Support UNFPA Funding Act

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4166 To authorize contributions to the United Nations Population Fund, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 15, 2023 Ms. HOULAHAN (for herself, Mr. ALLRED, Mr. AUCHINCLOSS, Mr. BERA, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Ms. BLUNT ROCHESTER, Ms. BONAMICI, Ms. BROWN, Mr. CARBAJAL, Mr. CA´RDENAS, Mr. CARSON, Mr. CARTWRIGHT, Mr. CASE, Mr. CASTEN, Mr. CASTRO of Texas, Mrs. CHERFILUS-MCCORMICK, Ms. CHU, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Mr. COHEN, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mr. COSTA, Ms. CROCKETT, Mr. CROW, Ms. DEAN of Pennsylvania, Ms. DEGETTE, Ms. DELBENE, Mr. DELUZIO, Mr. DESAULNIER, Mrs. DINGELL, Ms. ESCOBAR, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Mr. EVANS, Mrs. FLETCHER, Mr. FOSTER, Mrs. FOUSHEE, Ms. LOIS FRANKEL of Florida, Mr. GALLEGO, Mr. GARCI´A of Illinois, Ms. GARCIA of Texas, Mr. GOTTHEIMER, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. HIGGINS of New York, Mr. HIMES, Mr. HUFFMAN, Ms. JACOBS, Ms. JAYAPAL, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Ms. KAMLAGER-DOVE, Mr. KEATING, Ms. KELLY of Illinois, Mr. KRISHNAMOORTHI, Mr. KILDEE, Mr. KILMER, Mr. KIM of New Jer- sey, Mrs. MCCLELLAN, Ms. KUSTER, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. LEVIN, Mr. LIEU, Ms. LOFGREN, Mr. LYNCH, Ms. MANNING, Ms. MATSUI, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. MEEKS, Ms. MENG, Mr. MFUME, Ms. MOORE of Wis- consin, Mr. MORELLE, Mr. MOULTON, Mr. NADLER, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Ms. NORTON, Ms. OMAR, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. PETERS, Ms. PETTERSEN, Mr. PHILLIPS, Ms. PINGREE, Mr. POCAN, Ms. PORTER, Ms. PRESSLEY, Mr. QUIGLEY, Mr. RASKIN, Ms. ROSS, Mr. RUPPERSBERGER, Mr. RYAN, Ms. SA´NCHEZ, Mr. SARBANES, Ms. SCANLON, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. SCHNEIDER, Ms. SCHRIER, Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia, Ms. SEWELL, Mr. SHERMAN, Ms. SHERRILL, Mr. SMITH of Washington, Ms. STRICKLAND, Mr. SWALWELL, Mr. TAKANO, Ms. TITUS, Ms. TLAIB, Ms. TOKUDA, Mr. TONKO, Mrs. TORRES of California, Mr. TRONE, Mr. VARGAS, Mr. VEASEY, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Ms. WATERS, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Ms. WILD, Ms. WILLIAMS of Georgia, and Ms. STE- VENS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:29 Jul 24, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H4166.IH H4166 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 4166 IH A BILL To authorize contributions to the United Nations Population Fund, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Support UNFPA 4 Funding Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds the following: 7 (1) The United Nations Population Fund 8 (UNFPA) is the United Nations reproductive health 9 agency. 10 (2) UNFPA was founded with the leadership of 11 the United States and works in more than 150 coun- 12 tries to end preventable maternal deaths, the unmet 13 need for contraception, and gender-based violence 14 and other harmful practices, including female genital 15 mutilation and child marriage. 16 (3) UNFPA also ensures access to health care 17 and essential supplies for women and families im- 18 pacted by emergencies. 19 (4) All UNFPA programming is guided by 20 principles adopted by 179 governments, including 21 the United States, at the 1994 International Con- 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:29 Jul 24, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4166.IH H4166 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HR 4166 IH ference for Population and Development. The prin- 1 ciples include that ‘‘reproductive health care pro- 2 grams should provide the widest range of services 3 without any form of coercion. All couples and indi- 4 viduals have the basic right to decide freely and re- 5 sponsibly the number and spacing of their children 6 and to have the information, education and means to 7 do so.’’. 8 (5) UNFPA is currently working to address the 9 needs of the following: 10 (A) The 800 women and adolescent girls 11 who die each day from preventable causes re- 12 lated to pregnancy and childbirth, most of 13 which occur in developing countries and more 14 than half of which occur in fragile and humani- 15 tarian settings. 16 (B) The more than 218,000,000 women of 17 reproductive age in low- and middle-income 18 countries who want to avoid pregnancy and are 19 not using a modern contraceptive method. 20 (C) The estimated 1 in 3 women who expe- 21 rience gender-based violence. 22 (D) The estimated 200,000,000 women 23 who have survived some form of female genital 24 mutilation. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:29 Jul 24, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4166.IH H4166 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •HR 4166 IH (E) The estimated 12,000,000 girls who 1 are forcibly married before the age of 18 each 2 year. 3 (6) UNFPA, which works in three times as 4 many countries as the United States Agency for 5 International Development, extends the impact of 6 United States foreign assistance by reaching people 7 in politically unstable regions. UNFPA also plays a 8 pivotal role in meeting protection and health care 9 needs in countries experiencing humanitarian emer- 10 gencies like Afghanistan, Ukraine, and Yemen. 11 (7) Voluntary family planning is central to 12 global health, gender equality and women’s em- 13 powerment, and it is a key factor in reducing pov- 14 erty. 15 (8) UNFPA continues to rebuild health systems 16 following the COVID–19 outbreak by supporting 17 frontline health workers who help to limit potential 18 increases in maternal deaths, unmet need for family 19 planning, gender-based violence, female genital muti- 20 lation, and child marriage. 21 SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 22 It is the policy of the United States as follows: 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:29 Jul 24, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4166.IH H4166 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •HR 4166 IH (1) Improving the status of women around the 1 world is a critical component of the United States 2 foreign policy and development strategies. 3 (2) The right of every person to determine free- 4 ly whether, when, and with whom to have children, 5 and to attain the highest standard of sexual and re- 6 productive health, is a basic human right. 7 (3) Access to voluntary contraception and re- 8 productive health care is necessary to improving the 9 status of women and ensuring this basic human 10 right. 11 (4) UNFPA is a key partner to the United 12 States in improving the status of women and ex- 13 panding access to voluntary family planning and re- 14 productive health care services throughout the world. 15 (5) UNFPA helps ensure that family planning 16 and reproductive health programs are voluntary and 17 centered on protecting human rights. 18 (6) Financial support for UNFPA is a crucial 19 part of the United States commitment to global 20 health, development, and human rights, and the 21 Government of the United States is committed to 22 providing core, development, and humanitarian fund- 23 ing to UNFPA. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:29 Jul 24, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4166.IH H4166 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •HR 4166 IH SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 1 There is authorized to be appropriated an annual 2 contribution for each of the five fiscal years beginning 3 after the date of the enactment of this Act to support the 4 core functions and programs of the United Nations Popu- 5 lation Fund (UNFPA), which may include the following: 6 (1) Ending preventable maternal deaths. 7 (2) Ending the unmet need for contraceptives 8 and promoting a human-rights-based approach to 9 family planning. 10 (3) Ending gender-based violence. 11 (4) Ending other harmful practices, such as 12 child marriage and female genital mutilation. 13 (5) Supporting United States national security 14 and humanitarian efforts by operating in areas 15 where medical infrastructure or services have been 16 destroyed or limited by natural disasters, armed con- 17 flict, or other humanitarian emergencies. 18 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:29 Jul 24, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4166.IH H4166 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB