On Tuesday, September 11, 2012, the House is scheduled to consider H.R. 1464, the North Korean Refugee Adoption Act of 2011, under a suspension of the rules requiring a two-thirds majority for approval. The bill was introduced on April 8, 2011, by Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA) and referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs.

H.R. 1464 would direct the Secretary of State (in consultation with the Secretary of Homeland Security) to develop a strategy to facilitate the adoption of orphaned North Korean refugee children by families in the United States.  Under the legislation, the Secretary would have to issue a report on the strategy within 180 days of enactment.

The bill includes provisions stating that, “thousands of North Korean children do not have families and are threatened with starvation and disease if they remain in North Korea or as stateless refugees in surrounding countries; and thousands of United States citizens would welcome the opportunity to adopt North Korean orphans living outside North Korea as de jure or de facto stateless refuges.”

There is no Congressional Budget Office (CBO) cost estimate for this legislation.