[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1920 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1920

 To prohibit United States funding for the 2009 United Nations Durban 
  Review Conference (``Durban II Conference'') or any other activity 
relating to the planning, preparation, or implementation of a follow-up 
  meeting to the 2001 United Nations World Conference Against Racism, 
 Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance (``Durban I 
                 Conference'') in Durban, South Africa.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 2, 2009

  Mr. Garrett of New Jersey (for himself, Mr. Lamborn, and Mr. Mario 
   Diaz-Balart of Florida) introduced the following bill; which was 
              referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To prohibit United States funding for the 2009 United Nations Durban 
  Review Conference (``Durban II Conference'') or any other activity 
relating to the planning, preparation, or implementation of a follow-up 
  meeting to the 2001 United Nations World Conference Against Racism, 
 Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance (``Durban I 
                 Conference'') in Durban, South Africa.

    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 Durban Review 
Conference (Durban II) Funding Prohibition Act of 2009''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds as follows:
            (1) The 2001 United Nations World Conference Against 
        Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related 
        Intolerance (``Durban I Conference'') was held in Durban, South 
        Africa.
            (2) The Durban I Conference was used as a platform to 
        advance anti-Semitism and, consequently, the United States and 
        Israeli delegates walked out.
            (3) Former United States Secretary of State Colin Powell 
        gave the following statement after the Durban I Conference: ``I 
        know that you do not combat racism by conferences that produce 
        declarations containing hateful language, some of which is a 
        throwback to the days of `Zionism equals racism;' or support 
        the idea that we have made too much of the Holocaust; or 
        suggest that apartheid exists in Israel; or that single out 
        only one country in the world--Israel--for censure and 
        abuse.''.
            (4) The 2009 United Nations Durban Review Conference 
        (``Durban II Conference'') will be held between April 20 and 
        24, 2009, in Geneva, Switzerland.
            (5) On December 22, 2007, the United States and 45 other 
        United Nations member states voted not to support the Durban I 
        Conference.
            (6) Dutch Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen announced on 
        December 16, 2008, that the Netherlands was considering not 
        participating in the Durban II Conference because ``it seems 
        like the sole intention is to criticize Israel and condemn the 
        West for slavery and its colonial history.''.
            (7) Canada's Multiculturalism Secretary of State, Jason 
        Kennedy, announced on January 23, 2008, that Canada will not 
        participate in the Durban II Conference because ``Canada is 
        interested in combating racism, not promoting it . . . And 
        Canada has no intention of lending its good name and resources 
        to such a systematic promotion of hatred and bigotry.''.
            (8) The United Kingdom's Europe Minister stated: ``We will 
        play no part in an international conference that exhibits the 
        degree of anti-Semitism that was disgracefully on view on the 
        previous occasion.''.
            (9) The United States Congress unanimously passed House 
        Resolution 136 on September 23, 2008, which outlines five 
        requirements for United States participation in the Durban II 
        Conference:
                    (A) No reaffirmation of Durban Declaration and Plan 
                of Action (Durban I) language singling out Israel for 
                criticism.
                    (B) No language focusing on any single country or 
                conflict.
                    (C) The text must focus on fighting racism and not 
                any political issues.
                    (D) The text must be cleansed of language 
                restricting accepted human rights such as free speech.
                    (E) Language on reparations should not be 
                restricted to formulation in the Durban Declaration and 
                Plan of Action.
            (10) Israel's Minister of Foreign Affairs Minister Tzipi 
        Livni announced on November 19, 2008, that Israel will neither 
        participate in nor legitimize the Durban II Conference.
            (11) United States Acting State Department Spokesman Robert 
        Wood announced on February 14, 2009: ``The State Department 
        will send a delegation to the February 16-19 consultations for 
        the World Conference Against Racism as a means of evaluating 
        the current direction of Conference preparations and whether 
        United States participation in the Conference itself is 
        warranted . . .. Our participation in these informal 
        negotiations does not indicate--and should not be misconstrued 
        to indicate--that the United States will participate in April 
        in the World Conference Against Racism itself.''.
            (12) United States Acting State Department Spokesman Robert 
        Wood announced on February 27, 2009: ``The United States will 
        not engage in further negotiations on this [draft outcome 
        document] text, nor will we participate in a conference based 
        on this text.''.
            (13) Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini announced on 
        March 5, 2009, the withdrawal of the Italian delegation from 
        the preparatory negotiations for the Durban II Conference due 
        to ``aggressive and anti-Semitic statements'' in the draft of 
        the event's final document.
            (14) United States Acting Assistant Secretary of State for 
        International Organization Affairs James Warlick stated on 
        March 21, 2009: ``Our conclusion was that there was just not 
        the political will to work with us. Rather than give legitimacy 
        to a conference that has another agenda--not racism--but 
        another agenda, we decided that we would step back.''.
            (15) Pre-conference drafts for the Durban I Conference 
        condemned Israel for allegedly pursing a racist Zionist agenda 
        and committing crimes against humanity.
            (16) An African-led effort at the Durban I Conference 
        sought to include a demand for reparations from the West for 
        slavery.
            (17) Conferees at the Durban I Conference tried to condemn 
        the United States for refusing to adopt certain United Nations 
        treaties.
            (18) The United States cannot accept treaty requirements 
        that are incompatible with the United States Constitution.
            (19) In December 2007, the United States delegation to the 
        United Nations rejected the United Nations biennial budget for 
        2008-2009 due, in part, because of proposals to fund the Durban 
        II Conference.
            (20) The chair of the Preparatory Committee for the Durban 
        Review Conference is Libya, and the co-chairs include several 
        countries such as Iran, Pakistan, Russia, South Africa, and 
        Cuba which have failed to demonstrate consistent equality of 
        respect for human rights.
            (21) Libya is a member of the League of Arab States, whose 
        Arab Charter on Human Rights calls for the elimination of 
        ``Zionism''.
            (22) Both Libya and Iran are strong supporters of the 
        Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) in the United 
        Nations Human Rights Council, which has historically been 
        hostile to Israel.
            (23) The United Nations Human Rights Council is responsible 
        for organizing the Durban II Conference.
            (24) The United Nations Human Rights Council has ignored 
        ongoing repression in Sudan, Belarus, the People's Republic of 
        China, Cuba, North Korea, Zimbabwe, and other countries.
            (25) The United Nations Human Rights Council has held ten 
        regular sessions concerning human rights worldwide and five 
        special sessions to condemn Israel.
            (26) The United Nations Human Rights Council has adopted 
        more resolutions and decisions condemning Israel than all the 
        other 191 United Nations member states combined.
            (27) United Nations General Assembly Resolution 46/86 
        rejects the position that Zionism is racism or a form of racial 
        discrimination.
            (28) Over $2,000,000 from the United Nations regular budget 
        has been expended on Durban II Conference preparatory 
        activities.
            (29) The United States is the largest contributor to the 
        United Nations system and is assessed for a full 22 percent of 
        the United Nations regular budget.
            (30) The United States House of Representatives passed 
        House Resolution 557 on September 25, 2007, which strongly 
        condemned the United Nations Human Rights Council for ignoring 
        severe human rights abuses in various countries, while choosing 
        to unfairly target Israel by including it as the only country 
        permanently placed on the Council's agenda.

SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON UNITED STATES FUNDING FOR THE 2009 UNITED 
              NATIONS DURBAN REVIEW CONFERENCE AND RELATED ACTIVITIES.

    Notwithstanding any other provision of law--
            (1) no funds appropriated or otherwise made available by 
        any Act may be made available to support the 2009 United 
        Nations Durban Review Conference (``Durban II Conference'') or 
        any other activity relating to the planning, preparation, or 
        implementation of a follow-up meeting to the 2001 United 
        Nations World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, 
        Xenophobia and Related Intolerance (``Durban I Conference'') in 
        Durban, South Africa; and
            (2) the United States shall withhold from its assessed 
        contributions to the United Nations regular budget, in 
        proportion to the United States assessment for the United 
        Nations regular budget, the amount allocated for the Durban II 
        Conference and any other activity relating to the planning, 
        preparation, or implementation of a follow-up meeting to the 
        Durban I Conference.
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