§2414a — Title 22 Foreign Relations and Intercourse | U.S. Code

Summary

The Secretary of State must send Congress, by March 31 each year, a full report about how every U.N. member country voted during the previous calendar year. The report must say how General Assembly and Security Council actions affected U.S. interests and how each country responded to U.S. positions on issues that matter most to the United States. The U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. must provide material for the report. That material must analyze how much countries supported U.S. goals, describe actions taken by consensus, list and explain plenary votes that directly affected important U.S. interests with country-by-country and regional comparisons, list all General Assembly plenary votes compared to the U.S. (with a separate list for Israel-related votes opposed by the U.S.), analyze Security Council support and list Security Council votes by country compared to the U.S., and give a side-by-side agreement comparison for each country. The listings for the plenary votes must follow the format in chapter II of the Report to Congress on Voting Practices in the United Nations dated March 14, 1988, and include the statistical methods used. Each yearly report must also include a statement from the Secretary of State about steps taken to keep U.S. diplomatic posts informed about General Assembly and Security Council activities.

Title 22, §2414a

Foreign Relations and Intercourse — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Not later than March 31 of each year, the Secretary of State shall transmit to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate a full and complete annual report which assesses for the preceding calendar year, with respect to each foreign country member of the United Nations, the voting practices of the governments of such countries at the United Nations, and which evaluates General Assembly and Security Council actions and the responsiveness of those governments to United States policy on issues of special importance to the United States.

(b)Such report shall include, with respect to voting practices and plenary actions in the United Nations during the preceding calendar year, information to be compiled and supplied by the Permanent Representative of the United States to the United Nations, consisting of—

(1)an analysis and discussion, prepared in consultation with the Secretary of State, of the extent to which member countries supported United States policy objectives at the United Nations;

(2)an analysis and discussion, prepared in consultation with the Secretary of State, of actions taken by the United Nations by consensus;

(3)with respect to plenary votes of the United Nations General Assembly—

(A)a listing of all such votes on issues which directly affected important United States interests and on which the United States lobbied extensively and a brief description of the issues involved in each such vote;

(B)a listing of the votes described in subparagraph (A) which provides a comparison of the vote cast by each member country with the vote cast by the United States;

(C)a country-by-country listing of votes described in subparagraph (A); and

(D)a listing of votes described in subparagraph (A) displayed in terms of United Nations regional caucus groups;

(4)a listing of all plenary votes cast by member countries of the United Nations in the General Assembly which provides a comparison of the votes cast by each member country with the vote cast by the United States, including a separate listing of all plenary votes cast by member countries of the United Nations in the General Assembly on resolutions specifically related to Israel that are opposed by the United States;

(5)an analysis and discussion, prepared in consultation with the Secretary of State, of the extent to which other members supported United States policy objectives in the Security Council and a separate listing of all Security Council votes of each member country in comparison with the United States; and

(6)a side-by-side comparison of agreement on important and overall votes for each member country and the United States.

(c)Information required pursuant to subsection (b)(3) shall also be submitted, together with an explanation of the statistical methodology, in a format identical to that contained in chapter II of the Report to Congress on Voting Practices in the United Nations, dated March 14, 1988.

(d)Each report under subsection (a) shall contain a statement by the Secretary of State discussing the measures which have been taken to inform United States diplomatic missions of United Nations General Assembly and Security Council activities.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Codification Section is comprised of section 406 of Pub. L. 101–246. Subsec. (e) of section 406 of Pub. L. 101–246 repealed provisions contained in prior appropriation acts which had been formerly set out as this section. See Similar Provisions note below. Section was enacted as part of the appropriation act cited as the credit to this section, and not as part of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 which comprises this chapter.

