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114th Congress } { Rept. 114-392
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
2nd Session } { Part 1
======================================================================
NORTH KOREA SANCTIONS ENFORCEMENT ACT OF 2015
_______
January 11, 2016.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on
the State of the Union and ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Royce, from the Committee on Foreign Affairs, submitted the
following
R E P O R T
[To accompany H.R. 757]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on Foreign Affairs, to whom was referred the
bill (H.R. 757) to improve the enforcement of sanctions against
the Government of North Korea, and for other purposes, having
considered the same, reports favorably thereon with an
amendment and recommends that the bill as amended do pass.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
The Amendment.................................................... 1
Summary and Purpose.............................................. 16
Background and Need for Legislation.............................. 17
Hearings......................................................... 25
Committee Consideration.......................................... 25
Committee Oversight Findings..................................... 26
New Budget Authority, Tax Expenditures, and Federal Mandates..... 26
Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate........................ 26
Directed Rule Making............................................. 27
Non-Duplication of Federal Programs.............................. 27
Performance Goals and Objectives................................. 28
Congressional Accountability Act................................. 28
New Advisory Committees.......................................... 28
Earmark Identification........................................... 28
Section-by-Section Analysis...................................... 28
Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported............ 30
The Amendment
The amendment is as follows:
Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the
following:
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``North Korea
Sanctions Enforcement Act of 2015''.
(b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents for this Act is as
follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Findings.
Sec. 3. Definitions.
TITLE I--INVESTIGATIONS, PROHIBITED CONDUCT, AND PENALTIES
Sec. 101. Statement of policy.
Sec. 102. Investigations.
Sec. 103. Briefing to Congress.
Sec. 104. Designation of persons for prohibited conduct and mandatory
and discretionary designation and sanctions authorities.
Sec. 105. Forfeiture of property.
TITLE II--SANCTIONS AGAINST NORTH KOREAN PROLIFERATION, HUMAN RIGHTS
ABUSES, ILLICIT ACTIVITIES, AND SIGNIFICANT ACTIVITIES UNDERMINING
CYBER SECURITY
Sec. 201. Determinations with respect to North Korea as a jurisdiction
of primary money laundering concern.
Sec. 202. Ensuring the consistent enforcement of United Nations
Security Council resolutions and financial restrictions on North Korea.
Sec. 203. Proliferation prevention sanctions.
Sec. 204. Procurement sanctions.
Sec. 205. Enhanced inspections authorities.
Sec. 206. Travel sanctions.
Sec. 207. Exemptions, waivers, and removals of designation.
Sec. 208. Report on those responsible for knowingly engaging in
significant activities undermining cyber security.
Sec. 209. Sense of Congress that trilateral cooperation among the
United States, Japan, and the Republic of Korea is crucial to the
stability of the Asia-Pacific region.
Sec. 210. Report on nuclear program cooperation between North Korea and
Iran.
TITLE III--PROMOTION OF HUMAN RIGHTS
Sec. 301. Information technology.
Sec. 302. Report on North Korean prison camps.
Sec. 303. Report on persons who are responsible for serious human
rights abuses or censorship in North Korea.
TITLE IV--GENERAL AUTHORITIES
Sec. 401. Suspension of sanctions and other measures.
Sec. 402. Termination of sanctions and other measures.
Sec. 403. Authority to consolidate reports.
Sec. 404. Regulations.
Sec. 405. Effective date.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) The Government of North Korea has repeatedly violated its
commitments to the complete, verifiable, irreversible
dismantlement of its nuclear weapons programs, and has
willfully violated multiple United Nations Security Council
resolutions calling for it to cease its development, testing,
and production of weapons of mass destruction.
(2) North Korea poses a grave risk for the proliferation of
nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction.
(3) The Government of North Korea has been implicated
repeatedly in money laundering and illicit activities,
including prohibited arms sales, narcotics trafficking, the
counterfeiting of United States currency, and the
counterfeiting of intellectual property of United States
persons.
(4) The Government of North Korea has, both historically and
recently, repeatedly sponsored acts of international terrorism,
including attempts to assassinate defectors and human rights
activists, repeated threats of violence against foreign
persons, leaders, newspapers, and cities, and the shipment of
weapons to terrorists and state sponsors of terrorism.
(5) North Korea has unilaterally withdrawn from the 1953
Armistice Agreement that ended the Korean War, and committed
provocations against South Korea in 2010 by sinking the warship
Cheonan and killing 46 of her crew, and by shelling Yeonpyeong
Island, killing four South Koreans.
(6) North Korea maintains a system of brutal political prison
camps that contain as many as 120,000 men, women, and children,
who live in atrocious living conditions with insufficient food,
clothing, and medical care, and under constant fear of torture
or arbitrary execution.
(7) The Congress reaffirms the purposes of the North Korean
Human Rights Act of 2004 contained in section 4 of such Act (22
U.S.C. 7802).
(8) North Korea has prioritized weapons programs and the
procurement of luxury goods, in defiance of United Nations
Security Council resolutions, and in gross disregard of the
needs of its people.
(9) The President has determined that the Government of North
Korea is responsible for knowingly engaging in significant
activities undermining cyber security with respect to United
States persons and interests, and for threats of violence
against the civilian population of the United States.
(10) Persons, including financial institutions, who engage in
transactions with, or provide financial services to, the
Government of North Korea and its financial institutions
without establishing sufficient financial safeguards against
North Korea's use of these transactions to promote
proliferation, weapons trafficking, human rights violations,
illicit activity, and the purchase of luxury goods, aid and
abet North Korea's misuse of the international financial
system, and also violate the intent of relevant United Nations
Security Council resolutions.
(11) The Government of North Korea's conduct poses an
imminent threat to the security of the United States and its
allies, to the global economy, to the safety of members of the
United States Armed Forces, to the integrity of the global
financial system, to the integrity of global nonproliferation
programs, and to the people of North Korea.
(12) The Congress seeks, through this legislation, to use
nonmilitary means to address this crisis, to provide diplomatic
leverage to negotiate necessary changes in North Korea's
conduct, and to ease the suffering of the people of North
Korea.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Applicable executive order.--The term ``applicable
Executive order'' means--
(A) Executive Order No. 13382 (2005), 13466 (2008),
13551 (2010), or 13570 (2011), to the extent that such
Executive order authorizes the imposition of sanctions
on persons for conduct, or prohibits transactions or
activities, involving the Government of North Korea; or
(B) any Executive order adopted on or after the date
of the enactment of this Act, to the extent that such
Executive order authorizes the imposition of sanctions
on persons for conduct, or prohibits transactions or
activities, involving the Government of North Korea.
(2) Applicable united nations security council resolution.--
The term ``applicable United Nations Security Council
resolution'' means--
(A) United Nations Security Council Resolution 1695
(2006), 1718 (2006), 1874 (2009), 2087 (2013), or 2094
(2013); or
(B) any United Nations Security Council resolution
adopted on or after the date of the enactment of this
Act, to the extent that such resolution authorizes the
imposition of sanctions on persons for conduct, or
prohibits transactions or activities, involving the
Government of North Korea.
(3) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term
``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
(A) the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Committee
on Ways and Means, and the Committee on Financial
Services of the House of Representatives; and
(B) the Committee on Foreign Relations and the
Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the
Senate.
(4) Designated person.--The term ``designated person'' means
a person designated under subsection (a) or (b) of section 104
for purposes of applying one or more of the sanctions described
in title I or II of this Act with respect to the person.
(5) Government of north korea.--The term ``Government of
North Korea'' means--
(A) the Government of the Democratic People's
Republic of Korea or any political subdivision, agency,
or instrumentality thereof; and
(B) any person owned or controlled by, or acting for
or on behalf of, the Government of the Democratic
People's Republic of Korea.
(6) International terrorism.--The term ``international
terrorism'' has the meaning given such term in section 140(d)
of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 1988
and 1989 (22 U.S.C. 2656f(d)), and includes the conduct
described in section 212(a)(3)(B)(iii) of the Immigration and
Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(3)(B)(iii)), to the extent
such conduct involves the citizens of more than one country.
(7) Luxury goods.--The term ``luxury goods'' has the meaning
given such term in subpart 746.4 of title 15, Code of Federal
Regulations, and includes the items listed in Supplement No. 1
to such regulation, and any similar items.
(8) Monetary instrument.--The term ``monetary instrument''
has the meaning given such term under section 5312 of title 31,
United States Code.
(9) North korean financial institution.--The term ``North
Korean financial institution'' means--
(A) a financial institution organized under the laws
of North Korea or any jurisdiction within North Korea
(including a foreign branch of such institution);
(B) any financial institution located in North Korea,
except as may be excluded from such definition by the
President in accordance with section 207(d);
(C) any financial institution, wherever located,
owned or controlled by the Government of North Korea;
and
(D) any financial institution, wherever located,
owned or controlled by a financial institution
described in subparagraph (A), (B), or (C).
(10) Other stores of value.--The term ``other stores of
value'' means--
(A) prepaid access devices, tangible or intangible
prepaid access devices, or other instruments or devices
for the storage or transmission of value, as defined in
part 1010 of title 31, Code of Federal Regulations; and
(B) any covered goods, as defined in section 1027.100
of title 31, Code of Federal Regulations, and any
instrument or tangible or intangible access device used
for the storage and transmission of a representation of
covered goods, or other device, as defined in section
1027.100 of title 31, Code of Federal Regulations.
(11) Person.--The term ``person'' means an individual or
entity as determined by the Secretary of State and the
Secretary of the Treasury.
(12) Significant activities undermining cyber security.--The
term ``significant activities undermining cyber security''
means--
(A) significant efforts to--
(i) deny access to or degrade, disrupt, or
destroy an information and communications
technology system or network; or
(ii) exfiltrate information from such a
system or network without authorization;
(B) significant destructive malware attacks;
(C) significant denial of service activities; or
(D) such other significant activities as may be
described in regulations promulgated to implement
section 104.
(13) United states person.--The term ``United States person''
means--
(A) a natural person who is a citizen of the United
States or who owes permanent allegiance to the United
States; and
(B) a corporation or other legal entity which is
organized under the laws of the United States, any
State or territory thereof, or the District of
Columbia, if natural persons described in subparagraph
(A) own, directly or indirectly, more than 50 percent
of the outstanding capital stock or other beneficial
interest in such legal entity.
TITLE I--INVESTIGATIONS, PROHIBITED CONDUCT, AND PENALTIES
SEC. 101. STATEMENT OF POLICY.
In order to achieve the peaceful disarmament of North Korea, Congress
finds that it is necessary--
(1) to encourage all states to fully and promptly implement
United Nations Security Council Resolution 2094 (2013);
(2) to sanction--
(A) persons that facilitate proliferation of weapons
of mass destruction, illicit activities, arms
trafficking, imports of luxury goods, cash smuggling,
censorship, and knowingly engage in significant
activities undermining cyber security by the Government
of North Korea; and
(B) persons that fail to exercise due diligence to
ensure that financial institutions do not facilitate
any of the activities described in subparagraph (A) by
the Government of North Korea;
(3) to deny the Government of North Korea access to the funds
it uses to obtain nuclear weapons, ballistic missiles,
offensive cyber capabilities, and luxury goods instead of
providing for the needs of its people; and
(4) to enforce sanctions in a manner that avoids any adverse
humanitarian impact on the people of North Korea to the extent
possible and in a manner that does not unduly constrain the
enforcement of such sanctions.
SEC. 102. INVESTIGATIONS.
The President shall initiate an investigation into the possible
designation of a person under section 104(a) upon receipt by the
President of credible information indicating that such person has
engaged in conduct described in section 104(a).
SEC. 103. BRIEFING TO CONGRESS.
Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act,
and periodically thereafter, the President shall provide to the
appropriate congressional committees a briefing on efforts to implement
this Act, to include the following, to the extent the information is
available:
(1) The principal foreign assets and sources of foreign
income of the Government of North Korea.
(2) A list of the persons designated under subsections (a)
and (b) of section 104.
(3) A list of the persons with respect to which sanctions
were waived or removed under section 207.
(4) A summary of any diplomatic efforts made in accordance
with section 202(b) and of the progress realized from such
efforts, including efforts to encourage the European Union and
other states and jurisdictions to sanction and block the assets
of the Foreign Trade Bank of North Korea and Daedong Credit
Bank.
SEC. 104. DESIGNATION OF PERSONS FOR PROHIBITED CONDUCT AND MANDATORY
AND DISCRETIONARY DESIGNATION AND SANCTIONS
AUTHORITIES.
(a) Prohibited Conduct and Mandatory Designation and Sanctions
Authority.--
(1) Conduct described.--Except as provided in section 207,
the President shall designate under this subsection any person
the President determines to--
(A) have knowingly engaged in significant activities
or transactions with the Government of North Korea that
have materially contributed to the proliferation of
weapons of mass destruction or their means of delivery
(including missiles capable of delivering such
weapons), including any efforts to manufacture,
acquire, possess, develop, transport, transfer, or use
such items;
(B) have knowingly imported, exported, or reexported
to, into, or from North Korea any significant arms or
related materiel, whether directly or indirectly;
(C) have knowingly provided significant training,
advice, or other services or assistance, or engaged in
significant transactions, related to the manufacture,
maintenance, or use of any arms or related materiel to
be imported, exported, or reexported to, into, or from
North Korea, or following their importation,
exportation, or reexportation to, into, or from North
Korea, whether directly or indirectly;
(D) have knowingly, directly or indirectly, imported,
exported, or reexported significant luxury goods to or
into North Korea;
(E) have knowingly engaged in or been responsible for
censorship by the Government of North Korea, including
prohibiting, limiting, or penalizing the exercise of
freedom of expression or assembly, limiting access to
print, radio or other broadcast media, Internet or
other electronic communications, or the facilitation or
support of intentional frequency manipulation that
would jam or restrict an international signal;
(F) have knowingly engaged in or been responsible for
serious human rights abuses by the Government of North
Korea, including torture or cruel, inhuman, or
degrading treatment or punishment, prolonged detention
without charges and trial, forced labor or trafficking
in persons, causing the disappearance of persons by the
abduction and clandestine detention of those persons,
and other denial of the right to life, liberty, or the
security of a person;
(G) have knowingly, directly or indirectly, engaged
in acts of money laundering, the counterfeiting of
goods or currency, bulk cash smuggling, narcotics
trafficking, or other illicit activity that involves or
supports the Government of North Korea or any senior
official thereof, whether directly or indirectly; or
(H) have knowingly attempted to engage in any of the
conduct described in subparagraphs (A) through (G) of
this paragraph.
(2) Effect of designation.--With respect to any person
designated under this subsection, the President--
(A) shall exercise the authorities of the
International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C.
1705 et seq.) to block all property and interests in
property of any person designated under this subsection
that are in the United States, that hereafter come
within the United States, or that are or hereafter come
within the possession or control of any United States
person, including any overseas branch; and
(B) may apply any of the sanctions described in
sections 204, 205(c), and 206.
(3) Penalties.--The penalties provided for in section 206 of
the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C.
1705) shall apply to a person who violates, attempts to
violate, conspires to violate, or causes a violation of any
prohibition provided for in this subsection, or of an order or
regulation prescribed under this Act, to the same extent that
such penalties apply to a person that commits an unlawful act
described in section 206(a) of that Act (50 U.S.C. 1705(a)).
(4) Definition.--In paragraph (1)(F), the term ``trafficking
in persons'' has the meaning given the term in section 103(9)
of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C.
7102(9)).
(b) Discretionary Designation and Sanctions Authority.--
(1) Conduct described.--Except as provided in section 207 and
paragraph (3) of this subsection, the President may designate
under this subsection any person that the President determines
to--
(A) have knowingly engaged in, contributed to,
assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material or
technological support for, or goods and services in
support of, any violation of, or evasion of, an
applicable United Nations Security Council resolution;
(B) have knowingly facilitated the transfer of any
funds, financial assets, or economic resources of, or
property or interests in property of a person
designated under an applicable Executive order, or by
the United Nations Security Council pursuant to an
applicable United Nations Security Council resolution;
(C) have knowingly facilitated the transfer of any
funds, financial assets, or economic resources, or any
property or interests in property derived from,
involved in, or that has materially contributed to
conduct prohibited by subsection (a) or an applicable
United Nations Security Council resolution;
(D) have knowingly facilitated any transaction,
including any transaction in bulk cash or other stores
of value, without applying enhanced monitoring to
ensure that such transaction does not contribute
materially to conduct described in subsection (a) an
applicable Executive order, or an applicable United
Nations Security Council resolution;
(E) have knowingly facilitated any transactions in
cash or monetary instruments or other stores of value,
including through cash couriers transiting to or from
North Korea, used to facilitate any conduct prohibited
by an applicable United Nations Security Council
resolution;
(F) have knowingly, directly or indirectly, engaged
in significant activities undermining cyber security
for, in support of on behalf of, the Government of
North Korea or any senior official thereof, or have
knowingly contributed to the bribery of an official of
the Government of North Korea, the misappropriation,
theft, or embezzlement of public funds by, or for the
benefit of, an official of the Government of North
Korea, or the use of any proceeds of any such conduct;
or
(G) have knowingly and materially assisted,
sponsored, or provided significant financial, material,
or technological support for, or goods or services to
or in support of, the conduct described in
subparagraphs (A) through (F) of this paragraph or the
conduct described in subparagraphs (A) through (G) of
subsection (a)(1).
(2) Effect of designation.--With respect to any person
designated under this subsection, the President--
(A) may apply the sanctions described in section 204;
(B) may apply any of the special measures described
in section 5318A of title 31, United States Code;
(C) may prohibit any transactions in foreign exchange
that are subject to the jurisdiction of the United
States and in which such person has any interest;
(D) may prohibit any transfers of credit or payments
between financial institutions or by, through, or to
any financial institution, to the extent that such
transfers or payments are subject to the jurisdiction
of the United States and involve any interest of the
person; and
(E) may exercise the authorities of the International
Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1705 et seq.)
without regard to section 202 of such Act to block any
property and interests in property of any person
designated under this subsection that are in the United
States, that hereafter come within the United States,
or that are or hereafter come within the possession or
control of any United States person, including any
overseas branch.
(3) Limitation.--If the President determines that a person
has engaged in any conduct described in subparagraphs (A)
through (F) of paragraph (1) that may also be construed to
constitute conduct described in subparagraphs (A) through (H)
of subsection (a)(1), the President may not designate the
person under this subsection but rather shall designate the
person under subsection (a).
