United Nations Accountability Act of 2004 - States that Congress urges the President to instruct the Permanent Mission of the United States to the United Nations (UN) to seek to ensure that all UN Office of Internal Oversight Services are made available to member nations.
Directs the Secretary of State to report on UN officials' financial disclosure requirements.
[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5375 Introduced in House (IH)]
108th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 5375
To provide for increased accountability and transparency in the United
Nations.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
November 17, 2004
Mr. Hyde (for himself and Mr. Lantos) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on International Relations
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To provide for increased accountability and transparency in the United
Nations.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``United Nations Accountability Act
of 2004''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) There have been allegations of mismanagement, fraud,
and corruption in the United Nations Oil-for-Food program.
(2) The United Nations Office of Internal Oversight
Services (OIOS) conducted audits of the United Nations Oil-for-
Food program.
(3) These OIOS audits identified mismanagement and
``uneconomical'' arrangements in the contract entered into by
the United Nations for the provision of independent Oil-for-
Food inspection agents in Iraq, and observed that the
contractor providing inspection services in Iraq on behalf of
the United Nations ``had not fully performed its contractual
duties''.
(4) The ``overall conclusion'' of the OIOS audit was that
``management of the Contract'' had ``not been adequate and
certain provisions of the contract had not been adhered to''.
(5) Specifically, the OIOS audit concluded the contractor
failed to maintain inspection agents at staffing levels
required by the contract, overcharged the United Nations,
engaged in ``unprofessional conduct'', and reported figures for
goods as having arrived that were vastly different than the
figures reported by the United Nations.
(6) The OIOS concluded that the United Nations Office of
Iraq Programs needed ``to strengthen its management of
contracts'', had failed to designate anyone in Iraq to manage
the contract, and that in the ``absence of a contract
manager'', the United Nations Office of Iraq Programs had ``no
assurance that the services provided were in consonance with
the spirit and letter of the contract''.
(7) It has been and continues to be the policy and practice
of the United Nations not to release OIOS audit reports to
member states.
(8) The United Nations has denied the United States access
to OIOS audits of the Oil-for-Food Program both during and
after the life of the program, despite repeated requests by the
United States for access to such audits.
(9) The ability of member states to fulfill their
responsibilities in connection with United Nations programs is
undermined by the nondisclosure policy of the United Nations
barring full and timely access by member states to OIOS audit
reports.
SEC. 3. ACCOUNTABILITY AND TRANSPARENCY MEASURES FOR THE UNITED
NATIONS.
(a) Access by Member States to OIOS Audits.--Congress urges the
President to instruct the Permanent Mission of the United States to the
United Nations to use the voice and vote of the United States to seek
to ensure the United Nations has procedures in place to ensure that all
reports prepared by the OIOS are made available, in a timely fashion,
fully and without modification (except to the extent necessary to
protect the privacy rights of individuals) to member states of the
United Nations.
(b) Report on Financial Disclosure Requirements of United Nations
Officials.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of
this Act, the Department of State shall submit to the appropriate
congressional committees a report assessing the adequacy of financial
disclosure rules and practices for United Nations officials together
with recommendations for any needed reforms identified in the course of
the assessment.
SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Oil-for-food program.--The term ``oil-for-food
program'' means the program established and administered
pursuant to United Nations Security Council Resolution 986
(April 14, 1995) and subsequent United Nations resolutions to
permit the sale of petroleum products exported from Iraq and to
use the revenue generated from such sale for humanitarian
assistance.
(2) Office of internal oversight services.--The term
``Office of Internal Oversight Services'' means the United
Nations office established by General Assembly resolution 48/
218 B (July 29, 1994), and charged with assisting in the
internal oversight responsibilities of the Secretary General by
monitoring program implementation and by conducting management
audits, reviews, and surveys.
(3) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term
``appropriate congressional committees'' means the Committee on
International Relations of the House of Representatives, the
Committee on Government Reform of the House of Representatives,
the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate, and the
Committee on Governmental Affairs of the Senate.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on International Relations.
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