H. R. 1561—73
information, news, and commentary about events in the respective
countries of Asia and elsewhere, and shall be a forum for a variety
of opinions and voices from within Asian nations whose people
do not fully enjoy freedom of expression.’’.
SEC. 1412. DISTRIBUTION WITHIN THE UNITED STATES OF THE UNITED
STATES INFORMATION AGENCY FILM ENTITLED ‘‘THE
FRAGILE RING OF LIFE’’.
Notwithstanding 
section 
208 
of 
the 
Foreign 
Relations
Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 1986 and 1987 (22 U.S.C. 1461–
1(a)) and the second sentence of section 501 of the United States
Information and Education Act of 1948 (22 U.S.C. 1461), the Direc-
tor of the United States Information Agency may make available
for distribution within the United States the documentary entitled
‘‘The Fragile Ring of Life’’, a film about coral reefs around the
world.
TITLE XV—INTERNATIONAL
ORGANIZATIONS AND COMMISSIONS
CHAPTER 1—GENERAL PROVISIONS
SEC. 1501. TERMINATION OF UNITED STATES PARTICIPATION IN CER-
TAIN INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsection (b) and notwithstanding
any other provision of law, none of the funds authorized to be
appropriated by this Act or any other provision of law may be
used for payment of United States membership in any of the follow-
ing organizations:
(1) The United Nations Industrial Development Organiza-
tion.
(2) Pan American Railway Congress Association.
(3) The International Cotton Advisory Committee.
(4) The World Tourism Organization.
(5) The Inter-American Indian Institute.
(6) International Tropical Timber Organization.
(b) EXPENSES PENDING TERMINATION OF UNITED STATES MEM-
BERSHIP.—Notwithstanding the requirements of subsection (a),
funds authorized to be appropriated under this Act, to the extent
required under any treaty to which the United States is a party,
may be used to make payments to the organizations identified
in subsection (a) during the period beginning on the date that
the United States gives notice pursuant to such treaty of the intent
to terminate United States membership in the organization as
promptly as permitted by such treaty and ending on the date
that the termination of United States membership takes effect.
SEC. 1502. INTERNATIONAL BOUNDARY AND WATER COMMISSION.
The Act of May 13, 1924 (49 Stat. 660, 22 U.S.C. 277–277f),
is amended in section 3 (22 U.S.C. 277b) by adding at the end
the following new subsection:
‘‘(d) Pursuant to the authority of subsection (a) and in order
to facilitate further compliance with the terms of the Convention
for Equitable Distribution of the Waters of the Rio Grande, May
21, 1906, United States-Mexico, the Secretary of State, acting
through the United States Commissioner of the International
H. R. 1561—74
Boundary and Water Commission, may make improvements to the
Rio Grande Canalization Project, originally authorized by the Act
of August 29, 1935 (49 Stat. 961). Such improvements may include
all such works as may be needed to stabilize the Rio Grande
in the reach between the Percha Diversion Dam in New Mexico
and the American Diversion Dam in El Paso.’’.
SEC. 
1503. 
PROHIBITION 
ON 
ASSISTANCE 
TO 
INTERNATIONAL
ORGANIZATIONS ESPOUSING WORLD GOVERNMENT.
None of the funds authorized to be made available by this
Act shall be used—
(1) to pay the United States contribution to any inter-
national organization which engages in the direct or indirect
promotion of the principle or doctrine of one world government
or one world citizenship; or
(2) for the promotion, direct or indirect, of the principle
or doctrine of one world government or one world citizenship.
SEC. 1504. INTERNATIONAL COVENANT ON CIVIL AND POLITICAL
RIGHTS.
(a) FINDINGS.—The Congress makes the following findings:
(1) On April 2, 1992, the Senate approved a resolution
of advice and consent to ratification of the International Cov-
enant on Civil and Political Rights, subject to reservations,
understandings, declarations, and a proviso intended, inter alia,
to protect the First Amendment rights of American citizens
and other United States constitutional rights and practices.
(2) In accordance with the action of the Senate, the Presi-
dent deposited the United States instrument of ratification
of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
on June 8, 1992, and the Covenant entered into force for
the United States on September 8, 1992.
(3) On November 2, 1994, the Human Rights Committee,
established under the Covenant to interpret the Covenant and
to receive complaints of noncompliance, adopted General Com-
ment No. 24 regarding reservations to the Covenant.
(4) In General Comment No. 24, the Human Rights
Committee claimed for itself the power to judge the validity
under international law of reservations to the Covenant, and
in the purported exercise of this power asserted that reserva-
tions of the type included in the Senate resolution of ratification
are invalid, and further asserted that invalid reservations will
be read out of instruments of ratification, ‘‘in the sense that
the Covenant will be operative for the reserving party without
benefit of the reservation’’.
(5) The purpose and effect of General Comment No. 24
is to seek to nullify as a matter of international law the reserva-
tions, understandings, declarations, and proviso contained in
the Senate resolution of ratification, thereby purporting to
impose legal obligations on the United States never accepted
by the United States.
(6) General Comment No. 24 threatens not only the
Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution and the
constitutional authority of the Senate with respect to the
approval of treaties, but also the First Amendment rights of
American citizens and the other United States constitutional
rights and practices protected by the reservations, understand-
H. R. 1561—75
ings, declarations, and proviso contained in the Senate resolu-
tion of ratification.
