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[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4034 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>

118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 4034

  To withhold certain United Nations funding until the United Nations 
Human Rights Council mandates a body to investigate human rights abuses 
       in the People's Republic of China, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 21, 2024

 Mr. Wicker (for himself, Mrs. Blackburn, Mr. Boozman, Mr. Braun, Mrs. 
  Hyde-Smith, Mr. Rubio, Mr. Scott of Florida, and Mr. Scott of South 
   Carolina) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
             referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
  To withhold certain United Nations funding until the United Nations 
Human Rights Council mandates a body to investigate human rights abuses 
       in the People's Republic of China, and for other purposes.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``No Bystanders at the United Nations 
Human Rights Council Act of 2024''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) According to the United Nations System Chief Executives 
        Board for Coordination, the United States Government 
        contributed $18,095,456,587 to the United Nations system in 
        2022, the most recent year for which the United Nations has 
        made data available.
            (2) The United States is the single largest financial 
        contributor to the United Nations system.
            (3) All United Nations member states must certify that they 
        will adhere to the United Nations Charter, Chapter 1, Article 
        1, which states that the United Nations will promote and 
        encourage respect for human rights and for fundamental freedoms 
        for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or 
        religion.
            (4) The United Nations Human Rights Council (in this Act 
        referred to as the ``Council'') is responsible for 
        strengthening the promotion and protection of human rights 
        around the globe and for addressing situations of human rights 
        violations and making recommendations on them.
            (5) The Council possesses the power to establish 
        independent investigative bodies to respond to situations of 
        serious violations of international humanitarian law and 
        international human rights law.
            (6) The Council has never established an independent body 
        to investigate the human rights abuses of the Chinese Communist 
        Party (CCP) in the People's Republic of China (PRC). The 
        Council's failure to establish a body to investigate the human 
        rights abuses of the CCP constitutes bystander behavior.
            (7) Following the Council's 2018 Universal Periodic Review 
        (UPR) of China, Former United Nations High Commissioner for 
        Human Rights Michelle Bachelet wrote a letter to Former Chinese 
        Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi welcoming his government's 
        efforts to promote and protect human rights.
            (8) The Council has established 38 investigative bodies 
        since the Council was created in 2006.
            (9) The Council has established an independent 
        investigative body to investigate Israel nine times.
            (10) The CCP has committed a number of grave human rights 
        violations, including--
                    (A) the forced labor of ethnic Uyghur and other 
                Muslims in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, as 
                detailed in the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act of 2020 
                (Public Law 116-145);
                    (B) mass arrests of pro-democracy advocates 
                peacefully exercising their freedoms of assembly and 
                expression in Hong Kong; and
                    (C) widespread censorship and detainment of 
                citizens protesting draconian ``zero-COVID'' 
                restrictions.

SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    It is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) the human rights abuses of the CCP warrant 
        investigation by the Council;
            (2) the Council's failure to investigate the human rights 
        abuses of the CCP contradicts the purpose of the United Nations 
        stated in the United Nations Charter, Chapter 1, Article 1; and
            (3) the United States should not provide funding for the 
        Council until it fulfills its stated responsibilities by 
        establishing an independent investigative body to adequately 
        examine the human rights abuses of the CCP.

SEC. 4. WITHHOLDING OF UNITED NATIONS FUNDING.

    (a) Annual United States Contributions to Regular Budget of United 
Nations.--The Secretary of State shall withhold from annual United 
States contributions to the regular budget of the United Nations an 
amount equal to the amount the Secretary determines would be allocated 
by the United Nations to support the United Nations Human Rights 
Council until the Secretary certifies to Congress that the United 
Nations Human Rights Council has mandated a body to investigate human 
rights abuses in the People's Republic of China.
    (b) Prohibition on Voluntary Contributions to Budget of UNHRC.--The 
Secretary of State may not make voluntary contributions to the budget 
of the United Nations Human Rights Council until the Secretary 
certifies to Congress that the United Nations Human Rights Council has 
mandated a body to investigate human rights abuses in the People's 
Republic of China.
                                 <all>
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