The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“TEXT OF AMENDMENTS” mentioning the U.S. Dept of State was published in the Senate section on pages S828-S829 on Feb. 10, 2016.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
TEXT OF AMENDMENTS
SA 3297. Mr. HELLER submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by him to the bill H.R. 757, to improve the enforcement of sanctions against the Government of North Korea, and for other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:
On page 91, between lines 19 and 20, insert the following:
(e) Withholding of Funding.--The President shall temporarily withhold United States' funding from the United Nations if the United Nations Security Council does not make a decision regarding a reported violation of any applicable United Nations Security Council resolution relating to prohibitions on ballistic missile testing or prohibitions on activities aimed at obtaining nuclear weapons within 30 days after receiving information of such a violation.
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SA 3298. Mr. HELLER submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by him to the bill H.R. 757, to improve the enforcement of sanctions against the Government of North Korea, and for other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:
On page 71, between lines 6 and 7, insert the following:
(c) State Sponsor of Terrorism.--Not later than 60 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall--
(1) conduct an investigation of the conduct of the Government of North Korea to determine if North Korea should be designated as a state sponsor of terrorism (as defined in section 202(d)); and
(2) submit a report to Congress that describes the evidence used by the Department of State to reach the determination described in paragraph (1).
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SA 3299. Mr. HELLER submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by him to the bill H.R. 757, to improve the enforcement of sanctions against the Government of North Korea, and for other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:
At the appropriate place, insert the following:
SEC. __. RECOGNITION OF JERUSALEM AS THE CAPITAL OF ISRAEL
AND RELOCATION OF THE UNITED STATES EMBASSY TO
JERUSALEM.
(a) Statement of Policy.--It should be the policy of the United States to recognize Jerusalem as the undivided capital of the State of Israel, both de jure and de facto.
(b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) Jerusalem must remain an undivided city in which the rights of every ethnic and religious group are protected as they have been by Israel since 1967;
(2) every citizen of Israel should have the right to reside anywhere in the undivided city of Jerusalem;
(3) the President and the Secretary of State should publicly affirm as a matter of United States policy that Jerusalem must remain the undivided capital of the State of Israel;
(4) the President should immediately implement the provisions of the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995 (Public Law 104-45) and begin the process of relocating the United States Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem;
(5) United States officials should refrain from any actions that contradict United States law on this subject; and
(6) any official document of the United States Government which lists countries and their capital cities should identify Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
(c) Amendment of Waiver Authority.--The Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995 (Public Law 104-45) is amended--
(1) by striking section 7; and
(2) by redesignating section 8 as section 7.
(d) Restriction on Funding Subject to Opening Determination.--Not more than 50 percent of the funds appropriated to the Department of State for fiscal year 2016 for ``Acquisition and Maintenance of Buildings Abroad'' may be obligated until the Secretary of State determines and reports to Congress that the United States Embassy in Jerusalem has officially opened.
(e) Fiscal Years 2017 and 2018 Funding.--
(1) Fiscal year 2017.--Of the funds authorized to be appropriated for ``Acquisition and Maintenance of Buildings Abroad'' for the Department of State for fiscal year 2017, such sums as may be necessary should be made available until expended only for construction and other costs associated with the establishment of the United States Embassy in Jerusalem.
(2) Fiscal year 2018.--Of the funds authorized to be appropriated for ``Acquisition and Maintenance of Buildings Abroad'' for the Department of State for fiscal year 2018, such sums as may be necessary should be made available until expended only for construction and other costs associated with the establishment of the United States Embassy in Jerusalem.
(f) Definition.--In this section, the term ``United States Embassy'' means the offices of the United States diplomatic mission and the residence of the United States chief of mission.
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SA 3300. Mr. LEE submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by him to the bill H.R. 757, to improve the enforcement of sanctions against the Government of North Korea, and for other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:
At the end of title III, add the following:
SEC. 305. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON THE DISAPPEARANCE OF DAVID
SNEDDON.
(a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
(1) David Louis Sneddon is a United States citizen who disappeared while touring the Yunnan Province in the People's Republic of China as a university student on August 14, 2004, at the age of 24.
