[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5375 Introduced in House (IH)]






108th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5375

To provide for increased accountability and transparency in the United 
                                Nations.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           November 17, 2004

 Mr. Hyde (for himself and Mr. Lantos) introduced the following bill; 
     which was referred to the Committee on International Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To provide for increased accountability and transparency in the United 
                                Nations.

    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 ``United Nations Accountability Act 
of 2004''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

     Congress finds the following:
            (1) There have been allegations of mismanagement, fraud, 
        and corruption in the United Nations Oil-for-Food program.
            (2) The United Nations Office of Internal Oversight 
        Services (OIOS) conducted audits of the United Nations Oil-for-
        Food program.
            (3) These OIOS audits identified mismanagement and 
        ``uneconomical'' arrangements in the contract entered into by 
        the United Nations for the provision of independent Oil-for-
        Food inspection agents in Iraq, and observed that the 
        contractor providing inspection services in Iraq on behalf of 
        the United Nations ``had not fully performed its contractual 
        duties''.
            (4) The ``overall conclusion'' of the OIOS audit was that 
        ``management of the Contract'' had ``not been adequate and 
        certain provisions of the contract had not been adhered to''.
            (5) Specifically, the OIOS audit concluded the contractor 
        failed to maintain inspection agents at staffing levels 
        required by the contract, overcharged the United Nations, 
        engaged in ``unprofessional conduct'', and reported figures for 
        goods as having arrived that were vastly different than the 
        figures reported by the United Nations.
            (6) The OIOS concluded that the United Nations Office of 
        Iraq Programs needed ``to strengthen its management of 
        contracts'', had failed to designate anyone in Iraq to manage 
        the contract, and that in the ``absence of a contract 
        manager'', the United Nations Office of Iraq Programs had ``no 
        assurance that the services provided were in consonance with 
        the spirit and letter of the contract''.
            (7) It has been and continues to be the policy and practice 
        of the United Nations not to release OIOS audit reports to 
        member states.
            (8) The United Nations has denied the United States access 
        to OIOS audits of the Oil-for-Food Program both during and 
        after the life of the program, despite repeated requests by the 
        United States for access to such audits.
            (9) The ability of member states to fulfill their 
        responsibilities in connection with United Nations programs is 
        undermined by the nondisclosure policy of the United Nations 
        barring full and timely access by member states to OIOS audit 
        reports.

SEC. 3. ACCOUNTABILITY AND TRANSPARENCY MEASURES FOR THE UNITED 
              NATIONS.

    (a) Access by Member States to OIOS Audits.--Congress urges the 
President to instruct the Permanent Mission of the United States to the 
United Nations to use the voice and vote of the United States to seek 
to ensure the United Nations has procedures in place to ensure that all 
reports prepared by the OIOS are made available, in a timely fashion, 
fully and without modification (except to the extent necessary to 
protect the privacy rights of individuals) to member states of the 
United Nations.
    (b) Report on Financial Disclosure Requirements of United Nations 
Officials.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of 
this Act, the Department of State shall submit to the appropriate 
congressional committees a report assessing the adequacy of financial 
disclosure rules and practices for United Nations officials together 
with recommendations for any needed reforms identified in the course of 
the assessment.

SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.

     In this Act:
            (1) Oil-for-food program.--The term ``oil-for-food 
        program'' means the program established and administered 
        pursuant to United Nations Security Council Resolution 986 
        (April 14, 1995) and subsequent United Nations resolutions to 
        permit the sale of petroleum products exported from Iraq and to 
        use the revenue generated from such sale for humanitarian 
        assistance.
            (2) Office of internal oversight services.--The term 
        ``Office of Internal Oversight Services'' means the United 
        Nations office established by General Assembly resolution 48/
        218 B (July 29, 1994), and charged with assisting in the 
        internal oversight responsibilities of the Secretary General by 
        monitoring program implementation and by conducting management 
        audits, reviews, and surveys.
            (3) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term 
        ``appropriate congressional committees'' means the Committee on 
        International Relations of the House of Representatives, the 
        Committee on Government Reform of the House of Representatives, 
        the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate, and the 
        Committee on Governmental Affairs of the Senate.
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