(c) Blocking of All Property and Interests in Property of the
Government of North Korea and the Worker's Party of Korea.--Except as
provided in section 207, the President shall exercise the authorities
of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1705 et
seq.) to block all property and interests in property of the Government
of North Korea or the Worker's Party of Korea that on or after the date
of the enactment of this Act come within the United States, or that
come within the possession or control of any United States person,
including any overseas branch.
(d) Application.--The designation of a person under subsection (a) or
(b) and the blocking of property and interests in property under
subsection (c) shall also apply with respect to a person who is
determined to be owned or controlled by, or to have acted or purported
to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, any person whose
property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to this
section.
(e) Licensing.--
(1) License required.--Not later than 180 days after the date
of enactment of this Act, the President shall promulgate
regulations prohibiting United States persons from engaging in
any transaction involving any property--
(A) in which the Government of North Korea has an
interest;
(B) located in North Korea;
(C) of North Korean origin; or
(D) knowingly transferred, directly or indirectly, to
the Government of North Korea.
(2) Transaction licensing.--The President shall deny or
revoke any license for any transaction that, in the
determination of the President, lacks sufficient financial
controls to ensure that such transaction will not facilitate
any of the conduct described in subsection (a) or subsection
(b).
(3) Licensing authorization.--
(A) In general.--Subject to subparagraph (B), the
President may issue regulations to authorize--
(i) transactions for the purposes described
in section 207; and
(ii) transactions and activities authorized
under North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004 (22
U.S.C. 7801 et seq.).
(B) Prohibition.--The President may not issue
regulations to authorize transactions under clause (i)
or (ii) of subparagraph (A) if such transactions
include any transactions with the Government of North
Korea.
SEC. 105. FORFEITURE OF PROPERTY.
(a) Amendment to Property Subject to Forfeiture.--Section 981(a)(1)
of title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the
following new subparagraph:
``(I) Any property, real or personal, that is involved in a
violation or attempted violation, or which constitutes or is
derived from proceeds traceable to a violation, of section
104(a) of the North Korea Sanctions Enforcement Act of 2015.''.
(b) Amendment to Definition of Civil Forfeiture Statute.--Section
983(i)(2)(D) of title 18, United States Code, is amended--
(1) by striking ``or the International Emergency Economic
Powers Act'' and inserting ``, the International Emergency
Economic Powers Act''; and
(2) by adding at the end before the semicolon the following:
``, or the North Korea Sanctions Enforcement Act of 2015''.
(c) Amendment to Definition of Specified Unlawful Activity.--Section
1956(c)(7)(D) of title 18, United States Code, is amended--
(1) by striking ``or section 92 of the Atomic Energy Act of
1954'' and inserting ``section 92 of the Atomic Energy Act of
1954''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following: ``, or section 104(a)
of the North Korea Sanctions Enforcement Act of 2015;''.
TITLE II--SANCTIONS AGAINST NORTH KOREAN PROLIFERATION, HUMAN RIGHTS
ABUSES, ILLICIT ACTIVITIES, AND SIGNIFICANT ACTIVITIES UNDERMINING
CYBER SECURITY
SEC. 201. DETERMINATIONS WITH RESPECT TO NORTH KOREA AS A JURISDICTION
OF PRIMARY MONEY LAUNDERING CONCERN.
(a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
(1) The Undersecretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and
Financial Intelligence, who is responsible for safeguarding the
financial system against illicit use, money laundering,
terrorist financing, and the proliferation of weapons of mass
destruction, has repeatedly expressed concern about North
Korea's misuse of the international financial system as
follows:
(A) In 2006, the Undersecretary stated that, given
North Korea's ``counterfeiting of U.S. currency,
narcotics trafficking and use of accounts worldwide to
conduct proliferation-related transactions, the line
between illicit and licit North Korean money is nearly
invisible'' and urged financial institutions worldwide
to ``think carefully about the risks of doing any North
Korea-related business.''.
(B) In 2011, the Undersecretary stated that ``North
Korea remains intent on engaging in proliferation,
selling arms as well as bringing in material,'' and was
``aggressively pursuing the effort to establish front
companies.''.
(C) In 2013, the Undersecretary stated, in reference
to North Korea's distribution of high-quality
counterfeit United States currency, that ``North Korea
is continuing to try to pass a supernote into the
international financial system,'' and that the
Department of the Treasury would soon introduce new
currency with improved security features to protect
against counterfeiting by the Government of North
Korea.
(2) The Financial Action Task Force, an intergovernmental
body whose purpose is to develop and promote national and
international policies to combat money laundering and terrorist
financing, has repeatedly--
(A) expressed concern at deficiencies in North
Korea's regimes to combat money laundering and
terrorist financing;
(B) urged North Korea to adopt a plan of action to
address significant deficiencies in these regimes and
the serious threat they pose to the integrity of the
international financial system;
(C) urged all jurisdictions to apply countermeasures
to protect the international financial system from
ongoing and substantial money laundering and terrorist
financing risks emanating from North Korea;
(D) urged all jurisdictions to advise their financial
institutions to give special attention to business
relationships and transactions with North Korea,
including North Korean companies and financial
institutions; and
(E) called on all jurisdictions to protect against
correspondent relationships being used to bypass or
evade countermeasures and risk mitigation practices,
and take into account money laundering and terrorist
financing risks when considering requests by North
Korean financial institutions to open branches and
subsidiaries in their jurisdiction.
(3) On March 7, 2013, the United Nations Security Council
unanimously adopted Resolution 2094, which--
(A) welcomed the Financial Action Task Force's
recommendation on financial sanctions related to
proliferation, and its guidance on the implementation
of sanctions;
(B) decided that Member States should apply enhanced
monitoring and other legal measures to prevent the
provision of financial services or the transfer of
property that could contribute to activities prohibited
by applicable United Nations Security Council
resolutions; and
(C) called on Member States to prohibit North Korean
banks from establishing or maintaining correspondent
relationships with banks in their jurisdictions, to
prevent the provision of financial services, if they
have information that provides reasonable grounds to
believe that these activities could contribute to
activities prohibited by an applicable United Nations
Security Council resolution, or to the evasion of such
prohibitions.
(b) Sense of Congress Regarding the Designation of North Korea as a
Jurisdiction of Primary Money Laundering Concern.--Congress--
(1) acknowledges the efforts of the United Nations Security
Council to impose limitations on, and require enhanced
monitoring of, transactions involving North Korean financial
institutions that could contribute to sanctioned activities;
(2) urges the President, in the strongest terms, to
immediately designate North Korea as a jurisdiction of primary
money laundering concern, and to adopt stringent special
measures to safeguard the financial system against the risks
posed by North Korea's willful evasion of sanctions and its
illicit activities; and
(3) urges the President to seek the prompt implementation by
other states of enhanced monitoring and due diligence to
prevent North Korea's misuse of the international financial
system, including by sharing information about activities,
transactions, and property that could contribute to activities
sanctioned by applicable United Nations Security Council
resolutions, or to the evasion of sanctions.
(c) Determinations Regarding North Korea.--
(1) In general.--The Secretary of the Treasury shall, not
later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this
Act, determine, in consultation with the Secretary of State and
Attorney General, and in accordance with section 5318A of title
31, United States Code, whether reasonable grounds exist for
concluding that North Korea is a jurisdiction of primary money
laundering concern.
(2) Special measures.--If the Secretary of the Treasury
determines under this subsection that reasonable grounds exist
for finding that North Korea is a jurisdiction of primary money
laundering concern, the Secretary of the Treasury, in
consultation with the Federal functional regulators, shall
impose one or more of the special measures described in
paragraphs (1) through (5) of section 5318A(b) of title 31,
United States Code, with respect to the jurisdiction of North
Korea.
(3) Report required.--
(A) In general.--If the Secretary of the Treasury
determines that North Korea is a jurisdiction of
primary money laundering concern, the Secretary of the
Treasury shall, not later than 90 days after the date
on which the Secretary makes such determination, submit
to the appropriate congressional committees a report on
the determination made under paragraph (1) together
with the reasons for that determination.
(B) Form.--A report or copy of any report submitted
under this paragraph shall be submitted in unclassified
form but may contain a classified annex.
SEC. 202. ENSURING THE CONSISTENT ENFORCEMENT OF UNITED NATIONS
SECURITY COUNCIL RESOLUTIONS AND FINANCIAL
RESTRICTIONS ON NORTH KOREA.
(a) Findings.--Congress finds that--
(1) all states and jurisdictions are obligated to implement
and enforce applicable United Nations Security Council
resolutions fully and promptly, including by--
(A) blocking the property of, and ensuring that any
property is prevented from being made available to,
persons designated by the Security Council under
applicable United Nations Security Council resolutions;
(B) blocking any property associated with an activity
prohibited by applicable United Nations Security
Council resolutions; and
(C) preventing any transfer of property and any
provision of financial services that could contribute
to an activity prohibited by applicable United Nations
Security Council resolutions, or to the evasion of
sanctions under such resolutions;
(2) all states and jurisdictions share a common interest in
protecting the international financial system from the risks of
money laundering and illicit transactions emanating from North
Korea;
(3) the United States Dollar and the Euro are the world's
principal reserve currencies, and the United States and the
European Union are primarily responsible for the protection of
the international financial system from these risks;
(4) the cooperation of the People's Republic of China, as
North Korea's principal trading partner, is essential to the
enforcement of applicable United Nations Security Council
resolutions and to the protection of the international
financial system;
(5) the report of the Panel of Experts established pursuant
to United Nations Security Council Resolution 1874, dated June
11, 2013, expressed concern about the ability of banks in
states with less effective regulators and those unable to
afford effective compliance to detect and prevent illicit
transfers involving North Korea;
(6) North Korea has historically exploited inconsistencies
between jurisdictions in the interpretation and enforcement of
financial regulations and applicable United Nations Security
Council resolutions to circumvent sanctions and launder the
proceeds of illicit activities;
(7) Amroggang Development Bank, Bank of East Land, and
Tanchon Commercial Bank have been designated by the Secretary
of the Treasury, the United Nations Security Council, and the
European Union;
(8) Korea Daesong Bank and Korea Kwangson Banking Corporation
have been designated by the Secretary of the Treasury and the
European Union;
(9) the Foreign Trade Bank of North Korea has been designated
by the Secretary of the Treasury for facilitating transactions
on behalf of persons linked to its proliferation network, and
for serving as ``a key financial node''; and
(10) Daedong Credit Bank has been designated by the Secretary
of the Treasury for activities prohibited by applicable United
Nations Security Council resolutions, including the use of
deceptive financial practices to facilitate transactions on
behalf of persons linked to North Korea's proliferation
network.
(b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that the
President should intensify diplomatic efforts, both in appropriate
international fora such as the United Nations and bilaterally, to
develop and implement a coordinated, consistent, multilateral strategy
for protecting the global financial system against risks emanating from
North Korea, including--
(1) the cessation of any financial services whose
continuation is inconsistent with applicable United Nations
Security Council resolutions;
(2) the cessation of any financial services to persons,
including financial institutions, that present unacceptable
risks of facilitating money laundering and illicit activity by
the Government of North Korea;
(3) the blocking by all states and jurisdictions, in
accordance with the legal process of the state or jurisdiction
in which the property is held, of any property required to be
blocked under applicable United Nations Security Council
resolutions;
(4) the blocking of any property derived from illicit
activity, from significant activities undermining cyber
security, from the misappropriation, theft, or embezzlement of
public funds by, or for the benefit of, officials of the
Government of North Korea;
(5) the blocking of any property involved in significant
activities undermining cyber security by the Government of
North Korea, directly or indirectly, against United States
persons, or the theft of intellectual property by the
Government of North Korea, directly or indirectly from United
States persons; and
(6) the blocking of any property of persons directly or
indirectly involved in censorship or human rights abuses by the
Government of North Korea.
SEC. 203. PROLIFERATION PREVENTION SANCTIONS.
(a) Export of Certain Goods or Technology.--
(1) In general.--Subject to section 207(a)(2)(C) of this Act,
a license shall be required for the export to North Korea of
any goods or technology subject to the Export Administration
Regulations (part 730 of title 15, Code of Federal Regulations)
without regard to whether the Secretary of State has designated
North Korea as a country the government of which has provided
support for acts of international terrorism, as determined by
the Secretary of State under section 6(j) of the Export
Administration Act of 1979 (50 U.S.C. App. 2045), as continued
in effect under the International Emergency Economic Powers
Act.
(2) Presumption of denial.--A license for the export to North
Korea of any goods or technology as described in paragraph (1)
shall be subject to a presumption of denial.
(b) Transactions With Countries Supporting Acts of International
Terrorism.--
(1) Arms export control act prohibitions.--The prohibitions
and restrictions described in section 40 of the Arms Export
Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2780), and other provisions provided for
in that Act, shall also apply to exporting or otherwise
providing (by sale, lease or loan, grant, or other means),
directly or indirectly, any munitions item to the Government of
North Korea without regard to whether or not North Korea is a
country with respect to which subsection (d) of such section
(relating to designation of state sponsors of terrorism)
applies.
(2) Financial transactions.--Except as provided in section
207 of this Act and the North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004
(22 U.S.C. 7801 et seq.), the penalties provided for in section
2332d of title 18, United States Code, shall apply to a United
States person that engages in a financial transaction with the
Government of North Korea on or after the date of the enactment
of this Act to the same extent that such penalties apply to a
United States citizen that commits an unlawful act described in
section 2332d of title 18, United States Code.
(c) Transactions in Lethal Military Equipment.--
(1) In general.--The President shall withhold assistance
under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151 et
seq.) to any country that provides lethal military equipment
to, or receives lethal military equipment from, the Government
of North Korea.
(2) Applicability.--The prohibition under this subsection
with respect to a country shall terminate on the date that is 1
year after the date on which such country ceases to provide
lethal military equipment to the Government of North Korea.
(3) Waiver.--The President may, on a case-by-case basis,
waive the prohibition under this subsection with respect to a
country for a period of not more than 180 days, and may renew
the waiver for additional periods of not more than 180 days, if
the President determines and so reports to the appropriate
congressional committees that it is vital to the national
security interests of the United States to exercise such waiver
authority.
SEC. 204. PROCUREMENT SANCTIONS.
(a) In General.--Except as provided in this section, the United
States Government may not procure, or enter into any contract for the
procurement of, any goods or services from any designated person.
(b) FAR.--The Federal Acquisition Regulation issued pursuant to
section 1303 of title 41, United States Code, shall be revised to
require a certification from each person that is a prospective
contractor that such person does not engage in any of the conduct
described in subsection (a) or (b) of section 104. Such revision shall
apply with respect to contracts in an amount greater than the
simplified acquisition threshold (as defined in section 134 of title
41, United States Code) for which solicitations are issued on or after
the date that is 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act.
(c) Termination of Contracts and Initiation of Suspension and
Debarment Proceeding.--
(1) Termination of contracts.--Except as provided in
paragraph (2), the head of an executive agency shall terminate
a contract with a person who has provided a false certification
under subsection (b).
(2) Waiver.--The head of an executive agency may waive the
requirement under paragraph (1) with respect to a person based
upon a written finding of urgent and compelling circumstances
significantly affecting the interests of the United States. If
the head of an executive agency waives the requirement under
paragraph (1) for a person, the head of the agency shall submit
to the appropriate congressional committees, within 30 days
after the waiver is made, a report containing the rationale for
the waiver and relevant information supporting the waiver
decision.
(3) Initiation of suspension and debarment proceeding.--The
head of an executive agency shall initiate a suspension and
debarment proceeding against a person who has provided a false
certification under subsection (b). Upon determination of
suspension, debarment, or proposed debarment, the agency shall
ensure that such person is entered into the Governmentwide
database containing the list of all excluded parties ineligible
for Federal programs pursuant to Executive Order No. 12549 (31
U.S.C. 6101 note; relating to debarment and suspension) and
Executive Order No. 12689 (31 U.S.C. 6101 note; relating to
debarment and suspension).
(d) Clarification Regarding Certain Products.--The remedies specified
in subsections (a) through (c) shall not apply with respect to the
procurement of eligible products, as defined in section 308(4) of the
Trade Agreements Act of 1979 (19 U.S.C. 2518(4)), of any foreign
country or instrumentality designated under section 301(b) of such Act
(19 U.S.C. 2511(b)).
(e) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this subsection may be
construed to limit the use of other remedies available to the head of
an executive agency or any other official of the Federal Government on
the basis of a determination of a false certification under subsection
(b).
(f) Executive Agency Defined.--In this section, the term ``executive
agency'' has the meaning given such term in section 133 of title 41,
United States Code.
SEC. 205. ENHANCED INSPECTIONS AUTHORITIES.
(a) Report Required.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, and every 180 days thereafter, the President,
acting through the Secretary of Homeland Security, shall submit to the
appropriate congressional committees, the Committee on Homeland
Security of the House of Representatives, and the Committee on Homeland
Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate, a report identifying
foreign sea ports and airports whose inspections of ships, aircraft,
and conveyances originating in North Korea, carrying North Korean
property, or operated by the Government of North Korea are deficient to
effectively prevent the facilitation of any of the activities described
in section 104(a).
(b) Enhanced Security Targeting Requirements.--Not later than 180
days after the identification of any sea port or airport pursuant to
subsection (a), the Secretary of Homeland Security shall, utilizing the
Automated Targeting System operated by the National Targeting Center in
U.S. Customs and Border Protection, require enhanced screening
procedures to determine if physical inspections are warranted of any
cargo bound for or landed in the United States that has been
transported through such sea port or airport if there are reasonable
grounds to believe that such cargo contains goods prohibited under this
Act.
(c) Seizure and Forfeiture.--A vessel, aircraft, or conveyance used
to facilitate any of the activities described in section 104(a) that
comes within the jurisdiction of the United States may be seized and
forfeited under chapter 46 of title 18, United States Code, or under
the Tariff Act of 1930.
SEC. 206. TRAVEL SANCTIONS.
(a) Aliens Ineligible for Visas, Admission, or Parole.--
(1) Visas, admission, or parole.--An alien (or an alien who
is a corporate officer of a person (as defined in subparagraph
(B) or (C) of section 3(11))) who the Secretary of State or the
Secretary of Homeland Security (or a designee of one of such
Secretaries) knows, or has reasonable grounds to believe, is
described in subsection (a)(1) or (b)(1) of section 104 is--
(A) inadmissible to the United States;
(B) ineligible to receive a visa or other
documentation to enter the United States; and
(C) otherwise ineligible to be admitted or paroled
into the United States or to receive any other benefit
under the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C.
1101 et seq.).
(2) Current visas revoked.--
(A) In general.--The issuing consular officer, the
Secretary of State, or the Secretary of Homeland
Security (or a designee of one of such Secretaries)
shall revoke any visa or other entry documentation
issued to an alien who is described in subsection
(a)(1) or (b)(1) of section 104 regardless of when
issued.
(B) Effect of revocation.--A revocation under
subparagraph (A)--
(i) shall take effect immediately; and
(ii) shall automatically cancel any other
valid visa or entry documentation that is in
the alien's possession.
(b) Exception To Comply With United Nations Headquarters Agreement.--
Sanctions under subsection (a)(1)(B) shall not apply to an alien if
admitting the alien into the United States is necessary to permit the
United States to comply with the Agreement regarding the Headquarters
of the United Nations, signed at Lake Success June 26, 1947, and
entered into force November 21, 1947, between the United Nations and
the United States, or other applicable international obligations.
SEC. 207. EXEMPTIONS, WAIVERS, AND REMOVALS OF DESIGNATION.
(a) Exemptions.--
(1) Mandatory exemptions.--The following activities shall be
exempt from sanctions under section 104:
(A) Activities subject to the reporting requirements
of title V of the National Security Act of 1947 (50
U.S.C. 413 et seq.), or to any authorized intelligence
activities of the United States.
(B) Any transaction necessary to comply with United
States obligations under the Agreement between the
United Nations and the United States of America
regarding the Headquarters of the United Nations,
signed June 26, 1947, and entered into force on
November 21, 1947, or under the Vienna Convention on
Consular Relations, signed April 24, 1963, and entered
into force on March 19, 1967, or under other
international agreements.
(2) Discretionary exemptions.--The following activities may
be exempt from sanctions under section 104 as determined by the
President:
(A) Any financial transaction the exclusive purpose
for which is to provide humanitarian assistance to the
people of North Korea.
(B) Any financial transaction the exclusive purpose
for which is to import food products into North Korea,
if such food items are not defined as luxury goods.
(C) Any transaction the exclusive purpose for which
is to import agricultural products, medicine, or
medical devices into North Korea, provided that such
supplies or equipment are classified as designated
``EAR 99'' under the Export Administration Regulations
(part 730 of title 15, Code of Federal Regulations) and
not controlled under--
(i) the Export Administration Act of 1979 (50
U.S.C. App. 2401 et seq.), as continued in
effect under the International Emergency
Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.);
(ii) the Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C.
2751 et seq.);
(iii) part B of title VIII of the Nuclear
Proliferation Prevention Act of 1994 (22 U.S.C.
6301 et seq.); or
(iv) the Chemical and Biological Weapons
Control and Warfare Elimination Act of 1991 (22
U.S.C. 5601 et seq.).
(b) Waiver.--The President may waive, on a case-by-case basis, the
imposition of sanctions for a period of not more than one year, and may
renew that waiver for additional periods of not more than one year, any
sanction or other measure under section 104, 204, 205, 206, or 303 if
the President submits to the appropriate congressional committees a
written determination that the waiver meets one or more of the
following requirements:
(1) The waiver is important to the economic or national
security interests of the United States.
(2) The waiver will further the enforcement of this Act or is
for an important law enforcement purpose.
(3) The waiver is for an important humanitarian purpose,
including any of the purposes described in section 4 of the
North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004 (22 U.S.C. 7802).
(c) Removals of Sanctions.--The President may prescribe rules and
regulations for the removal of sanctions on a person that is designated
under subsection (a) or (b) of section 104 and the removal of
designations of a person with respect to such sanctions if the
President determines that the designated person has verifiably ceased
its participation in any of the conduct described in subsection (a) or
(b) of section 104, as the case may be, and has given assurances that
it will abide by the requirements of this Act.
(d) Financial Services for Certain Activities.--The President may
promulgate regulations, rules, and policies as may be necessary to
facilitate the provision of financial services by a foreign financial
institution that is not controlled by the Government of North Korea in
support of the activities subject to exemption under this section.
SEC. 208. REPORT ON THOSE RESPONSIBLE FOR KNOWINGLY ENGAGING IN
SIGNIFICANT ACTIVITIES UNDERMINING CYBER SECURITY.
(a) In General.--The President shall submit to the appropriate
congressional committees a report on significant activities undermining
cyber security conducted, or otherwise ordered or controlled, directly
or indirectly, by the Government of North Korea, including--
(1) the identity and nationality of persons that have
knowingly engaged in, directed, or provided material support to
significant activities undermining cyber security by the
Government of North Korea;
(2) the conduct engaged in by each person identified;
(3) the extent to which a foreign government has provided
material support to significant activities undermining cyber
security conducted, or otherwise ordered or controlled by, the
Government of North Korea; and
(4) the efforts made by the United States to engage foreign
governments to halt the capability of North Korea to conduct
significant activities undermining cyber security.
(b) Submission and Form.--
(1) Submission.--The report required under subsection (a)
shall be submitted not later than 90 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, and every 180 days thereafter for a
period not to exceed 3 years.
(2) Form.--The report required under subsection (a) shall be
submitted in an unclassified form, but may contain a classified
annex.
SEC. 209. SENSE OF CONGRESS THAT TRILATERAL COOPERATION AMONG THE
UNITED STATES, JAPAN, AND THE REPUBLIC OF KOREA IS
CRUCIAL TO THE STABILITY OF THE ASIA-PACIFIC
REGION.
(a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
(1) The United States, Japan, and the Republic of Korea
(South Korea) share the values of democracy, free and open
markets, the rule of law, and respect for human rights.
(2) The alliance relationship between the United States,
Japan, and South Korea are critical to peace and security in
the Asia-Pacific region.
(3) The United States, Japan, and South Korea are committed
to continuing diplomatic efforts to ensure continued peace and
stability in the Asia-Pacific region.
(4) On December 28, 2014, the United States, Japan, and South
Korea finalized a trilateral military intelligence-sharing
arrangement concerning the nuclear and missile threats posed by
North Korea.
(5) The trilateral military intelligence-sharing arrangement
reinforces and strengthens the commitment between the United
States, Japan, and South Korea toward a Korean Peninsula free
of nuclear weapons.
(b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that North
Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile programs are of mutual concern to
the United States, Japan, and South Korea and a trilateral military
intelligence-sharing arrangement is essential to the security of each
nation and the Asia-Pacific region.
SEC. 210. REPORT ON NUCLEAR PROGRAM COOPERATION BETWEEN NORTH KOREA AND
IRAN.
(a) In General.--The President shall submit to the Committee on
Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Committee on
Foreign Relations of the Senate a report on cooperation between North
Korea and Iran on their nuclear programs, including the identity of
Iranian and North Korean persons that have knowingly engaged in or
directed the provision of material support or the exchange of
information between North Korea and Iran on their respective nuclear
programs.
(b) Submission and Form.--
(1) Submission.--The report required under subsection (a)
shall be submitted not later than 90 days after the date of
enactment of this Act.
(2) Form.--The report required under subsection (a) shall be
submitted in an unclassified form, but may contain a classified
annex.
TITLE III--PROMOTION OF HUMAN RIGHTS
SEC. 301. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY.
Section 104 of the North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004 (22 U.S.C.
7814) is amended by inserting after subsection (c) the following new
subsection:
``(d) Information Technology Study.--
``(1) In general.--Not later than 180 days after the date of
the enactment of this subsection, the President shall submit to
the appropriate congressional committees a report setting forth
a detailed plan for making unrestricted, unmonitored, and
inexpensive, radio, Internet, and electronic mass
communications available to the people of North Korea.
``(2) Form.--The report required by paragraph (1) shall be
submitted in unclassified form, but may contain a classified
annex.''.
SEC. 302. REPORT ON NORTH KOREAN PRISON CAMPS.
(a) In General.--The Secretary of State shall submit to the
appropriate congressional committees a report describing, with respect
to each political prison camp in North Korea to the extent information
is available--
(1) the camp's estimated prisoner population;
(2) the camp's geographical coordinates;
(3) the reasons for confinement of the prisoners;
(4) the camp's primary industries and products, and the end
users of any goods produced in such camp;
(5) the natural persons and agencies responsible for
conditions in the camp;
(6) the conditions under which prisoners are confined, with
respect to the adequacy of food, shelter, medical care, working
conditions, and reports of ill-treatment of prisoners; and
(7) imagery, to include satellite imagery of each such camp,
in a format that, if published, would not compromise the
sources and methods used by the intelligence agencies of the
United States to capture geospatial imagery.
(b) Form.--The report required under subsection (a) may be included
in the first report required to be submitted to Congress after the date
of the enactment of this Act under sections 116(d) and 502B(b) of the
Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151n(d) and 2304(b))
(relating to the annual human rights report).
SEC. 303. REPORT ON PERSONS WHO ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR SERIOUS HUMAN
RIGHTS ABUSES OR CENSORSHIP IN NORTH KOREA.
(a) In General.--The Secretary of State shall submit to the
appropriate congressional committees a report that contains an
identification of each person the Secretary determines to be
responsible for serious human rights abuses or censorship in North
Korea and a description of such abuses or censorship engaged in by such
person. The report shall include a description of actions taken by the
Department of State to implement or support the recommendations of the
Commission of Inquiry's Report on Human Rights in the Democratic
People's Republic of North Korea, including efforts to press China and
other countries to implement Commission recommendations.
(b) Consideration.--In preparing the report required under subsection
(a), the Secretary of State shall give due consideration to the
findings of the United Nations Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in
North Korea, and shall make specific findings with respect to the
responsibility of Kim Jong Un, and of each natural person who is a
member of the National Defense Commission of North Korea, or the
Organization and Guidance Department of the Workers' Party of Korea,
for serious human rights abuses and censorship.
(c) Designation of Persons.--The President shall designate under
section 104(a) any person listed in the report required under
subsection (a) as responsible for serious human rights abuses or
censorship in North Korea.
(d) Submission and Form.--
(1) Submission.--The report required under subsection (a)
shall be submitted not later than 90 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, and every 180 days thereafter for a
period not to exceed 3 years, shall be included in each report
required under sections 116(d) and 502B(b) of the Foreign
Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151n(d) and 2304(b))
(relating to the annual human rights report).
(2) Form.--The report required under subsection (a) shall be
submitted in unclassified form, but may include a classified
annex. The Secretary of State shall also publish the
unclassified part of the report on the Department of State's
Web site.
TITLE IV--GENERAL AUTHORITIES
SEC. 401. SUSPENSION OF SANCTIONS AND OTHER MEASURES.
(a) In General.--Any sanction or other measure provided for in title
I (or any amendment made by title I) or title II may be suspended for
up to 365 days upon certification by the President to the appropriate
congressional committees that the Government of North Korea has--
(1) verifiably ceased its counterfeiting of United States
currency, including the surrender or destruction of specialized
materials and equipment used for or particularly suitable for
counterfeiting;
(2) taken significant steps toward financial transparency to
comply with generally accepted protocols to cease and prevent
the laundering of monetary instruments;
(3) taken significant steps toward verification of its
compliance with United Nations Security Council Resolutions
1695, 1718, 1874, 2087, and 2094;
(4) taken significant steps toward accounting for and
repatriating the citizens of other countries abducted or
unlawfully held captive by the Government of North Korea or
detained in violation of the 1953 Armistice Agreement;
(5) accepted and begun to abide by internationally recognized
standards for the distribution and monitoring of humanitarian
aid;
(6) provided credible assurances that it will not support
further acts of international terrorism;
(7) taken significant and verified steps to improve living
conditions in its political prison camps; and
(8) made significant progress in planning for unrestricted
family reunification meetings, including for those individuals
among the two million strong Korean-American community who
maintain family ties with relatives in North Korea.
(b) Renewal of Suspension.--The suspension described in subsection
(a) may be renewed for additional consecutive periods of 180 days upon
certification by the President to the appropriate congressional
committees that the Government of North Korea has continued to comply
with the conditions described in subsection (a) during the previous
year.
SEC. 402. TERMINATION OF SANCTIONS AND OTHER MEASURES.
Any sanction or other measure provided for in title I (or any
amendment made by title I) or title II shall terminate on the date on
which the President determines and certifies to the appropriate
congressional committees that the Government of North Korea has met the
requirements of section 401, and has also--
(1) completely, verifiably, and irreversibly dismantled all
of its nuclear, chemical, biological, and radiological weapons
programs, including all programs for the development of systems
designed in whole or in part for the delivery of such weapons;
(2) released all political prisoners, including the citizens
of North Korea detained in North Korea's political prison
camps;
(3) ceased its censorship of peaceful political activity;
(4) taken significant steps toward the establishment of an
open, transparent, and representative society;
(5) fully accounted for and repatriated all citizens of all
nations abducted or unlawfully held captive by the Government
of North Korea or detained in violation of the 1953 Armistice
Agreement; and
(6) agreed with the Financial Action Task Force on a plan of
action to address deficiencies in its anti-money laundering
regime and begun to implement this plan of action.
SEC. 403. AUTHORITY TO CONSOLIDATE REPORTS.
Any or all reports required to be submitted to appropriate
congressional committees under this Act or any amendment made by this
Act that are subject to a deadline for submission consisting of the
same unit of time may be consolidated into a single report that is
submitted to appropriate congressional committees pursuant to such
deadline.
SEC. 404. REGULATIONS.
(a) In General.--The President is authorized to promulgate such rules
and regulations as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this
Act (which may include regulatory exceptions), including under sections
203 and 205 of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50
U.S.C. 1702 and 1704).
(b) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this Act or any amendment made
by this Act shall be construed to limit the authority of the President
pursuant to an applicable Executive order or otherwise pursuant to the
International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.).
SEC. 405. EFFECTIVE DATE.
Except as otherwise provided in this Act, this Act and the amendments
made by this Act shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this
Act.
Summary and Purpose
H.R. 757, the North Korea Sanctions Enforcement Act
(NKSEA), is the first comprehensive sanctions legislation
directed at North Korea. It is intended to address North
Korea's nuclear, ballistic missile, and other WMD threats; its
counterfeiting of U.S. currency and other illicit activities;
its misuse of the financial system through money laundering;
its severe human rights abuses; its cyber activities; and other
activities that violate applicable U.N. Security Council
resolutions, including arms trafficking, WMD proliferation, and
luxury goods imports. As of 2014, no comprehensive sanctions
legislation exists to address these threats.
The purpose of this legislation is to compel the Government
of North Korea to verifiably suspend, and ultimately dismantle,
its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs, including,
but not limited to, the cessation of all uranium enrichment and
plutonium-related activities. Through the application of broad-
based sanctions, it is also intended to deprive North Korea of
the resources it requires to develop other unconventional
weapons and ballistic missiles, acquire destabilizing
convention weapons that threaten U.S. allies in the region,
support terrorism in the region and across the globe, and
engage in the systematic oppression of the people of North
Korea. Finally, it is intended to force the Government of North
Korea to accept a degree of transparency that will allow for
the verification of its commitments, peaceful coexistence with
its neighbors, including South Korea, and an end to the
repression of the North Korean people.
H.R. 757 also reverses, in part, the relaxation of
sanctions by President Bush in 2008, in response to an abortive
2007 agreement by North Korea to verifiably dismantle its
nuclear weapons program. Since the relaxation of these
sanctions, North Korea has violated its commitments to
dismantle its nuclear program, and has carried out multiple
ballistic missile tests and two nuclear weapons tests.
H.R. 757 would apply sanctions against the Government of
North Korea with the objectives of compelling the regime to
change its policies and behavior that threatens the United
States and the people of North Korea; and deny the regime the
necessary resources to continue these policies.
In addition to advancing the aforementioned U.S. foreign
policy objectives, H.R. 757 supports the interests of U.S.
treaty allies whose cooperation will be essential to achieving
U.S. foreign policy objectives. These interests include the
return of allied nations' abducted citizens and unlawfully
detained prisoners of war, and allowing for unrestricted
reunions of separated families.
H.R. 757 directly targets the foreign assets and income
sources of the North Korean government and its senior officials
by blocking those assets as they pass through the dollar-based
financial system. It also targets North Korea indirectly, by
sanctioning against third-party entities that facilitate
sanctioned activities on behalf of the Government of North
Korea.
Background and Need for Legislation
North Korea's nuclear, ballistic missile, and chemical
weapons programs, as well as its cyber activities pose a
significant and rapidly increasing threat to the United States
and its allies in Northeast Asia. Its suspected proliferation
of WMD technologies to Iran and Syria, and its suspected supply
of advanced weapons systems to terrorist organizations, both
pose a threat to the United States, it allies in the Middle
East, and other nations.
Halting and dismantling North Korea's nuclear, ballistic
missile, and other WMD programs, and ending its capacity to
proliferate weapons and WMD technology to terrorists and state
sponsors of terrorism, are vital U.S. national security
interests.
Legislative Background
The collapse of North Korea's industrial economy in the
early 1990s left it highly dependent on external sources of
hard currency to sustain a population of approximately 23
million, a mechanized military of 1 million men and women, the
military-industrial sector that supplies it, its WMD programs,
and luxury items imported for senior regime officials. Because
of the impracticality of transferring large sums of cash in
bulk, North Korea continues to rely on the international
financial system, and maintains large offshore deposits in
China and Europe.
In September 2005, the Treasury Department invoked the
authority of Section 311 of the USA PATRIOT Act of 2001, Pub.
L. No. 107-56, and blocked the correspondent accounts of Banco
Delta Asia. Banco Delta Asia is a small Macau-based bank that,
according to the Treasury Department, acted as ``a willing
pawn'' of North Korean agents laundering the proceeds of
illicit activity, including the counterfeiting of U.S.
currency. Treasury's designation disconnected Banco Delta Asia
from the international dollar-based financial system and caused
a run on the bank. The Government of Macau intervened and
blocked $25 million in North Korean deposits to prevent the
bank from collapse. Indirectly, the action caused other banks
to block other North Korean accounts, or to reject North Korean
transactions.
The effect on the regime's finances was devastating.
Seventeen months after the sanction was imposed on Banco Delta,
North Korea agreed to dismantle its nuclear weapons program,
but first insisted that the United States return the $25
million in blocked North Korean funds, effectively nullifying
the Section 311 sanction as it applied to North Korea.
In the intervening years, the Treasury Department has not
used Section 311 against North Korean entities or funds. It has
blocked the funds of North Korean individuals and trading
companies under Executive Order 13,382 (June 25, 2005) and
Executive Order 13,551 (Aug. 31, 2010), as authorized under the
International Emergency Economic Powers Act of Act, Pub. L. No.
