[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2657 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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114th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2657

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


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 9, 2016

  Mr. Kirk (for himself, Mr. Warner, and Mr. Gardner) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                           Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 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. 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 more than 10,000,000 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 19 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 October 2015 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 inter-Korean family reunions.
            (7) 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.
            (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) Korean Americans and North Koreans both continue to 
        suffer from the tragedy of being divided from loved ones.
            (11) The inclusion of Korean American families in the 
        reunion process would constitute a positive humanitarian 
        gesture by the Government of North Korea.
            (12) 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''.
            (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 every 180 days, the Special Representative on 
        North Korea Policy 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) Report Required.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary shall submit to Congress, as 
        part of the report required by 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 the report.
            (2) Form.--The report required by paragraph (1) shall be 
        submitted in unclassified form to the maximum extent possible, 
        but may include a classified annex.
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