Stop UN Support for Assad Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4868 To certify that United States assistance to the United Nations for humani- tarian programs in the Syrian Arab Republic is not misdirected, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OCTOBER 28, 2019 Mr. WILSON of South Carolina (for himself, Mr. KILDEE, Mr. GONZALEZ of Texas, and Mr. CHABOT) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs A BILL To certify that United States assistance to the United Na- tions for humanitarian programs in the Syrian Arab Republic is not misdirected, 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 ‘‘Stop UN Support for 4 Assad Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds the following: 7 (1) The United States, which has been the big- 8 gest donor to the United Nations (UN) Humani- 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:54 Nov 01, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4868.IH H4868 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 4868 IH tarian Response in Syria, has provided more than 1 $6,000,000,000 for UN Syria programming since 2 2011, including over $435,000,000 in fiscal year 3 2018 alone. 4 (2) During the past eight years of conflict, the 5 Assad regime has repeatedly weaponized access to 6 United Nations aid in prolonged and unlawful sieges 7 of civilians as part of a widespread ‘‘starve or sur- 8 render’’ campaign, with the United Nations esti- 9 mating 975,000 Syrians under siege at the peak of 10 this strategy. 11 (3) The United Nations Office for the Coordi- 12 nation of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has re- 13 ported repeated failures to deliver aid to the hardest- 14 hit areas due to such obstructions by the Assad re- 15 gime. 16 (4) On February 12, 2018, former U.S. Ambas- 17 sador to Syria Robert Ford wrote of UN aid in 18 Syria that ‘‘it is clear the aid is not neutral and is 19 being used as a weapon by the Syrian government.’’. 20 (5) The United Nations continues to procure 21 goods and services from several entities that have 22 close ties to the Assad regime, despite their role in 23 supporting the Assad regime’s gross human rights 24 violations and international crimes—including tor- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:54 Nov 01, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4868.IH H4868 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 4868 IH ture, sexual violence, the targeting of medical facili- 1 ties, weaponized mass starvation, enforced dis- 2 appearance, and forced displacement—for which the 3 United Nations itself has found the Assad regime 4 culpable. 5 (6) A 2016 study of the UN Report of Procure- 6 ment showed that UN operations in Syria delivered 7 $4 million to Syria’s state-owned fuel industry, $5 8 million to blood banks operated by the Syrian Arab 9 Army for the benefit of its troops, and $8.5 million 10 to charities co-opted by members of the Assad fam- 11 ily. 12 (7) International NGOs working with the 13 United Nations are forced to select local partners, 14 many of which are controlled by the Assad family 15 and inner circle, from a government-approved list, 16 therefore allowing these actors to profit from hu- 17 manitarian relief efforts and perpetuate the conflict, 18 international crimes, and human rights violations. 19 (8) The Assad regime compels the United Na- 20 tions to house its 150 international staff in the Four 21 Seasons Hotel Damascus where, since 2016, the 22 United Nations has spent more than $26,000 a 23 night, equalling nearly $10 million a year. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:54 Nov 01, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4868.IH H4868 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 4868 IH (9) On June 11, 2019, the United States 1 Treasury Department sanctioned the Four Seasons 2 Hotel in Damascus for its role in fueling an illicit 3 network benefitting the Assad regime, and also sanc- 4 tioned its owner Samer Foz a businessman who is 5 ‘‘directly supporting the murderous Assad regime 6 and building luxury developments on land stolen 7 from those fleeing his brutality’’, according to U.S. 8 Treasury Undersecretary Sigal Mandelker; the Euro- 9 pean Union likewise sanctioned Foz for funding the 10 Military Security Shield Forces, a pro-government 11 militia responsible for severe human rights abuses. 12 (10) United Nation agencies and international 13 NGOs are required to purchase mobile phones from 14 Syriatel, a company owned by Rami Makhlouf, a 15 cousin of Bashar al-Assad who is sanctioned for cor- 16 ruption and whose involvement in human rights 17 abuses in Syria is well documented. 18 (11) The Assad regime has regularly siphoned 19 humanitarian funds for the war effort and bypassed 20 international sanctions through exploiting humani- 21 tarian exemptions. 22 (12) On July 15, 2019, United Nations High 23 Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Middle East 24 Director Amin Awad recognized in an interview with 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:54 Nov 01, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4868.IH H4868 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 4868 IH The National that the United Nations has no proce- 1 dure for assessing ownership and partnerships of 2 suppliers it uses for procurement in Syria: ‘‘I do not 3 have a mechanism where we comb every single con- 4 tract to see do you have one, 10 or 90 percent con- 5 nection with the regime or not.’’. 6 (13) On June 28, 2019, Human Rights Watch 7 published a comprehensive report with the following 8 conclusion: ‘‘While seemingly benign, the Syrian gov- 9 ernment’s aid and reconstruction policies are being 10 used to punish perceived opponents and reward its 11 supporters. . . . The Syrian government’s aid 12 framework undermines human rights, and donors 13 need to ensure they are not complicit . . . .’’. 14 SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 15 It is the policy of the United States that— 16 (1) the delivery of assistance funded by the 17 United States through the United Nations must 18 meet reasonable expectations that aid reaches its in- 19 tended recipients; 20 (2) programming provided through the United 21 Nations based on United States funding should be 22 determined according to greatest need, not only 23 greatest access; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:54 Nov 01, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4868.IH H4868 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 4868 IH (3) United States assistance to Syria should not 1 be manipulated for political or financial gain of any 2 party to the conflict, especially those most respon- 3 sible for compounding the suffering of Syrian civil- 4 ians, including the Assad regime, the Russian Fed- 5 eration, the Islamic Republic of Iran, any entities 6 owned or controlled thereof, or non-state actors in- 7 volved in international crimes and human rights 8 abuses; 9 (4) no United States assistance should be given 10 directly or indirectly to the Assad regime in Syria, 11 including through organs or subsidiaries of the 12 United Nations; 13 (5) the United States should support all efforts 14 by the United Nations to establish an independent 15 mechanism to vet procurement contracts in Syrian 16 government-held areas, and such a mechanism 17 must— 18 (A) ensure no contracts are entered into 19 with the Assad regime or its affiliates; 20 (B) develop and implement enhanced 21 human rights due diligence practices, including 22 conducting quarterly human rights impact as- 23 sessments that review how United Nations aid 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:54 Nov 01, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4868.IH H4868 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 4868 IH is disbursed and how such aid flows through its 1 suppliers and local partners in Syria; and 2 (C) make certain that the findings of the 3 human rights impact assessments are inte- 4 grated into all levels of United Nations oper- 5 ations, monitor the effectiveness of such assess- 6 ments on such operations, and report how 7 human rights impacts are being addressed and 8 mitigated; 9 (6) the United Nations procurement operations 10 throughout Syria should abide by its own United 11 Nations Supplier Code of Conduct, which states that 12 suppliers to the United Nations must ‘‘ensure that 13 they are not complicit in human rights abuses’’; and 14 (7) the United States will continue providing 15 humanitarian assistance to Syria while also con- 16 tinuing its efforts to facilitate a negotiated political 17 transition from the Assad regime, in accordance 18 with its commitment in United Nations Security 19 Council Resolution 2254. 20 SEC. 4. CERTIFICATION. 21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 22 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State 23 shall certify to the appropriate congressional committees 24 whether United Nations agency programming, including 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:54 Nov 01, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4868.IH H4868 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 4868 IH any program or project, in Syria funded in whole or in 1 part by the United States— 2 (1) is delivered impartially, without hindrance, 3 to the areas of greatest need; 4 (2) does not directly materially support the Syr- 5 ian government or entities owned or controlled by 6 the Syrian government, Syrian government officials, 7 their immediate families, or entities under their di- 8 rection; 9 (3) does not directly materially support associ- 10 ated forces of the Syrian government or entities 11 under their direction; 12 (4) adheres to the United Nations Supplier 13 Code of Conduct, which states that the United Na- 14 tions must not support, directly or indirectly, other 15 entities and individuals involved in human rights 16 abuses, and which requires United Nations agencies 17 to secure guarantees from suppliers that ‘‘they are 18 not complicit in human rights abuses’’; and 19 (5) is vetted by an independent mechanism that 20 reviews contract procurement in Syrian government- 21 held areas, as described in section 3(5). 22 (b) FUNDING LIMITATION AND REDIRECTION.—If 23 the Secretary of State makes a certification described in 24 subsection (a) in the negative— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:54 Nov 01, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4868.IH H4868 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 4868 IH (1) no Federal department or agency may pro- 1 vide any funding, directly or indirectly, to any 2 United Nations agency programming, including any 3 program or project, in Syria that fails to meet the 4 criteria of the certification specified in subsection 5 (a); and 6 (2) amounts made available to the Secretary of 7 State that are withheld from United Nations agency 8 programming, including any program or project, in 9 Syria in accordance with paragraph (1) shall be 10 made available to the Administrator of the United 11 States Agency for International Development’s Of- 12 fice of Foreign Disaster Assistance for providing as- 13 sistance to populations in Syria in need. 14 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 15 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT- 16 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com- 17 mittees’’ means— 18 (A) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and 19 the Committee on Appropriations of the House 20 of Representatives; and 21 (B) the Committee on Foreign Relations 22 and the Committee on Appropriations of the 23 Senate. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:54 Nov 01, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4868.IH H4868 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 4868 IH (2) ASSOCIATED FORCES.—The term ‘‘associ- 1 ated forces’’ includes forces of the Russian govern- 2 ment, the Iranian government, Iranian-backed proxy 3 militias, and Hezbollah. 4 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:16 Nov 01, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4868.IH H4868 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS