I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4722 

To authorize contributions to the United Nations Population Fund, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 17, 2019 

Ms. HOULAHAN (for herself, Mr. ENGEL, Mrs. LOWEY, Ms. FRANKEL, Ms. 

SPEIER, Ms. DEGETTE, Ms. DELAURO, Ms. LEE of California, Mrs. 

CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York, Ms. MOORE, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. 

SHALALA, Mr. QUIGLEY, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. HUFFMAN, Ms. WASSERMAN

SCHULTZ, Ms. NORTON, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. DEFAZIO, Mr. ESPAILLAT, 

Mr. PAPPAS, Mrs. LAWRENCE, Mr. CICILLINE, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. 

CASTEN of Illinois, Mr. CLEAVER, Ms. BARRAGA ́N, Mr. BLUMENAUER, 

Mr. LEVIN of Michigan, Mr. COOPER, Ms. BASS, Mr. RUSH, Mr. NADLER, Mr. COSTA, Mr. COHEN, Mr. DEUTCH, Mr. TONKO, Mr. RASKIN, 

Ms. WILD, Ms. DEAN, Ms. JUDY CHU of California, Mr. POCAN, Ms. 

ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mr. CARBAJAL, Ms. HAALAND, Mr. HIMES, Ms. SCANLON, Mr. SMITH of Washington, Ms. SA ́NCHEZ, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. 

CASE, Mrs. TRAHAN, Mr. RYAN, Mr. EVANS, Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. 

WELCH, Ms. HILL of California, Mr. BERA, Mr. PRICE of North Carolina, Mr. TED LIEU of California, Ms. MENG, Mr. SHERMAN, Ms. BLUNT

ROCHESTER, Ms. KUSTER of New Hampshire, Ms. MATSUI, Mr. 

NEGUSE, Mr. KIND, Mr. KILMER, Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New 

York, Mrs. DINGELL, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. HIGGINS of New York, Mrs. 

DAVIS of California, Mr. CROW, Mr. CONNOLLY, Ms. PINGREE, Miss 

RICE of New York, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. SIRES, Ms. ESCOBAR, Mrs. LEE

of Nevada, Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia, Ms. KELLY of Illinois, Mr. 

ALLRED, Mr. VARGAS, Ms. TITUS, Mr. CA ́RDENAS, Mr. JOHNSON of 

Georgia, Ms. SCHRIER, Ms. JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. CISNEROS, Mr. 

SOTO, Ms. BROWNLEY of California, Mr. CASTRO of Texas, Ms. 

VELA ́ZQUEZ, Mr. VEASEY, Mr. MEEKS, Mr. TRONE, Mr. GALLEGO, Ms. 

SHERRILL, Mr. KEATING, and Mr. LARSEN of Washington) introduced 

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 


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A BILL 

To authorize contributions to the United Nations Population 

Fund, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Support UNFPA 

5 Funding Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) The United Nations Population Fund 

9 (UNFPA), is the United Nations Reproductive 

10 Health Agency. 

11 (2) UNFPA was founded with the leadership of 

12 the United States 50 years ago and works in more 

13 than 150 countries to end preventable maternal 

14 deaths, the unmet need for contraception, and gen15 der-based violence and other harmful practices, in16 cluding female genital mutilation and child mar17 riage. 

18 (3) UNFPA also ensures access to health care 

19 and essential supplies for women and families im20 pacted by emergencies. 

21 (4) All UNFPA programming is guided by 

22 principles adopted by 179 governments, including 


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1 the United States, at the 1994 International Con2 ference for Population and Development. The prin3 ciples include that ‘‘reproductive health care pro4 grams should provide the widest range of services 

5 without any form of coercion. All couples and indi6 viduals have the basic right to decide freely and re7 sponsibly the number and spacing of their children 

8 and to have the information, education and means to 

9 do so.’’ 

10 (5) UNFPA is currently working to address the 

11 needs of: 

12 (A) The 810 women and adolescent girls 

13 who die each day from preventable causes re14 lated to pregnancy and childbirth, 99 percent of 

15 which deaths occur in developing countries and 

16 more than half of which occur in fragile and 

17 humanitarian settings. 

