I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 28 

To prohibit United States assistance to foreign countries that oppose the 

position of the United States in the United Nations. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 3, 2019 

Mr. GOHMERT introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Foreign Affairs 

A BILL 

To prohibit United States assistance to foreign countries 

that oppose the position of the United States in the 

United Nations. 

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 ‘‘United Nations Voting 

5 Accountability Act of 2019’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON ASSISTANCE TO COUNTRIES THAT 

2 OPPOSE THE POSITION OF THE UNITED 

3 STATES IN THE UNITED NATIONS. 

4 (a) PROHIBITION.—United States assistance may not 

5 be provided to a country that opposed the position of the 

6 United States in the United Nations. 

7 (b) EXEMPTION DUE TO CHANGE IN GOVERN8 MENT.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State may 

10 exempt a country from the prohibition described in 

11 subsection (a) if the Secretary determines that since 

12 the beginning of the most recent session of the Gen13 eral Assembly— 

14 (A) there has been a fundamental change 

15 in the leadership and policies of the government 

16 of a country to which the prohibition in such 

17 subsection applies; and 

18 (B) as a result of such change, the govern19 ment of such country will no longer oppose the 

20 position of the United States in the United Na21 tions. 

22 (2) DURATION OF EXEMPTION.—An exemption 

23 under paragraph (1) shall be effective only until sub24 mission of the next report required under section 

25 406 of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fis26 cal Years 1990 and 1991 (22 U.S.C. 2414a) that is 


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1 submitted after the Secretary of State makes such 

2 an exemption. 

3 (3) NOTIFICATION AND DISCUSSION.—The Sec4 retary of State shall notify Congress with respect to 

5 an exemption made under paragraph (1), together 

6 with a discussion of the basis for the Secretary’s de7 termination with respect to each such exemption. 

8 (c) EXEMPTION FOR NATIONAL SECURITY INTER9 ESTS.—The President may exempt a country from the 

10 prohibition described in subsection (a) if the President de11 termines that such exemption is in the national security 

12 interests of the United States and transmits to Congress 

13 a written statement explaining such national security in14 terest. 

15 (d) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this Act— 

16 (1) the term ‘‘opposed the position of the 

17 United States’’ means, in the case of a country, that 

18 the country’s recorded votes in the United Nations 

19 General Assembly during the most recent session of 

20 the General Assembly and, in the case of a country 

21 which is a member of the United Nations Security 

22 Council, the country’s recorded votes both in the Se23 curity Council and the General Assembly during the 

24 most recent session of the General Assembly, were 

25 the same as the position of the United States less 


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1 than 50 percent of the time, using for this purpose 

2 a comparison of the recorded vote cast by each mem3 ber country with the recorded vote cast by the 

4 United States, as described in the annual report 

5 submitted to Congress pursuant to section 406 of 

6 the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal 

7 Years 1990 and 1991; 

8 (2) the term ‘‘most recent session of the Gen9 eral Assembly’’ means the most recently completed 

10 plenary session of the General Assembly for which a 

11 comparison of the vote cast by each member country 

12 with the vote cast by the United States is described 

13 in the most recent report submitted to Congress 

14 pursuant to section 406 of the Foreign Relations 

15 Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 1990 and 1991; and 

16 (3) the term ‘‘United States assistance’’ means 

17 assistance under— 

18 (A) chapter 4 of part II of the Foreign As19 sistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2346 et seq.; 

20 relating to the economic support fund); 

21 (B) chapter 5 of part II of such Act (22 

22 U.S.C. 2347 et seq.; relating to international 

23 military education and training); 


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1 (C) the ‘‘Foreign Military Financing Pro2 gram’’ account under section 23 of the Arms 

3 Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2763); and 

4 (D) any other monetary or physical assist5 ance. 

6 (e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This Act shall take effect 

7 upon the date of the submission to Congress of the report 

8 required under section 406 of the Foreign Relations Au9 thorization Act, Fiscal Years 1990 and 1991, that is re10 quired to be submitted by March 31, 2019. 

Æ 


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