| (WASHINGTON) – U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), Ranking Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, today lauded enactment of legislation designed to promote human rights in North Korea and improve protections for North Korean refugees fleeing the repressive regime. The North Korean Human Rights Reauthorization Act (H.R. 5834), approved by large bipartisan majorities in the House and Senate, was signed by the President Tuesday evening.
Drafted by Ros-Lehtinen and co-sponsored by Committee Chairman Howard Berman (D-CA), the legislation consolidates the functions of the office of special envoy, which is given new authority to protect those suffering as a result of the humanitarian crisis and staggering human rights abuses, especially refugees who are often exploited and brutalized in China after fleeing their homeland. The legislation also supports expanded U.S. broadcasting efforts in North Korea by the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) and continues programs that support democracy and human rights.
“North Korea is ruled by one of the most inhumane and despotic regimes in the world, unable even to provide basic goods and services to their long-suffering people,” Ros-Lehtinen said. “Pyongyang values only the survival of its hermetic leadership, has outlawed any semblance of freedom and progress, and has ignored repeated calls to join the family of responsible nations,” she added.
The legislation also urges the State Department to advance the resettlement of North Korean refugees in the United States.
“Though the U.S. has resettled about 150,000 refugees since the original North Korean Human Rights Act in 2004, fewer than 70 have come from North Korea. This bill empowers the U.S. to aid those who escape North Korea’s vile conditions, risking torture and death while seeking to fulfill their dreams of living in freedom and democracy.”
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