Title: United Nations Voting Accountability Act of 2017
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
United Nations Voting Accountability Act of 2017
This bill prohibits giving assistance, such as various types of economic support or military training, to countries that oppose U.S. positions on more than 50 percent of the recorded votes in the most recent United Nations session.
A country may be exempted if there has been a fundamental change in leadership and policies and the Department of State determines that the country will no longer oppose the U.S. position. The President may exempt a country for U.S. national security interests.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4237 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 4237

 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

                            November 3, 2017

Mr. Gohmert (for himself and Mr. King of Iowa) 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.

    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 ``United Nations Voting Accountability 
Act of 2017''.

SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON ASSISTANCE TO COUNTRIES THAT OPPOSE THE POSITION 
              OF THE UNITED STATES IN THE UNITED NATIONS.

    (a) Prohibition.--United States assistance may not be provided to a 
country that opposed the position of the United States in the United 
Nations.
    (b) Exemption Due To Change in Government.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary of State may exempt a 
        country from the prohibition described in subsection (a) if the 
        Secretary determines that since the beginning of the most 
        recent session of the General Assembly--
                    (A) there has been a fundamental change in the 
                leadership and policies of the government of a country 
                to which the prohibition in such subsection applies; 
                and
                    (B) as a result of such change, the government of 
                such country will no longer oppose the position of the 
                United States in the United Nations.
            (2) Duration of exemption.--An exemption under paragraph 
        (1) shall be effective only until submission of the next report 
        required under section 406 of the Foreign Relations 
        Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 1990 and 1991 (22 U.S.C. 2414a) 
        that is submitted after the Secretary of State makes such an 
        exemption.
            (3) Notification and discussion.--The Secretary of State 
        shall notify Congress with respect to an exemption made under 
        paragraph (1), together with a discussion of the basis for the 
        Secretary's determination with respect to each such exemption.
    (c) Exemption for National Security Interests.--The President may 
exempt a country from the prohibition described in subsection (a) if 
the President determines that such exemption is in the national 
security interests of the United States and transmits to Congress a 
written statement explaining such national security interest.
    (d) Definitions.--As used in this Act--
            (1) the term ``opposed the position of the United States'' 
        means, in the case of a country, that the country's recorded 
        votes in the United Nations General Assembly during the most 
        recent session of the General Assembly and, in the case of a 
        country which is a member of the United Nations Security 
        Council, the country's recorded votes both in the Security 
        Council and the General Assembly during the most recent session 
        of the General Assembly, were the same as the position of the 
        United States less than 50 percent of the time, using for this 
        purpose a comparison of the recorded vote cast by each member 
        country with the recorded vote cast by the United States, as 
        described in the annual report submitted to Congress pursuant 
        to section 406 of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, 
        Fiscal Years 1990 and 1991;
            (2) the term ``most recent session of the General 
        Assembly'' means the most recently completed plenary session of 
        the General Assembly for which a comparison of the vote cast by 
        each member country with the vote cast by the United States is 
        described in the most recent report submitted to Congress 
        pursuant to section 406 of the Foreign Relations Authorization 
        Act, Fiscal Years 1990 and 1991; and
            (3) the term ``United States assistance'' means assistance 
        under--
                    (A) chapter 4 of part II of the Foreign Assistance 
                Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2346 et seq.; relating to the 
                economic support fund);
                    (B) chapter 5 of part II of such Act (22 U.S.C. 
                2347 et seq.; relating to international military 
                education and training);
                    (C) the ``Foreign Military Financing Program'' 
                account under section 23 of the Arms Export Control Act 
                (22 U.S.C. 2763); and
                    (D) any other monetary or physical assistance.
    (e) Effective Date.--This Act shall take effect upon the date of 
the submission to Congress of the report required under section 406 of 
the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 1990 and 1991, 
that is required to be submitted by March 31, 2018.
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