,i #aadth ,,congress #b;d ,session ,h4 ,r4 #fbha ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of ,,representatives ,september #bh1 #bjaf,mr4 ,salmon 7for himself1 ,mr4 ,sherman1 ,mr4 ,des,jarlais1 ,mr4 ,bera1 ,mr4 ,rohrabacher1 ,mr4 ,marino1 ,ms4 ,ros-,lehtinen1 ,mr4 ,lowenthal1 ,mr4 ,duncan of ,south ,carolina1 and ,mr4 ,perry7 introduced the following bill2 which was referred to the ,committee on ,foreign ,affairs ,a ,,bill ,to prevent further advances in ,north ,korea's nuclear program by preventing specialized financial messaging services to1 or direct or indirect access to such messaging services for1 the ,central ,bank of the ,democratic ,people's ,republic of ,korea and certain other financial institutions and sanctioned persons1 and for other purposes4 #a4 ,short title ,this ,act may be cited as the ,block ,access to ,north ,korea ,act of #bjaf or ,,bank ,act of #bjaf4 #b4 ,findings ,congress finds the following3 7#a7 ,north ,korea continues to develop a ballistic missile and nuclear weapons program1 despite numerous ,united ,states and international sanctions1 including ,united ,nations ,security ,council ,resolutions #afie1 #agah1 #ahgd1 #bjhg1 #bjid1 and #bbgj1 among others4 7#b7 ,north ,korea tested its fifth and largest nuclear device on ,september #i1 #bjaf4 7#c7 ,north ,korea has increased the pace of its missile testing1 including the test of a submarine-launched ballistic missile1 potentially furthering the development of a second-strike capability4 7#d7 ,north ,korea has persistently demonstrated an unwillingness to meaningfully negotiate with the ,united ,states regarding denuclearization4 7#e7 ,by its actions and continued investments in its nuclear program1 it is clear that the ,government of ,north ,korea has no intention to reduce or eliminate its nuclear weapons program4 7#f7 ,specialized financial messaging services allow for messaging and contact1 including the transfer of funds1 between financial institutions4 7#g7 ,the ,central ,bank of the ,democratic ,people's ,republic of ,korea and certain other financial institutions are currently able to avail themselves to financial messaging systems which could be used in funding the ,north ,korean nuclear program4 7#h7 ,experts link ,north ,korea to the hacking of specialized financial messaging institutions1 resulting in the theft of #ha1jjj1jjj from the central bank of ,bangledesh4 7#i7 ,north ,korean provocations continue to endanger its citizens1 those of ,united ,states allies1 and those of ,americans4 #c4 ,sense of ,congress ,it is the sense of ,congress that-- 7#a7 providers of specialized financial messaging services are a critical link to the international financial system2 7#b7 directly providing specialized financial messaging services to1 or enabling or facilitating direct or indirect access to such messaging services for1 any financial institution is inconsistent with paragraph #aa of the ,united ,nations ,security ,council ,resolution #bjid2 and 7#c7 the ,united ,states reaffirms its commitment to its allies in the region1 including the ,republic of ,korea and ,japan1 which are directly threatened by ,north ,korea4 #d4 ,authorization of imposition of sanctions with respect to the provision of specialized financial messaging services to the ,central ,bank of the ,democratic ,people's ,republic of ,korea and certain other financial institutions and sanctioned persons 7a7 ,in general ,the ,president shall impose sanctions pursuant to the ,international ,emergency ,economic ,powers ,act 7#ej ,u4,s4,c4 #agja et seq47 with respect to a person if1 on or after the date that is #ij days after the date of the enactment of this ,act1 the person continues to knowingly and directly provide specialized financial messaging services to1 or knowingly enable or facilitate direct or indirect access to such messaging services for-- 7#a7 the ,central ,bank of the ,democratic ,people's ,republic of ,korea2 7#b7 a financial institution that facilitates any transaction or transactions or provides significant financial services for nuclear development or proliferation for or on behalf of ,north ,korea2 or 7#c7 a person identified on the list of specially designated nationals and blocked persons maintained by the ,office of ,foreign ,assets ,control of the ,department of the ,treasury by reason of assisting the nuclear development or proliferation efforts of ,north ,korea4 7b7 ,waiver ,the ,president may waive the requirement to impose sanctions with respect to a person under subsection 7a7 if-- 7#a7 the person is subject to a sanctions regime under its governing foreign law that requires it to eliminate the knowing provision of such messaging services to1 and the knowing enabling and facilitation of direct or indirect access to such messaging services for1 the ,central ,bank of the ,democratic ,people's ,republic of ,korea1 any financial institution described in subsection 7a77#b71 and any person described in subsection 7a77#c72 7#b7 the person has1 pursuant to that sanctions regime1 terminated the knowing provision of such messaging services to1 and the knowing enabling and facilitation of direct or indirect access to such messaging services for1 the ,central ,bank of the ,democratic ,people's ,republic of ,korea1 any financial institution described in subsection 7a77#b71 and any person described in subsection 7a77#c72 and 7#c7 the ,president determines that such a waiver is in the national interest of the ,united ,states4 7c7 ,clarification ,for purposes of this section1 enabling or facilitating direct or indirect access to specialized financial messaging services for the ,central ,bank of the ,democratic ,people's ,republic of ,korea1 a financial institution described in subsection 7a77#b71 or a person described in subsection 7a77#c7 includes doing so by serving as an intermediary financial institution with access to such messaging services4