Amendments

2004—Subsec. (b)(4). Pub. L. 108–447 inserted before semicolon at end “, including a separate listing of all plenary votes cast by member countries of the United Nations in the General Assembly on resolutions specifically related to Israel that are opposed by the United States”.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Similar ProvisionsSimilar provisions were contained in the following prior appropriation acts: Pub. L. 101–167, title V, § 527, Nov. 21, 1989, 103 Stat. 1223. Pub. L. 100–461, title V, § 527, Oct. 1, 1988, 102 Stat. 2268–26; repealed by Pub. L. 101–167, title V, § 527(e)(6), Nov. 21, 1989, 103 Stat. 1224, and Pub. L. 101–246, title IV, § 406(e)(5), Feb. 16, 1990, 104 Stat. 67. Pub. L. 100–202, § 101(e) [title V, § 528], Dec. 22, 1987, 101 Stat. 1329–131, 1329–158; repealed by Pub. L. 101–167, title V, § 527(e)(5), Nov. 21, 1989, 103 Stat. 1224, and Pub. L. 101–246, title IV, § 406(e)(4), Feb. 16, 1990, 104 Stat. 67. Pub. L. 99–500, § 101(f) [title V, § 528], Oct. 18, 1986, 100 Stat. 1783–213, 1783–230, and Pub. L. 99–591, § 101(f) [title V, § 528], Oct. 30, 1986, 100 Stat. 3341–214, 3341–230; repealed by Pub. L. 101–167, title V, § 527(e)(4), Nov. 21, 1989, 103 Stat. 1224, and Pub. L. 101–246, title IV, § 406(e)(3), Feb. 16, 1990, 104 Stat. 67. Pub. L. 99–190, § 101(i) [title V, § 529], Dec. 19, 1985, 99 Stat. 1291, 1307; repealed by Pub. L. 101–167, title V, § 527(e)(3), Nov. 21, 1989, 103 Stat. 1224, and Pub. L. 101–246, title IV, § 406(e)(2), Feb. 16, 1990, 104 Stat. 67. Pub. L. 98–473, title I, § 101(1) [title V, § 530], Oct. 12, 1984, 98 Stat. 1884, 1900; repealed by Pub. L. 101–167, title V, § 527(e)(2), Nov. 21, 1989, 103 Stat. 1224. Pub. L. 98–151, § 101(b)(1), Nov. 14, 1983, 97 Stat. 967; repealed by Pub. L. 101–167, title V, § 527(e)(1), Nov. 21, 1989, 103 Stat. 1224, and Pub. L. 101–246, title IV, § 406(e)(1), Feb. 16, 1990, 104 Stat. 67. Statement of Policy on Member State’s Voting Practices at the United Nations Pub. L. 114–323, title III, § 309, Dec. 16, 2016, 130 Stat. 1924, provided that: “It is the policy of the United States to strongly consider a Member State’s voting practices at the United Nations before entering into any agreements with the Member State.” Requirement for Disclosure of Foreign Aid in Report of Secretary of State Pub. L. 106–429, § 101(a) [title V, § 559], Nov. 6, 2000, 114 Stat. 1900, 1900A–45, which required that the report submitted to Congress under subsec. (a) of this section include, in addition to the voting practices of a foreign country, a side-by-side comparison of individual countries’ overall support for the United States at the United Nations and the amount of United States assistance, as defined in section 2291(e)(4) of this title, provided to such country in fiscal year 2000, was from the Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2001, and was not repeated in subsequent appropriation acts. Similar provisions were contained in the following prior appropriation acts: Pub. L. 106–113, div. B, § 1000(a)(2) [title V, § 560], Nov. 29, 1999, 113 Stat. 1535, 1501A–104. Pub. L. 105–277, div. A, § 101(d) [title V, § 562], Oct. 21, 1998, 112 Stat. 2681–150, 2681–193. Pub. L. 105–118, title V, § 563, Nov. 26, 1997, 111 Stat. 2427. Pub. L. 104–208, div. A, title I, § 101(c) [title V, § 580], Sept. 30, 1996, 110 Stat. 3009–121, 3009–170.

§2414a Annual Report to Congress on Voting Practices at United Nations