95-223, title II, as amended. Only recently in March 2013, did
it block the property of two North Korean banks, the Foreign
Trade Bank and Daedong Credit Bank. It has not, however,
applied broader sanctions to the Government of North Korea,
such as designating it as a primary money laundering concern
under Section 311. The Secretary of the Treasury has previously
applied this designation to the governments of Nauru, Ukraine,
Burma, and Iran.
No existing comprehensive sanctions legislation targets
North Korea's unique threats and vulnerabilities. The Iran,
North Korea, and Syria Nonproliferation Act, Pub. L. No. 109-
353, reinforces restrictions on exporting WMD and related
technologies to North Korea, but does not address North Korea's
acquisition of WMD technologies and components from third
countries, does not address other significant U.S. interests
with respect to North Korea, and does not exploit North Korea's
vulnerability to sanctions against its links to the global
financial system.
Since 2005, North Korea has diversified and concealed its
financial lifelines, but it remains dependent on its access to
the international financial system. The vast majority of
international transactions are denominated in dollars, the
world's reserve currency, and nearly all dollar-denominated
transactions are cleared through U.S.-based banks regulated by
the Treasury Department. North Korea continues to use the U.S.
dollar for many of its international and domestic business
transactions, and both legitimate and counterfeit U.S. dollars
circulate widely inside North Korea. Although North Korea hides
its dollar transactions within the dollar-based financial
system using false names, shell companies, and other deceptive
practices, determined financial investigators have defeated
similar tactics by other rogue states, terrorists, and drug-
trafficking organizations.
North Korea's reliance on the dollar allows U.S. sanctions
to reach North Korean assets in two ways. First, if North Korea
transfers or spends dollar-denominated assets, Treasury can
block them as they pass through dollar-clearing banks in New
York. Second, banks that clear North Korea's non-dollar
transactions or convert its dollars to bulk cash, and
businesses that facilitate barter transactions, still need
access to dollar-clearing banks for the majority of their non-
North Korea business. H.R. 757 threatens the access of those
banks and businesses to the dollar system. Few banks or
businesses would be willing to take that risk to help North
Korea evade Treasury sanctions.
North Korea's Nuclear Program
North Korea's nuclear program dates back to the late 1950s,
when it signed a nuclear cooperation agreement with the Soviet
Union. It began to operate a small research reactor in 1967,
and completed a second, 5-megawatt reactor at Yongbyon in 1986,
which could produce approximately 6 kilograms of plutonium
annually. After this point, U.S. satellite imagery showed a
steady expansion of North Korea's nuclear program, including
the construction of a reprocessing plant, a 50-megawatt reactor
at Yongbyon, and a 200-megawatt reactor at Daecheon, although
neither of these larger reactors is believed to have been
completed.
U.S. satellites observed that these reactors were not
connected to North Korea's electrical grid, and that North
Korea was conducting tests to separate plutonium from the 5-
megawatt reactor's spent fuel. U.S. intelligence agencies
concluded that the reactors were part of a nuclear weapons
program.
The Soviet Union pressured North Korea to join the Nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in 1985, but North Korea did not
allow inspections of the reactor until 1992. North Korea has
only allowed intermittent inspections of its nuclear facilities
since then, and U.S. intelligence agencies are uncertain of how
much fissile plutonium North Korea has reprocessed.
In 2002, U.S. diplomats visited Pyongyang to confront the
Government of North Korea with evidence that it was pursuing a
parallel nuclear weapons program through the enrichment of
uranium, in violation of the 1994 Agreed Framework. North
Korean diplomats admitted the program's existence at the time,
but the Government of North Korea subsequently denied it. The
Bush Administration halted deliveries of fuel oil under the
Agreed Framework. North Korea expelled IAEA inspectors and
restarted the reactor, and the 1994 Agreed Framework collapsed.
On October 9, 2006, North Korea conducted its first nuclear
test, in Kilju County, North Hamgyeong Province, in
northeastern North Korea. In response to the test, the U.N.
Security Council approved Resolution 1718, which prohibited
North Korea's nuclear, missile, chemical and biological weapons
programs; prohibited North Korea from selling or purchasing
most arms and related material (except for imports of light
weapons); and prohibited North Korea from importing luxury
goods.
In September 2007, Israeli warplanes bombed a nuclear
reactor in Al Kibar, Syria. A video produced and released by
the Central Intelligence Agency cited evidence that the design
of the Al Kibar reactor was based on the design of the Yongbyon
reactor in North Korea, and that North Korean nuclear
scientists had assisted with the reactor's design and
construction.
On May 25, 2009, North Korea conducted a second nuclear
weapons test. The United Nations responded with Security
Council Resolution 1874, which tightened sanctions under
Resolution 1718 and imposed new shipping sanctions intended to
curb North Korean proliferation.
In November 2010, North Korea revealed the existence of an
advanced uranium enrichment program at an underground facility
at Yongbyon, which contained a cascade of 3,000 centrifuges
based on a Pakistani design obtained from the A.Q. Khan
network. The revelation confirmed longstanding suspicions that
North Korea was pursuing a parallel nuclear weapons program, a
program that likely dated back to the life span of the 1994
Agreed Framework.
In May of 2012, North Korea amended its constitution to
declare itself ``a nuclear state.''
On February 12, 2013, North Korea conducted a third nuclear
test. The New York Times quoted an unidentified Obama
Administration official, who suggested that North Korea may
have cooperated with the Government of Iran in conducting the
nuclear test. The U.N. Security Council responded with
Resolution 2094, which tightened financial sanctions. It
imposed additional financial due diligence requirements on
governments and banks to block, or prevent the provision to
North Korea of, assets that could be used for North Korea's WMD
programs.
On March 30, 2014, North Korea threatened to conduct an
unspecified ``new form'' of nuclear test. As of 2014, North
Korea is believed to possess between four and eight plutonium-
based nuclear weapons, and an unknown number of uranium-based
weapons.
North Korea's Ballistic Missile Program
North Korea continues to develop multiple types of
ballistic missiles that could threaten the Republic of Korea,
Japan, and the United States. North Korea is also believed to
have supplied ballistic missile technology to Iran, Syria, and
Yemen. According to David Kay, the head of the Iraq Survey
Group, the Government of Iraq paid the Government of North
Korea $10 million to supply it with Nodong-1 missiles; however,
the 2003 U.S. invasion aborted the delivery of the missiles.
North Korea has carried out multiple tests of its short-
range ballistic missiles since the 1990s. Although the United
States has since deployed PAC-3 Patriot and Standard-3 missiles
to protect U.S. allies and U.S. forces in the region, North
Korea recently tested a 300-millimeter multiple-launch rocket
system that may be capable of carrying chemical warheads. North
Korea first tested its intermediate-range missile in 1998,
directly overflying Japan with its trajectory.
North Korea is also developing long-range missiles capable
of striking the United States. The Taepodong-2 missile, which
North Korea has tested five times between 2006 and 2012, may
have sufficient range to reach the West Coast of the United
States. The Unha-3, which was tested unsuccessfully in April
2012 and successfully in December 2012, has demonstrated a
capability to launch a satellite into space and hit targets
more than 6,000 miles away, including the West Coast of the
United States. Another possible intercontinental ballistic
missile system, the KN-08, is not known to have been tested.
North Korea's Chemical and Biological Weapons Programs
North Korea's chemical weapons program dates back to the
1950s, and was established with Soviet and Chinese assistance.
The North Korean military is believed to have produced blood,
blister, nerve, and choking agents. Former North Korean prison
camp guards have alleged that they witnessed chemical agents
being tested on prisoners, including an entire family
consisting of a father, mother, son, and daughter who were
gassed at Camp 22, near the city of Hoeryong, as part of an
experiment.
In 2012, a United Nations Panel of Experts published
photographs of chemical protective suits, gas masks, and
chemical indicator ampoules that were in transit from North
Korea to Syria. Open-source media reports alleged that in 2013,
North Korea continued to provide assistance to Syria's chemical
weapons program.
North Korea is also believed to possess biological weapons,
including anthrax. In 1998, U.S. military personnel in the
Republic of Korea were required to be vaccinated against
anthrax.
North Korea's Cyber Threat
For years, the United States and our allies have been
rightly concerned about the threat from North Korea's nuclear
and missile programs. Now, the Kim regime has added a new
weapon to its arsenal: cyberattacks. The state-sanctioned
cyber-attack on Sony Pictures reminded us that North Korea's
weapons are not for show; they are a direct threat to our
security.
North Korea's growing cyber capability emerged most starkly
in 2013. South Korea suffered a series of cyberattacks that
damaged its commercial and media networks, and disrupted
banking services. Despite limited Internet capacity in the
North Korea, defectors and security experts point to an elite
cyber warfare unit known as ``Bureau 121'' as the source of
these attacks.
Last year's cyber-attack is estimated to have cost Sony
hundreds of millions of dollars in damage to the company and
its assets. This was not an act of ``vandalism'' but a state-
sanctioned attack that is of significant concern. Many are
wonder that if North Korea can do to a movie company, how
vulnerable is the rest of our critical infrastructure, such as
our energy grid?
North Korea's Attacks and Threats Against South Korea
North Korea's foreign policy objective continues to be to
reunify the Korean Peninsula under the rule of the Government
of North Korea. It has repeatedly expressed its disapproval of
actions by the governments of South Korea, Japan, and the
United States by threatening to turn their capital cities into
a ``sea of fire,'' or similar threats. North Korea has also
used its official state media to threaten foreign newspapers,
government officials, and human rights activists.
On March 26, 2010, a Republic of Korea naval corvette, the
ROKS Cheonan, exploded and sank near Baekryeong Island in the
Yellow Sea, with the loss of 44 personnel. An international
Civilian-Military Investigation Group was convened, and
concluded that the ROKS Cheonan was destroyed by a torpedo
fired by a North Korean submarine. North Korea has denied
responsibility for the attack.
On November 23, 2010, North Korean artillery in South
Hwanghae Province shelled a village on Yeonpyeong Island, South
Korea, killing two civilians and two Republic of Korea Marines.
North Korea admitted responsibility for the attack, but blamed
it on South Korean live-fire exercises in the waters near
Yeonpyeong Island.
North Korea's Sponsorship of Terrorism
President Bush removed North Korea from the list of state
sponsors of terrorism on October 11, 2008. Since this date,
multiple North Korean agents--including two Korean Peoples'
Army officers attached to the Reconnaissance Bureau of the
Workers' Party of Korea--have been convicted in South Korean
courts of attempting to assassinate North Korean exiles,
planning to assassinate South Korean military officers, and
kidnapping one U.S. resident, who is believed to have died in
North Korea. North Korean agents are suspected of other
completed and attempted assassinations of human rights
activists in China.
North Korea has long harbored terrorists of the Japanese
Red Army, recently assisted Hezbollah in constructing a network
of tunnels and bunkers, and according to published reports,
supplied weapons to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.
In 2009, North Korean weapons shipments were intercepted in
Bangkok, Thailand, and Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The Foreign
Minister of Israel has publicly stated that the intended end
users of these weapons included Hamas and Hezbollah, both
designated terrorist organizations. The weapons intercepted in
Bangkok included advanced man-portable surface-to-air missiles.
According to a 2014 United Nations Panel of Experts, in
2009, the Israeli Navy intercepted a third shipment of similar
weapons in transit from Iran to Syria, although no further
information is available on the intended end user of the
weapons. The same 2014 U.N. report found that the fuses of 333-
millimeter rockets fired into Israel by Hamas were consistent
with similar rocket fuses of North Korean manufacture.
North Korea's Human Rights Abuses
In February of 2014, a Commission of Inquiry appointed by
the United Nations Human Rights Council found that the
Government of North Korea was responsible for crimes against
humanity. The United States and other nations have important
humanitarian interests in deterring, sanctioning, and ending
these abuses.
In its final report, the Commission of Inquiry recommended
targeted sanctions against persons responsible for these
abuses. Correspondence from the Commission Chairman Michael
Kirby to Kim Jong Un calls on Kim Jong Un to investigate the
individual responsibility of North Korean officials for these
abuses, ``to render accountable all those, including possibly
yourself, who may be responsible for crimes against humanity.''
These abuses documented by the Commission of Inquiry
include the operation of a system of political prison camps
that contain as many as 120,000 men, women, and children, and
in which an estimated 400,000 North Koreans have already died.
Witnesses reports that prisoners in the camps are provided
inadequate food and medical care, and that prisoners suffer
high mortality rates from disease and starvation. Working
conditions are severe and unsafe, and guards frequently kill or
torture prisoners.
The report finds evidence that North Korea targets the
children of refugee women repatriated from China with forced
abortions and infanticide, and cites the testimony of a woman
who was forced to drown her own baby in a bucket.
It finds that the Government of North Korea has deprived
many of its citizens of food, even as it expended large sums of
money on WMD programs, conventional weapons, luxury items, and
leisure facilities for senior regime officials. It further
finds that in the 1990s, the Government of North Korea impeded
the delivery of food aid to starving North Koreans during a
famine. Estimates for the death toll from the famine vary
between 600,000 and 2.5 million people.
North Korea is believed to have kidnapped 82,959 South
Koreans during the Korean War; an additional 3,721 South
Koreans since the Korean War; between 12 and 100 Japanese;
approximately 200 Chinese, most of them ethnic Koreans who
assisted North Korean refugees; and citizens of Lebanon,
Thailand, Romania, and possibly other countries.
Negotiations
Repeated diplomatic efforts by the United States and other
governments have failed to dismantle North Korea's nuclear
program. Under the Agreed Framework of 1994, North Korea
initially shut down the 5-megawatt reactor, allowed inspectors
to monitor NPT safeguards, and agreed to its eventual
dismantlement in exchange for aid, including heavy fuel oil and
the construction of two light-water reactors in Sinpo County,
South Hamgyeong Province, along North Korea's East Coast.
In 1997, the Board of Governors of the International Atomic
Energy Agency (IAEA) reported that its inspectors were still
unable to verify North Korea's initial declaration, and that
North Korea still had not complied with NPT safeguards. North
Korea also prevented IAEA inspectors from taking samples and
installing monitoring devices.
In 1998, North Korean tested a Taepodong-1 intermediate
range ballistic missile, whose trajectory passed over Japan.
Congress also became concerned about intelligence that North
Korea was pursuing a parallel uranium-enrichment program.
Diplomatic efforts resumed in 2003, when the first Six-
Party Talks were held. The nations represented were the United
States, China, South Korea, Japan, Russia, and North Korea.
Talks made little progress until September 2005, when the six
parties agreed to a Joint Statement affirming North Korea's
commitment to the complete, verifiable, and irreversible
dismantlement of its nuclear programs. Within a day of signing
the agreement, however, North Korea stated that its commitment
was contingent on the completion of the light-water reactors, a
term that was not mentioned in the Joint Statement and which
would take several years and a substantial financial investment
to fulfill.
On February 13, 2007, the Bush Administration and North
Korea reached a Second Agreed Framework, under which North
Korean would shut down the Yongbyon reactor in exchange for a
delivery of 1 million tons of heavy fuel oil. Eventually, North
Korea would declare all of its nuclear weapons programs and
implement the Joint Statement, dismantling its nuclear weapons
program permanently.
The agreement began to break down within months. North
Korea delayed the shut-down of its reactor until it received
$25 million in blocked funds from Banco Delta Asia. In
September, Israeli warplanes destroyed a nuclear reactor in
Syria that had been built with North Korean assistance. North
Korea failed to submit timely and accurate declarations of its
nuclear weapons programs, and continued to deny the existence
of its uranium-enrichment program, even after submitting
documents and samples of aluminum tubing that contained traces
of enriched uranium.
Although the Bush Administration relaxed sanctions against
North Korea in 2008 and removed the Government of North Korea
from the list of state sponsors of terrorism, North Korea
refused to implement a verification protocol and declared that
it would never relinquish its nuclear weapons programs.
North Korea has not attended the Six-Party Talks since
April 2009, although the United States has held bilateral talks
with North Korea since then. The Obama Administration has since
described its policy toward North Korea as one of ``strategic
patience,'' applying gradual and incremental economic and
financial pressure until the Government of North Korea is
prepared to negotiate its disarmament.
On February 29, 2012, the Obama Administration reached an
agreement with North Korea to freeze North Korea's ballistic
missile programs in exchange for 500,000 tons of food aid. Two
weeks later, North Korea announced a new ``space launch
vehicle'' test.
On May 13, 2014, U.S. negotiator Glyn Davies announced that
the United States would accept ``reversible steps'' in the
early stages of an agreement to freeze, shut down, and
dismantle North Korea's nuclear programs. Davies did not
specify that the United States was willing to offer in exchange
for those steps, and North Korea has offered no public
statement suggesting that it is interested in such an
agreement.
Enforcement of U.N. Security Council Sanctions
Reports from the United Nations Panel of Experts cite
numerous examples of nations failing to enforce U.N. Security
Council Sanctions.
In particular, the People's Republic of China has
repeatedly hosted North Korean individuals and entities known
to be involved in the proliferation of WMD components. North
Korean shipments of arms and related materiel, WMD components,
and luxury items have repeatedly been shipped through the ports
of Dalian, Shanghai, and Hong Kong without inspection. China
has repeatedly allowed ballistic missile components bound for
North Korea, or bound from North Korea to Iran, to transit its
airspace, its ports, and its airports. One state-owned company,
Hubei Sanjiang Space Wanshan Special Vehicle Company sold North
Korea six ballistic missile transporter-erector-launcher
chassis, which it later claimed were ``lumber transporters.''
In one case, a U.N.-sanctioned North Korean machinery company
was openly marketing its products at a Chinese trade fair.
Targeted financial sanctions directed at banks, business,
and shipping companies that facilitate North Korea's violation
of U.N. Security Council Resolutions could be an effective way
to deter the violation of those resolutions. Ports that fail to
meet their inspection obligations under Resolution 1874 would
be targeted for additional inspections of cargo originating in
those ports.
Hearings
On January 13, 2015, the full committee met and received
testimony on ``The North Korean Threat: Nuclear, Missiles, and
Cyber'' (The Honorable Sung Kim, Special Representative for
North Korea Policy and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for
Korea and Japan, U.S. Department of State; The Honorable Daniel
Glaser, Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing, Office of
Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, U.S. Department of the
Treasury; and Brigadier General Gregory J. Touhill (USAF,
retired), Deputy Assistant Secretary for Cybersecurity
Operations and Programs, U.S. Department of Homeland Security).
