United Nations Voting Accountability Act of 2023

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3685 To prohibit United States assistance to foreign countries that oppose the position of the United States in the United Nations. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 25, 2023 Mr. DAVIDSON (for himself, Mr. BISHOP of North Carolina, and Mr. BRECHEEN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on Foreign Affairs A BILL To prohibit United States assistance to foreign countries that oppose the position of the United States in the United Nations. 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 ‘‘United Nations Voting 4 Accountability Act of 2023’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:15 Jun 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3685.IH H3685 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 3685 IH SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON ASSISTANCE TO COUNTRIES THAT 1 OPPOSE THE POSITION OF THE UNITED 2 STATES IN THE UNITED NATIONS. 3 (a) PROHIBITION.—United States assistance may not 4 be provided to a country that opposed the position of the 5 United States in the United Nations. 6 (b) EXEMPTION DUE TO CHANGE IN GOVERN- 7 MENT.— 8 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State may 9 exempt a country from the prohibition described in 10 subsection (a) if the Secretary determines that since 11 the beginning of the most recent session of the Gen- 12 eral Assembly— 13 (A) there has been a fundamental change 14 in the leadership and policies of the government 15 of a country to which the prohibition in such 16 subsection applies; and 17 (B) as a result of such change, the govern- 18 ment of such country will no longer oppose the 19 position of the United States in the United Na- 20 tions. 21 (2) DURATION OF EXEMPTION.—An exemption 22 under paragraph (1) shall be effective only until sub- 23 mission of the next report required under section 24 406 of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fis- 25 cal Years 1990 and 1991 (22 U.S.C. 2414a) that is 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:15 Jun 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3685.IH H3685 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HR 3685 IH submitted after the Secretary of State makes such 1 an exemption. 2 (3) NOTIFICATION AND DISCUSSION.—The Sec- 3 retary of State shall notify Congress with respect to 4 an exemption made under paragraph (1), together 5 with a discussion of the basis for the Secretary’s de- 6 termination with respect to each such exemption. 7 (c) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this Act— 8 (1) the term ‘‘opposed the position of the 9 United States’’ means, in the case of a country, that 10 the country’s recorded votes in the United Nations 11 General Assembly during the most recent session of 12 the General Assembly and, in the case of a country 13 which is a member of the United Nations Security 14 Council, the country’s recorded votes both in the Se- 15 curity Council and the General Assembly during the 16 most recent session of the General Assembly, were 17 the same as the position of the United States less 18 than 50 percent of the time, using for this purpose 19 a comparison of the recorded vote cast by each mem- 20 ber country with the recorded vote cast by the 21 United States, as described in the annual report 22 submitted to Congress pursuant to section 406 of 23 the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal 24 Years 1990 and 1991; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:15 Jun 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3685.IH H3685 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •HR 3685 IH (2) the term ‘‘most recent session of the Gen- 1 eral Assembly’’ means the most recently completed 2 plenary session of the General Assembly for which a 3 comparison of the vote cast by each member country 4 with the vote cast by the United States is described 5 in the most recent report submitted to Congress 6 pursuant to section 406 of the Foreign Relations 7 Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 1990 and 1991; and 8 (3) the term ‘‘United States assistance’’ means 9 assistance under— 10 (A) chapter 4 of part II of the Foreign As- 11 sistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2346 et seq.; 12 relating to the economic support fund); 13 (B) chapter 5 of part II of such Act (22 14 U.S.C. 2347 et seq.; relating to international 15 military education and training); 16 (C) the ‘‘Foreign Military Financing Pro- 17 gram’’ account under section 23 of the Arms 18 Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2763); and 19 (D) any other monetary or physical assist- 20 ance. 21 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This Act shall take effect 22 upon the date of the submission to Congress of the report 23 required under section 406 of the Foreign Relations Au- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:15 Jun 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3685.IH H3685 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •HR 3685 IH thorization Act, Fiscal Years 1990 and 1991, that is re- 1 quired to be submitted by March 31, 2023. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:15 Jun 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3685.IH H3685 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB