[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3916 Introduced in House (IH)]







107th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 3916

To provide a United States voluntary contribution to the United Nations 
                            Population Fund.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 7, 2002

Mrs. Maloney of New York (for herself, Mr. Greenwood, Mr. Crowley, Mrs. 
 Lowey, and Mr. Ose) introduced the following bill; which was referred 
              to the Committee on International Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To provide a United States voluntary contribution to the United Nations 
                            Population Fund.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Saving Women's Lives Act of 2002''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) The renewed commitment of the world community to the 
        formulation of government policies that contribute to global 
        population stabilization and to improvements in the status of 
        women owes much to the efforts of the United Nations and its 
        specialized agencies and organizations, particularly the United 
        Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).
            (2) Over one-half of the UNFPA's assistance is devoted to 
        maternal and child health programs, including the provision of 
        family planning services, and it is a major supplier of modern 
        methods of contraception. UNFPA also supports efforts aimed at 
        preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS and other sexually-
        transmitted diseases and activities aimed specifically at 
        enhancing the status of women.
            (3) UNFPA does not fund abortion services, rather, UNFPA 
        seeks to reduce the incidence of abortion by improving access 
        to contraceptive services and to reduce deaths and injuries 
        related to unsafe abortion by supporting treatment of women 
        suffering from its complications.
            (4) Operating in over 130 nations in all regions of the 
        world and as a politically neutral source of funds, UNFPA 
        complements the important work of the United States Agency for 
        International Development population assistance program.
            (5) The United States contribution to UNFPA last year 
        provided an estimated 870,000 women in the developing world 
        with effective modern contraception, thereby preventing 500,000 
        unintended pregnancies, 200,000 abortions, and thousands of 
        maternal and child deaths.
            (6) Many global environmental problems, including water 
        shortages, pollution, tropical deforestation, and the loss of 
        wildlife habitat are linked to rapid population growth. UNFPA 
        has assisted countries around the world plan for and slow 
        population growth, therefore reducing its effects on the 
        environment.
            (7) Assistance provided by UNFPA conforms to the principle, 
        affirmed at the 1994 International Conference on Population and 
        Development by 180 nations, including the United States, that 
        ``all couples and individuals have the basic right to decide 
        freely and responsibly the number and spacing of their children 
        and to have the information, education, and means to do so.''.
            (8) UNFPA opposes coercion in any form. All of UNFPA's 
        programs are designed in conformity with universally recognized 
        human rights principles.
            (9) An appropriate way to express the legitimate concerns 
        of the United States Government about the population policies 
        of the People's Republic of China is by placing those concerns 
        on the bilateral agenda along with other important human rights 
        issues, not by singling out a United Nations agency by 
        withholding all funding thereby punishing the women and 
        families around the world who depend on its humanitarian aid.
            (10) UNFPA plays a constructive role in helping to reduce 
        the incidence of coercive practices in China through its 
        country program which has been successful in eliminating 
        targets and quotas and promoting voluntary family planning and 
        informed consent in the 32 program counties. By improving 
        contraceptive method choice, expanding the range of 
        reproductive health services, and enhancing the status of 
        women, the UNFPA country program will help to enable the 
        Chinese to operationalize the human rights approach of the 
        International Conference on Population and Development.
            (11) The United States Government provided a voluntary 
        contribution of $21,500,000 to UNFPA for fiscal year 2001 and 
        President Bush's budget request for fiscal year 2002 allocated 
        $25,000,000 for UNFPA.
            (12) In the spring of 2001, the Secretary of State 
        submitted written testimony to the Committee on Foreign 
        Relations of the Senate expressing support for the invaluable 
        work of UNFPA and for securing funding for the organization.
            (13) The United States Government, as part of its efforts 
        to improve the dire health conditions of Afghan women, pledged 
        in October 2001 an additional $600,000 to UNFPA to address the 
        reproductive health care needs of Afghan refugees in 
        surrounding nations and of the internally displaced within 
        Afghanistan.
            (14) Congress demonstrated its strong bipartisan support 
        for a voluntary United States contribution to UNFPA of up to 
        $34,000,000 in adopting the fiscal year 2002 foreign operations 
        appropriations bill, which was passed by the House of 
        Representatives on a vote of 357 to 66 and by the Senate by 
        unanimous consent and signed into law (Public Law 107-115) by 
        the President on January 10, 2002.
            (15) The Bush Administration ``recognizes our country's 
        long history of providing international health care services, 
        including voluntary family planning to couples around the world 
        who want to make free and responsible decisions about the 
        number and spacing of their children,'' and the President is 
        committed to maintaining funding for these programs ``because 
        he knows that one of the best ways to prevent abortion is by 
        providing voluntary family planning services.''.

SEC. 3. UNITED STATES VOLUNTARY CONTRIBUTION TO THE UNITED NATIONS 
              POPULATION FUND.

    (a) Reappropriation of Funds.--Of the amounts appropriated for 
``International Organizations and Programs'' under the Kenneth M. 
Ludden Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and Related Programs 
Appropriations Act, Fiscal Year 2002, and which remain available, 
$34,000,000 for fiscal year 2002 shall be made available only for 
United States voluntary contributions to the United Nations Population 
Fund.
    (b) Authorization of Appropriations.--In addition to amounts 
otherwise available to carry out the purposes of chapter 3 of part 1 of 
the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, there are authorized to be 
appropriated $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2003 to be available only for 
United States voluntary contributions to the United Nations Population 
Fund.

SEC. 4. LIMITATIONS ON UNITED STATES VOLUNTARY CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE 
              UNITED NATIONS POPULATION FUND.

    (a) Prohibition on Use of Funds in China.--None of the funds made 
available or authorized to be appropriated by this Act may be made 
available for the United Nations Population Fund (hereinafter in this 
Act referrred to as the ``UNFPA'') for a country program in the 
People's Republic of China.
    (b) Conditions on Availability of Funds.--Amounts made available or 
authorized to be appropriated by this Act may not be made available to 
UNFPA unless--
            (1) the UNFPA maintains amounts made available to the UNFPA 
        under this Act in an account separate from other accounts of 
        the UNFPA;
            (2) the UNFPA does not commingle amounts made available to 
        the UNFPA under this Act with other sums; and
            (3) the UNFPA does not fund abortions as a method of family 
        planning.
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