During the 113th Congress, the committee held three
hearings related to the content of this bill:
March 5, 2013, full committee hearing on ``North Korea's
Criminal Activities: Financing the Regime'' (David Asher,
Ph.D., Non-Resident Senior Fellow, Center for a New American
Security, and Former Senior Adviser, East Asian and Pacific
Affairs, and Coordinator, North Korea Working Group, U.S.
Department of State; Sung-Yoon Lee, Ph.D., Assistant Professor
in Korean Studies, The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy,
Tufts University; The Honorable Joseph R. DeTrani, President,
Intelligence and National Security Alliance, and Former
Director, National Counter Proliferation Center, Office of the
Director of National Intelligence);
April 11, 2013, joint hearing of the Subcommittee on Asia
and the Pacific; Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation,
and Trade; and Subcommittee on the Middle East and North
Africa, on ``Breaking the Iran, North Korea, and Syria Nexus''
(The Honorable R. James Woolsey, Chairman, Foundation for
Defense of Democracies and Former Director of the Central
Intelligence Agency; Mr. Henry D. Sokolski, Executive Director,
Nonproliferation Policy Education Center, and Former Deputy for
Nonproliferation Policy, U.S. Department of Defense; Mr. David
Albright, Founder and President, Institute for Science and
International Security; and Ray Takeyh, Ph.D. Senior Fellow for
Middle Eastern Studies, Council on Foreign Relations); and
March 26, 2014, the Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific
hearing on ``The Shocking Truth about North Korean Tyranny''
(Ms. Grace Jo, Survivor of North Korean human rights abuses;
Mr. Greg Scarlatoiu, Executive Director, Committee for Human
Rights in North Korea; Mr. Bruce Klingner, Senior Research
Fellow, Northeast Asia, The Heritage Foundation).
Committee Consideration
On February 27, 2015, the House Foreign Affairs Committee
marked up the bill H.R. 757 pursuant to notice, in open
session. Three amendments were considered en bloc and agreed to
by voice vote. The bill, as amended, was agreed to by voice
vote, and by unanimous consent was ordered favorably reported
to the House as a single amendment in the nature of a
substitute.
Committee Oversight Findings
In compliance with clause 3(c)(1) of House Rule XIII, the
committee reports that the findings and recommendations of the
committee, based on oversight activities under clause 2(b)(1)
of House Rule X, are incorporated in the descriptive portions
of this report, particularly the ``Summary and Purpose,''
``Background and Need for Legislation,'' and ``Section-by-
Section Analysis'' sections.
New Budget Authority, Tax Expenditures, and Federal Mandates
In compliance with clause 3(c)(2) of House Rule XIII and
the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (P.L. 104-4), the committee
adopts as its own the estimate of new budget authority,
entitlement authority, tax expenditure or revenues, and Federal
mandates contained in the cost estimate prepared by the
Director of the Congressional Budget Office pursuant to section
402 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974.
Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate
U.S. Congress,
Congressional Budget Office,
Washington, DC, March 16, 2015.
Hon. Edward R. Royce, Chairman,
Committee on Foreign Affairs,
House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 757, the North
Korea Sanctions Enforcement Act of 2015.
If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Sunita
D'Monte, who can be reached at 226-2840.
Sincerely,
Douglas W. Elmendorf.
Enclosure
cc:
Honorable Eliot L. Engel
Ranking Member
H.R. 757--North Korea Sanctions Enforcement Act of 2015
As ordered reported by the House Committee on Foreign
Affairs on February 27, 2015.
H.R. 757 would expand existing sanctions against North
Korea. CBO estimates that implementing the bill would cost $10
million over the 2016-2020 period, assuming appropriation of
the necessary amounts. Pay-as-you-go procedures apply to this
legislation because it would affect direct spending and
revenues; however, CBO estimates that those effects would not
be significant.
Provisions of H.R. 757 would increase administrative costs
of the Department of State and the Department of the Treasury.
Based on information from the Administration, CBO estimates
that the departments would hire 10 additional employees to
implement the bill and would require additional appropriations
averaging $2 million a year over the 2016-2020 period.
Sanctions required under the bill would probably increase
the number of people who would be denied a visa by the
Secretary of State. Most visa fees are retained by the
department and spent without further appropriation, but some
fees are deposited in the Treasury as revenues. CBO estimates
that implementing those sanction provisions would affect very
few people, however; thus, they would have an insignificant
budgetary effect.
Because the bill would expand the types of prohibited
activities involving North Korea that are subject to civil and
criminal penalties under current law, it could increase
revenues and direct spending from the collection of those
penalties; however, CBO estimates that the net budgetary effect
of any additional penalties would be negligible for each year.
H.R. 757 contains no intergovernmental mandates as defined
in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) and would not affect
the budgets of state, local, or tribal governments. The bill
would impose private-sector mandates, as defined in UMRA, on
entities that export goods or services sent as nonhumanitarian
assistance. Specifically, it would prohibit entities in the
United States from exporting defense-related items, data, and
services that are sent as assistance to countries that provide
military equipment to North Korea. The bill also would impose a
mandate by requiring the President to revoke licenses for
transactions that lack financial controls to ensure that such
transactions will not facilitate the proliferation of weapons
or human rights abuses by the North Korean government. The cost
of the mandates would be the forgone net revenues from exports
or transactions prohibited by the bill. Because of the small
number of entities that would be affected and the broad scope
of existing U.S. sanctions against North Korea, CBO expects
that the aggregate cost of the mandates would fall below the
annual threshold established in UMRA for private-sector
mandates ($154 million in 2015, adjusted annually for
inflation).
The CBO staff contacts for this estimate are Sunita
D'Monte, Pamela Greene, and Matthew Pickford (for federal
costs) and Paige Piper/Bach (for the private-sector impact).
This estimate was approved by Theresa Gullo, Deputy Assistant
Director for Budget Analysis.
Directed Rule Making
Pursuant to clause 3(c) of House Rule XIII, as modified by
section 3(i) of H. Res. 5 during the 114th Congress, the
committee notes that this bill contains no directed rule-making
provisions.
Non-Duplication of Federal Programs
Pursuant to clause 3(c) of House Rule XIII, as modified by
section 3(g)(2) of H. Res. 5 during the 114th Congress, the
committee states that no provision of this bill establishes or
reauthorizes a program of the Federal Government known to be
duplicative of another Federal program, a program that
wasincluded in any report from the Government Accountability
Office to Congress pursuant to section 21 of Public Law 111-
139, or a program related to a program identified in the most
recent Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance.
Performance Goals and Objectives
The Act is intended to deprive North Korea of the resources
it requires to further test, develop, produce and weaponize
nuclear weapons; develop and export other unconventional
weapons and ballistic missiles; engage in destabilizing
activities within the region and across the globe; and engage
in the systematic suppression of the people of North Korea.
Performance goals associated with these objectives include, but
are not limited to the following:
A verifiable decrease in North Korea's
ability to fund its nuclear weapons program; and
A verifiable decrease in North Korea's
ability to fund and export its unconventional weapons
programs, ballistic missiles and related technology
programs, destabilizing types and amounts of
conventional weapons, and support for regional
destabilization.
Congressional Accountability Act
H.R. 757 does not apply to terms and conditions of
employment or to access to public services or accommodations
within the Legislative Branch.
New Advisory Committees
H.R. 757 does not establish or authorize any new advisory
committees.
Earmark Identification
H.R. 757 contains no congressional earmarks, limited tax
benefits, or limited tariff benefits as described in clauses
9(e), 9(f), and 9(g) of House Rule XXI.
Section-by-Section Analysis
TITLE I--INVESTIGATIONS, PROHIBITED CONDUCT, AND PENALTIES
Section 101. This section states that it is the policy of
the United States to vigorously pursue sanctions against the
North Korean government in order to peacefully disarm
Pyongyang.
Section 102. This section mandates that the President
investigate sanctionable conduct involving North Korea upon the
receipt of credible information that a person or entity has
engaged in such activity. Among other things, sanctionable
conduct may include proliferation of weapons of mass
destruction, arms related materials, luxury goods, and
counterfeit goods. This provision would prevent any
Administration from ignoring destructive North Korean behavior.
Section 103. This section requires the Administration to
regularly brief Congress on North Korean assets and
transactions, so that Congress can oversee the enforcement of
sanctions and ensure that North Korea is cut off from its
offshore assets and income.
Section 104. This section describes the conduct and
entities subject to ``blocking sanctions'' (a prohibition on
any transfers in financial instruments or other property).
Although these blocking sanctions are permitted through
existing regulations, this section makes them mandatory, rather
than discretionary.
Sanctions under this section are mandated against persons
that have materially contributed to North Korea's nuclear and
ballistic missile development or engaged in other destructive
activities, including importing or exporting related WMD
materiel into North Korea, or providing training to, or
advising on, their weapons programs. This section also levies
mandatory sanctions on those who import luxury goods into North
Korea, or enable its censorship efforts or continuing human
rights abuses. Finally, this section strikes at the heart of
North Korea's efforts to fund their illicit activities by
mandating sanctions against those who have engaged in money
laundering, the manufacture of counterfeit goods, or narcotics
trafficking.
This section also provides the Administration the ability
to sanction those transferring, or facilitating the transfer
of, financial assets and property of the North Korea regime.
The section also provides the President with the necessary
authorities to effectively target those who enabled North
Korea's cyber attack against the United States last year.
Section 105. This section seizes assets forfeited for
violations of North Korea sanctions laws, and provides it to
the US Treasury.
TITLE II--SANCTIONS AGAINST NORTH KOREAN PROLIFERATION, HUMAN RIGHTS
ABUSES, AND ILLICIT ACTIVITIES
Section 201. This section instructs the Secretary of the
Treasury to determine whether North Korea is a ``primary money
laundering concern.'' If such a determination was made, that
would block North Korean banks from direct or indirect access
to the U.S. financial system, and require ``special measures''
against designated persons, North Korean government entities,
and banks that provide financial services to entities found to
have engaged in sanctionable conduct. Such a designation could
have a debilitating effect on North Korea's ability to access
the international financial system. It has been used against
Iran.
Section 202. This section finds that all states and
jurisdictions are obligated to implement and enforce U.N.
Security Council resolutions and provides as a sense of
Congress that the President should intensify efforts to
implement a diplomatic strategy to protect the global financial
system from North Korean threats.
Section 203. This section re-imposes those sanctions that
were applied to North Korea until 2008, when the country was
removed from the State Sponsors of Terrorism list. The
prohibitions and restrictions described in section 203 will
restrict export licenses for controlled goods and technologies,
other than those issued for humanitarian purposes, subject to
the same rules and regulations as if the regime were still
designated a state sponsor of terrorism. It will apply
penalties to U.S. persons who engage in financial transactions
with the Government of North Korea, except as provided for in
regulations or for humanitarian or human rights-related
purposes. The section will also statutorily prohibit the export
of munitions to North Korea, and sanction those who send or
receive lethal military equipment from North Korea as if the
regime were still designated a state sponsor of terrorism.
Section 204. This section bars persons or entities
designated facilitating North Korea's destructive policies from
receiving U.S. government contracts.
Section 205. This section requires the Administration to
report to Congress on foreign sea ports and airports whose
inspections of vessels originating from North Korea are
deficient. Cargo coming from ports that consistently fail to
inspect North Korean cargo, as required by U.N. resolutions,
may be subject to increased inspection requirements at U.S.
ports. It also allows for the seizure of ships or aircraft used
for smuggling. This provision would therefore protect the U.S.
homeland from ports that deliberately fail to sufficiently
inspect North Korean cargo.
Section 206. This section allows the President to deny the
entry into the U.S. of any foreigner that has been sanctioned
under this Act.
Section 207. This section provides for exclusions and
waivers from sanctions for humanitarian aid, consular
activities, for cooperating witnesses and banks, and when vital
to the economic or national security interests of the United
States. Exemptions for humanitarian purposes are intended to
include the provision of humanitarian assistance, as well as
related supporting services such as financial, transportation,
or insurance services, and related transactions with the
government of North Korea.
Section 208. This section requires a report from the
Administration on persons that conduct cyber attacks against
the United States on behalf of the Government of North Korea.
TITLE III--PROMOTION OF HUMAN RIGHTS
Section 301. This section requires the President to study
the feasibility of bringing unmonitored and inexpensive
cellular and internet communications to the people of North
Korea, to break the information blockade the regime has imposed
on its own population.
Section 302. This section requires a report by the State
Department on North Korea's political prison camps, which are
estimated to hold up to 200,000 men, women, and children, with
the hope that more public attention will be paid to North
Korea's grave and pervasive crimes against humanity.
Section 303. This section requires a report by the State
Department that identifies severe human rights abusers in North
Korea, utilizing information collected in the recent U.N.
Commission of Inquiry Report on North Korean human rights
abuses, the most comprehensive such report to date.
TITLE IV-- GENERAL AUTHORITIES
Section 401. This provision provides for a one-year
suspension of sanctions, renewable for one consecutive year, if
North Korea takes significant steps toward disarmament and
reform, while preventing the premature relaxation of sanctions
for false North Korean promises.
Section 402. This section terminates these sanctions if
North Korea undergoes a fundamental change of governance toward
an open, free, and peaceful society.
Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported
In compliance with clause 3(e) of rule XIII of the Rules of
the House of Representatives, changes in existing law made by
the bill, as reported, are shown as follows (existing law
proposed to be omitted is enclosed in black brackets, new
matter is printed in italics, existing law in which no change
is proposed is shown in roman):
TITLE 18, UNITED STATES CODE
* * * * * * *
PART I--CRIMES
* * * * * * *
CHAPTER 46--FORFEITURE
Sec. 981. Civil forfeiture
(a)(1) The following property is subject to forfeiture to
the United States:
(A) Any property, real or personal, involved in a
transaction or attempted transaction in violation of
section 1956, 1957 or 1960 of this title, or any
property traceable to such property.
(B) Any property, real or personal, within the
jurisdiction of the United States, constituting,
derived from, or traceable to, any proceeds obtained
directly or indirectly from an offense against a
foreign nation, or any property used to facilitate such
an offense, if the offense--
(i) involves trafficking in nuclear,
chemical, biological, or radiological weapons
technology or material, or the manufacture,
importation, sale, or distribution of a
controlled substance (as that term is defined
for purposes of the Controlled Substances Act),
or any other conduct described in section
1956(c)(7)(B);
(ii) would be punishable within the
jurisdiction of the foreign nation by death or
imprisonment for a term exceeding 1 year; and
(iii) would be punishable under the laws of
the United States by imprisonment for a term
exceeding 1 year, if the act or activity
constituting the offense had occurred within
the jurisdiction of the United States.
(C) Any property, real or personal, which
constitutes or is derived from proceeds traceable to a
violation of section 215, 471, 472, 473, 474, 476, 477,
478, 479, 480, 481, 485, 486, 487, 488, 501, 502, 510,
542, 545, 656, 657, 670, 842, 844, 1005, 1006, 1007,
1014, 1028, 1029, 1030, 1032, or 1344 of this title or
any offense constituting ``specified unlawful
activity'' (as defined in section 1956(c)(7) of this
title), or a conspiracy to commit such offense.
(D) Any property, real or personal, which
represents or is traceable to the gross receipts
obtained, directly or indirectly, from a violation of--
(i) section 666(a)(1) (relating to Federal
program fraud);
(ii) section 1001 (relating to fraud and
false statements);
(iii) section 1031 (relating to major fraud
against the United States);
(iv) section 1032 (relating to concealment
of assets from conservator or receiver of
insured financial institution);
(v) section 1341 (relating to mail fraud);
or
(vi) section 1343 (relating to wire fraud),
if such violation relates to the sale of assets
acquired or held by the the Federal Deposit Insurance
Corporation, as conservator or receiver for a financial
institution, or any other conservator for a financial
institution appointed by the Office of the Comptroller
of the Currency or the National Credit Union
Administration, as conservator or liquidating agent for
a financial institution.
(E) With respect to an offense listed in subsection
(a)(1)(D) committed for the purpose of executing or
attempting to execute any scheme or artifice to
defraud, or for obtaining money or property by means of
false or fraudulent statements, pretenses,
representations or promises, the gross receipts of such
an offense shall include all property, real or
personal, tangible or intangible, which thereby is
obtained, directly or indirectly.
(F) Any property, real or personal, which
represents or is traceable to the gross proceeds
obtained, directly or indirectly, from a violation of--
(i) section 511 (altering or removing motor
vehicle identification numbers);
(ii) section 553 (importing or exporting
stolen motor vehicles);
(iii) section 2119 (armed robbery of
automobiles);
(iv) section 2312 (transporting stolen
motor vehicles in interstate commerce); or
(v) section 2313 (possessing or selling a
stolen motor vehicle that has moved in
interstate commerce).
(G) All assets, foreign or domestic--
(i) of any individual, entity, or
organization engaged in planning or
perpetrating any any Federal crime of terrorism
(as defined in section 2332b(g)(5)) against the
United States, citizens or residents of the
United States, or their property, and all
assets, foreign or domestic, affording any
person a source of influence over any such
entity or organization;
(ii) acquired or maintained by any person
with the intent and for the purpose of
supporting, planning, conducting, or concealing
any Federal crime of terrorism (as defined in
section 2332b(g)(5) against the United States,
citizens or residents of the United States, or
their property;
(iii) derived from, involved in, or used or
intended to be used to commit any Federal crime
of terrorism (as defined in section
2332b(g)(5)) against the United States,
citizens or residents of the United States, or
their property; or
(iv) of any individual, entity, or
organization engaged in planning or
perpetrating any act of international terrorism
(as defined in section 2331) against any
international organization (as defined in
section 209 of the State Department Basic
Authorities Act of 1956 (22 U.S.C. 4309(b)) or
against any foreign Government. Where the
property sought for forfeiture is located
beyond the territorial boundaries of the United
States, an act in furtherance of such planning
or perpetration must have occurred within the
jurisdiction of the United States.
(H) Any property, real or personal, involved in a
violation or attempted violation, or which constitutes
or is derived from proceeds traceable to a violation,
of section 2339C of this title.
(I) Any property, real or personal, that is
involved in a violation or attempted violation, or
which constitutes or is derived from proceeds traceable
to a violation, of section 104(a) of the North Korea
Sanctions Enforcement Act of 2015.
