For Immediate Release:	June 27, 2008
For More Information:	Matt Dennis, Office of Congresswoman Nita Lowey, (202) 225-6506
Sponsor Organization:	Office of Congresswoman Nita Lowey
Lowey: "It is inexcusable for the Administration to use bogus information to justify withholding assistance like family planning services, pre-natal health, and maternal and child mortality reduction from women around the world."
WASHINGTON – Congresswoman Nita Lowey, Chairwoman of the State and Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittee, today slammed the Bush Administration’s decision to hold the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in violation of the “Kemp-Kasten” amendment, which bans U.S. assistance to organizations that support or participate in the management of coercive family planning programs for the sixth consecutive year. “The Administration’s decision to hold UNFPA in violation of the Kemp-Kasten Amendment not surprising but remains 100 percent wrong. “It is inexcusable for the Administration to use bogus information to justify withholding assistance like family planning services, pre-natal health, and maternal and child mortality reduction from women around the world. The Administration’s decision to de-fund UNFPA is arbitrary and flies in the face of the State Department’s own investigators who found no evidence that UNFPA supported coercive abortion or involuntary sterilization in China. “UNFPA provides critical assistance to women in more than 140 countries and is a vital partner to the activities of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) in the 60 countries where USAID operates. “The Administration’s decision today to withdraw U.S. support for UNFPA is counter-productive to helping women in need and improving the health of mothers and infants around the world.” ###