(2) David had last reported to family members prior to his disappearance that he intended to hike the Tiger Leaping Gorge in the Yunnan Province before returning to the United States and had placed a down payment on student housing for the upcoming academic year, planned business meetings, and scheduled law school entrance examinations in the United States for the fall.
(3) People's Republic of China officials have reported to the Department of State and the family of David that he most likely died by falling into the Jinsha River while hiking the Tiger Leaping Gorge, although no physical evidence or eyewitness testimony exists to support this conclusion.
(4) There is evidence indicating that David did not fall into the river when he traveled through the gorge, including eyewitness testimonies from people who saw David alive and spoke to him in person after his hike, as recorded by members of David's family and by embassy officials from the Department of State in the months after his disappearance.
(5) Family members searching for David shortly after he went missing obtained eyewitness accounts that David stayed overnight in several guesthouses during and after his safe hike through the gorge, and these guesthouse locations suggest that David disappeared after passing through the gorge, but the guest registers recording the names and passport numbers of foreign overnight guests could not be accessed.
(6) Chinese officials have reported that evidence does not exist that David was a victim of violent crime, or a resident in a local hospital, prison, or mental institution at the time of his disappearance, and no attempt has been made to use David's passport since the time of his disappearance, nor has any money been withdrawn from his bank account since that time.
(7) David Sneddon is the only United States citizen to disappear without explanation in the People's Republic of China since the normalization of relations between the United States and China during the administration of President Richard Nixon.
(8) Investigative reporters and nongovernmental organizations with expertise in the Asia-Pacific region, and in some cases particular expertise in the Asian Underground Railroad and North Korea's documented program to kidnap citizens of foreign nations for espionage purposes, have repeatedly raised the possibility that the Government of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) was involved in David's disappearance.
(9) Investigative reporters and nongovernmental organizations who have reviewed David's case believe it is possible that the Government of North Korea was involved in David's disappearance because--
(A) the Yunnan Province is regarded by regional experts as an area frequently trafficked by North Korean refugees and their support networks, and the Government of the People's Republic of China allows North Korean agents to operate throughout the region to repatriate refugees, such as prominent North Korean defector Kang Byong-sop and members of his family who were captured near the China-Laos border just weeks prior to David's disappearance;
(B) in 2002, North Korean officials acknowledged that the Government of North Korea has carried out a policy since the 1970's of abducting foreign citizens and holding them captive in North Korea for the purpose of training its intelligence and military personnel in critical language and culture skills to infiltrate foreign nations;
(C) Charles Robert Jenkins, a United States soldier who deserted his unit in South Korea in 1965 and was held captive in North Korea for nearly 40 years, left North Korea in July 2004 (one month before David disappeared in China) and Jenkins reported that he was forced to teach English to North Korean intelligence and military personnel while in captivity;
(D) David Sneddon is fluent in the Korean language and was learning Mandarin, skills that could have been appealing to the Government of North Korea after Charles Jenkins left the country;
(E) tensions between the United States and North Korea were heightened during the summer of 2004 due to recent approval of the North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004 (Public Law 108-333) that increased United States aid to refugees fleeing North Korea, prompting the Government of North Korea to issue a press release warning the United States to ``drop its hostile policy'';
(F) David Sneddon's disappearance fits a known pattern often seen in the abduction of foreigners by the Government of North Korea, including the fact that David disappeared the day before North Korea's Liberation Day patriotic national holiday, and the Government of North Korea has a demonstrated history of provocations near dates it deems historically significant;
(G) a well-reputed Japanese non-profit specializing in North Korean abductions shared with the United States its expert analysis in 2012 about information it stated was received ``from a reliable source'' that a United States university student largely matching David Sneddon's description was taken from China by North Korean agents in August 2004; and
(H) commentary published in the Wall Street Journal in 2013 cited experts looking at the Sneddon case who concluded that
``it is most probable that a U.S. national has been abducted to North Korea,'' and ``there is a strong possibility that North Korea kidnapped the American''.