(2) For purposes of paragraph (1), the term ``proceeds'' is
defined as follows:
(A) In cases involving illegal goods, illegal
services, unlawful activities, and telemarketing and
health care fraud schemes, the term ``proceeds'' means
property of any kind obtained directly or indirectly,
as the result of the commission of the offense giving
rise to forfeiture, and any property traceable thereto,
and is not limited to the net gain or profit realized
from the offense.
(B) In cases involving lawful goods or lawful
services that are sold or provided in an illegal
manner, the term ``proceeds'' means the amount of money
acquired through the illegal transactions resulting in
the forfeiture, less the direct costs incurred in
providing the goods or services. The claimant shall
have the burden of proof with respect to the issue of
direct costs. The direct costs shall not include any
part of the overhead expenses of the entity providing
the goods or services, or any part of the income taxes
paid by the entity.
(C) In cases involving fraud in the process of
obtaining a loan or extension of credit, the court
shall allow the claimant a deduction from the
forfeiture to the extent that the loan was repaid, or
the debt was satisfied, without any financial loss to
the victim.
(b)(1) Except as provided in section 985, any property
subject to forfeiture to the United States under subsection (a)
may be seized by the Attorney General and, in the case of
property involved in a violation investigated by the Secretary
of the Treasury or the United States Postal Service, the
property may also be seized by the Secretary of the Treasury or
the Postal Service, respectively.
(2) Seizures pursuant to this section shall be made
pursuant to a warrant obtained in the same manner as provided
for a search warrant under the Federal Rules of Criminal
Procedure, except that a seizure may be made without a warrant
if--
(A) a complaint for forfeiture has been filed in
the United States district court and the court issued
an arrest warrant in rem pursuant to the Supplemental
Rules for Certain Admiralty and Maritime Claims;
(B) there is probable cause to believe that the
property is subject to forfeiture and--
(i) the seizure is made pursuant to a
lawful arrest or search; or
(ii) another exception to the Fourth
Amendment warrant requirement would apply; or
(C) the property was lawfully seized by a State or
local law enforcement agency and transferred to a
Federal agency.
(3) Notwithstanding the provisions of rule 41(a) of the
Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, a seizure warrant may be
issued pursuant to this subsection by a judicial officer in any
district in which a forfeiture action against the property may
be filed under section 1355(b) of title 28, and may be executed
in any district in which the property is found, or transmitted
to the central authority of any foreign state for service in
accordance with any treaty or other international agreement.
Any motion for the return of property seized under this section
shall be filed in the district court in which the seizure
warrant was issued or in the district court for the district in
which the property was seized.
(4)(A) If any person is arrested or charged in a foreign
country in connection with an offense that would give rise to
the forfeiture of property in the United States under this
section or under the Controlled Substances Act, the Attorney
General may apply to any Federal judge or magistrate judge in
the district in which the property is located for an ex parte
order restraining the property subject to forfeiture for not
more than 30 days, except that the time may be extended for
good cause shown at a hearing conducted in the manner provided
in rule 43(e) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.
(B) The application for the restraining order shall set
forth the nature and circumstances of the foreign charges and
the basis for belief that the person arrested or charged has
property in the United States that would be subject to
forfeiture, and shall contain a statement that the restraining
order is needed to preserve the availability of property for
such time as is necessary to receive evidence from the foreign
country or elsewhere in support of probable cause for the
seizure of the property under this subsection.
(c) Property taken or detained under this section shall not
be repleviable, but shall be deemed to be in the custody of the
Attorney General, the Secretary of the Treasury, or the Postal
Service, as the case may be, subject only to the orders and
decrees of the court or the official having jurisdiction
thereof. Whenever property is seized under this subsection, the
Attorney General, the Secretary of the Treasury, or the Postal
Service, as the case may be, may--
(1) place the property under seal;
(2) remove the property to a place designated by
him; or
(3) require that the General Services
Administration take custody of the property and remove
it, if practicable, to an appropriate location for
disposition in accordance with law.
(d) For purposes of this section, the provisions of the
customs laws relating to the seizure, summary and judicial
forfeiture, condemnation of property for violation of the
customs laws, the disposition of such property or the proceeds
from the sale of such property under this section, the
remission or mitigation of such forfeitures, and the compromise
of claims (19 U.S.C. 1602 et seq.), insofar as they are
applicable and not inconsistent with the provisions of this
section, shall apply to seizures and forfeitures incurred, or
alleged to have been incurred, under this section, except that
such duties as are imposed upon the customs officer or any
other person with respect to the seizure and forfeiture of
property under the customs laws shall be performed with respect
to seizures and forfeitures of property under this section by
such officers, agents, or other persons as may be authorized or
designated for that purpose by the Attorney General, the
Secretary of the Treasury, or the Postal Service, as the case
may be. The Attorney General shall have sole responsibility for
disposing of petitions for remission or mitigation with respect
to property involved in a judicial forfeiture proceeding.
(e) Notwithstanding any other provision of the law, except
section 3 of the Anti Drug Abuse Act of 1986, the Attorney
General, the Secretary of the Treasury, or the Postal Service,
as the case may be, is authorized to retain property forfeited
pursuant to this section, or to transfer such property on such
terms and conditions as he may determine--
(1) to any other Federal agency;
(2) to any State or local law enforcement agency
which participated directly in any of the acts which
led to the seizure or forfeiture of the property;
(3) in the case of property referred to in
subsection (a)(1)(C), to any Federal financial
institution regulatory agency--
(A) to reimburse the agency for payments to
claimants or creditors of the institution; and
(B) to reimburse the insurance fund of the
agency for losses suffered by the fund as a
result of the receivership or liquidation;
(4) in the case of property referred to in
subsection (a)(1)(C), upon the order of the appropriate
Federal financial institution regulatory agency, to the
financial institution as restitution, with the value of
the property so transferred to be set off against any
amount later recovered by the financial institution as
compensatory damages in any State or Federal
proceeding;
(5) in the case of property referred to in
subsection (a)(1)(C), to any Federal financial
institution regulatory agency, to the extent of the
agency's contribution of resources to, or expenses
involved in, the seizure and forfeiture, and the
investigation leading directly to the seizure and
forfeiture, of such property;
(6) as restoration to any victim of the offense
giving rise to the forfeiture, including, in the case
of a money laundering offense, any offense constituting
the underlying specified unlawful activity; or
(7) In the case of property referred to in
subsection (a)(1)(D), to the Resolution Trust
Corporation, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation,
or any other Federal financial institution regulatory
agency (as defined in section 8(e)(7)(D) of the Federal
Deposit Insurance Act).
The Attorney General, the Secretary of the Treasury, or the
Postal Service, as the case may be, shall ensure the equitable
transfer pursuant to paragraph (2) of any forfeited property to
the appropriate State or local law enforcement agency so as to
reflect generally the contribution of any such agency
participating directly in any of the acts which led to the
seizure or forfeiture of such property. A decision by the
Attorney General, the Secretary of the Treasury, or the Postal
Service pursuant to paragraph (2) shall not be subject to
review. The United States shall not be liable in any action
arising out of the use of any property the custody of which was
transferred pursuant to this section to any non-Federal agency.
The Attorney General, the Secretary of the Treasury, or the
Postal Service may order the discontinuance of any forfeiture
proceedings under this section in favor of the institution of
forfeiture proceedings by State or local authorities under an
appropriate State or local statute. After the filing of a
complaint for forfeiture under this section, the Attorney
General may seek dismissal of the complaint in favor of
forfeiture proceedings under State or local law. Whenever
forfeiture proceedings are discontinued by the United States in
favor of State or local proceedings, the United States may
transfer custody and possession of the seized property to the
appropriate State or local official immediately upon the
initiation of the proper actions by such officials. Whenever
forfeiture proceedings are discontinued by the United States in
favor of State or local proceedings, notice shall be sent to
all known interested parties advising them of the
discontinuance or dismissal. The United States shall not be
liable in any action arising out of the seizure, detention, and
transfer of seized property to State or local officials. The
United States shall not be liable in any action arising out of
a transfer under paragraph (3), (4), or (5) of this subsection.
(f) All right, title, and interest in property described in
subsection (a) of this section shall vest in the United States
upon commission of the act giving rise to forfeiture under this
section.
(g)(1) Upon the motion of the United States, the court
shall stay the civil forfeiture proceeding if the court
determines that civil discovery will adversely affect the
ability of the Government to conduct a related criminal
investigation or the prosecution of a related criminal case.
(2) Upon the motion of a claimant, the court shall stay the
civil forfeiture proceeding with respect to that claimant if
the court determines that--
(A) the claimant is the subject of a related
criminal investigation or case;
(B) the claimant has standing to assert a claim in
the civil forfeiture proceeding; and
(C) continuation of the forfeiture proceeding will
burden the right of the claimant against self-
incrimination in the related investigation or case.
(3) With respect to the impact of civil discovery described
in paragraphs (1) and (2), the court may determine that a stay
is unnecessary if a protective order limiting discovery would
protect the interest of one party without unfairly limiting the
ability of the opposing party to pursue the civil case. In no
case, however, shall the court impose a protective order as an
alternative to a stay if the effect of such protective order
would be to allow one party to pursue discovery while the other
party is substantially unable to do so.
(4) In this subsection, the terms ``related criminal case''
and ``related criminal investigation'' mean an actual
prosecution or investigation in progress at the time at which
the request for the stay, or any subsequent motion to lift the
stay is made. In determining whether a criminal case or
investigation is ``related'' to a civil forfeiture proceeding,
the court shall consider the degree of similarity between the
parties, witnesses, facts, and circumstances involved in the
two proceedings, without requiring an identity with respect to
any one or more factors.
(5) In requesting a stay under paragraph (1), the
Government may, in appropriate cases, submit evidence ex parte
in order to avoid disclosing any matter that may adversely
affect an ongoing criminal investigation or pending criminal
trial.
(6) Whenever a civil forfeiture proceeding is stayed
pursuant to this subsection, the court shall enter any order
necessary to preserve the value of the property or to protect
the rights of lienholders or other persons with an interest in
the property while the stay is in effect.
(7) A determination by the court that the claimant has
standing to request a stay pursuant to paragraph (2) shall
apply only to this subsection and shall not preclude the
Government from objecting to the standing of the claimant by
dispositive motion or at the time of trial.
(h) In addition to the venue provided for in section 1395
of title 28 or any other provision of law, in the case of
property of a defendant charged with a violation that is the
basis for forfeiture of the property under this section, a
proceeding for forfeiture under this section may be brought in
the judicial district in which the defendant owning such
property is found or in the judicial district in which the
criminal prosecution is brought.
(i)(1) Whenever property is civilly or criminally forfeited
under this chapter, the Attorney General or the Secretary of
the Treasury, as the case may be, may transfer the forfeited
personal property or the proceeds of the sale of any forfeited
personal or real property to any foreign country which
participated directly or indirectly in the seizure or
forfeiture of the property, if such a transfer--
(A) has been agreed to by the Secretary of State;
(B) is authorized in an international agreement
between the United States and the foreign country; and
(C) is made to a country which, if applicable, has
been certified under section 481(h) of the Foreign
Assistance Act of 1961.
A decision by the Attorney General or the Secretary of the
Treasury pursuant to this paragraph shall not be subject to
review. The foreign country shall, in the event of a transfer
of property or proceeds of sale of property under this
subsection, bear all expenses incurred by the United States in
the seizure, maintenance, inventory, storage, forfeiture, and
disposition of the property, and all transfer costs. The
payment of all such expenses, and the transfer of assets
pursuant to this paragraph, shall be upon such terms and
conditions as the Attorney General or the Secretary of the
Treasury may, in his discretion, set.
(2) The provisions of this section shall not be construed
as limiting or superseding any other authority of the United
States to provide assistance to a foreign country in obtaining
property related to a crime committed in the foreign country,
including property which is sought as evidence of a crime
committed in the foreign country.
(3) A certified order or judgment of forfeiture by a court
of competent jurisdiction of a foreign country concerning
property which is the subject of forfeiture under this section
and was determined by such court to be the type of property
described in subsection (a)(1)(B) of this section, and any
certified recordings or transcripts of testimony taken in a
foreign judicial proceeding concerning such order or judgment
of forfeiture, shall be admissible in evidence in a proceeding
brought pursuant to this section. Such certified order or
judgment of forfeiture, when admitted into evidence, shall
constitute probable cause that the property forfeited by such
order or judgment of forfeiture is subject to forfeiture under
this section and creates a rebuttable presumption of the
forfeitability of such property under this section.
(4) A certified order or judgment of conviction by a court
of competent jurisdiction of a foreign country concerning an
unlawful drug activity which gives rise to forfeiture under
this section and any certified recordings or transcripts of
testimony taken in a foreign judicial proceeding concerning
such order or judgment of conviction shall be admissible in
evidence in a proceeding brought pursuant to this section. Such
certified order or judgment of conviction, when admitted into
evidence, creates a rebuttable presumption that the unlawful
drug activity giving rise to forfeiture under this section has
occurred.
(5) The provisions of paragraphs (3) and (4) of this
subsection shall not be construed as limiting the admissibility
of any evidence otherwise admissible, nor shall they limit the
ability of the United States to establish probable cause that
property is subject to forfeiture by any evidence otherwise
admissible.
(j) For purposes of this section--
(1) the term ``Attorney General'' means the
Attorney General or his delegate; and
(2) the term ``Secretary of the Treasury'' means
the Secretary of the Treasury or his delegate.
(k) Interbank Accounts.--
(1) In general.--
(A) In general.--For the purpose of a
forfeiture under this section or under the
Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 801 et
seq.), if funds are deposited into an account
at a foreign financial institution (as defined
in section 984(c)(2)(A) of this title), and
that foreign financial institution (as defined
in section 984(c)(2)(A) of this title) has an
interbank account in the United States with a
covered financial institution (as defined in
section 5318(j)(1) of title 31), the funds
shall be deemed to have been deposited into the
interbank account in the United States, and any
restraining order, seizure warrant, or arrest
warrant in rem regarding the funds may be
served on the covered financial institution,
and funds in the interbank account, up to the
value of the funds deposited into the account
at the foreign financial institution (as
defined in section 984(c)(2)(A) of this title),
may be restrained, seized, or arrested.
(B) Authority to suspend.--The Attorney
General, in consultation with the Secretary of
the Treasury, may suspend or terminate a
forfeiture under this section if the Attorney
General determines that a conflict of law
exists between the laws of the jurisdiction in
which the foreign financial institution (as
defined in section 984(c)(2)(A) of this title)
is located and the laws of the United States
with respect to liabilities arising from the
restraint, seizure, or arrest of such funds,
and that such suspension or termination would
be in the interest of justice and would not
harm the national interests of the United
States.
(2) No requirement for Government to trace funds.--
If a forfeiture action is brought against funds that
are restrained, seized, or arrested under paragraph
(1), it shall not be necessary for the Government to
establish that the funds are directly traceable to the
funds that were deposited into the foreign financial
institution (as defined in section 984(c)(2)(A) of this
title), nor shall it be necessary for the Government to
rely on the application of section 984.
(3) Claims brought by owner of the funds.--If a
forfeiture action is instituted against funds
restrained, seized, or arrested under paragraph (1),
the owner of the funds deposited into the account at
the foreign financial institution (as defined in
section 984(c)(2)(A) of this title) may contest the
forfeiture by filing a claim under section 983.
(4) Definitions.--For purposes of this subsection,
the following definitions shall apply:
(A) Interbank account.--The term
``interbank account'' has the same meaning as
in section 984(c)(2)(B).
(B) Owner.--
(i) In general.--Except as provided
in clause (ii), the term ``owner''--
(I) means the person who
was the owner, as that term is
defined in section 983(d)(6),
of the funds that were
deposited into the foreign
financial institution (as
defined in section 984(c)(2)(A)
of this title) at the time such
funds were deposited; and
(II) does not include
either the foreign financial
institution (as defined in
section 984(c)(2)(A) of this
title) or any financial
institution acting as an
intermediary in the transfer of
the funds into the interbank
account.
(ii) Exception.--The foreign
financial institution (as defined in
section 984(c)(2)(A) of this title) may
be considered the ``owner'' of the
funds (and no other person shall
qualify as the owner of such funds)
only if--
(I) the basis for the
forfeiture action is wrongdoing
committed by the foreign
financial institution (as
defined in section 984(c)(2)(A)
of this title); or
(II) the foreign financial
institution (as defined in
section 984(c)(2)(A) of this
title) establishes, by a
preponderance of the evidence,
that prior to the restraint,
seizure, or arrest of the
funds, the foreign financial
institution (as defined in
section 984(c)(2)(A) of this
title) had discharged all or
part of its obligation to the
prior owner of the funds, in
which case the foreign
financial institution (as
defined in section 984(c)(2)(A)
of this title) shall be deemed
the owner of the funds to the
extent of such discharged
obligation.
* * * * * * *
Sec. 983. General rules for civil forfeiture proceedings
(a) Notice; Claim; Complaint.--
(1)(A)(i) Except as provided in clauses (ii)
through (v), in any nonjudicial civil forfeiture
proceeding under a civil forfeiture statute, with
respect to which the Government is required to send
written notice to interested parties, such notice shall
be sent in a manner to achieve proper notice as soon as
practicable, and in no case more than 60 days after the
date of the seizure.
(ii) No notice is required if, before the 60-day
period expires, the Government files a civil judicial
forfeiture action against the property and provides
notice of that action as required by law.
(iii) If, before the 60-day period expires, the
Government does not file a civil judicial forfeiture
action, but does obtain a criminal indictment
containing an allegation that the property is subject
to forfeiture, the Government shall either--
(I) send notice within the 60 days and
continue the nonjudicial civil forfeiture
proceeding under this section; or
(II) terminate the nonjudicial civil
forfeiture proceeding, and take the steps
necessary to preserve its right to maintain
custody of the property as provided in the
applicable criminal forfeiture statute.
(iv) In a case in which the property is seized by a
State or local law enforcement agency and turned over
to a Federal law enforcement agency for the purpose of
forfeiture under Federal law, notice shall be sent not
more than 90 days after the date of seizure by the
State or local law enforcement agency.
(v) If the identity or interest of a party is not
determined until after the seizure or turnover but is
determined before a declaration of forfeiture is
entered, notice shall be sent to such interested party
not later than 60 days after the determination by the
Government of the identity of the party or the party's
interest.
(B) A supervisory official in the headquarters
office of the seizing agency may extend the period for
sending notice under subparagraph (A) for a period not
to exceed 30 days (which period may not be further
extended except by a court), if the official determines
that the conditions in subparagraph (D) are present.
