[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5293 Introduced in House (IH)]







107th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5293

 To amend the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to provide for permanent 
  guidelines for United States voluntary contributions to the United 
                    Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 26, 2002

 Mrs. Maloney of New York (for herself, Mrs. Morella, Mr. Crowley, Mr. 
 Dingell, Mr. Smith of Washington, Ms. Roybal-Allard, Mr. Berman, Mr. 
Sanders, Ms. Lee, Mr. Towns, Mr. Udall of Colorado, Mrs. Lowey, and Mr. 
   Rangel) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                  Committee on International Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to provide for permanent 
  guidelines for United States voluntary contributions to the United 
                    Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

    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 ``Still 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 (hereinafter referred to as the 
        ``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) 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.
            (5) 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, thereby reducing its effects on the 
        environment.
            (6) 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.''.
            (7) UNFPA opposes coercion in any form. All of UNFPA's 
        programs are designed in conformity with universally recognized 
        human rights principles.
            (8) 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.
            (9) 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 implement the human rights approach of the 
        International Conference on Population and Development.
            (10) 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.
            (11) In the winter 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.
            (12) 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.
            (13) 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. The President decided not to 
        obligate the funds.
            (14) On February 12, 2002, Representatives Hastert, Armey, 
        and Delay sent a letter to the President urging him to 
        investigate UNFPA programs in China and urging him to stop 
        funds from going to China.
            (15) In May 2002, the President sent a 3-person delegation, 
        including Ambassador (retired) William A. Brown, Ms. Bonnie L. 
        Glick, and Dr. Theodore G. Tong, to investigate UNFPA programs 
        in China and allegations that the agency was involved in 
        coercive abortion practices.
            (16) This independent team returned and concluded that the 
        allegations were untrue.
            (17) On May 29, 2002, the team sent a letter to Secretary 
        of State Colin Powell stating the following:
                    ``First Finding: We find no evidence that UNFPA has 
                knowingly supported or participated in the management 
                of a program of coercive abortion or involuntary 
                sterilization in the PRC.
                    ``First Recommendation: We therefore recommend that 
                not more than $34,000,000 which has already been 
                appropriated be released to UNFPA.''.
            (18) Regrettably, the Administration overruled the 
        recommendation of its own delegation and invoked an overly 
        broad interpretation of the law in order to eliminate funding 
        for UNFPA. This bill is a response to this harmful decision.

SEC. 3. PERMANENT GUIDELINES FOR UNITED STATES VOLUNTARY CONTRIBUTIONS 
              TO THE UNFPA.

    Section 301 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2221) 
is amended by inserting after subsection (a) the following new 
subsection:
    ``(b) For fiscal years after fiscal year 2002, funds appropriated 
to the President or the Department of State under any law for a 
voluntary contribution to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) 
and funds appropriated to the President or the Department of State 
under any law and available only for a voluntary contribution to the 
UNFPA shall be obligated and expended for such purpose not more than 30 
days after such funds become available unless the President certifies 
that the UNFPA performs coercive abortions or involuntary 
sterilizations. The certification authority of the President under this 
subsection may not be delegated.''.

SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS FOR UNITED STATES VOLUNTARY 
              CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE UNFPA.

    In addition to amounts otherwise authorized to be appropriated 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 
the fiscal year 2003 for United States voluntary contributions to the 
UNFPA.
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