[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 107 (Friday, July 18, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1505-E1506]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    FOREIGN RELATIONS AUTHORIZATION ACT, FISCAL YEARS 2004 AND 2005

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                        HON. FORTNEY PETE STARK

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 15, 2003

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 1950) to 
     authorize appropriations for the Department of State for the 
     fiscal years 2004 and 2005, to authorize appropriations under 
     the Arms Export Control Act and the Foreign Assistance Act of 
     1961 for security assistance for fiscal years 2004 and 2005, 
     and for other purposes:

  Mr. STARK. Mr. Chairman, I rise to offer my support for this bill 
funding America's international diplomatic and humanitarian efforts. 
However, I do not do so without reservations. I strongly opposed the 
Republicans callously stripping funding from this legislation that 
would aid women throughout the world. Out of compassion for the plight 
of many women and the millions of children born into poverty each year, 
this House should honor our nation's longstanding commitment to the 
United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).
  UNFPA is the largest internationally funded source of population 
assistance to developing countries. For over 3 decades, UNFPA has 
provided over $6 billion in assistance to more than 150 countries for 
voluntary family planning and maternal and child health care. Contrary 
to accusations made by its antichoice proponents, UNFPA does not 
provide abortions or abortion service. They prevent the need for 
abortions by educating women in other countries on the many advantages 
to services such as contraception and disease prevention.
  For the last 3 years, the Bush Administration has unilaterally 
cancelled funding for the UNFPA initiative, claiming that UNFPA plays a 
role in the coercive abortion practices of the Chinese government.
  Just last year, upon the President's request, three monitoring teams 
visited China to investigate UNFPA's program, including a group from 
the U.S. Not one of the three groups, who also consisted of a former 
Dutch Ambassador to NATO and a group from the British parliament, found 
evidence of coercive practices and recommended the release of funding 
for the UNFPA.

[[Page E1506]]

  Nonetheless, family-planning opponents in this chamber vowed to 
strike the UNFPA provision within the overall bill before us today, 
claiming UNFPA support programs knowingly and intentionally participate 
in the management of forced abortion and sterilization in China.
  While that portion of the bill greatly troubles me, I would like to 
convey my support for many of the other initiatives contained in this 
bill. The positive components of this bill include: increases in 
contributions to the poorest countries worldwide, new programs designed 
to improve the lives of Afghan women, a fund to allocate increased aid 
to international peacekeeping activities, and an increase of financial 
support for the Peace Corps and refugee assistance.
  While we had a real chance today to make some significant changes to 
the way we provide assistance to women in other countries, I cannot 
deny the importance of so many other initiatives we've made available 
today. I rise in support of the bill and will work with like-minded 
colleagues and advocates to improve this bill before it comes back 
before us as a conference report.

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