119-hr1273

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1273 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 H. R. 1273

 To direct the Secretary of State to establish a national registry of 
 Korean American divided families, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 February 12, 2025

 Mr. Subramanyam (for himself, Mrs. Kim, Mr. Connolly, and Ms. 
 Malliotakis) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
 Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

 To direct the Secretary of State to establish a national registry of 
 Korean American divided families, and for other purposes.

 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

 This Act may be cited as the ``Korean American Divided Families 
National Registry Act''.

SEC. 2. NATIONAL REGISTRY OF KOREAN AMERICAN DIVIDED FAMILIES.

 The Secretary of State, acting through the Special Envoy on North 
Korean Human Rights Issues or such other individual as the Secretary 
may designate, shall--

    (1) collate information on Korean American families who 
 wish to be reunited with family members in North Korea from 
 which such Korean American families were divided after 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''), in anticipation of 
 future reunions for such families and family members, including 
 in-person and video reunions; and

    (2) establish a private internal national registry of the 
 names and other relevant information of such Korean American 
 families--
        (A) to host such future reunions in South Korea, 
 the United States, or third countries; and
        (B) to provide for a private internal repository of 
 information about such Korean American families and 
 family members in North Korea, including information 
 about individuals who may be deceased.

SEC. 3. ACTIONS TO FACILITATE DIALOGUE BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES AND 
 NORTH KOREA.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of State shall take such actions as 
may be necessary to ensure that any direct dialogue between the United 
States and North Korea includes progress towards holding future 
reunions for Korean American families and their family members in North 
Korea as described in 

section 2.

    (b) Consultations.--The Secretary of State shall consult with the 
Government of the Republic of Korea in carrying out this section.
            (c) Report.--No later than one year after enactment of this Act, 
and annually thereafter for 5 years, the Secretary of State shall 
submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report on--

    (1) the status of the national registry established 
 pursuant to 

section 2

    (a)

    (2) ;

    (2) the number of individuals included on the registry 
 who--
        (A) have met their family members in North Korea 
 during previous reunions; and
        (B) have yet to meet their family members in North 
 Korea during previous reunions;

    (3) a summary of responses by North Korea to requests to 
 hold reunions of divided families; and

    (4) a description of regulations in North Korea and actions 
 taken by North Korea in the year previous to submission of each 
 report that prevent the emigration of family members of Korean 
 American families.
            (d) Appropriate Congressional Committees Defined.--In this Act, 
``appropriate congressional committees'' means the Committee on Foreign 
Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign 
Relations of the Senate.
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