House Approves State Department Authorization Bill - Women's Congressional Policy Institute

On July 16, the House approved, 382-42, the State Department authorization bill (H.R. 1950). Under the two-year measure, $4.2 billion would be provided in FY2004 and $4.4 billion in FY2005 for the State Department and related agencies. H.R. 1950 also would incorporate a bill (H.R. 1966) authorizing $1.3 billion in FY2004 for the Millennium Challenge assistance program to grant foreign assistance based on a country’s commitment to democratic rule, capitalism, and the respect of human rights.

The House International Relations Committee approved H.R. 1950 on May 8 (see The Source, 5/09/03). At that time, the committee approved an amendment offered by Rep. Joe Crowley (D-NY) that would alter language barring U.S. funding by stating that the ban only would apply to an organization that “participates in the management of a program of coercive abortion or involuntary sterilization.” The amendment also would authorize an additional $25 million for each of two years for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). Combined with the Administration’s yearly $25 million request, total funding for the UNFPA would be increased to $100 million over the next two years.

The FY2003 Foreign Operations spending bill (P.L. 108-7) continued to allow the President to withhold funds from any country or organization if the President certifies that the funds would be used for performance of coerced abortions and involuntary sterilizations. In FY2003, the President requested $25 million for UNFPA and Congress allocated $34 million. FY2002 funds were withheld by the administration due to UNFPA activities in China, and no FY2003 funds have been allocated to date.

During floor consideration of H.R. 1950, Rep. Christopher Smith (R-NJ) offered an amendment that would strike the new UNFPA language from the bill and would eliminate funding for UNFPA. The amendment was adopted, 216-211.

At the heart of the debate was discussion of China’s one-child policy and UNFPA’s activities in that country. Rep. Jo Ann Davis (R-VA) argued that “U.S. funds should not be connected to any program that is at all involved in a coercive population program, whether directly or indirectly…due to the clear evidence of UNFPA’s involvement in China, we cannot allow taxpayers to contribute to this organization.” Rep. Nita Lowey (D-NY) disagreed and stated, “We do not save women from coercive practices by cutting off UNFPA…we do, however, destroy an organization that is often the only place women can go to for basic medical and reproductive health care.”

House International Relations Committee Chair Henry Hyde (R-IL) introduced a number of amendments en bloc, which were approved by voice vote. The following amendments were included in the vote:

an amendment by Rep. Dan Burton (R-IN) that would extend the authority of the State Department to deny visas to the extended family of international abductors and would require the State Department to establish guidelines on how personnel should treat abducted persons who seek asylum;
an amendment by Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) that would provide guidelines for incorporating the needs and talents of women into humanitarian and reconstruction activities carried out by the U.S. in Afghanistan, with a focus on women and girls’ access to health care, education, and income earning opportunities. The amendment would authorize an Afghan Women’s Fund of no less than $22.5 million for each year between FY2003 and FY2005. The amendment also would require that no less than 15% of the Afghan Women’s Fund be used to support the programmatic activities and organizational development of Afghan women-led, and local Afghan women-led nongovernmental organizations in each year between FY2003 and FY2005;
an amendment by Rep. Smith that would prohibit an increase in non-humanitarian U.S. assistance to Vietnam in FY2004 unless the Vietnamese government makes substantial progress toward releasing political and religious prisoners, respecting religious freedom, allowing open access to the U.S. for its refugee program, respecting the rights of ethnic minority groups in the central highlands, and does not act in complicity with organizations trafficking people; and
an amendment by Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-FL) that would support the State Department as the central authority in the United States for the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption.

The House also approved, by voice vote, an amendment by Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY) that would add the Caribbean countries of Antigua and Barbados, the Bahamas, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, Montserrat, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saint Lucia, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, and the Dominican Republic to the list of nations receiving aid under the U.S. Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Act of 2003 (P.L. 108-25).

Although the Senate began consideration of its version of the State Department authorization bill (S. 925) last week (see The Source, 7/11/03), it is not clear when the bill will be completed.