Lawmakers ask: Who is Making International Policy Decisions at the State Department?

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Recent media coverage on this issue Read the letter sent to Colin Powell State Department Briefing Transcripts: Regarding US funding of WHO Regarding US support for ICPD Programme of Action Related PLANetWIRE article 11/4/02 Briefing packet on the impact of eliminating the US contribution to UNFPA from Congresswoman Maloney Summary of the Programme of Action

November 14, 2002(Washington, DC) - Today, Representatives Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), and other lawmakers sent a letter to Secretary of State Colin Powell asking him to clarify the Administration's commitment to the International Conference on Population Development (ICPD) Programme of Action.

Recent press reports have indicated that a political appointee who was at a preparatory meeting for the Fifth Asia Conference on Population and Development in Bangkok, Thailand last month stated that the United States would not affirm its commitment next year due to their objections to references such as "reproductive health rights" and that it was "not negotiable."

But State Department spokesman Richard Boucher has recently disputed that claim, saying "There has been no change in our policy," implying that the US would reaffirm its commitment to the Programme of Action.

"We are hearing conflicting stories. Spokesman Richard Boucher is saying one thing, but State Department staffers are saying something completely contradictory to the rest of the participants in Bangkok. We would like Secretary Powell to clarify who is really making the decisions, and what the decision really is," said Congresswoman Carolyn B. Maloney in a statement today.

Other Representatives signing the letter: Nita Lowey (D-NY), Barbara Lee (D-CA), Connie Morella (R-MD), Corinne Brown (D-FL), Janice Schakowsky (D-IL), Lynn Woolsey (D-CA), Joseph Crowley (D-NY), Edolophus Towns (D-NY), Neil Abercrombie (D-HI), Lois Capps (D-CA), James McGovern (D-MA), Henry Waxman (D-CA), and Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA).

An excerpt from the letter: "Finally, we are extremely concerned that this is the latest action in a series of events where the United States is not only running away from women around the world but actively working to hamper their progress. A brief list includes: the Administration's decision to defund the United Nations Population Fund, failure to ratify the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, and the Administration's regressive policies on reproductive health at the UN General Assembly Special Session on Children (UNGASS), World Summit on Sustainable Development, and the International AIDS Conference in Barcelona."

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