(b) RESTRICTION ON OBLIGATION OR EXPENDITURE OF FUNDS.—
(1) RESTRICTION.—Effective two years after the date of
enactment of this Act, no funds authorized to be appropriated
by this Act or any other Act, or otherwise made available,
may be obligated or expended for the conduct of any activity
which has the purpose or effect of—
(A) reporting to the Human Rights Committee in
accordance with Article 40 of the International Covenant
on Civil and Political Rights, or
(B) responding to any effort by the Human Rights
Committee to use the procedures of Articles 41 and 42
of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
to resolve claims by other parties to the Covenant that
the United States is not fulfilling its obligations under
the Covenant,
until the President has submitted to the Congress the certifi-
cation described in paragraph (2).
(2) CERTIFICATION.—The certification referred to in para-
graph (1) is a certification by the President to the Congress
that the Human Rights Committee established under the Inter-
national Covenant on Civil and Political Rights has—
(A) revoked its General Comment No. 24 adopted on
November 2, 1994; and
(B) expressly recognized the validity as a matter of
international law of the reservations, understandings, and
declarations contained in the United States instrument
of ratification of the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights.
SEC. 1505. UNITED STATES PARTICIPATION IN SINGLE COMMODITY
INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS.
Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of
this Act, the Secretary of State shall submit to the appropriate
congressional committees a report that—
(1) identifies the national interests, if any, that are served
by continuing United States participation in single-commodity
international organizations;
(2) assesses the current and projected costs of continuing
United States participation in such organizations in light of
the increasingly limited funds available to fund United States
participation in all international organizations;
(3) assesses the feasibility and desirability of the privatiza-
tion of United States representation in such organizations;
and
(4) sets forth options for achieving the privatization of
the organizations if the Secretary determines that the privatiza-
tion is feasible and desirable.
CHAPTER 2—UNITED NATIONS AND AFFILIATED
AGENCIES AND ORGANIZATIONS
SEC. 1521. REFORM IN BUDGET DECISIONMAKING PROCEDURES OF
THE UNITED NATIONS AND ITS SPECIALIZED AGENCIES.
(a) ASSESSED CONTRIBUTIONS.—Of amounts authorized to be
appropriated for ‘‘Assessed Contributions to International Organiza-
H. R. 1561—76
tions’’ by this Act, the President may withhold 20 percent of the
funds appropriated for the United States assessed contribution to
the United Nations or to any of its specialized agencies for any
calendar year if the United Nations or any such agency has failed
to implement or to continue to implement consensus-based decision-
making procedures on budgetary matters which assure that suffi-
cient attention is paid to the views of the United States and other
member states that are the major financial contributors to such
assessed budgets.
(b) NOTICE TO CONGRESS.—The President shall notify the Con-
gress when a decision is made to withhold any share of the United
States assessed contribution to the United Nations or its specialized
agencies pursuant to subsection (a) and shall notify the Congress
when the decision is made to pay any previously withheld assessed
contribution. A notification under this subsection shall include
appropriate consultation between the President (or the President’s
representative) and the Committee on International Relations of
the House of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign Rela-
tions of the Senate.
(c) CONTRIBUTIONS FOR PRIOR YEARS.—Subject to the availabil-
ity of appropriations, payment of assessed contributions for prior
years may be made to the United Nations or any of its specialized
agencies notwithstanding subsection (a) if such payment would
further United States interests in that organization.
(d) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than February 1 of each
year, the President shall submit to the appropriate congressional
committees a report concerning the amount of United States
assessed contributions paid to the United Nations and each of
its specialized agencies during the preceding calendar year.
SEC. 1522. REPORT ON UNICEF.
Not later than December 31, 1996, the Secretary of State shall
submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report on
(1) the progress of UNICEF toward effective financial, program,
and personnel management; (2) the progress of UNICEF in shifting
its health, child survival, and maternal survival programs toward
efficient and low-overhead contractors, with particular emphasis
on nongovernmental organizations; and (3) the extent to which
UNICEF has demonstrated its commitment to its traditional mis-
sion of child health and welfare and resisted pressure to become
involved in functions performed by other United Nations agencies.
SEC. 1523. UNITED NATIONS BUDGETARY AND MANAGEMENT REFORM.
(a) IN GENERAL.—(1) The United Nations Participation Act
of 1945 (22 U.S.C. 287 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end
the following new section:
‘‘SEC. 10. UNITED NATIONS BUDGETARY AND MANAGEMENT REFORM.
‘‘(a) WITHHOLDING OF CONTRIBUTIONS.—
‘‘(1) ASSESSED
CONTRIBUTIONS
FOR
REGULAR
UNITED
NATIONS
BUDGET.—At the beginning of each fiscal year, 20
percent of the amount of funds made available for that fiscal
year for United States assessed contributions for the regular
United Nations budget shall be withheld from obligation and
expenditure unless a certification for that fiscal year has been
made under subsection (b).
‘‘(2) ASSESSED CONTRIBUTIONS FOR UNITED NATIONS PEACE-
KEEPING.—At the beginning of each fiscal year, 50 percent