public Law 87–256; 22 U.S.C. 4 2455) is amended by adding at the end the following new 5 subsection: 6 ‘‘(h)(1) No covered funds may be awarded to an insti- 7 tution of higher education that has an agreement in effect 8 with an institution of higher education or other organiza- 9 tion funded directly by the Government of the Democratic 10 People’s Republic of North Korea. 11 ‘‘(2) In this subsection: 12 ‘‘(A) The term ‘covered funds’ means Federal 13 funds made available— 14 ‘‘(i) under title IV of the Higher Education 15 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070 et seq.); and 16 ‘‘(ii) for the J. William Fulbright Edu- 17 cational Exchange Program referred to in sec- 18 tion 112. 19 ‘‘(B) The term ‘institution of higher education’ 20 has the meaning given that term in section 102 of 21 the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 22 1002).’’. 23 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:57 Jul 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4004.IH H4004 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS