I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4868 
To certify that United States assistance to the United Nations for humani-
tarian programs in the Syrian Arab Republic is not misdirected, and 
for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
OCTOBER 28, 2019 
Mr. WILSON of South Carolina (for himself, Mr. KILDEE, Mr. GONZALEZ of 
Texas, and Mr. CHABOT) introduced the following bill; which was referred 
to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 
A BILL 
To certify that United States assistance to the United Na-
tions for humanitarian programs in the Syrian Arab 
Republic is not misdirected, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Stop UN Support for 
Assad Act of 2019’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) The United States, which has been the big-
gest donor to the United Nations (UN) Humani-
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tarian Response in Syria, has provided more than 
$6,000,000,000 for UN Syria programming since 
2011, including over $435,000,000 in fiscal year 
2018 alone. 
(2) During the past eight years of conflict, the 
Assad regime has repeatedly weaponized access to 
United Nations aid in prolonged and unlawful sieges 
of civilians as part of a widespread ‘‘starve or sur-
render’’ campaign, with the United Nations esti-
mating 975,000 Syrians under siege at the peak of 
this strategy. 
(3) The United Nations Office for the Coordi-
nation of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has re-
ported repeated failures to deliver aid to the hardest- 
hit areas due to such obstructions by the Assad re-
gime. 
(4) On February 12, 2018, former U.S. Ambas-
sador to Syria Robert Ford wrote of UN aid in 
Syria that ‘‘it is clear the aid is not neutral and is 
being used as a weapon by the Syrian government.’’. 
(5) The United Nations continues to procure 
goods and services from several entities that have 
close ties to the Assad regime, despite their role in 
supporting the Assad regime’s gross human rights 
violations and international crimes—including tor-
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ture, sexual violence, the targeting of medical facili-
ties, weaponized mass starvation, enforced dis-
appearance, and forced displacement—for which the 
United Nations itself has found the Assad regime 
culpable. 
(6) A 2016 study of the UN Report of Procure-
ment showed that UN operations in Syria delivered 
$4 million to Syria’s state-owned fuel industry, $5 
million to blood banks operated by the Syrian Arab 
Army for the benefit of its troops, and $8.5 million 
to charities co-opted by members of the Assad fam-
ily. 
(7) International NGOs working with the 
United Nations are forced to select local partners, 
many of which are controlled by the Assad family 
and inner circle, from a government-approved list, 
therefore allowing these actors to profit from hu-
manitarian relief efforts and perpetuate the conflict, 
international crimes, and human rights violations. 
(8) The Assad regime compels the United Na-
tions to house its 150 international staff in the Four 
Seasons Hotel Damascus where, since 2016, the 
United Nations has spent more than $26,000 a 
night, equalling nearly $10 million a year. 
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(9) On June 11, 2019, the United States 
Treasury Department sanctioned the Four Seasons 
Hotel in Damascus for its role in fueling an illicit 
network benefitting the Assad regime, and also sanc-
tioned its owner Samer Foz a businessman who is 
‘‘directly supporting the murderous Assad regime 
and building luxury developments on land stolen 
from those fleeing his brutality’’, according to U.S. 
Treasury Undersecretary Sigal Mandelker; the Euro-
pean Union likewise sanctioned Foz for funding the 
Military Security Shield Forces, a pro-government 
militia responsible for severe human rights abuses. 
(10) United Nation agencies and international 
NGOs are required to purchase mobile phones from 
Syriatel, a company owned by Rami Makhlouf, a 
cousin of Bashar al-Assad who is sanctioned for cor-
ruption and whose involvement in human rights 
abuses in Syria is well documented. 
(11) The Assad regime has regularly siphoned 
humanitarian funds for the war effort and bypassed 
international sanctions through exploiting humani-
tarian exemptions. 
(12) On July 15, 2019, United Nations High 
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Middle East 
Director Amin Awad recognized in an interview with 
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The National that the United Nations has no proce-
dure for assessing ownership and partnerships of 
suppliers it uses for procurement in Syria: ‘‘I do not 
have a mechanism where we comb every single con-
tract to see do you have one, 10 or 90 percent con-
nection with the regime or not.’’. 
(13) On June 28, 2019, Human Rights Watch 
published a comprehensive report with the following 
conclusion: ‘‘While seemingly benign, the Syrian gov-
ernment’s aid and reconstruction policies are being 
used to punish perceived opponents and reward its 
supporters. . . . The Syrian government’s aid 
framework undermines human rights, and donors 
need to ensure they are not complicit . . . .’’. 
SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 
It is the policy of the United States that— 
(1) the delivery of assistance funded by the 
United States through the United Nations must 
meet reasonable expectations that aid reaches its in-
tended recipients; 
(2) programming provided through the United 
Nations based on United States funding should be 
determined according to greatest need, not only 
greatest access; 
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(3) United States assistance to Syria should not 
be manipulated for political or financial gain of any 
party to the conflict, especially those most respon-
sible for compounding the suffering of Syrian civil-
ians, including the Assad regime, the Russian Fed-
eration, the Islamic Republic of Iran, any entities 
owned or controlled thereof, or non-state actors in-
volved in international crimes and human rights 
abuses; 
(4) no United States assistance should be given 
directly or indirectly to the Assad regime in Syria, 
including through organs or subsidiaries of the 
United Nations; 
(5) the United States should support all efforts 
by the United Nations to establish an independent 
mechanism to vet procurement contracts in Syrian 
government-held areas, and such a mechanism 
must— 
(A) ensure no contracts are entered into 
with the Assad regime or its affiliates; 
(B) develop and implement enhanced 
human rights due diligence practices, including 
conducting quarterly human rights impact as-
sessments that review how United Nations aid 
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is disbursed and how such aid flows through its 
suppliers and local partners in Syria; and 
(C) make certain that the findings of the 
human rights impact assessments are inte-
grated into all levels of United Nations oper-
ations, monitor the effectiveness of such assess-
ments on such operations, and report how 
human rights impacts are being addressed and 
mitigated; 
(6) the United Nations procurement operations 
throughout Syria should abide by its own United 
Nations Supplier Code of Conduct, which states that 
suppliers to the United Nations must ‘‘ensure that 
they are not complicit in human rights abuses’’; and 
(7) the United States will continue providing 
humanitarian assistance to Syria while also con-
tinuing its efforts to facilitate a negotiated political 
transition from the Assad regime, in accordance 
with its commitment in United Nations Security 
Council Resolution 2254. 
SEC. 4. CERTIFICATION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State 
shall certify to the appropriate congressional committees 
whether United Nations agency programming, including 
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any program or project, in Syria funded in whole or in 
part by the United States— 
(1) is delivered impartially, without hindrance, 
to the areas of greatest need; 
(2) does not directly materially support the Syr-
ian government or entities owned or controlled by 
the Syrian government, Syrian government officials, 
their immediate families, or entities under their di-
rection; 
(3) does not directly materially support associ-
ated forces of the Syrian government or entities 
under their direction; 
(4) adheres to the United Nations Supplier 
Code of Conduct, which states that the United Na-
tions must not support, directly or indirectly, other 
entities and individuals involved in human rights 
abuses, and which requires United Nations agencies 
to secure guarantees from suppliers that ‘‘they are 
not complicit in human rights abuses’’; and 
(5) is vetted by an independent mechanism that 
reviews contract procurement in Syrian government- 
held areas, as described in section 3(5). 
(b) FUNDING LIMITATION AND REDIRECTION.—If 
the Secretary of State makes a certification described in 
subsection (a) in the negative— 
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(1) no Federal department or agency may pro-
vide any funding, directly or indirectly, to any 
United Nations agency programming, including any 
program or project, in Syria that fails to meet the 
criteria of the certification specified in subsection 
(a); and 
(2) amounts made available to the Secretary of 
State that are withheld from United Nations agency 
programming, including any program or project, in 
Syria in accordance with paragraph (1) shall be 
made available to the Administrator of the United 
States Agency for International Development’s Of-
fice of Foreign Disaster Assistance for providing as-
sistance to populations in Syria in need. 
(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
(1) APPROPRIATE
CONGRESSIONAL
COMMIT-
TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com-
mittees’’ means— 
(A) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and 
the Committee on Appropriations of the House 
of Representatives; and 
(B) the Committee on Foreign Relations 
and the Committee on Appropriations of the 
Senate. 
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