Posted on 01/31/2002 3:58:06 PM PST by IM2Phat4U
----- Original Message -----
From: Cusey, John
Sent: Thursday, January 31, 2002 5:30 PM
Subject: Dueling UNFPA Letters
Dear Friends,
55 Members of Congress signed the following letter asking the President not to fund UNFPA. Those Members should be applauded for publicly signing a letter requesting that the President do the right thing.
On the other side, I have also included the letter supporters of the UNFPA sent to the President. 125 Members signed that letter, including 16 Republicans.
John Cusey
Congressional Pro-life Caucus
202-225-7669
Fax 225-7768
2373 RHOB
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January 31, 2002
The Honorable George W. Bush
President of the United States
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20502
Dear Mr. President:
We write to respectfully request that you provide zero funding for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) this year because the UNFPA supports coercive abortion and sterilization and therefore is in violation of our conscience and our law.
Now that Congress has passed a Foreign Operations Appropriations bill that preserves Presidential discretion to control how much U.S. government funding the UNFPA receives, and restates the prohibition on funding any organization or program which supports or participates in coercive abortion or involuntary sterilization, you need only look at the evidence of abuses by UNFPA and make a determination based on the facts.
As you know, you have the authority according to current law, referred to as the Kemp-Kasten amendment, to deny funding to the UNFPA. The conference report on H.R. 2506, the Fiscal Year 2002 Foreign Operations Appropriations bill, included the following Kemp-Kasten anti-coercion language in the General Provisions of the United States Agency for International Development Child Survival and Health Programs Fund:
"Provided further, That none of the funds made available in this Act nor any unobligated balances from prior appropriations may be made available to any organization or program which, as determined by the President of the United States, supports or participates in the management of a program of coercive abortion or involuntary sterilization:"
The Kemp-Kasten language has been included in foreign operations bills since 1985. President Reagan and President George H. W. Bush found that the UNFPA supports and participates in China's brutally coercive one-child policy thereby violating Kemp-Kasten and disqualifying UNFPA from receiving any federal funding. The U.S. boycotted UNFPA during those administrations because of the UNFPA's heavy involvement in China's compulsory abortion and sterilization program.
The Agency for International Development (AID) officially declared that UNFPA "participates in the management of a program of coercive abortion" as defined in the law. That declaration was challenged in a lawsuit filed by the UNFPA-funded Population Institute, but a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia unanimously ruled on August 16, 1986 that the evidence presented by AID "amply supports" the AID cutoff of the UNFPA.
The simple fact that the UNFPA gives money to China's population control program is enough to legally and morally disqualify them from receiving a subsidy from the United States. By operating in China, spending money there, and defending the Chinese population control system, the UNFPA clearly supports a program of coercive abortion and involuntary sterilization. But the UNFPA does more than simply operate in China.
On October 17, the House International Relations Committee heard testimony from an undercover fact finding team that was sent to Sihui, which is a UNFPA county in China where the UNFPA told Congress that abortion and sterilization are voluntary, to investigate claims of forced abortion. Investigators received testimony from many victims and witnesses of coercion, and as formal interviews were being conducted and recorded, bystanders often gathered and began to tell their own stories of coercion.
The investigators were told that family planning is not voluntary in Sihui, and coercive family planning policies in Sihui include: age requirements for pregnancy; birth permits; mandatory use of IUDs; mandatory sterilization; crippling fines for non-compliance; imprisonment for non-compliance; destruction of homes and property for non-compliance; forced abortion and forced sterilization.
At a January 24 press conference, Mrs. Gao Xiao Duan, who served for 14 years as a planned birth officer in the Fujian province of China, publicly stated, "I do know that any organization that is contributing to China's population control policy is encouraging these officials to implement forced abortion, sterilization and punishments ranging from detainment to house destruction as means of enforcement."
Time and again, high officials of the UNFPA have defended the indefensible and called voluntary that which is anything but. In her own words, the former Executive Director of the UNFPA Nafis Sadik said "China has every reason to feel proud of and pleased with its remarkable achievements made in its family planning policy. The country could offer its experiences and special expertise to help other countries." Sven Burmester, UNFPA's representative in Beijing, praised China's program when he said, "In strictly quantitative terms, it was the most successful family- planning policy ever developed."
An honest investigation will show UNFPA's complicity in forced abortion and sterilization, which should disqualify them from receiving government funding. We do not want our constituents to have to support human rights violations with their tax dollars.
Sincerely,
55 Members
Smith, Chris
Pence
Ney
Vitter
Souder
Pitts
King
Kerns
Shows
Berry
Shimkus
Hayes
Bartlett
Jones, W
Phelps
Paul
Dootlittle
Pickering
Costello
Wamp
Goode
Davis, J
Chris Cox
Myrick
Toomey
Flake
DeMint
Aderholt
Herger
Gutknecht
Istook
Boozman
Chabot
Shadegg
English
Sensenbrenner
Crane
Combest
Buyer
Hostetler Tancredo
LaHood
Miller, Gary
Cantor
Brady, Kevin
Blunt
Grucci
Barr
Schaffer
Ryun, Jim
Forbes
Duncan
Stearns
Largent
Weldon, Dave
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January 30 , 2002
> > The Honorable George W. Bush
> President of the United States
> 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
> Washington, DC 20500
> > Dear Mr. President:
> > We are writing to respectfully encourage you to fully fund the > United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) for the current fiscal year. As > you know, the Fiscal Year 2002 Foreign Operations Appropriations bill, > which you signed on January 10, 2002, includes a total of $34 million for > this organization, which provides life-saving family planning and safe > motherhood services to the poorest women around the world.
> > As strong supporters of international family planning, we were > pleased to endorse a bipartisan agreement to build on your Fiscal Year > 2002 request for $25 million in United States contributions to the UNFPA, > providing a total of $34 million. The overwhelming majority of our > colleagues on both sides of the aisle supported this increase, and the > Foreign Operations funding bill passed the House of Representatives by a > margin of 357-66. Congressional intent with regard to UNFPA funding is > clear, and we urge you to provide the full amount set aside for this > purpose.
> > Your Administration has a strong record of support for the UNFPA. > Your own Fiscal Year 2002 budget request refers to the UNFPA as an > organization that "provides critical population assistance to developing > countries and countries with economies in transition." Secretary of State > Powell found the UNFPA to be compliant with U.S. laws against funding > coercive abortion, and released a total of $21.5 million to the > organization in 2001. Last November, the United States recognized the > UNFPA's important contributions to ensuring the health of Afghan women, > providing the organization with $600,000 in emergency funding to furnish > emergency infant delivery kits and sanitary supplies for Afghan refugee > women in Pakistan and throughout Central Asia.
> > We understand you are under pressure to end U.S. support for the > UNFPA due to allegations that the organization is somehow complicit in > China's coercive family planning policies. The UNFPA has repeatedly > proven these charges to be false, confirming that its limited activities > in China, like its programs around the world, adhere strictly to the > highest standards of human rights, and reject and discourage coercive > practices. We are pleased that the UNFPA has had the opportunity to > address these concerns in meetings with Administration officials.
> > Mr. President, we urge you to continue your Administration's > support for the lifesaving work of the UNFPA by providing the organization > with full funding of $34 million, pursuant to clear Congressional intent. > We appreciate your attention to this important matter, and we look forward > to receiving your reply.
> > Sincerely,
> > 125 Members (16 Republicans)
> > Lowey, Greenwood, Malon
125 Members (16 Republicans) > > Lowey, Greenwood, Maloney, Morella, Pelosi, Kirk, Leach, Farr, Crowley, > Castle, Kennedy, Wexler, Hoeffel, McCarthy (NY), Lee (CA), Serrano, > DeLauro, Hinchey, Lantos, Schakowsky, Abercrombie, Weiner, Menendez, > Roybal-Allard,Delahunt, Hooley, Waxman, Berkley, Harman, Shays, Ackerman, > Frank, Capps, Doggett, Norton, Kilpatrick, Johnson (CT), Lofgren, Baldwin, > Davis (CA), Clay, Capuano, Roukema, Maloney (CT), Miller (CA), > Blagojevich, Rivers, McGovern, Olver, Cardin, Brown (OH), Boehlert, > Thompson (CA), Snyder, Nadler, Brown (FL), Carson (IN), Udall (CO), > Sawyer, Gonzalez, Gilman, Thurman, Larsen, Stark, Woolsey, Moran, > Jackson-Lee, Holt, Filner, Ose, Tierney, Gephardt, DeGette, Schiff, Payne, > Pastor, Deutsch, Mink, Solis, Rothman, Davis (FL), Velazquez, Engel, > Baird, Eshoo, Faleomavaega, Berman, Pallone, Larson, Sanders, Towns, > Bishop, Simmons, McKinney, Tauscher, Horn, Houghton, Wu, Price, > Blumenauer, Gutierrez, Levin, Boswell, McCollum, Cummings, Pascrell, > Allen, Honda, Wynn, Etheridge, Waters, Millender-McDonald, Sherman, > Slaughter, Dingell, Meehan, Baldacci, Matsui, Rush, Kelly, Ramstad, Hoyer, > DeFazio, Meeks, McCarthy (MO) > >
Neither did mine, although he is usually a fairly strong pro-lifer. I think I'll give him a call tomorrow.
bump
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