(b) Sense of Congress.--Congress--
(1) expresses its ongoing concern about the disappearance of David Louis Sneddon in Yunnan Province, People's Republic of China, in August, 2004;
(2) directs the Department of State and the intelligence community to jointly continue investigations and to consider all plausible explanations for David's disappearance, including the possibility of abduction by the Government of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea;
(3) urges the Department of State and the intelligence community to coordinate investigations with the Governments of the People's Republic of China, Japan, and South Korea and solicit information from appropriate regional affairs and law enforcement experts on plausible explanations for David's disappearance;
(4) encourages the Department of State and the intelligence community to work with foreign governments known to have diplomatic influence with the Government of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea to better investigate the possibility of the involvement of the Government of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea in David Sneddon's disappearance and to possibly seek his recovery; and
(5) requests that the Department of State and the intelligence community continue to work with and inform Congress and the family of David Sneddon on efforts to possibly recover David and to resolve his disappearance.
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SA 3301. Mr. PAUL submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by him to the bill H.R. 757, to improve the enforcement of sanctions against the Government of North Korea, and for other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:
Beginning on page 92, strike line 15 and all that follows through page 93, line 2.
Beginning on page 100, strike line 24 and all that follows through page 101, line 8.
Beginning on page 112, strike line 9 and all that follows through page 115, line 7.
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SA 3302. Ms. KLOBUCHAR submitted an amendment intended to be proposed to amendment SA 2953 proposed by Ms. Murkowski to the bill S. 2012, to provide for the modernization of the energy policy of the United States, and for other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:
On page 41, between lines 10 and 11, insert the following:
(6) Use of grant funds.--A grant awarded under this section may not be used for the purpose of funding, in whole or in part, the actual construction, renovation, repair, or alteration of a building or work.
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SA 3303. Ms. KLOBUCHAR submitted an amendment intended to be proposed to amendment SA 3241 submitted by Ms. Cantwell and intended to be proposed to the bill S. 2012, to provide for the modernization of the energy policy of the United States, and for other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:
At the end of the amendment, add the following:
SEC. __. USE OF GRANT FUNDS.
A grant awarded under section 1004 may not be used for the purpose of funding, in whole or in part, the actual construction, renovation, repair, or alteration of a building or work.
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SA 3304. Mr. DAINES submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by him to the bill H.R. 757, to improve the enforcement of sanctions against the Government of North Korea, and for other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:
On page 73, line 12, insert ``or textile'' after
``smuggling,''.
Beginning on page 73, strike line 21 and all that follows through page 74, line 8, and insert the following:
(8) knowingly, directly or indirectly, sells, supplies, or transfers to or from the Government of North Korea or any person acting for or on behalf of that Government, a significant amount of precious metal, graphite, raw or semi-finished metals or aluminum, steel, coal, software, synthetic filaments, or three-dimensional textiles for use by or in industrial processes directly related to weapons of mass destruction, delivery systems for such weapons, equipment designed to defend against radiological or chemical exposure from those weapons, other proliferation activities, the Korean Workers' Party, armed forces, internal security, or intelligence activities, or the operation and maintenance of political prison camps or forced labor camps, including outside of North Korea;
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SA 3305. Mr. THUNE submitted an amendment intended to be proposed to amendment SA 2953 proposed by Ms. Murkowski to the bill S. 2012, to provide for the modernization of the energy policy of the United States, and for other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:
At the appropriate place, insert the following:
SEC. ___. MODIFICATION OF DEFINITION OF SPORT FISHING
EQUIPMENT UNDER THE TOXIC SUBSTANCES CONTROL
ACT.
Section 3(2)(B) of the Toxic Substances Control Act (15 U.S.C. 2602(2)(B)) is amended--
(1) in clause (v), by striking ``and'' at the end;
(2) in clause (vi) by striking the period at the end and inserting ``, and''; and
(3) by inserting after clause (vi) the following:
``(vii) any sport fishing equipment (as such term is defined in section 4162(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986) the sale of which is subject to the tax imposed by section 4161(a) of such Code (determined without regard to any exemptions from such tax provided by section 4162 or 4221 or any other provision of such Code), and sport fishing equipment components.''.
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