HR 7152 United States House · 118th Congress

Korean American Divided Families National Registry Act

This bill creates a national registry to help Korean American families separated from relatives in North Korea after the 1953 Korean War Armistice reunite. The Secretary of State must identify eligible families and collect their information (including deceased members) to support future in-person or video reunions. It authorizes $1 million for this registry and requires the State Department to push for family reunions during U.S.-North Korea talks, while consulting South Korea. The State Department must also report annually to Congress on the registry's status, reunion progress, and North Korea's policies affecting family reunions.

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2024

Committee Review

Jul 2024

House Passage

Jun 2024

Senate Passage

President

Introduced Jan 30, 2024 Last action Jul 8, 2024

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Introduced in House → Engrossed in House · 5 edits · Jun 25, 2024

MODERATE

The Engrossed version of HR 7152 makes several substantive changes: it removes the $1 million authorization of appropriations, designates the national registry as 'private internal,' narrows the reporting requirement to a 5-year sunset, and specifies that reunions may be hosted in South Korea, the United States, or third countries. The short title was also updated to include 'Korean American' for clarity.

Scope change

The bill's scope was narrowed in two ways: the reporting obligation is now time-limited to 5 years, and the registry's purpose is more specifically tied to hosting reunions in named locations rather than the broader goal of facilitating reunions generally. The removal of the funding authorization also effectively narrows the bill's operational scope by not guaranteeing dedicated appropriations.

FISCAL

The entire authorization of appropriations subsection (section 2(b)) providing $1,000,000 to the Secretary of State was removed, meaning the bill no longer explicitly authorizes funding for the registry program.

DEFINITION

The national registry and its information repository are now designated as 'private internal,' clarifying that the data collected on families is not intended to be publicly accessible.

SCOPE

The purpose of the registry was changed from facilitating reunions generally to specifically hosting them in South Korea, the United States, or third countries, providing geographic clarity for where reunions may take place.

TIMELINE

The annual reporting requirement to Congress was limited to 5 years after enactment rather than continuing indefinitely, adding a sunset provision to the oversight obligation.

TECHNICAL

The short title was changed from 'Divided Families National Registry Act' to 'Korean American Divided Families National Registry Act,' and the verb in section 2(a)(1) was changed from 'identify' to 'collate information on.'

Floor votes · House Jun 25, 2024

How they voted

375–8

Passed · 47 other

Total votes 430

Jun 25, 2024

D Democratic213

193 Yea 20

90% Yea

I Independent1

1 Yea

100% Yea

R Republican216

181 Yea 8 Nay 27

83% Yea

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Amendments

Jul 8, 2024

Committee

Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.

upper

Jun 25, 2024

Introduced

On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by the Yeas and Nays: (2/3 required): 375 - 8 (Roll no. 281). (text: CR H4130-4131)

lower

Jun 25, 2024

Lower · Passed

Passed/agreed to in House: On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by the Yeas and Nays: (2/3 required): 375 - 8 (Roll no. 281). (text: CR H4130-4131)

lower

Jun 25, 2024

Introduced

Mr. McCormick moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended.

lower

Feb 6, 2024

Introduced

Ordered to be Reported in the Nature of a Substitute (Amended) by the Yeas and Nays: 49 - 0.

lower

Feb 6, 2024

Lower · Passed

Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held

lower

Jan 30, 2024

Committee

Referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.

lower

Jan 30, 2024

Introduced

Introduced in House

lower

1 primary · 10 co-sponsors