(C) Upon motion by the Government, a court may
extend the period for sending notice under subparagraph
(A) for a period not to exceed 60 days, which period
may be further extended by the court for 60-day
periods, as necessary, if the court determines, based
on a written certification of a supervisory official in
the headquarters office of the seizing agency, that the
conditions in subparagraph (D) are present.
(D) The period for sending notice under this
paragraph may be extended only if there is reason to
believe that notice may have an adverse result,
including--
(i) endangering the life or physical safety
of an individual;
(ii) flight from prosecution;
(iii) destruction of or tampering with
evidence;
(iv) intimidation of potential witnesses;
or
(v) otherwise seriously jeopardizing an
investigation or unduly delaying a trial.
(E) Each of the Federal seizing agencies conducting
nonjudicial forfeitures under this section shall report
periodically to the Committees on the Judiciary of the
House of Representatives and the Senate the number of
occasions when an extension of time is granted under
subparagraph (B).
(F) If the Government does not send notice of a
seizure of property in accordance with subparagraph (A)
to the person from whom the property was seized, and no
extension of time is granted, the Government shall
return the property to that person without prejudice to
the right of the Government to commence a forfeiture
proceeding at a later time. The Government shall not be
required to return contraband or other property that
the person from whom the property was seized may not
legally possess.
(2)(A) Any person claiming property seized in a
nonjudicial civil forfeiture proceeding under a civil
forfeiture statute may file a claim with the
appropriate official after the seizure.
(B) A claim under subparagraph (A) may be filed not
later than the deadline set forth in a personal notice
letter (which deadline may be not earlier than 35 days
after the date the letter is mailed), except that if
that letter is not received, then a claim may be filed
not later than 30 days after the date of final
publication of notice of seizure.
(C) A claim shall--
(i) identify the specific property being
claimed;
(ii) state the claimant's interest in such
property; and
(iii) be made under oath, subject to
penalty of perjury.
(D) A claim need not be made in any particular
form. Each Federal agency conducting nonjudicial
forfeitures under this section shall make claim forms
generally available on request, which forms shall be
written in easily understandable language.
(E) Any person may make a claim under subparagraph
(A) without posting bond with respect to the property
which is the subject of the claim.
(3)(A) Not later than 90 days after a claim has
been filed, the Government shall file a complaint for
forfeiture in the manner set forth in the Supplemental
Rules for Certain Admiralty and Maritime Claims or
return the property pending the filing of a complaint,
except that a court in the district in which the
complaint will be filed may extend the period for
filing a complaint for good cause shown or upon
agreement of the parties.
(B) If the Government does not--
(i) file a complaint for forfeiture or
return the property, in accordance with
subparagraph (A); or
(ii) before the time for filing a complaint
has expired--
(I) obtain a criminal indictment
containing an allegation that the
property is subject to forfeiture; and
(II) take the steps necessary to
preserve its right to maintain custody
of the property as provided in the
applicable criminal forfeiture statute,
the Government shall promptly release the property
pursuant to regulations promulgated by the Attorney
General, and may not take any further action to effect
the civil forfeiture of such property in connection
with the underlying offense.
(C) In lieu of, or in addition to, filing a civil
forfeiture complaint, the Government may include a
forfeiture allegation in a criminal indictment. If
criminal forfeiture is the only forfeiture proceeding
commenced by the Government, the Government's right to
continued possession of the property shall be governed
by the applicable criminal forfeiture statute.
(D) No complaint may be dismissed on the ground
that the Government did not have adequate evidence at
the time the complaint was filed to establish the
forfeitability of the property.
(4)(A) In any case in which the Government files in
the appropriate United States district court a
complaint for forfeiture of property, any person
claiming an interest in the seized property may file a
claim asserting such person's interest in the property
in the manner set forth in the Supplemental Rules for
Certain Admiralty and Maritime Claims, except that such
claim may be filed not later than 30 days after the
date of service of the Government's complaint or, as
applicable, not later than 30 days after the date of
final publication of notice of the filing of the
complaint.
(B) A person asserting an interest in seized
property, in accordance with subparagraph (A), shall
file an answer to the Government's complaint for
forfeiture not later than 20 days after the date of the
filing of the claim.
(b) Representation.--
(1)(A) If a person with standing to contest the
forfeiture of property in a judicial civil forfeiture
proceeding under a civil forfeiture statute is
financially unable to obtain representation by counsel,
and the person is represented by counsel appointed
under section 3006A of this title in connection with a
related criminal case, the court may authorize counsel
to represent that person with respect to the claim.
(B) In determining whether to authorize counsel to
represent a person under subparagraph (A), the court
shall take into account such factors as--
(i) the person's standing to contest the
forfeiture; and
(ii) whether the claim appears to be made
in good faith.
(2)(A) If a person with standing to contest the
forfeiture of property in a judicial civil forfeiture
proceeding under a civil forfeiture statute is
financially unable to obtain representation by counsel,
and the property subject to forfeiture is real property
that is being used by the person as a primary
residence, the court, at the request of the person,
shall insure that the person is represented by an
attorney for the Legal Services Corporation with
respect to the claim.
(B)(i) At appropriate times during a representation
under subparagraph (A), the Legal Services Corporation
shall submit a statement of reasonable attorney fees
and costs to the court.
(ii) The court shall enter a judgment in favor of
the Legal Services Corporation for reasonable attorney
fees and costs submitted pursuant to clause (i) and
treat such judgment as payable under section 2465 of
title 28, United States Code, regardless of the outcome
of the case.
(3) The court shall set the compensation for
representation under this subsection, which shall be
equivalent to that provided for court-appointed
representation under section 3006A of this title.
(c) Burden of Proof.--In a suit or action brought under any
civil forfeiture statute for the civil forfeiture of any
property--
(1) the burden of proof is on the Government to
establish, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the
property is subject to forfeiture;
(2) the Government may use evidence gathered after
the filing of a complaint for forfeiture to establish,
by a preponderance of the evidence, that property is
subject to forfeiture; and
(3) if the Government's theory of forfeiture is
that the property was used to commit or facilitate the
commission of a criminal offense, or was involved in
the commission of a criminal offense, the Government
shall establish that there was a substantial connection
between the property and the offense.
(d) Innocent Owner Defense.--
(1) An innocent owner's interest in property shall
not be forfeited under any civil forfeiture statute.
The claimant shall have the burden of proving that the
claimant is an innocent owner by a preponderance of the
evidence.
(2)(A) With respect to a property interest in
existence at the time the illegal conduct giving rise
to forfeiture took place, the term ``innocent owner''
means an owner who--
(i) did not know of the conduct giving rise
to forfeiture; or
(ii) upon learning of the conduct giving
rise to the forfeiture, did all that reasonably
could be expected under the circumstances to
terminate such use of the property.
(B)(i) For the purposes of this paragraph, ways in
which a person may show that such person did all that
reasonably could be expected may include demonstrating
that such person, to the extent permitted by law--
(I) gave timely notice to an appropriate
law enforcement agency of information that led
the person to know the conduct giving rise to a
forfeiture would occur or has occurred; and
(II) in a timely fashion revoked or made a
good faith attempt to revoke permission for
those engaging in such conduct to use the
property or took reasonable actions in
consultation with a law enforcement agency to
discourage or prevent the illegal use of the
property.
(ii) A person is not required by this subparagraph
to take steps that the person reasonably believes would
be likely to subject any person (other than the person
whose conduct gave rise to the forfeiture) to physical
danger.
(3)(A) With respect to a property interest acquired
after the conduct giving rise to the forfeiture has
taken place, the term ``innocent owner'' means a person
who, at the time that person acquired the interest in
the property--
(i) was a bona fide purchaser or seller for
value (including a purchaser or seller of goods
or services for value); and
(ii) did not know and was reasonably
without cause to believe that the property was
subject to forfeiture.
(B) An otherwise valid claim under subparagraph (A)
shall not be denied on the ground that the claimant
gave nothing of value in exchange for the property if--
(i) the property is the primary residence
of the claimant;
(ii) depriving the claimant of the property
would deprive the claimant of the means to
maintain reasonable shelter in the community
for the claimant and all dependents residing
with the claimant;
(iii) the property is not, and is not
traceable to, the proceeds of any criminal
offense; and
(iv) the claimant acquired his or her
interest in the property through marriage,
divorce, or legal separation, or the claimant
was the spouse or legal dependent of a person
whose death resulted in the transfer of the
property to the claimant through inheritance or
probate,
except that the court shall limit the value of any real
property interest for which innocent ownership is
recognized under this subparagraph to the value
necessary to maintain reasonable shelter in the
community for such claimant and all dependents residing
with the claimant.
(4) Notwithstanding any provision of this
subsection, no person may assert an ownership interest
under this subsection in contraband or other property
that it is illegal to possess.
(5) If the court determines, in accordance with
this section, that an innocent owner has a partial
interest in property otherwise subject to forfeiture,
or a joint tenancy or tenancy by the entirety in such
property, the court may enter an appropriate order--
(A) severing the property;
(B) transferring the property to the
Government with a provision that the Government
compensate the innocent owner to the extent of
his or her ownership interest once a final
order of forfeiture has been entered and the
property has been reduced to liquid assets; or
(C) permitting the innocent owner to retain
the property subject to a lien in favor of the
Government to the extent of the forfeitable
interest in the property.
(6) In this subsection, the term ``owner''--
(A) means a person with an ownership
interest in the specific property sought to be
forfeited, including a leasehold, lien,
mortgage, recorded security interest, or valid
assignment of an ownership interest; and
(B) does not include--
(i) a person with only a general
unsecured interest in, or claim
against, the property or estate of
another;
(ii) a bailee unless the bailor is
identified and the bailee shows a
colorable legitimate interest in the
property seized; or
(iii) a nominee who exercises no
dominion or control over the property.
(e) Motion To Set Aside Forfeiture.--
(1) Any person entitled to written notice in any
nonjudicial civil forfeiture proceeding under a civil
forfeiture statute who does not receive such notice may
file a motion to set aside a declaration of forfeiture
with respect to that person's interest in the property,
which motion shall be granted if--
(A) the Government knew, or reasonably
should have known, of the moving party's
interest and failed to take reasonable steps to
provide such party with notice; and
(B) the moving party did not know or have
reason to know of the seizure within sufficient
time to file a timely claim.
(2)(A) Notwithstanding the expiration of any
applicable statute of limitations, if the court grants
a motion under paragraph (1), the court shall set aside
the declaration of forfeiture as to the interest of the
moving party without prejudice to the right of the
Government to commence a subsequent forfeiture
proceeding as to the interest of the moving party.
(B) Any proceeding described in subparagraph (A)
shall be commenced--
(i) if nonjudicial, within 60 days of the
entry of the order granting the motion; or
(ii) if judicial, within 6 months of the
entry of the order granting the motion.
(3) A motion under paragraph (1) may be filed not
later than 5 years after the date of final publication
of notice of seizure of the property.
(4) If, at the time a motion made under paragraph
(1) is granted, the forfeited property has been
disposed of by the Government in accordance with law,
the Government may institute proceedings against a
substitute sum of money equal to the value of the
moving party's interest in the property at the time the
property was disposed of.
(5) A motion filed under this subsection shall be
the exclusive remedy for seeking to set aside a
declaration of forfeiture under a civil forfeiture
statute.
(f) Release Of Seized Property.--
(1) A claimant under subsection (a) is entitled to
immediate release of seized property if--
(A) the claimant has a possessory interest
in the property;
(B) the claimant has sufficient ties to the
community to provide assurance that the
property will be available at the time of the
trial;
(C) the continued possession by the
Government pending the final disposition of
forfeiture proceedings will cause substantial
hardship to the claimant, such as preventing
the functioning of a business, preventing an
individual from working, or leaving an
individual homeless;
(D) the claimant's likely hardship from the
continued possession by the Government of the
seized property outweighs the risk that the
property will be destroyed, damaged, lost,
concealed, or transferred if it is returned to
the claimant during the pendency of the
proceeding; and
(E) none of the conditions set forth in
paragraph (8) applies.
(2) A claimant seeking release of property under
this subsection must request possession of the property
from the appropriate official, and the request must set
forth the basis on which the requirements of paragraph
(1) are met.
(3)(A) If not later than 15 days after the date of
a request under paragraph (2) the property has not been
released, the claimant may file a petition in the
district court in which the complaint has been filed
or, if no complaint has been filed, in the district
court in which the seizure warrant was issued or in the
district court for the district in which the property
was seized.
(B) The petition described in subparagraph (A)
shall set forth--
(i) the basis on which the requirements of
paragraph (1) are met; and
(ii) the steps the claimant has taken to
secure release of the property from the
appropriate official.
(4) If the Government establishes that the
claimant's claim is frivolous, the court shall deny the
petition. In responding to a petition under this
subsection on other grounds, the Government may in
appropriate cases submit evidence ex parte in order to
avoid disclosing any matter that may adversely affect
an ongoing criminal investigation or pending criminal
trial.
(5) The court shall render a decision on a petition
filed under paragraph (3) not later than 30 days after
the date of the filing, unless such 30-day limitation
is extended by consent of the parties or by the court
for good cause shown.
(6) If--
(A) a petition is filed under paragraph
(3); and
(B) the claimant demonstrates that the
requirements of paragraph (1) have been met,
the district court shall order that the property be
returned to the claimant, pending completion of
proceedings by the Government to obtain forfeiture of
the property.
(7) If the court grants a petition under paragraph
(3)--
(A) the court may enter any order necessary
to ensure that the value of the property is
maintained while the forfeiture action is
pending, including--
(i) permitting the inspection,
photographing, and inventory of the
property;
(ii) fixing a bond in accordance
with rule E(5) of the Supplemental
Rules for Certain Admiralty and
Maritime Claims; and
(iii) requiring the claimant to
obtain or maintain insurance on the
subject property; and
(B) the Government may place a lien against
the property or file a lis pendens to ensure
that the property is not transferred to another
person.
(8) This subsection shall not apply if the seized
property--
(A) is contraband, currency, or other
monetary instrument, or electronic funds unless
such currency or other monetary instrument or
electronic funds constitutes the assets of a
legitimate business which has been seized;
(B) is to be used as evidence of a
violation of the law;
(C) by reason of design or other
characteristic, is particularly suited for use
in illegal activities; or
(D) is likely to be used to commit
additional criminal acts if returned to the
claimant.
(g) Proportionality.--
(1) The claimant under subsection (a)(4) may
petition the court to determine whether the forfeiture
was constitutionally excessive.
(2) In making this determination, the court shall
compare the forfeiture to the gravity of the offense
giving rise to the forfeiture.
(3) The claimant shall have the burden of
establishing that the forfeiture is grossly
disproportional by a preponderance of the evidence at a
hearing conducted by the court without a jury.
(4) If the court finds that the forfeiture is
grossly disproportional to the offense it shall reduce
or eliminate the forfeiture as necessary to avoid a
violation of the Excessive Fines Clause of the Eighth
Amendment of the Constitution.
(h) Civil Fine.--
(1) In any civil forfeiture proceeding under a
civil forfeiture statute in which the Government
prevails, if the court finds that the claimant's
assertion of an interest in the property was frivolous,
the court may impose a civil fine on the claimant of an
amount equal to 10 percent of the value of the
forfeited property, but in no event shall the fine be
less than $250 or greater than $5,000.
(2) Any civil fine imposed under this subsection
shall not preclude the court from imposing sanctions
under rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.
(3) In addition to the limitations of section 1915
of title 28, United States Code, in no event shall a
prisoner file a claim under a civil forfeiture statute
or appeal a judgment in a civil action or proceeding
based on a civil forfeiture statute if the prisoner
has, on three or more prior occasions, while
incarcerated or detained in any facility, brought an
action or appeal in a court of the United States that
was dismissed on the grounds that it is frivolous or
malicious, unless the prisoner shows extraordinary and
exceptional circumstances.
(i) Civil Forfeiture Statute Defined.--In this section, the
term ``civil forfeiture statute''--
(1) means any provision of Federal law providing
for the forfeiture of property other than as a sentence
imposed upon conviction of a criminal offense; and
(2) does not include--
(A) the Tariff Act of 1930 or any other
provision of law codified in title 19;
(B) the Internal Revenue Code of 1986;
(C) the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic
Act (21 U.S.C. 301 et seq.);
(D) the Trading with the Enemy Act (50
U.S.C. App. 1 et seq.) [or the International
Emergency Economic Powers Act], the
International Emergency Economic Powers Act
(IEEPA) (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.), or the North
Korea Sanctions Enforcement Act of 2015; or
(E) section 1 of title VI of the Act of
June 15, 1917 (40 Stat. 233; 22 U.S.C. 401).
(j) Restraining Orders; Protective Orders.--
(1) Upon application of the United States, the
court may enter a restraining order or injunction,
require the execution of satisfactory performance
bonds, create receiverships, appoint conservators,
custodians, appraisers, accountants, or trustees, or
take any other action to seize, secure, maintain, or
preserve the availability of property subject to civil
forfeiture--
(A) upon the filing of a civil forfeiture
complaint alleging that the property with
respect to which the order is sought is subject
to civil forfeiture; or
(B) prior to the filing of such a
complaint, if, after notice to persons
appearing to have an interest in the property
and opportunity for a hearing, the court
determines that--
(i) there is a substantial
probability that the United States will
prevail on the issue of forfeiture and
that failure to enter the order will
result in the property being destroyed,
removed from the jurisdiction of the
court, or otherwise made unavailable
for forfeiture; and
(ii) the need to preserve the
availability of the property through
the entry of the requested order
outweighs the hardship on any party
against whom the order is to be
entered.
(2) An order entered pursuant to paragraph (1)(B)
shall be effective for not more than 90 days, unless
extended by the court for good cause shown, or unless a
complaint described in paragraph (1)(A) has been filed.
(3) A temporary restraining order under this
subsection may be entered upon application of the
United States without notice or opportunity for a
hearing when a complaint has not yet been filed with
respect to the property, if the United States
demonstrates that there is probable cause to believe
that the property with respect to which the order is
sought is subject to civil forfeiture and that
provision of notice will jeopardize the availability of
the property for forfeiture. Such a temporary order
shall expire not more than 14 days after the date on
which it is entered, unless extended for good cause
shown or unless the party against whom it is entered
consents to an extension for a longer period. A hearing
requested concerning an order entered under this
paragraph shall be held at the earliest possible time
and prior to the expiration of the temporary order.
