The Peninsula

“Do-Nothing Congress” Deserves That Name as the North Korean Human Rights Act is Still on Hold

After the 1946 midterm elections, Republicans gained control of both the US Senate and House of Representatives under the Harry Truman administration. The years between 1947 and 1948 were particularly contentious between the Republican-controlled Congress and the Democrat-controlled White House. Truman had branded the Republican-controlled legislature as the “Do-Nothing Congress” due to the lack of significant legislation adopted during a two-week special session President Truman called in July 1948. However, even with the partisan divide between Congress and the White House in 1947 and 1948, the “Do-Nothing Congress” adopted a total of 906 bills that the President signed into law.

This year, in comparison, Congress is more sharply divided. In 1948, Republicans had a comfortable majority in both the House and Senate and were more internally unified than the divided party we see today. In 2024, the Senate is under Democratic control as a result of the Vice President casting tie-breaking votes when required. The House of Representatives is under Republican control with a razor-thin margin, and moderate and extreme Republicans frequently fight among themselves, holding party leaders hostage if their own narrow political concerns are not prioritized.

Unfortunately, Congress has reached the point today that even non-controversial and widely supported legislation cannot be adopted. Truman’s “Do-Nothing Congress” succeeded in adopting 906 public bills that were signed into law. We are now just days away from Congress adjourning prior to election day, and Congress has adopted only 78 public laws as of September 2024. One journalist stated, “Congress limps toward the end of a disappointing session.” Truman’s “Do-Nothing Congress” in 1948 was a beehive of busyness in comparison with the current “Do-Even-Less-Than-Nothing Congress.

North Korean Human Rights Act Still Not Reauthorized

Unfortunately, one of the unfinished agenda items for Congress is reauthorizing the North Korean Human Rights Act—legislation that requires the administration to take important steps to encourage human rights progress in North Korea and in international organizations, such as the United Nations. The law also requires reports to Congress on the human rights status in North Korea and the appointment of a Special Envoy for North Korean Human Rights. The law includes several other provisions that are helpful for human rights efforts in North Korea.

Congress periodically adopts legislation requiring the President and the Department of State to designate a special envoy or a special representative to give emphasis and focus to a particular foreign policy issue. This has been frequently done with congressional prodding because the administration may be anxious to improve relations with countries to raise sensitive human rights concerns, and some believe that human rights issues conflict with other foreign policy objectives. A special envoy focuses attention on an issue and advocates for greater action on human rights issues within the State Department and through diplomatic efforts with other countries.

According to a 2017 report by the Congressional Research Service, the State Department has 18 special envoys, some created by law and others appointed by the Secretary of State or the President, and six ambassadors-at-large, who primarily deal with international issues such as religious freedom, global women’s issues, trafficking in persons, and war crimes. These individuals all have ambassadorial rank and require confirmation by the Senate. Some of these positions are in response to congressional concerns about particular issues, such as the Special Envoy for North Korean Human Rights Issues. Others are executive branch initiatives to elevate individuals who deal with particular international problems.

The principal reason behind congressional interest in the North Korean human rights special envoy is to pressure the State Department and the White House to prioritize the human rights situation in North Korea. The administration tends to focus on North Korean nuclear issues, which represent a serious national security threat to South Korea and to US interests in East Asia. Officials concerned with national security are often willing to hold back on pressing North Korea on its human rights record because they hope this will improve progress on security issues. Others argue that improving human rights in North Korea will refocus the regime’s attention on the needs and well-being of the North Korean people, shifting resources away from advancing its military program.

By requiring annual reports to Congress and calling the special envoy to testify before House and Senate committees, Congress is emphasizing to the White House and the State Department its interest and concern for human rights in North Korea. It also serves to emphasize to foreign countries the value and importance the United States gives to human rights. US support for raising North Korean human rights abuses in the UN Human Rights Council, the UN General Assembly, and the UN Security Council further emphasize this.

