SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
    This Act may be cited as the ``North Korean Human Rights 
Reauthorization Act of 2008''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
     Congress finds the following:
        (1) The North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004 (Public Law 108-
    333; 22 U.S.C. 7801 et seq.) (in this section referred to as ``the 
    Act'') was the product of broad, bipartisan consensus in Congress 
    regarding the promotion of human rights, transparency in the 
    delivery of humanitarian assistance, and refugee protection.
        (2) In addition to the longstanding commitment of the United 
    States to refugee and human rights advocacy, the United States is 
    home to the largest Korean population outside of northeast Asia, 
    and many in the two-million strong Korean-American community have 
    family ties to North Korea.
        (3) Human rights and humanitarian conditions inside North Korea 
    are deplorable, North Korean refugees remain acutely vulnerable, 
    and the findings in section 3 of the Act remain accurate today.
        (4) The Government of China is conducting an increasingly 
    aggressive campaign to locate and forcibly return border-crossers 
    to North Korea, where they routinely face torture and imprisonment, 
    and sometimes execution. According to recent reports, the Chinese 
    Government is shutting down Christian churches and imprisoning 
    people who help North Korean defectors and has increased the bounty 
    paid for turning in North Korean refugees.
        (5) In an attempt to deter escape attempts, the Government of 
    North Korea has reportedly stepped up its public execution of 
    border-crossers and those who help others cross into China.
        (6) In spite of the requirement of the Act that the Special 
    Envoy on Human Rights in North Korea (the ``Special Envoy'') report 
    to the Congress no later than April 16, 2005, a Special Envoy was 
    not appointed until August 19, 2005, more than four months after 
    the reporting deadline.
        (7) The Special Envoy appointed by the President has filled 
    that position on a part-time basis only.
        (8) Since the passage of the North Korean Human Rights Act, 
    Congress has on several occasions expressed interest in the status 
    of North Korean refugees, and on February 21, 2006, a bipartisan 
    group of senior Members of the House and Senate wrote Secretary of 
    State Condoleezza Rice ``to express [their] deep concern for the 
    lack of progress in funding and implementing the key provisions of 
    the North Korean Human Rights Act'', particularly the lack of North 
    Korean refugee admissions to the United States.
        (9) Although the United States refugee resettlement program 
    remains the largest in the world by far, the United States has 
    resettled only 37 North Koreans in the period from 2004 through 
    2007.
        (10) From the end of 2004 through 2007, the Republic of Korea 
    resettled 5,961 North Koreans.
        (11) Extensive delays in assessment and processing have led 
    numerous North Korean refugees to abandon their quest for United 
    States resettlement, and long waits (of more than a year in some 
    cases) have been the source of considerable discouragement and 
    frustration among refugees, many of whom are awaiting United States 
    resettlement in circumstances that are unsafe and insecure.
        (12) From 2000 through 2006, the United States granted asylum 
    to 15 North Koreans, as compared to 60 North Korean asylum grantees 
    in the United Kingdom, and 135 in Germany during that same period.
SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.
    It is the sense of Congress that--
        (1) the United States should continue to make it a priority to 
    seek broader permission and greater cooperation from foreign 
    governments to allow the United States to process North Korean 
    refugees overseas for resettlement in the United States, through 
    persistent diplomacy by senior officials of the United States, 
    including United States ambassadors to Asia-Pacific nations;
        (2) at the same time that careful screening of intending 
    refugees is important, the United States also should make every 
    effort to ensure that its screening, processing, and resettlement 
    of North Korean refugees are as efficient and expeditious as 
    possible;
        (3) the Special Envoy for North Korean Human Rights Issues 
    should be a full-time position within the Department of State in 
    order to properly promote and coordinate North Korean human rights 
    and humanitarian issues, and to participate in policy planning and 
    implementation with respect to refugee issues, as intended by the 
    North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004 (Public Law 108-333; 22 
    U.S.C. 7801 et seq.);
        (4) in an effort to more efficiently and actively participate 
    in humanitarian burden-sharing, the United States should approach 
    our ally, the Republic of Korea, to revisit and explore new 
    opportunities for coordinating efforts to screen and resettle North 
    Koreans who have expressed a wish to pursue resettlement in the 
    United States and have not yet availed themselves of any right to 
    citizenship they may enjoy under the Constitution of the Republic 
    of Korea; and
        (5) because there are genuine refugees among North Koreans 
    fleeing into China who face severe punishments upon their forcible 
    return, the United States should urge the Government of China to--
            (A) immediately halt its forcible repatriation of North 
        Koreans;
            (B) fulfill its obligations pursuant to the 1951 United 
        Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, the 1967 
        Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees, and the 1995 
        Agreement on the Upgrading of the UNHCR Mission in the People's 
        Republic of China to UNHCR Branch Office in the People's 
        Republic of China; and
            (C) allow the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees 
        (UNHCR) unimpeded access to North Koreans inside China to 
        determine whether they are refugees and whether they require 
        assistance.
SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.
     Section 5(1)(A) of the North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004 
(Public Law 108-333; 22 U.S.C. 7803(1)(A)) is amended by striking 
``International Relations'' and inserting ``Foreign Affairs''.
SEC. 5. SUPPORT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS AND DEMOCRACY PROGRAMS.
