To prohibit lifting of United States sanctions imposed with respect to North Korea.

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1369 To prohibit lifting of United States sanctions imposed with respect to North Korea. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 26, 2019 Mr. BRENDAN F. BOYLE of Pennsylvania introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs A BILL To prohibit lifting of United States sanctions imposed with respect to North Korea. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. PROHIBITION ON LIFTING OF UNITED STATES 3 SANCTIONS IMPOSED WITH RESPECT TO 4 NORTH KOREA. 5 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 6 (1) The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea 7 (North Korea) has a history of cheating on nuclear 8 accords. 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:08 Mar 06, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1369.IH H1369 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 1369 IH (2) The United Nations Commission of Inquiry 1 on Human Rights in North Korea concluded in 2014 2 that Kim Jong Un and the North Korean leadership 3 was perpetrating ‘‘unspeakable atrocities’’ against 4 its own people on a vast scale and committed ‘‘wide- 5 spread, systematic, and gross violations’’ that 6 amount to crimes against humanity. 7 (3) The chair of the United Nations Commis- 8 sion of Inquiry on Human Rights in North Korea 9 called these atrocities ‘‘strikingly similar’’ to crimes 10 committed by Nazi Germany in World War II, in- 11 cluding execution, enslavement, starvation, rape, and 12 forced abortion, and warned Kim Jong Un of his 13 own personal culpability in a special letter attached 14 to the report. 15 (4) Under Kim Jong Un’s leadership, there are 16 reports of newborn babies in prison being fed to 17 guard dogs, punishment and possible execution of 18 starving prisoners caught digging for edible plants, 19 and forced abortions. 20 (5) Kim Jong Un, after taking over the leader- 21 ship of North Korea, launched political purges, en- 22 compassing relatives, including his uncle and half- 23 brother, who was murdered by a chemical weapon in 24 Malaysia in 2017. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:08 Mar 06, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1369.IH H1369 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 1369 IH (6) Otto Warmbier, a 22-year-old American col- 1 lege student, was brutally tortured by the North Ko- 2 rean regime under Kim Jong Un and died shortly 3 after his release from North Korea. 4 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con- 5 gress that— 6 (1) any negotiation with North Korea regarding 7 denuclearization should include an equivalent de- 8 mand for transparency regarding North Korea’s 9 human rights situation; 10 (2) the United States should not trust Kim 11 Jong Un and the leadership of North Korea to vol- 12 untarily and peacefully end its nuclear program as 13 long as they continue to commit mass atrocities 14 against the North Korean people; and 15 (3) no sanctions relief should be provided to 16 North Korea until the President certifies to the ap- 17 propriate congressional committees that the lives of 18 ordinary North Koreans are improving and the Kim 19 family has made progress on North Korea’s deplor- 20 able human rights situation. 21 (c) LIMITATION ON WAIVER OF SANCTIONS.—The 22 President may not waive, suspend, reduce, provide relief 23 from, or otherwise limit the application of United States 24 sanctions imposed with respect to North Korea until the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:08 Mar 06, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1369.IH H1369 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 1369 IH President certifies to the appropriate congressional com- 1 mittees that North Korea— 2 (1) has repudiated and ceased engaging in 3 gross human rights abuses, including operation of 4 slave-labor and political prisoner camps; 5 (2) has established a disclosure and trans- 6 parency process to identify crimes committed by the 7 North Korean regime against its people; and 8 (3) has issued a formal apology to the family of 9 Otto Warmbier for the unlawful detention, torture, 10 and murder of Otto Warmbier. 11 (d) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES.— 12 In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate congressional com- 13 mittees’’ means— 14 (1) the congressional defense committees (as 15 such term is defined in section 101 of title 10, 16 United States Code); and 17 (2) the Committee on Foreign Relations of the 18 Senate and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the 19 House of Representatives. 20 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:08 Mar 06, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1369.IH H1369 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS