HR 1464 · 112th Congress 2011–2013, ended

North Korean Child Welfare Act of 2012

Introduced Apr 8, 2011 Originated House Became Public Law 112-264 Sponsor Edward R. Royce R-CA

Latest action · Jan 14, 2013 Became Public Law No: 112-264.

Progress

Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.

IntroducedApr 8, 2011
Passed HouseSep 11, 2012
Passed SenateDec 28, 2012
To the PresidentJan 2, 2013
Became lawJan 14, 2013Public Law 112-264

Summary

(This measure has not been amended since it was passed by the Senate on December 28, 2012. The summary of that version is repeated here.)

North Korean Child Welfare Act of 2012 - Directs the Secretary of State to designate a representative to regularly brief Congress on U.S. efforts to advocate for the best interests of North Korean children and children of one North Korean parent, including efforts to address the adoption of such children living outside North Korea without parental care.

Directs such designee to address the Department of State's: (1) analysis of the challenges facing North Korean children residing outside North Korea and challenges facing children of one North Korean parent in other countries who are fleeing persecution or are living as de jure or de facto stateless persons (such North Korean children); (2) efforts to advocate for the best interest of such North Korean children, including family reunification efforts and the adoption of North Korean children living outside North Korea and children of one North Korean parent living outside North Korea; (3) efforts to address challenges that U.S. citizens would encounter in attempting to adopt such North Korean children, including efforts to overcome the complexities involved in best interest determinations and adoption processing of those who habitually reside in a Hague country or a non-Hague country; (4) diplomatic efforts to encourage countries in which North Korean children or children of one North Korean parent are fleeing persecution or reside as de jure or de facto stateless persons to resolve issues of statelessness of North Koreans residing in that country; and (5) efforts to work with the Republic of Korea to establish pilot programs that assist in the family reunification of North Korean children and children of one North Korean parent living within South Korea and other countries who are fleeing persecution or are living as de jure or de facto stateless persons.

Cosponsors 55

Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Jul 7, 2011 to Sep 10, 2012.

Seat	Cosponsor	Signed on
D-HI	Mazie K. Hirono	Jul 7, 2011
R-IL	Aaron Schock	Jul 12, 2011
D-MA	Barney Frank	Jul 12, 2011
D-NY	Charles B. Rangel	Jul 12, 2011
D-CA	Laura Richardson	Jul 12, 2011
D-NY	Maurice D. Hinchey	Jul 12, 2011
R-IL	Randy Hultgren	Jul 12, 2011
D-NY	Gary L. Ackerman	Jul 14, 2011
R-CA	Ken Calvert	Jul 19, 2011
D-TX	Lloyd Doggett	Jul 19, 2011
R-CO	Mike Coffman	Jul 19, 2011
R-IL	Robert J. Dold	Jul 19, 2011
R-IA	Tom Latham	Jul 19, 2011
D-VA	James P. Moran	Jul 25, 2011
D-IL	Jesse L. Jackson, Jr.	Jul 25, 2011
R-TX	John R. Carter	Jul 27, 2011
D-CA	Zoe Lofgren	Jul 28, 2011
D-CA	Bob Filner	Aug 1, 2011
R-VA	Frank R. Wolf	Aug 1, 2011
D-MD	Elijah E. Cummings	Sep 8, 2011
D-VA	Gerald E. Connolly	Sep 8, 2011
R-AL	Martha Roby	Sep 8, 2011
D-VT	Peter Welch	Sep 8, 2011
R-NJ	Scott Garrett	Sep 8, 2011
D-NV	Shelley Berkley	Sep 8, 2011
R-MI	Thaddeus G. McCotter	Sep 8, 2011
D-CA	Loretta Sanchez	Oct 5, 2011
R-PA	Tom Marino	Oct 25, 2011
D-CA	Judy Chu	Jan 31, 2012
D-MD	Chris Van Hollen	Feb 7, 2012
D-CA	Brad Sherman	Apr 19, 2012
R-IN	Dan Burton	Jun 7, 2012
D-GU	Madeleine Z. Bordallo	Jun 7, 2012
D-CA	Adam B. Schiff	Jun 15, 2012
D-CA	Howard L. Berman	Jun 15, 2012
R-PA	Joseph R. Pitts	Jun 15, 2012
R-NC	Virginia Foxx	Jun 15, 2012
D-CA	Lucille Roybal-Allard	Jun 21, 2012
R-MD	Roscoe G. Bartlett	Jun 26, 2012
D-WA	Adam Smith	Jun 27, 2012
D-CA	Barbara Lee	Jun 27, 2012
R-CA	Dana Rohrabacher	Jun 27, 2012
R-AZ	David Schweikert	Jun 27, 2012
D-CA	Fortney Pete Stark	Jun 28, 2012
R-FL	Ileana Ros-Lehtinen	Jun 28, 2012
D-PA	Allyson Y. Schwartz	Jun 29, 2012
R-FL	David Rivera	Jun 29, 2012
R-CO	Doug Lamborn	Jul 9, 2012
D-NJ	Bill Pascrell, Jr.	Jul 10, 2012
R-FL	Jeff Miller	Jul 11, 2012
R-IL	Peter J. Roskam	Jul 12, 2012
R-IL	Donald A. Manzullo	Jul 18, 2012
R-OH	Bill Johnson	Aug 1, 2012
R-AL	Mo Brooks	Aug 2, 2012
D-OR	Earl Blumenauer	Sep 10, 2012

Committees 2

Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.

Chamber	Committee	What it did
House	Foreign Affairs Committee	Referred Apr 8, 2011
Senate	Foreign Relations Committee	Referred Sep 12, 2012Discharged Dec 29, 2012

Actions 19

Everything that happened, newest first.

Jan 14, 2013Signed by President.
Jan 14, 2013Became Public Law No: 112-264.
Jan 2, 2013Presented to President.
Jan 1, 2013Ms. Ros-Lehtinen asked unanimous consent that the House agree to the Senate amendments. (consideration: CR H7520-7521)
Jan 1, 2013Resolving differences -- House actions: On motion that the House agree to the Senate amendments Agreed to without objection. (text as House agreed to Senate amendment: CR H7521)

Show all 19 actions

In the Congressional Record 4

Days the Record’s own index lists this bill, newest first, with the pages and the members it names. Pages starting H are the House, S the Senate, E Extensions of Remarks.

Where	In the Record	Members	Date
Senate	Debate and remarks S8516Amendments S8511, S8512, S8516	Harry Reid D-NV, Richard Burr R-NC (amendment)	Dec 28, 2012
Extensions	Debate and remarks E1497	Chris Van Hollen D-MD	Sep 12, 2012
House	Debate and remarks H5842–H5844Text printed H5842	Edward R. Royce R-CA, Howard L. Berman D-CA, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen R-FL	Sep 11, 2012
House · Extensions	Debate and remarks E2027, H7520Amendments H7521	Chris Van Hollen D-MD, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen R-FL	Jan 1, 2012

Research

What has been written about this bill: committee reports, cost estimates, the sponsor’s authority statement, printed hearings and the Congressional Research Service’s work.

Constitutional authority

Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant to the following: Article 1, Section 8, Clause 18: To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof.

The sponsor’s statement, as printed in the page H2571.

Printed hearings 2

Hearings whose printed record names this bill, newest first: hearings on it, and wider hearings where it came up.

Number	Hearing	Committee	Held
—	CHINA'S REPATRIATION OF NORTH KOREAN REFUGEES57 pages	Congressional-Executive Commission on China	Mar 5, 2012
Serial No. 112-86	H.R. 594, H.R. 1013, H.R. 1646, H.R. 2304, H.R. 2610, H.R. 2753, H.R. 2772 AND H.R. 3061113 pages	Natural Resources Committee	Dec 1, 2011

CRS reports 4

Congressional Research Service work that CRS links to this bill or the law it became, newest first.

Cite it 4

Products on other subjects that cite it, usually among other measures.

Product	Title	Kind	Published
R43744	Monuments and Memorials Authorized Under the Commemorative Works Act in the District of Columbia: Current Development of In-Progress and Lapsed Works	Report	Nov 10, 2026
R42114	Federal Laws Relating to Cybersecurity: Overview of Major Issues, Current Laws, and Proposed Legislation Archived	Report	Dec 12, 2014
R41108	U.S.-China Relations: An Overview of Policy Issues Archived	Report	Aug 1, 2013
R41684	Enacted and Proposed Oil Spill Legislation in the 112th Congress Archived	Report	Jan 16, 2013

Amendments 2

Amendments offered to this bill.

Amendment	Description	Offered by	Status
SA 3442	In the nature of a substitute.	Richard Burr R-NC	Amendment SA 3442 agreed to in Senate by Unanimous Consent.
SA 3443	To amend the title.	Richard Burr R-NC	Amendment SA 3443 agreed to in Senate by Unanimous Consent.

Related bills 1

Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.

Bill	Title	Relationship	Latest action
S 416	North Korean Refugee Adoption Act of 2011	Related bill	Feb 28, 2011

Titles 6

Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.

Official Title as Introduced: To develop a strategy for assisting stateless children from North Korea, and for other purposes.
Official Titles as Amended by Senate: An act to express the sense of Congress regarding North Korean children and children of one North Korean parent and to require the Department of State regularly to brief appropriate congressional committees on efforts to advocate for and develop a strategy to provide assistance in the best interest of these children.
Short Titles as Introduced: North Korean Refugee Adoption Act of 2011
Short Titles as Passed House: North Korean Refugee Adoption Act of 2011
Short Titles as Passed Senate: North Korean Child Welfare Act of 2012
Short Titles as Enacted: North Korean Child Welfare Act of 2012

Subjects

Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: International Affairs.

Text 5

Each version as it was printed, newest first.

Support LegiList

This page is free, carries no paywall, and is built and maintained by one person. If the record here is useful to you, a few dollars keeps it going.

$1 $5 $10

Processed by Stripe in a separate window. LegiList never sees card details.

Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov; cost estimates are the Congressional Budget Office's, and the hearings are the printed hearings GovInfo publishes, which can appear months after the hearing.