[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1011 Introduced in House (IH)]






109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1011

 To provide financial assistance to the United Nations Population Fund 
    to provide urgent medical and health care to tsunami victims in 
                Indonesia, the Maldives, and Sri Lanka.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 1, 2005

Mrs. Maloney (for herself, Mr. Crowley, Mrs. Lowey, Ms. Jackson-Lee of 
 Texas, Mr. Israel, and Ms. Linda T. Sanchez of California) introduced 
      the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                        International Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To provide financial assistance to the United Nations Population Fund 
    to provide urgent medical and health care to tsunami victims in 
                Indonesia, the Maldives, and Sri Lanka.

    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 ``Women, Children, and Infant Tsunami 
Victim Relief Act of 2005''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) More than 150,000 people were killed as a result of the 
        December 26, 2004, tsunami in Southeast Asia and more than 
        5,000,000 have been directly affected.
            (2) Approximately 150,000 women in the three most affected 
        countries in the region are pregnant, and many are facing 
        complications related to their pregnancies, including trauma-
        induced miscarriage and the need for urgent medical and 
        nutritional support.
            (3) The Indonesian Midwife's Association estimates that 30 
        percent of its 5,500 members died in the tsunami. Under normal 
        conditions, approximately 15 percent of pregnancies in 
        Indonesia require urgent assistance from midwives or doctors to 
        ensure the health and survival of the babies and mothers.
            (4) In disaster situations, health care systems crumble 
        when they are most needed, especially by pregnant women. 
        Emergency relief tends to focus on providing food and shelter, 
        clearing roads, and maintaining security, to the exclusion of 
        helping women in labor find a safe, clean place to deliver 
        their babies, or on meeting the special nutrition and care 
        needs of such women.
            (5) Maternity hospitals, women's health clinics, and other 
        infrastructure for providing health services to women, 
        including infrastructure related to providing maternal health 
        assistance, ensuring safe delivery of babies, providing 
        contraceptives and emergency obstetric care, and preventing 
        sexually transmitted diseases, have been destroyed by the 
        tsunami. In Sri Lanka, four of eight maternity clinics on the 
        east coast were destroyed and the other four were greatly 
        damaged. The Galle Teaching Hospital in Galle, Sri Lanka, 
        relocated its 379 patients to another facility on higher 
        ground. Although the hospital lost only one infant in the 
        transition, the new facility has only 70 beds compared with the 
        415 beds the hospital had.
            (6) Even before the tsunami, one woman died every minute 
        somewhere in the world from complications related to pregnancy. 
        Too often during disaster situations safe blood supplies, 
        equipment for anesthesia, transfusions and caesarean sections, 
        and trained personnel to save those women's lives are 
        unavailable. In disaster situations, the death toll rises 
        steadily until such supplies and personnel can be located and 
        brought in to the affected area.
            (7) Violence against women, including rape, gang rape, 
        molestation and physical abuse during rescue operations and in 
        temporary shelters has been reported.
            (8) The Women and Media Collective Group in Sri Lanka has 
        issued a written appeal for public attention to ``serious 
        issues concerning the safety and well-being of women which have 
        not been addressed so far in relief efforts''.
            (9) The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has 
        extensive experience and existing programs dedicated to 
        delivering maternal and child health care, ensuring safe 
        delivery of babies, ensuring adequate reproductive health, 
        providing contraceptive supplies and services, and providing 
        other critically needed types of assistance in Indonesia, the 
        Maldives, and Sri Lanka.
            (10) The UNFPA has extensive experience and the requisite 
        capacity to address the needs and alleviate the suffering of 
        victims of natural and man-made disasters.
            (11) In 2001, the Bush Administration provided $600,000 in 
        additional humanitarian relief support to the UNFPA to address 
        the immediate need for emergency reproductive health needs of 
        Afghan women refugees who were fleeing Afghanistan. This 
        support was used to improve maternal and child health services, 
        including providing hygiene kits, safe delivery kits, and cribs 
        for newborns.
            (12) The UNFPA has a long and proven track record in 
        responding quickly and effectively in providing the necessary 
        supplies and technical support to address reproductive health 
        needs in humanitarian crises including in Sudan, Eritrea, 
        Kosovo, and Sierra Leone.
            (13) The UNFPA has made an urgent appeal to donor countries 
        to raise $28,000,000 to provide relief to women in Indonesia, 
        the Maldives, and Sri Lanka.

SEC. 3. ASSISTANCE TO TSUNAMI VICTIMS.

    (a) Authorization of Assistance.--Pursuant to the authorization of 
appropriations under subsection (b), the Secretary of State shall make 
available funding to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) to 
provide assistance to tsunami victims in Indonesia, the Maldives, and 
Sri Lanka. Funding provided to the UNFPA shall be used to--
            (1) provide and distribute equipment, including safe 
        delivery kits and hygiene kits, medicines, and supplies, 
        including soap and sanitary napkins, to ensure safe childbirth 
        and emergency obstetric care and to prevent the transmission of 
        HIV/AIDS;
            (2) reestablish maternal health services in areas where 
        medical infrastructure and such services have been destroyed by 
        the tsunami;
            (3) prevent and treat cases of violence against women and 
        youth;
            (4) offer psychological support and counseling to women and 
        youth; and
            (5) promote the access of unaccompanied women and other 
        vulnerable people to vital services, including access to water, 
        sanitation facilities, food, and health care.
    (b)  Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated to the Secretary of State $3,000,000 to provide the 
assistance described in subsection (a).
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