Divided Families Reunification Act

IIB 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 1771 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 10, 2020 Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations AN ACT To require consultations on reuniting Korean Americans with family members in North Korea. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:16 Mar 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1771.RFS H1771 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 HR 1771 RFS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Divided Families Re- 2 unification Act’’. 3 SEC. 2. CONSULTATIONS ON REUNITING KOREAN AMERI- 4 CANS WITH FAMILY MEMBERS IN NORTH 5 KOREA. 6 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find- 7 ings: 8 (1) The division of the Korean Peninsula into 9 South Korea and North Korea separated thousands 10 of Koreans from family members. 11 (2) Since the signing of the Agreement Con- 12 cerning a Military Armistice in Korea, signed at 13 Panmunjom July 27, 1953 (commonly referred to as 14 the ‘‘Korean War Armistice Agreement’’), there has 15 been little to no contact between Korean Americans 16 and family members who remain in North Korea. 17 (3) North Korea and South Korea first agreed 18 to reunions of divided families in 1985 and have 19 since held 21 face-to-face reunions and multiple 20 video link reunions. 21 (4) Those reunions have subsequently given ap- 22 proximately 24,500 Koreans the opportunity to 23 briefly reunite with loved ones. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:16 Mar 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1771.RFS H1771 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 HR 1771 RFS (5) The most recent family reunions between 1 North Korea and South Korea took place in August 2 2018 and did not include any Korean Americans. 3 (6) The United States and North Korea do not 4 maintain diplomatic relations and certain limitations 5 exist on Korean Americans participating in face-to- 6 face reunions. 7 (7) According to the most recent census, more 8 than 1,700,000 people living in the United States 9 are of Korean descent. 10 (8) The number of first generation Korean and 11 Korean American family members divided from fam- 12 ily members in North Korea is rapidly diminishing 13 given the advanced age of those family members. 14 More than 3,000 elderly South Koreans die each 15 year without having been reunited with their family 16 members. 17 (9) Many Korean Americans with family mem- 18 bers in North Korea have not seen or communicated 19 with those family members in more than 60 years. 20 (10) The inclusion of Korean American families 21 in the reunion process would constitute a positive 22 humanitarian gesture by the Government of North 23 Korea. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:16 Mar 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1771.RFS H1771 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 HR 1771 RFS (11) Section 1265 of the National Defense Au- 1 thorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 (Public Law 2 110–181; 122 Stat. 407) required the President to 3 submit to Congress a report on ‘‘efforts, if any, of 4 the United States Government to facilitate family re- 5 unions between United States citizens and their rel- 6 atives in North Korea’’. 7 (12) The position of Special Envoy on North 8 Korean Human Rights Issues has been vacant since 9 January 2017, although the President is required to 10 appoint a Senate-confirmed Special Envoy to fill this 11 position in accordance with section 107 of the North 12 Korean Human Rights Act of 2004 (22 U.S.C. 13 7817). 14 (13) In the report of the Committee on Appro- 15 priations of the House of Representatives accom- 16 panying H.R. 3081, 111th Congress (House Report 17 111–187), the Committee urged ‘‘the Special Rep- 18 resentative on North Korea Policy, as the senior of- 19 ficial handling North Korea issues, to prioritize the 20 issues involving Korean divided families and to, if 21 necessary, appoint a coordinator for such families’’. 22 (b) CONSULTATIONS.— 23 (1) CONSULTATIONS WITH SOUTH KOREA.— 24 The Secretary of State, or a designee of the Sec- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:16 Mar 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1771.RFS H1771 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 HR 1771 RFS retary, should consult with officials of South Korea, 1 as appropriate, on potential opportunities to reunite 2 Korean American families with family members in 3 North Korea from which such Korean American 4 families were divided after the signing of the Korean 5 War Armistice Agreement, including potential oppor- 6 tunities for video reunions for Korean Americans 7 with such family members. 8 (2) CONSULTATIONS WITH KOREAN AMERI- 9 CANS.—The Special Envoy on North Korean Human 10 Rights Issues of the Department of State should 11 regularly consult with representatives of Korean 12 Americans who have family members in North 13 Korea with respect to efforts to reunite families di- 14 vided after the signing of the Korean War Armistice 15 Agreement, including potential opportunities for 16 video reunions for Korean Americans with such fam- 17 ily members. 18 (3) NO ADDITIONAL AUTHORIZATION OF AP- 19 PROPRIATIONS.—No additional amounts are author- 20 ized to be appropriated to the Department of State 21 to carry out consultations under this subsection. 22 (c) ADDITIONAL MATTER IN REPORT.—The Sec- 23 retary of State, acting through the Special Envoy on 24 North Korean Human Rights Issues, shall include in each 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:16 Mar 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1771.RFS H1771 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 HR 1771 RFS report required under section 107(d) of the North Korean 1 Human Rights Act of 2004 (22 U.S.C. 7817(d)), a de- 2 scription of the consultations described in subsection (b) 3 conducted during the year preceding the submission of 4 each report required under such section 107(d). 5 Passed the House of Representatives March 9, 2020. Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, Clerk. VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:16 Mar 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1771.RFS H1771 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS