Support UNFPA Funding Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4722 To authorize contributions to the United Nations Population Fund, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OCTOBER 17, 2019 Ms. HOULAHAN (for herself, Mr. ENGEL, Mrs. LOWEY, Ms. FRANKEL, Ms. SPEIER, Ms. DEGETTE, Ms. DELAURO, Ms. LEE of California, Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York, Ms. MOORE, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. SHALALA, Mr. QUIGLEY, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. HUFFMAN, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Ms. NORTON, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. DEFAZIO, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Mr. PAPPAS, Mrs. LAWRENCE, Mr. CICILLINE, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. CASTEN of Illinois, Mr. CLEAVER, Ms. BARRAGA´N, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. LEVIN of Michigan, Mr. COOPER, Ms. BASS, Mr. RUSH, Mr. NAD- LER, Mr. COSTA, Mr. COHEN, Mr. DEUTCH, Mr. TONKO, Mr. RASKIN, Ms. WILD, Ms. DEAN, Ms. JUDY CHU of California, Mr. POCAN, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mr. CARBAJAL, Ms. HAALAND, Mr. HIMES, Ms. SCAN- LON, Mr. SMITH of Washington, Ms. SA´NCHEZ, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. CASE, Mrs. TRAHAN, Mr. RYAN, Mr. EVANS, Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. WELCH, Ms. HILL of California, Mr. BERA, Mr. PRICE of North Caro- lina, Mr. TED LIEU of California, Ms. MENG, Mr. SHERMAN, Ms. BLUNT ROCHESTER, Ms. KUSTER of New Hampshire, Ms. MATSUI, Mr. NEGUSE, Mr. KIND, Mr. KILMER, Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York, Mrs. DINGELL, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. HIGGINS of New York, Mrs. DAVIS of California, Mr. CROW, Mr. CONNOLLY, Ms. PINGREE, Miss RICE of New York, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. SIRES, Ms. ESCOBAR, Mrs. LEE of Nevada, Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia, Ms. KELLY of Illinois, Mr. ALLRED, Mr. VARGAS, Ms. TITUS, Mr. CA´RDENAS, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Ms. SCHRIER, Ms. JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. CISNEROS, Mr. SOTO, Ms. BROWNLEY of California, Mr. CASTRO of Texas, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Mr. VEASEY, Mr. MEEKS, Mr. TRONE, Mr. GALLEGO, Ms. SHERRILL, Mr. KEATING, and Mr. LARSEN of Washington) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Af- fairs VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:20 Oct 24, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H4722.IH H4722 snicholson on DSK30NT082PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 4722 IH A BILL To authorize contributions to the United Nations Population Fund, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Support UNFPA 4 Funding Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds the following: 7 (1) The United Nations Population Fund 8 (UNFPA), is the United Nations Reproductive 9 Health Agency. 10 (2) UNFPA was founded with the leadership of 11 the United States 50 years ago and works in more 12 than 150 countries to end preventable maternal 13 deaths, the unmet need for contraception, and gen- 14 der-based violence and other harmful practices, in- 15 cluding female genital mutilation and child mar- 16 riage. 17 (3) UNFPA also ensures access to health care 18 and essential supplies for women and families im- 19 pacted by emergencies. 20 (4) All UNFPA programming is guided by 21 principles adopted by 179 governments, including 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:20 Oct 24, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4722.IH H4722 snicholson on DSK30NT082PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 4722 IH the United States, at the 1994 International Con- 1 ference for Population and Development. The prin- 2 ciples include that ‘‘reproductive health care pro- 3 grams should provide the widest range of services 4 without any form of coercion. All couples and indi- 5 viduals have the basic right to decide freely and re- 6 sponsibly the number and spacing of their children 7 and to have the information, education and means to 8 do so.’’ 9 (5) UNFPA is currently working to address the 10 needs of: 11 (A) The 810 women and adolescent girls 12 who die each day from preventable causes re- 13 lated to pregnancy and childbirth, 99 percent of 14 which deaths occur in developing countries and 15 more than half of which occur in fragile and 16 humanitarian settings. 17 (B) More than 214,000,000 women of re- 18 productive age in developing regions who want 19 to avoid pregnancy and are not using a modern 20 contraceptive method. 21 (C) The estimated 1 in 3 women who expe- 22 rience gender-based violence. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:20 Oct 24, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4722.IH H4722 snicholson on DSK30NT082PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 4722 IH (D) The estimated 200,000,000 women 1 who have survived some form of female genital 2 mutilation. 3 (E) The estimated 15,000,000 girls who 4 are forcibly married before the age of 18 each 5 year. 6 (6) Prior to withholding contributions in 2017, 7 the United States was the third-largest overall donor 8 to UNFPA, and its second-largest donor for human- 9 itarian response. 10 (7) UNFPA, which works in three times as 11 many countries as the United States Agency for 12 International Development, extends the impact of 13 United States foreign assistance by reaching people 14 in politically unstable regions. UNFPA also plays a 15 pivotal role in meeting protection and health care 16 needs in countries experiencing humanitarian emer- 17 gencies like Syria, Yemen, and Iraq. 18 (8) Voluntary family planning is central to gen- 19 der equality and women’s empowerment, and it is a 20 key factor in reducing poverty. 21 (9) The United States has conflated UNFPA’s 22 presence in China with supporting China’s coercive 23 birth limitation policies. However, in June 2015, the 24 U.S. State Department visited UNFPA’s China 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:20 Oct 24, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4722.IH H4722 snicholson on DSK30NT082PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 4722 IH Country Program to design and approve it as a 1 member of UNFPA’s Executive Board, noting that 2 ‘‘[d]uring its recent visit, the U.S. delegation ob- 3 served the positive impact of UNFPA’s rights-based 4 programming in China. We commend the Fund’s ad- 5 herence to demonstrating the advantages of a vol- 6 untary approach to family planning.’’ The Program 7 in China has not changed since it was approved by 8 the United States in 2015. 9 (10) On July 8, 2019, the Department of State 10 made a determination to eliminate all contributions 11 to UNFPA for the third consecutive year based on 12 its interpretation of the Kemp-Kasten Amendment 13 (first enacted in Public Law 99–88; 99 Stat. 323). 14 SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 15 It is the policy of the United States as follows: 16 (1) Improving the status of women around the 17 world is a critical component of the United States 18 foreign policy and development strategies. 19 (2) The right of every person to determine free- 20 ly whether, when, and with whom to have children, 21 and to attain the highest standard of sexual and re- 22 productive health, is a basic human right. 23 (3) Access to voluntary contraception and re- 24 productive health care is necessary to improving the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:20 Oct 24, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4722.IH H4722 snicholson on DSK30NT082PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 4722 IH status of women and ensuring this basic human 1 right. 2 (4) UNFPA is a key partner in improving the 3 status of women and expanding access to voluntary 4 family planning and reproductive health care serv- 5 ices throughout the world. 6 (5) UNFPA helps ensure that family planning 7 and reproductive health programs are voluntary and 8 centered on protecting human rights. 9 (6) Financial support for UNFPA is a crucial 10 part of the United States commitment to global 11 health, development, and human rights, and the 12 Government of the United States is committed to 13 providing core and humanitarian funding to 14 UNFPA. 15 SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 16 There is authorized to be appropriated an annual 17 contribution for each of the five fiscal years beginning 18 after the date of the enactment of this Act to support the 19 core functions and programs of the United Nations Popu- 20 lation Fund (UNFPA), which may include the following: 21 (1) Ending preventable maternal deaths. 22 (2) Ending the unmet need for contraceptives 23 and promoting a human-rights-based approach to 24 family planning. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:20 Oct 24, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4722.IH H4722 snicholson on DSK30NT082PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 4722 IH (3) Ending gender-based violence. 1 (4) Ending other harmful practices, such as 2 child marriage and female genital mutilation. 3 (5) Supporting United States national security 4 and humanitarian efforts by operating in areas 5 where medical infrastructure or services have been 6 destroyed or limited by natural disasters, armed con- 7 flict, or other humanitarian emergencies. 8 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:20 Oct 24, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4722.IH H4722 snicholson on DSK30NT082PROD with BILLS