     Section 102(b)(1) of the North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004 (22 
U.S.C. 7812(b)(1)) is amended by inserting after ``2008'' the 
following: ``and $2,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2009 through 
2012''.
SEC. 6. RADIO BROADCASTING TO NORTH KOREA.
     Not later than 120 days after the date of the enactment of this 
Act, the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) shall submit to the 
appropriate congressional committees, as defined in section 5(1) of the 
North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004 (22 U.S.C. 7803(1)), a report 
that describes the status and content of current United States 
broadcasting to North Korea and the extent to which the BBG has 
achieved the goal of 12-hour-per-day broadcasting to North Korea 
pursuant to section 103 of such Act (22 U.S.C. 7813).
SEC. 7. ACTIONS TO PROMOTE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION.
     Section 104 of the North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004 (22 
U.S.C. 7814) is amended--
        (1) in subsection (b)(1), by striking ``2008'' and inserting 
    ``2012''; and
        (2) in subsection (c), by striking ``in each of the 3 years 
    thereafter'' and inserting ``annually through 2012''.
SEC. 8. SPECIAL ENVOY ON NORTH KOREAN HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUES.
    Section 107 of the North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004 (22 U.S.C. 
7817) is amended--
        (1) in the section heading, by striking ``human rights in north 
    korea'' and inserting ``north korean human rights issues'';
        (2) in subsection (a)--
            (A) in the first sentence--
                (i) by striking ``human rights in North Korea'' and 
            inserting ``North Korean human rights issues''; and
                (ii) by inserting before the period at the end the 
            following: ``, by and with the advice and consent of the 
            Senate'';
            (B) in the second sentence, by inserting before the period 
        at the end the following: ``who shall have the rank of 
        ambassador and shall hold the office at the pleasure of the 
        President'';
        (3) in subsection (b), by inserting before the period at the 
    end the following: ``, including, in coordination with the Bureau 
    of Population, Refugees, and Migration, the protection of those 
    people who have fled as refugees'';
        (4) in subsection (c)--
            (A) by redesignating paragraphs (1) through (6) as 
        paragraphs (2) through (7), respectively;
            (B) by inserting before paragraph (2), as so redesignated, 
        the following new paragraph:
        ``(1) participate in the formulation and the implementation of 
    activities carried out pursuant to this Act;''; and
            (C) in paragraph (5), as so redesignated, by striking 
        ``section 102'' and inserting ``sections 102 and 104''; and
        (5) in subsection (d), by striking ``for the subsequent 5 year-
    period'' and inserting ``thereafter through 2012''.
SEC. 9. REPORT ON UNITED STATES HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE.
     Section 201(a) of the North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004 (22 
U.S.C. 7831(a)) is amended, in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by 
striking ``in each of the 2 years thereafter'' and inserting ``annually 
thereafter through 2012''.
  SEC. 10. ASSISTANCE PROVIDED OUTSIDE OF NORTH KOREA.
     Section 203(c)(1) of the North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004 (22 
U.S.C. 7833(c)(1)) is amended by striking ``2008'' and inserting 
``2012''.
  SEC. 11. ANNUAL REPORTS.
     Section 305(a) of the North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004 (22 
U.S.C. 7845(a)) is amended--
        (1) in the subsection heading, by inserting ``and Refugee'' 
    before ``Information'';
        (2) in the matter preceding paragraph (1)--
            (A) by striking ``for each of the following 5 years'' and 
        inserting ``through 2012''; and
            (B) by striking ``which shall include--'' and inserting 
        ``which shall include the following:'';
        (3) in paragraph (1)--
            (A) by striking ``the number of aliens'' and inserting 
        ``The number of aliens''; and
            (B) by striking ``; and'' at the end and inserting a 
        period;
        (4) in paragraph (2), by striking ``the number of aliens'' and 
    inserting ``The number of aliens''; and
        (5) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
        ``(3) A detailed description of the measures undertaken by the 
    Secretary of State to carry out section 303, including country-
    specific information with respect to United States efforts to 
    secure the cooperation and permission of the governments of 
    countries in East and Southeast Asia to facilitate United States 
    processing of North Koreans seeking protection as refugees. The 
    information required under this paragraph shall be provided in 
    unclassified form, with a classified annex, if necessary.''.

                               Speaker of the House of Representatives.

                            Vice President of the United States and    
                                               President of the Senate.
North Korean Human Rights Reauthorization Act of 2008 - Expresses the sense of Congress with respect to the resettlement of North Korean refugees.

Amends the North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004 to authorize appropriations through FY2012 for: (1) activities to support human rights and democracy and freedom of information (by increasing the availability of non-government controlled sources) in North Korea; and (2) assistance to North Koreans who are outside North Korea.

Directs the Broadcasting Board of Governors to report respecting U.S. broadcasting to North Korea and the extent to which the Board has achieved the goal of 12-hour-per-day broadcasting to North Korea.

States that the Special Envoy on North Korean human rights issues (as renamed by this Act) in North Korea shall have the rank of ambassador. Extends the Special Envoy's annual congressional reporting requirement through FY2012.

Extends the United States Agency for International Development's (USAID) congressional reporting requirement respecting U.S. humanitarian assistance to North Koreans and efforts to improve transparency and monitoring in the provision of such assistance inside North Korea through 2012.

Sets forth specified reporting provisions.
{"src": "billsum_test", "title": "To amend the North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004 to promote respect for the fundamental human rights of the people of North Korea, and for other purposes."}