For Immediate Release:	September 16, 2005
For More Information:	Afshin Mohamadi, Representative Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), Afshin.Mohamadi@mail.house.gov, 202-225-7944
Sponsor Organization:	Office of Representative Carolyn Maloney
CONTRIBUTION WITHHELD FROM UNFPA - THE WORLD'S TOP PROVIDER OF FAMILY PLANNING AND MATERNAL HEALTH NEEDS DETERMINATION OCCURS AS THE UN's 60TH ANNIVERSARY IS HONORED IN NEW YORK
WASHINGTON, DC - The Bush Administration notified Congress last night that, for the fourth consecutive year, it will withhold the United States's $34 million contribution to UNFPA (the United Nations Population Fund). The money was appropriated by Congress in June. The administration made this determination as the world community gathers in New York for the UN's 60th anniversary. Rep. Carolyn Maloney (NY-14), who has led the Congressional effort to resume the U.S. contribution to UNFPA, said that the president's right-wing base is dictating this policy that harms women and children in the world's neediest nations. "The president's extreme right-wing base is behind this decision - a decision that hurts the world's most impoverished women and children," said Maloney. "The United States should be the world's leader in helping those who are most in need, but we are not because of political games being played in Washington. UNFPA is an honorable and important organization, and it should have the full support of our nation. "It's even more unbelievable that the administration made this determination a day after the president spoke to the United Nations in celebration of its 60th anniversary." Background: Since 2001, Congress has appropriated money to contribute to UNFPA each year, and each year the administration has withheld that contribution, invoking the Kemp-Kasten provision. The administration claims UNFPA supports the Chinese government in forced sterilizations and coercive abortions - a claim that was flatly refuted by the State Department's own fact-finding team. Earlier in the 109th Congress, Maloney and a bipartisan group of colleagues, undertook a bold attempt to guarantee that the U.S.'s contribution to UNFPA would go through without the administration's resistance, but it was defeated on the House floor (http://www.house.gov/maloney/press/109th/20050616UNFPA.htm). Maloney has also led efforts to send the U.S.'s contribution to specifically aid the UNFPA's Campaign to End Fistula (http://www.house.gov/maloney/press/108th/20040414FistulaCompromise.htm). Obstetric fistula is a condition that arises from poor pre-natal care and results in horrific and debilitating vaginal and intestinal injuries in women and, often times, stillborn babies. ###