United Nations Transparency, Accountability, and Reform Act of 2009

H.R.557
Introduced: 
January 15, 2009
111
First
January 15, 2009
Referred to House (sub)committee

105 cosponsors.

Would withhold U.S. contributions to the regular budget of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) until the secy. of state certifies that no UNRWA “official, employee, consultant, contractor, subcontractor, representative, or affiliate” is a member of a foreign terrorist organization; has distributed or incited “anti-American, anti-Israel, or anti-Semitic rhetoric or propaganda”; or has used any UNRWA resources to distribute political materials regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Further the Secretary of State must certify that: no UNRWA facility or resource is being used by a foreign terrorist organization; UNRWA is subject to financial audits by an internationally recognized independent auditing firm and has implemented an effective system of vetting and oversight to prevent the use of any UNRWA resources by any foreign terrorist organization; no UNRWA-funded school uses textbooks or other educational materials that propagate “anti-American, anti-Israel, or anti-Semitic rhetoric, propaganda or incitement”; and that no recipient of UNRWA funds or loans is a member of a foreign terrorist organization.

Would limit U.S. funding for UNRWA to an amount no greater than the highest annual contribution to UNRWA made by a member country of the League of Arab States; that, as a proportion of the total UNRWA budget, exceeds the proportion of the total budget for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) paid by the United States; or that exceeds 22 percent of the total budget of UNRWA.

UNRWA 'transparency’ and 'reform' along with sanctions against Iran, and restricting U.S. aid to the Palestinians, was a major priority of the Zionist Organization of America’s 26 March 2009 ‘Mission to Washington, DC’ lobbying effort.

Expresses the sense of Congress that “in order to alleviate the suffering of Palestinian refugees, responsibility for those refugees should be fully transferred to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.”

Section 311, entitled “Equality at the United Nations,” would require the secy. of state to submit a report to Congress containing the findings of an audit of the following U.N. bodies and recommendations for the elimination of “duplicative efforts and funding with respect to Palestinian interests and to ensure balance in the approach to Israeli-Palestinian issues”: (1) the United Nations Division for Palestinian Rights, (2) the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, (3) the United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process and Personal Representative to the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Authority, (4) the NGO Network on the Question of Palestine, (5) the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories, and (6) any other entity the Secretary determines results in duplicative efforts or funding or fails to ensure balance in the approach to Israeli-Palestinian issues. Funding of all mentioned groups would be prohibited until the U.N. implements the recommendations of the report. Would also require the Comptroller General of the Government Accountability Office to conduct an audit of the status of implementation of the report’s recommendations and U.S. “actions and achievements” to ensure their implementation.

Would require the president to direct the U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations to use the voice, vote, and influence of the U.S. to include Israel in the Western European and Others Group in the United Nations.
Would direct the President to use the voice, vote, and influence of the United States at the U.N. to 1) secure a General Assembly resolution holding U.N. employees accountable for anti-Semitic comments; 2) continue working to reduce anti-Semitic language and anti-Israel resolutions at the U.N.; and 3) to ensure that

Sponsor/Cosponsors:

Todd Akin(R-MO)Rodney Alexander(R-LA)Michele Marie Bachmann(R-MN)Roscoe Bartlett(R-MD)Gus Bilirakis(R-FL)Rob Bishop(R-UT)Marsha Blackburn(R-TN)Roy Blunt(R-MO)John Boehner(R-OH)Jo Bonner(R-AL)John Boozman(R-AR)Paul Jr. Broun(R-GA)Ginny Brown-Waite(R-FL)Vernon Buchanan(R-FL)Michael Burgess(R-TX)Dan Burton(R-IN)Steve Buyer(R-IN)Ken Calvert(R-CA)Dave Camp(R-MI)John Campbell(R-CA)Eric Cantor(R-VA)Jason Chaffetz(R-UT)Howard Coble(R-NC)Lincoln Diaz-Balart(R-FL)Mario Diaz-Balart(R-FL)Mary Fallin(R-OK)Jeff Flake(R-AZ)John C. Fleming(R-LA)Randy Forbes(R-VA)Virginia Foxx(R-NC)Trent Franks(R-AZ)Elton Gallegly(R-CA)Scott Garrett(R-NJ)Jim Gerlach(R-PA)Louis Jr. Gohmert(R-TX)Bob Goodlatte(R-VA)Sam Graves(R -MO)Parker Griffith(D-AL)Ralph Hall(R-TX)Jeb Hensarling(R-TX)Peter Hoekstra(R-MI)Lynn Jenkins(R-KS)Sam Johnson(R-TX)Walter Jr Jones(R-NC)Steven King(R-IA)Jack Kingston(R-GA)Mark Kirk(R-IL)John Kline(R-MN)Douglas Lamborn(R-CO)Leonard Lance(R-NJ)Robert Latta(R-OH)John Linder(R-GA)Frank Lobiondo(R-NJ)Blaine Luetkemeyer(R-MO)Cynthia Lummis(R-WY)Dan Lungren(R-CA)Connie Mack(R-FL)Don Manzullo(R-IL)Kevin McCarthy(R-CA)Michael McCaul(R-TX)Tom McClintock(R-CA)Thaddeus McCotter(R-MI)Patrick McHenry(R-NC)John McHugh(R-)Howard McKeon(R-CA)Cathy McMorris Rodgers(R-WA)John Mica(R-FL)Candice Miller(R-MI)Gary Miller(R-CA)Jeff Miller(R-FL)Sue Myrick(R-NC)Randy Neugebauer(R-TX)Pete Olson(R-TX)Mike Pence(R-IN)Joe Pitts(R-PA)Ted Poe(R-TX)Bill Posey(R-FL)Tom Price(R-GA)Denny Rehberg(R-MT)David "Phil" Roe(R-TN)Hal Rogers(R-KY)Mike D Rogers(R-AL)Mike J. Rogers(R-MI)Dana Rohrabacher(R-CA)Tom Rooney(R-FL)Ed Royce(R-CA)Paul Ryan(R-WI)Stephen Joseph Scalise(R-LA)James Jr Sensenbrenner(R-WI)John Shadegg(R-AZ)Bill Shuster(R-PA)Chris Smith(R-NJ)Mark Souder(R-IN)Cliff Stearns(R-FL)Lee Terry(R-NE)Mac Thornberry(R-TX)Todd Tiahrt(R-KS)Michael Turner(R-OH)Zach Wamp(R-TN)Lynn Westmoreland(R-GA)Joe Wilson(R-SC)Robert Wittman(R-VA)Frank Wolf(R-VA)C W Bill Young(R-FL)Don Young(R-AK)

More info

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