18 (B) More than 214,000,000 women of re19 productive age in developing regions who want 

20 to avoid pregnancy and are not using a modern 

21 contraceptive method. 

22 (C) The estimated 1 in 3 women who expe23 rience gender-based violence. 


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1 (D) The estimated 200,000,000 women 

2 who have survived some form of female genital 

3 mutilation. 

4 (E) The estimated 15,000,000 girls who 

5 are forcibly married before the age of 18 each 

6 year. 

7 (6) Prior to withholding contributions in 2017, 

8 the United States was the third-largest overall donor 

9 to UNFPA, and its second-largest donor for human10 itarian response. 

11 (7) UNFPA, which works in three times as 

12 many countries as the United States Agency for 

13 International Development, extends the impact of 

14 United States foreign assistance by reaching people 

15 in politically unstable regions. UNFPA also plays a 

16 pivotal role in meeting protection and health care 

17 needs in countries experiencing humanitarian emer18 gencies like Syria, Yemen, and Iraq. 

19 (8) Voluntary family planning is central to gen20 der equality and women’s empowerment, and it is a 

21 key factor in reducing poverty. 

22 (9) The United States has conflated UNFPA’s 

23 presence in China with supporting China’s coercive 

24 birth limitation policies. However, in June 2015, the 

25 U.S. State Department visited UNFPA’s China 


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1 Country Program to design and approve it as a 

2 member of UNFPA’s Executive Board, noting that 

3 ‘‘[d]uring its recent visit, the U.S. delegation ob4 served the positive impact of UNFPA’s rights-based 

5 programming in China. We commend the Fund’s ad6 herence to demonstrating the advantages of a vol7 untary approach to family planning.’’ The Program 

8 in China has not changed since it was approved by 

9 the United States in 2015. 

10 (10) On July 8, 2019, the Department of State 

11 made a determination to eliminate all contributions 

12 to UNFPA for the third consecutive year based on 

13 its interpretation of the Kemp-Kasten Amendment 

14 (first enacted in Public Law 99–88; 99 Stat. 323). 

15 SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 

16 It is the policy of the United States as follows: 

17 (1) Improving the status of women around the 

18 world is a critical component of the United States 

19 foreign policy and development strategies. 

20 (2) The right of every person to determine free21 ly whether, when, and with whom to have children, 

22 and to attain the highest standard of sexual and re23 productive health, is a basic human right. 

24 (3) Access to voluntary contraception and re25 productive health care is necessary to improving the 


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1 status of women and ensuring this basic human 

2 right. 

3 (4) UNFPA is a key partner in improving the 

4 status of women and expanding access to voluntary 

5 family planning and reproductive health care serv6 ices throughout the world. 

7 (5) UNFPA helps ensure that family planning 

8 and reproductive health programs are voluntary and 

9 centered on protecting human rights. 

10 (6) Financial support for UNFPA is a crucial 

11 part of the United States commitment to global 

12 health, development, and human rights, and the 

13 Government of the United States is committed to 

14 providing core and humanitarian funding to 

15 UNFPA. 

16 SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

17 There is authorized to be appropriated an annual 

18 contribution for each of the five fiscal years beginning 

19 after the date of the enactment of this Act to support the 

20 core functions and programs of the United Nations Popu21 lation Fund (UNFPA), which may include the following: 

22 (1) Ending preventable maternal deaths. 

23 (2) Ending the unmet need for contraceptives 

24 and promoting a human-rights-based approach to 

25 family planning. 


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1 (3) Ending gender-based violence. 

2 (4) Ending other harmful practices, such as 

3 child marriage and female genital mutilation. 

4 (5) Supporting United States national security 

5 and humanitarian efforts by operating in areas 

6 where medical infrastructure or services have been 

7 destroyed or limited by natural disasters, armed con8 flict, or other humanitarian emergencies. 

Æ 


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