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[Page S3013]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS
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SENATE RESOLUTION 623--COMMEMORATING OTTO FREDERICK WARMBIER AND
CONDEMNING THE NORTH KOREAN REGIME FOR THEIR CONTINUED HUMAN RIGHTS
ABUSES
Mr. PORTMAN (for himself and Mr. Brown) submitted the following
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations:
S. Res. 623
Whereas Otto Frederick Warmbier was born on December 12,
1994, in Cincinnati, Ohio, to parents Fred and Cindy
Warmbier;
Whereas, upon his graduation as Salutatorian from Wyoming
High School in 2013, Otto attended the University of
Virginia;
Whereas, on December 29, 2015, Otto flew to North Korea as
part of a guided tour;
Whereas, on January 2, 2016, the Government of the
Democratic People's Republic of Korea arrested Otto Warmbier
on false charges of ``subversion'' and committing a ``hostile
act'';
Whereas, on March 16, 2016, Otto Warmbier was convicted and
sentenced to 15 years of hard labor;
Whereas, as a result of his mistreatment at the hands of
North Korean authorities, Otto Warmbier suffered a serious
medical emergency which placed him into a comatose state, and
the North Korean authorities failed to report the
deterioration of Otto Warmbier's physical condition to United
States authorities;
Whereas, on June 13, 2017, after 17 months in captivity,
the United States Department of State announced that it had
secured the release of Otto Warmbier, whereupon he was
medically evacuated from North Korea in a comatose state to
the University of Cincinnati Medical Center;
Whereas, on June 19, 2017, Otto Warmbier died in the
hospital as a result of his mistreatment at the hands of the
Government of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea;
Whereas, on December 24, 2018, the United States District
Court for the District of Columbia concluded that the
Government of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea was
responsible for the ``torture, hostage taking, and
extrajudicial killing'' of Otto Warmbier;
Whereas, on December 18, 2019, in an annual resolution, the
United Nations General Assembly condemned ``the long-standing
and ongoing systematic, widespread and gross violations of
human rights in and by'' North Korea; and
Whereas, on December 20, 2019, the Otto Warmbier North
Korea Nuclear Sanctions and Enforcement Act of 2019 (title
LXXI of Public Law 116-92), was enacted: Now, therefore, be
it
Resolved, That, in recognition of the 3rd anniversary of
Otto Warmbier's passing on June 19, 2020, the Senate--
(1) remembers and celebrates the life of Otto Frederick
Warmbier, a young man with great potential;
(2) condemns the Government of the Democratic People's
Republic of Korea, which is responsible for the unjustified
arrest, mistreatment, and death of Otto Warmbier;
(3) calls for the United States Government to continue to
use its voice and vote in the United Nations to condemn
systematic human rights violations in North Korea; and
(4) calls for the sanctions enacted in the Otto Warmbier
North Korea Nuclear Sanctions and Enforcement Act of 2019
(title LXXI of Public Law 116-92) to remain fully implemented
until such time that the Government of the Democratic
People's Republic of Korea commits to the verifiable
suspension of its proliferation and testing of weapons of
mass destruction, and has agreed to multilateral talks,
including the United States Government, with the goal of
permanently and verifiably limiting North Korea's weapons of
mass destruction and ballistic missile programs.
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