(4) The court may receive and consider, at a
hearing held pursuant to this subsection, evidence and
information that would be inadmissible under the
Federal Rules of Evidence.
* * * * * * *
CHAPTER 95--RACKETEERING
* * * * * * *
Sec. 1956. Laundering of monetary instruments
(a)(1) Whoever, knowing that the property involved in a
financial transaction represents the proceeds of some form of
unlawful activity, conducts or attempts to conduct such a
financial transaction which in fact involves the proceeds of
specified unlawful activity--
(A)(i) with the intent to promote the carrying on
of specified unlawful activity; or
(ii) with intent to engage in conduct constituting
a violation of section 7201 or 7206 of the Internal
Revenue Code of 1986; or
(B) knowing that the transaction is designed in
whole or in part--
(i) to conceal or disguise the nature, the
location, the source, the ownership, or the
control of the proceeds of specified unlawful
activity; or
(ii) to avoid a transaction reporting
requirement under State or Federal law,
shall be sentenced to a fine of not more than $500,000 or twice
the value of the property involved in the transaction,
whichever is greater, or imprisonment for not more than twenty
years, or both. For purposes of this paragraph, a financial
transaction shall be considered to be one involving the
proceeds of specified unlawful activity if it is part of a set
of parallel or dependent transactions, any one of which
involves the proceeds of specified unlawful activity, and all
of which are part of a single plan or arrangement.
(2) Whoever transports, transmits, or transfers, or
attempts to transport, transmit, or transfer a monetary
instrument or funds from a place in the United States to or
through a place outside the United States or to a place in the
United States from or through a place outside the United
States--
(A) with the intent to promote the carrying on of
specified unlawful activity; or
(B) knowing that the monetary instrument or funds
involved in the transportation, transmission, or
transfer represent the proceeds of some form of
unlawful activity and knowing that such transportation,
transmission, or transfer is designed in whole or in
part--
(i) to conceal or disguise the nature, the
location, the source, the ownership, or the
control of the proceeds of specified unlawful
activity; or
(ii) to avoid a transaction reporting
requirement under State or Federal law,
shall be sentenced to a fine of not more than $500,000 or twice
the value of the monetary instrument or funds involved in the
transportation, transmission, or transfer, whichever is
greater, or imprisonment for not more than twenty years, or
both. For the purpose of the offense described in subparagraph
(B), the defendant's knowledge may be established by proof that
a law enforcement officer represented the matter specified in
subparagraph (B) as true, and the defendant's subsequent
statements or actions indicate that the defendant believed such
representations to be true.
(3) Whoever, with the intent--
(A) to promote the carrying on of specified
unlawful activity;
(B) to conceal or disguise the nature, location,
source, ownership, or control of property believed to
be the proceeds of specified unlawful activity; or
(C) to avoid a transaction reporting requirement
under State or Federal law,
conducts or attempts to conduct a financial transaction
involving property represented to be the proceeds of specified
unlawful activity, or property used to conduct or facilitate
specified unlawful activity, shall be fined under this title or
imprisoned for not more than 20 years, or both. For purposes of
this paragraph and paragraph (2), the term ``represented''
means any representation made by a law enforcement officer or
by another person at the direction of, or with the approval of,
a Federal official authorized to investigate or prosecute
violations of this section.
(b) Penalties.--
(1) In general.--Whoever conducts or attempts to
conduct a transaction described in subsection (a)(1) or
(a)(3), or section 1957, or a transportation,
transmission, or transfer described in subsection
(a)(2), is liable to the United States for a civil
penalty of not more than the greater of--
(A) the value of the property, funds, or
monetary instruments involved in the
transaction; or
(B) $10,000.
(2) Jurisdiction over foreign persons.--For
purposes of adjudicating an action filed or enforcing a
penalty ordered under this section, the district courts
shall have jurisdiction over any foreign person,
including any financial institution authorized under
the laws of a foreign country, against whom the action
is brought, if service of process upon the foreign
person is made under the Federal Rules of Civil
Procedure or the laws of the country in which the
foreign person is found, and--
(A) the foreign person commits an offense
under subsection (a) involving a financial
transaction that occurs in whole or in part in
the United States;
(B) the foreign person converts, to his or
her own use, property in which the United
States has an ownership interest by virtue of
the entry of an order of forfeiture by a court
of the United States; or
(C) the foreign person is a financial
institution that maintains a bank account at a
financial institution in the United States.
(3) Court authority over assets.--A court may issue
a pretrial restraining order or take any other action
necessary to ensure that any bank account or other
property held by the defendant in the United States is
available to satisfy a judgment under this section.
(4) Federal receiver.--
(A) In general.--A court may appoint a
Federal Receiver, in accordance with
subparagraph (B) of this paragraph, to collect,
marshal, and take custody, control, and
possession of all assets of the defendant,
wherever located, to satisfy a civil judgment
under this subsection, a forfeiture judgment
under section 981 or 982, or a criminal
sentence under section 1957 or subsection (a)
of this section, including an order of
restitution to any victim of a specified
unlawful activity.
(B) Appointment and authority.--A Federal
Receiver described in subparagraph (A)--
(i) may be appointed upon
application of a Federal prosecutor or
a Federal or State regulator, by the
court having jurisdiction over the
defendant in the case;
(ii) shall be an officer of the
court, and the powers of the Federal
Receiver shall include the powers set
out in section 754 of title 28, United
States Code; and
(iii) shall have standing
equivalent to that of a Federal
prosecutor for the purpose of
submitting requests to obtain
information regarding the assets of the
defendant--
(I) from the Financial
Crimes Enforcement Network of
the Department of the Treasury;
or
(II) from a foreign country
pursuant to a mutual legal
assistance treaty, multilateral
agreement, or other arrangement
for international law
enforcement assistance,
provided that such requests are
in accordance with the policies
and procedures of the Attorney
General.
(c) As used in this section--
(1) the term ``knowing that the property involved
in a financial transaction represents the proceeds of
some form of unlawful activity'' means that the person
knew the property involved in the transaction
represented proceeds from some form, though not
necessarily which form, of activity that constitutes a
felony under State, Federal, or foreign law, regardless
of whether or not such activity is specified in
paragraph (7);
(2) the term ``conducts'' includes initiating,
concluding, or participating in initiating, or
concluding a transaction;
(3) the term ``transaction'' includes a purchase,
sale, loan, pledge, gift, transfer, delivery, or other
disposition, and with respect to a financial
institution includes a deposit, withdrawal, transfer
between accounts, exchange of currency, loan, extension
of credit, purchase or sale of any stock, bond,
certificate of deposit, or other monetary instrument,
use of a safe deposit box, or any other payment,
transfer, or delivery by, through, or to a financial
institution, by whatever means effected;
(4) the term ``financial transaction'' means (A) a
transaction which in any way or degree affects
interstate or foreign commerce (i) involving the
movement of funds by wire or other means or (ii)
involving one or more monetary instruments, or (iii)
involving the transfer of title to any real property,
vehicle, vessel, or aircraft, or (B) a transaction
involving the use of a financial institution which is
engaged in, or the activities of which affect,
interstate or foreign commerce in any way or degree;
(5) the term ``monetary instruments'' means (i)
coin or currency of the United States or of any other
country, travelers' checks, personal checks, bank
checks, and money orders, or (ii) investment securities
or negotiable instruments, in bearer form or otherwise
in such form that title thereto passes upon delivery;
(6) the term ``financial institution'' includes--
(A) any financial institution, as defined
in section 5312(a)(2) of title 31, United
States Code, or the regulations promulgated
thereunder; and
(B) any foreign bank, as defined in section
1 of the International Banking Act of 1978 (12
U.S.C. 3101);
(7) the term ``specified unlawful activity''
means--
(A) any act or activity constituting an
offense listed in section 1961(1) of this title
except an act which is indictable under
subchapter II of chapter 53 of title 31;
(B) with respect to a financial transaction
occurring in whole or in part in the United
States, an offense against a foreign nation
involving--
(i) the manufacture, importation,
sale, or distribution of a controlled
substance (as such term is defined for
the purposes of the Controlled
Substances Act);
(ii) murder, kidnapping, robbery,
extortion, destruction of property by
means of explosive or fire, or a crime
of violence (as defined in section 16);
(iii) fraud, or any scheme or
attempt to defraud, by or against a
foreign bank (as defined in paragraph 7
of section 1(b) of the International
Banking Act of 1978));
(iv) bribery of a public official,
or the misappropriation, theft, or
embezzlement of public funds by or for
the benefit of a public official;
(v) smuggling or export control
violations involving--
(I) an item controlled on
the United States Munitions
List established under section
38 of the Arms Export Control
Act (22 U.S.C. 2778); or
(II) an item controlled
under regulations under the
Export Administration
Regulations (15 C.F.R. Parts
730-774);
(vi) an offense with respect to
which the United States would be
obligated by a multilateral treaty,
either to extradite the alleged
offender or to submit the case for
prosecution, if the offender were found
within the territory of the United
States; or
(vii) trafficking in persons,
selling or buying of children, sexual
exploitation of children, or
transporting, recruiting or harboring a
person, including a child, for
commercial sex acts;
(C) any act or acts constituting a
continuing criminal enterprise, as that term is
defined in section 408 of the Controlled
Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 848);
(D) an offense under section 32 (relating
to the destruction of aircraft), section 37
(relating to violence at international
airports), section 115 (relating to
influencing, impeding, or retaliating against a
Federal official by threatening or injuring a
family member), section 152 (relating to
concealment of assets; false oaths and claims;
bribery), section 175c (relating to the variola
virus), section 215 (relating to commissions or
gifts for procuring loans), section 351
(relating to congressional or Cabinet officer
assassination), any of sections 500 through 503
(relating to certain counterfeiting offenses),
section 513 (relating to securities of States
and private entities), section 541 (relating to
goods falsely classified), section 542 relating
to entry of goods by means of false
statements), section 545 (relating to smuggling
goods into the United States), section 549
(relating to removing goods from Customs
custody), section 554 (relating to smuggling
goods from the United States), section 555
(relating to border tunnels), section 641
(relating to public money, property, or
records), section 656 (relating to theft,
embezzlement, or misapplication by bank officer
or employee), section 657 (relating to lending,
credit, and insurance institutions), section
658 (relating to property mortgaged or pledged
to farm credit agencies), section 666 (relating
to theft or bribery concerning programs
receiving Federal funds), section 793, 794, or
798 (relating to espionage), section 831
(relating to prohibited transactions involving
nuclear materials), section 844 (f) or (i)
(relating to destruction by explosives or fire
of Government property or property affecting
interstate or foreign commerce), section 875
(relating to interstate communications),
section 922(1) (relating to the unlawful
importation of firearms), section 924(n)
(relating to firearms trafficking), section 956
(relating to conspiracy to kill, kidnap, maim,
or injure certain property in a foreign
country), section 1005 (relating to fraudulent
bank entries), 1006(relating to fraudulent
Federal credit institution entries),
1007(relating to Federal Deposit Insurance
transactions), 1014(relating to fraudulent loan
or credit applications), section 1030 (relating
to computer fraud and abuse), 1032(relating to
concealment of assets from conservator,
receiver, or liquidating agent of financial
institution), section 1111 (relating to
murder), section 1114 (relating to murder of
United States law enforcement officials),
section 1116 (relating to murder of foreign
officials, official guests, or internationally
protected persons), section 1201 (relating to
kidnaping), section 1203 (relating to hostage
taking), section 1361 (relating to willful
injury of Government property), section 1363
(relating to destruction of property within the
special maritime and territorial jurisdiction),
section 1708 (theft from the mail), section
1751 (relating to Presidential assassination),
section 2113 or 2114 (relating to bank and
postal robbery and theft), section 2252A
(relating to child pornography) where the child
pornography contains a visual depiction of an
actual minor engaging in sexually explicit
conduct, section 2260 (production of certain
child pornography for importation into the
United States), section 2280 (relating to
violence against maritime navigation), section
2281 (relating to violence against maritime
fixed platforms), section 2319 (relating to
copyright infringement), section 2320 (relating
to trafficking in counterfeit goods and
services), section 2332 (relating to terrorist
acts abroad against United States nationals),
section 2332a (relating to use of weapons of
mass destruction), section 2332b (relating to
international terrorist acts transcending
national boundaries), section 2332g (relating
to missile systems designed to destroy
aircraft), section 2332h (relating to
radiological dispersal devices), section 2339A
or 2339B (relating to providing material
support to terrorists), section 2339C (relating
to financing of terrorism), or section 2339D
(relating to receiving military-type training
from a foreign terrorist organization) of this
title, section 46502 of title 49, United States
Code, a felony violation of the Chemical
Diversion and Trafficking Act of 1988 (relating
to precursor and essential chemicals), section
590 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1590)
(relating to aviation smuggling), section 422
of the Controlled Substances Act (relating to
transportation of drug paraphernalia), section
38(c) (relating to criminal violations) of the
Arms Export Control Act, section 11 (relating
to violations) of the Export Administration Act
of 1979, section 206 (relating to penalties) of
the International Emergency Economic Powers
Act, section 16 (relating to offenses and
punishment) of the Trading with the Enemy Act,
any felony violation of section 15 of the Food
and Nutrition Act of 2008 (relating to
supplemental nutrition assistance program
benefits fraud) involving a quantity of
benefits having a value of not less than
$5,000, any violation of section 543(a)(1) of
the Housing Act of 1949 (relating to equity
skimming), any felony violation of the Foreign
Agents Registration Act of 1938, any felony
violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act,
[or section 92 of the Atomic Energy Act of
1954] section 92 of the Atomic Energy Act of
1954 (42 U.S.C. 2122) (relating to prohibitions
governing atomic weapons), or section 104(a) of
the North Korea Sanctions Enforcement Act of
2015;
(E) a felony violation of the Federal Water
Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.),
the Ocean Dumping Act (33 U.S.C. 1401 et seq.),
the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships (33
U.S.C. 1901 et seq.), the Safe Drinking Water
Act (42 U.S.C. 300f et seq.), or the Resources
Conservation and Recovery Act (42 U.S.C. 6901
et seq.); or
(F) any act or activity constituting an
offense involving a Federal health care
offense;
(8) the term ``State'' includes a State of the
United States, the District of Columbia, and any
commonwealth, territory, or possession of the United
States; and
(9) the term ``proceeds'' means any property
derived from or obtained or retained, directly or
indirectly, through some form of unlawful activity,
including the gross receipts of such activity.
(d) Nothing in this section shall supersede any provision
of Federal, State, or other law imposing criminal penalties or
affording civil remedies in addition to those provided for in
this section.
(e) Violations of this section may be investigated by such
components of the Department of Justice as the Attorney General
may direct, and by such components of the Department of the
Treasury as the Secretary of the Treasury may direct, as
appropriate, and, with respect to offenses over which the
Department of Homeland Security has jurisdiction, by such
components of the Department of Homeland Security as the
Secretary of Homeland Security may direct, and, with respect to
offenses over which the United States Postal Service has
jurisdiction, by the Postal Service. Such authority of the
Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of Homeland Security,
and the Postal Service shall be exercised in accordance with an
agreement which shall be entered into by the Secretary of the
Treasury, the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Postal
Service, and the Attorney General. Violations of this section
involving offenses described in paragraph (c)(7)(E) may be
investigated by such components of the Department of Justice as
the Attorney General may direct, and the National Enforcement
Investigations Center of the Environmental Protection Agency.
(f) There is extraterritorial jurisdiction over the conduct
prohibited by this section if--
(1) the conduct is by a United States citizen or,
in the case of a non-United States citizen, the conduct
occurs in part in the United States; and
(2) the transaction or series of related
transactions involves funds or monetary instruments of
a value exceeding $10,000.
(g) Notice of Conviction of Financial Institutions.--If any
financial institution or any officer, director, or employee of
any financial institution has been found guilty of an offense
under this section, section 1957 or 1960 of this title, or
section 5322 or 5324 of title 31, the Attorney General shall
provide written notice of such fact to the appropriate
regulatory agency for the financial institution.
(h) Any person who conspires to commit any offense defined
in this section or section 1957 shall be subject to the same
penalties as those prescribed for the offense the commission of
which was the object of the conspiracy.
(i) Venue.--(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), a
prosecution for an offense under this section or section 1957
may be brought in--
(A) any district in which the financial or monetary
transaction is conducted; or
(B) any district where a prosecution for the
underlying specified unlawful activity could be
brought, if the defendant participated in the transfer
of the proceeds of the specified unlawful activity from
that district to the district where the financial or
monetary transaction is conducted.
(2) A prosecution for an attempt or conspiracy offense
under this section or section 1957 may be brought in the
district where venue would lie for the completed offense under
paragraph (1), or in any other district where an act in
furtherance of the attempt or conspiracy took place.
(3) For purposes of this section, a transfer of funds from
1 place to another, by wire or any other means, shall
constitute a single, continuing transaction. Any person who
conducts (as that term is defined in subsection (c)(2)) any
portion of the transaction may be charged in any district in
which the transaction takes place.
* * * * * * *
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NORTH KOREAN HUMAN RIGHTS ACT OF 2004
* * * * * * *
TITLE I--PROMOTING THE HUMAN RIGHTS OF NORTH KOREANS
* * * * * * *
SEC. 104. ACTIONS TO PROMOTE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION.
(a) Actions.--The President is authorized to take such
actions as may be necessary to increase the availability of
information inside North Korea by increasing the availability
of sources of information not controlled by the Government of
North Korea, including sources such as radios capable of
receiving broadcasting from outside North Korea.
(b) Authorization of Appropriations.--
(1) In general.--There are authorized to be
appropriated to the President $2,000,000 for each of
the fiscal years 2005 through 2017 to carry out
subsection (a).
(2) Availability.--Amounts appropriated pursuant to
the authorization of appropriations under paragraph (1)
are authorized to remain available until expended.
(c) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date of the
enactment of this Act, and annually through 2017, the Secretary
of State, after consultation with the heads of other
appropriate Federal departments and agencies, shall submit to
the appropriate congressional committees a report, in
classified form, on actions taken pursuant to this section.
(d) Information Technology Study.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 180 days after the
date of the enactment of this subsection, the President
shall submit to the appropriate congressional
committees a report setting forth a detailed plan for
making unrestricted, unmonitored, and inexpensive,
radio, Internet, and electronic mass communications
available to the people of North Korea.
(2) Form.--The report required by paragraph (1)
shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may
contain a classified annex.
* * * * * * *
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