Congress Has Failed to Reauthorize the North Korean Human Rights Act for Two Years

The North Korean Human Rights Act was initially adopted in 2004 and has been amended and extended every four or five years, including in 2008, 2012, and 2018. The 2018 legislation expired on July 20, 2018. In 2022, legislation to reauthorize the law was introduced in both the House and the Senate.

In the Senate, Marco Rubio (R-FL) introduced legislation to extend the law, and two Democratic colleagues, Tim Kane (D-VA) and Chris Coons (D-DE), co-sponsored it. The legislation was amended and approved by voice vote on December 8, 2022. The bill was referred to the House, but no action was taken on the bill. It was near the end of the legislative session, and there was not adequate time or pressure to get it through the House.

The House of Representatives also had a version of the legislation to extend the North Korean Human Rights Act in 2022. That bill was introduced by Young Kim (R-CA) and cosponsored by Ami Berra (D-CA). The two were chair and ranking minority member, respectively, of the Asia Subcommittee of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. The legislation was not acted on by the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and the House adjourned at the end of its two-year sitting with no action on the legislation.

In the 118th Congress (2023-2024) after the November 2022 midterm election, the same congressional members reintroduced legislation to reauthorize the North Korean Human Rights Act. In the Senate, Rubio reintroduced the legislation and was again joined by Kane as the principal cosponsor. It is now approaching 18 months since the legislation was introduced, and no action has been taken by the Senate.

In the House of Representatives, similar legislation to extend the North Korean Human Rights Act was again introduced by Kim and Berra. The two more aggressively sought other cosponsors, and 35 other House Members joined in to cosponsor the legislation. On May 16, 2024, the House Foreign Affairs Committee recommended that the bill be taken to the full House of Representatives. Almost five months later, however, the legislation is still waiting to be considered by the House membership. There is no indication of when or if the legislation might be taken up.

It is ironic and unfortunate that dysfunction in Congress, in large part caused by the narrow margin between the two parties in both chambers, has stopped action on extending and reauthorizing the North Korean Human Rights Act. There is no identified objection or concern with the legislation—the legislation has been approved in almost all cases by voice vote, and no member of Congress has opposed the legislation or spoken against it.

Dysfunction in the Senate and House has delayed action relating to North Korean human rights for the last two years. Confirmation by the Senate of the US Special Envoy for North Korean Human Rights was held up by a couple of individual senators—not for a substantive reason, such as the candidate being unqualified or the position not needing to be filled. For example, on August 11, 2021, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman sought Senate confirmation for 30 ambassadorial positions. Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) objected—not because he did not support the seasoned diplomats for the positions to which they were nominated, but because a lone senator could stop the process due to unrelated demands that had not been met by his colleagues in the Senate or by the White House. Meanwhile, in the House of Representatives, it takes a tiny handful of unhappy representatives to bring business to a halt, as we saw surrounding former Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy’s (R-CA) election and removal as speaker and in the three-week-long process to elect Mike Johnson as his replacement.

At present, many critical funding bills need to be debated, amended, and adopted to keep the US government functioning. At this late date, it seems quite certain that Congress will adjourn without dealing with the reauthorization of the North Korean Human Rights Act. It has now been well over two years since the legislation expired. No one disagrees that there is a need for the legislation, but the Democrat-controlled Senate and the Republican-controlled House coming together on legislation even to fund the government for the next fiscal year is urgent and uncertain at best. Ambassador Julie Turner, the US Special Envoy for North Korean Human Rights, is in place and continues to do an excellent job at the State Department. It is also clear that she will benefit from a reauthorized North Korean human rights legislation, but it seems unlikely to happen this year.

 

Robert R. King is a Non-Resident Distinguished Fellow at the Korea Economic Institute of America (KEI). He is former U.S. Special Envoy for North Korea Human Rights (2009-2017). The views expressed here are the author’s alone.

Image from Shutterstock.

KEI is registered under the FARA as an agent of the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy, a public corporation established by the government of the Republic of Korea. Additional information is available at the Department of Justice, Washington, D.C.