Divided Families Reunification Act

Floor Speech

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Ms. MENG. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak in favor of H.R. 826, the Divided Families Reunification Act, a bill I authored to raise the voices of families who have been separated for decades both across the DMZ and across the Pacific Ocean.

I want to thank Chairman Meeks for working with me on this important issue, and for his efforts to bring this bill to the floor. I also want to thank Congressman Van Taylor who partnered with me to introduce this humane and commonsense legislation, which, during the 116th Congress, unanimously passed the House of Representatives.

Over seventy years ago, millions of Koreans were plunged into a harrowing war that brought misery, death, and destruction to their lives. Since then, the war has been frozen by an armistice agreement, signed on July 27, 1953, that persists to today. The division of the Korean Peninsula into South and North Korea separated millions of Koreans from their family members. Through the years, there have been some agreed upon reunions between South and North Koreans. For Korean Americans, however, there is no pathway for such reunions, as they have not been permitted to participate in these inter-Korean family reunions. Many of these Americans are in their 70s through 90s, and time is of the essence to be reunited with their families. I have had the honor to meet some of these divided Korean American family members, and it breaks my heart that their chance of a reunion with their loved ones grows less likely each day.

As a member of the State and Foreign Operations (SFOPS) Subcommittee on the House Appropriations Committee, I am proud to have secured provisions in the Fiscal Year 2020 and 2021 accompanying reports that support the reunification of Korean Americans and their families in North Korea. And in the SFOPS Fiscal Year 2022, which recently passed out of the full committee, a provision calling on the Office of North Korean Human Rights to investigate the risks associated with third- party brokers who offer to locate and reunite divided families.

The unresolved status of the war continues to impact multiple generations of Korean Americans, particularly women, in myriad ways. All these years later, many survivors of the war are still haunted by their trauma. And younger generations who are responsible for their caregiving often internalize this unresolved grief.

The Divided Families Reunification Act requires the Secretary of State or a designee to consult with officials in South Korea on potential opportunities to reunite Korean American families with family members in North Korea. This bill will also require the Special Envoy on North Korean Human Rights to submit a report on the opportunities for video reunions between Korean Americans and family members in North Korea.

With that Mr. Speaker, I urge passage of this bipartisan bill.

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