UNFPA Contribution Status Update

May 24, 2002

In December 2001, the House and Senate agreed to provide $34 million to UNFPA in the FY 2002 foreign operations bill, $9 million above the President's request. The conference report passed the House, 377 to 66, and by a voice vote in the Senate, and the President signed the bill on January 10, 2002. Funding has been frozen ever since due to unsubstantiated allegations by family planning opponents that UNFPA supports coercive family planning practices in China in violation of U.S. law.

The President has continued to deny funding to UNFPA for over four months, which has only served to penalize all other poor countries desperately in need of UNFPA's help and to jeopardize the health of many women and children. The amount and the conditions placed on the UNFPA contribution were painstakingly negotiated during the appropriations process late last year, and the ongoing refusal of the executive branch to release the funds is contrary to clear congressional intent. The frustration of UNFPA supporters in Congress with the White House, particularly among Appropriations Committee members, prompted them to move to fix the problem in the supplemental spending bill.

House Action on the Supplemental Spending Bill

On May 10, just after midnight, the House Appropriations Committee approved, on a nail-biting vote of 32 to 31, an amendment to the supplemental spending bill offered by Foreign Operations Subcommittee Chairman Jim Kolbe (R-AZ) and Rep. Nita Lowey (D-NY) directing the President to release a $34 million contribution to UNFPA by July 10th unless he finds the Fund to be in violation of U.S. laws.

Despite aggressive lobbying by the White House and the Republican leadership, five Republicans joined 27 Democrats to provide the slim margin of victory. In addition to Chairman Kolbe, the five Republicans were Reps. Ralph Regula (OH), David Hobson (OH), Dan Miller (FL), and Rodney Frelinghuysen (NJ). All of the Democrats except Reps. John Murtha (PA) and Alan Mollohan (WV) supported the Kolbe amendment. Two GOP members did not vote--Reps. George Nethercutt (WA) and John Sweeney (NY).

On May 15, the committee then reversed its earlier action in support of UNFPA when it approved an amendment by Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R-KS) by the narrow margin of 32 to 30. The Tiahrt amendment did not remove the Kolbe-Lowey language from the bill but it effectively trumped it. The amendment returned the provisions governing the UNFPA contribution to those contained in the original FY 2002 foreign operations appropriations bill (not more than a $34 million contribution, segregated account for U.S. funds, none of which may be used by the Fund in China or for abortion), with one exception.

Tiahrt requires the President to transmit by July 31 "his determination whether UNFPA supports or participates in the management of a program of coerced abortion or involuntary sterilization." This determination is required under the Kemp-Kasten amendment, which has been in appropriations bills every year since 1985 and whose pending interpretation by White House lawyers will have a critical impact on UNFPA funding by the United States now and for the foreseeable future.

No one switched positions between the two committee votes. Unfortunately, there was a different set of committee members in the room for the two votes. Four Republicans (Kolbe, Regula, Hobson, and Frelinghuysen) joined 26 Democrats in opposing the Tiahrt amendment. Two members who voted for the Kolbe-Lowey amendment previously--Dan Miller (R-FL) and Bud Cramer (D-AL)--did not vote for undetermined reasons. Rep. Murtha (D-PA), who opposed Kolbe-Lowey, also did not vote. The two members who did not vote previously--Reps. Sweeney and Nethercutt--voted with Tiahrt. Sweeney was the major disappointment because he has been consistently supportive of international family planning during his two terms.

White House lobbyists were out in full force for both committee votes, and the House GOP leadership exerted heavy pressure. House Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-TX) went so far as to claim, implausibly, that the Kolbe-Lowey amendment on UNFPA "could scuttle the bill." All of the members who voted for the Kolbe-Lowey amendment should be contacted and thanked, especially the Republican supporters who came under heavy political pressure.

During consideration of the supplemental spending bill yesterday, after they had tired of Democratic delaying tactics over GOP efforts to raise the debt ceiling, House Republican leaders resorted to a procedural maneuver, one of the effect of which was to delete both the Kolbe-Lowey and Tiahrt amendments on UNFPA from the supplemental spending bill. As a result, the House version of the bill is now silent on UNFPA.

Senate Action on the Supplemental Spending Bill

On May 22nd, the Senate Appropriations Committee included language in its version of the supplemental spending bill identical to the original Kolbe-Lowey amendment to force the President to contribute $34 million to UNFPA by July 10th if the Fund is not found to be in violation of U.S. laws. Foreign Operations Subcommittee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) incorporated the language in the "Chairman's mark," and the amendment was adopted by the committee without controversy or comment. Strong report language accompanies the statutory provision.

The full Senate did not have an opportunity to consider the supplemental spending bill prior to adjourning for Memorial Day. Given the makeup of the Senate, it is not anticipated that family planning opponents will attempt to strip the Leahy amendment on UNFPA when it reaches the Senate floor.

Next Steps

Since the Senate has included supportive language on UNFPA, the issue will have to be dealt with by a conference committee convened to resolve differences between the House and Senate versions of the supplemental spending bill. Negotiations will be difficult, and the FY 2002 UNFPA contribution will continue to languish in the interim.

One wild card in all of this is a three-person investigating team dispatched by the White House to China for two-weeks to examine UNFPA programs and to report on whether UNFPA is a force for positive change in the 32 counties in which it operates. They are scheduled to return this weekend.

Population Action International (PAI) works to improve individual well-being and preserve global resources by mobilizing political and financial support for population, family planning and reproductive health policies and programs.