United Nations Reform Act of 2005

Henry J. Hyde United Nations Reform Act of 2005 - States that it is incumbent upon the United Nations to enact significant reform measures in order to restore the public trust and confidence necessary to achieve the laudable goals set forth in its Charter.

Title I: Mission and Budget of the United Nations - (Sec. 101) States that it shall be U.S. policy to use its influence at the United Nations to pursue an efficient and accountable U.N. regular assessed budget, and shift funding mechanisms for the following U.N. programs from the regular assessed budget to voluntarily funded programs: (1) economic and social affairs; (2) least-developed countries, landlocked developing countries and small island developing countries; (3) U.N. support for the New Partnership for Africa's Development; (4) trade and development; (5) International Trade Center UNCTAD/WTO; (6) environment; (7) human settlements; (8) crime prevention and criminal justice; (9) international drug control; (10) economic and social development in Africa; (11) economic and social development in Asia and the Pacific; (12) economic development in Europe; (13) economic and social development in Latin America and the Caribbean; (14) economic and social development in Western Asia; (15) regular program of technical cooperation; (16) development account; (17) protection of and assistance to refugees; and (18) Palestine refugees.

States that it shall be U.S. policy to: (1) redirect U.S. contributions to the United Nations to achieve such policy objectives; and (2) redirect a portion of Public Information and General Assembly funds to pursue budget efficiency and accountability goals.

States that it shall be US policy to use its influence at the United Nations to: (1) ensure that future U.N. biennial budgets reflect such policies; (2) enforce zero nominal growth in all assessed dues to the regular budget of the United Nations and its agencies and programs; (3) enforce the 5.6 rule at the United Nations, requiring the Secretariat to identify low-priority activities in the budget proposal; (4) ensure the United Nations is annually publishing a list of all subsidiary bodies and their functions, budgets, and staff; and (5) ensure that the difference between the scale of assessments for the five permanent Security Council members is not greater than five times that of any other permanent member of the Security Council, and if a permanent member with veto power is not in compliance with such requirement, the US Permanent Representative to the United Nations should use U.S. influence to deny veto power to such member.

Amends the United Nations Participation Act of 1945 to direct the US Permanent Representative to the United Nations to use U.S. influence to implement such policies, including the withholding of U.S. consensus for the biennial budget until the budget reflects such policies.

Maintains the 22% limit on annual U.S. contributions to the U.N. regular assessed budget.

States that if one or more of such programs have not been redirected to voluntary funded programs by 2008, the amount of funds assessed to the United States for such programs shall be redirected, subject to congressional notification, as follows: (1) not more than 40% of the funds shall be redirected to internal oversight programs, human rights programs, humanitarian assistance programs, and 16 of the 18 programs (the two excluded programs are refugee assistance and Palestine refugees); and (2) the remaining amounts to voluntarily funded U.N. specialized agencies, funds, or programs.

Authorizes the Secretary, subject to congressional notification, to make voluntary contributions to such 16 programs, not to exceed ten percent of the 40% total.

Directs the U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations to make efforts to reduce budgets (10% from the 2004-2005 budget for 2007, and 20% from the 2004-2005 budget for the 2008-2009 and subsequent biennial periods) for the Public Information and the General Assembly Affairs and Conference programs. Requires: (1) 20% US assessment redirection if the 2007 reduction is not achieved; and (2) certification that the reductions have been achieved for 2008-2009 and subsequent periods.

Prohibits the Secretary from making a contribution to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) in an amount greater than the highest contribution to UNRWA made by an Arab country, but may not exceed 22% of UNRWA's total budget. (Defines an Arab country for such purpose as Algeria, Bahrain, Comoros, Dijibouti, Egypt, Iran, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates, Iraq, and Yemen.)

(Sec. 102) States that it shall be U.S. policy to pursue weighted voting with respect to all budgetary and financial matters in the Administrative and Budgetary Committee and in the General Assembly in accordance with the level of a member's financial contribution to the U.N. regular assessed budget.

(Sec. 103) Sets forth U.N. budget certification requirements respecting: (1) budget maintenance not in excess of of the level agreed to by the General Assembly unless increases are agreed to by consensus and do not exceed 10%; (2) identification of expenditures by functional category; (3) requiring program managers to follow performance-based budgeting and program evaluation; and (4) requiring that all new programs approved by the General Assembly have a sunset date.

(Sec. 104) Requires certification that the United Nations has established an Independent Oversight Board, whose primary mission shall be to oversee the Office of Internal Oversight Services and the Board of External Auditors.

Requires certification that specified reforms to the Office of Internal Oversight Services have been made, including: (1) designation as an independent U.N. entity; (2) full funding from the U.N. budget and personnel resources; (3) investigative and audit authority; (4) whistleblower protections for U.N. employees; and (5) creation of the positions of Associate Director for Specialized Agencies and Funds and Programs, Associate Director for Peacekeeping Operations, and Associate Director for Procurement and Contract Integrity.

Requires certification that the United Nations has established: (1) a United Nations Office of Ethics as an independent U.N. entity, which shall be responsible for establishing and enforcing a code of employee ethics and related training; and (2) a position of Chief Operating Officer.

Requires certification that: (1) U.N. members, upon request, are granted access to Board of External Auditors reports and audits; and (2) the United Nations has taken specified release of document and waiver of immunity actions with respect to the oil-for-food program.

Directs the President to direct the U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations to use U.S. influence to ensure that the Secretary General waives the immunity of any U.N. official if such immunity would impede the course of justice.

(Sec. 105) Directs the President to direct the U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations to use U.S. influence to work toward General Assembly adoption of: (1) a definition of terrorism that includes any action intended to cause death or serious bodily harm to civilians with the purpose of intimidating a population or compelling a government or an international organization to do, or abstain from doing, any act; and (2) a comprehensive convention on terrorism that includes such definition.

(Sec. 106) Directs that U.S. contributions to the U.N. regular assessed budget be withheld in amounts that are proportional to the percentage of such budget expended for a U.N. human rights treaty monitoring body or committee that was established by: (1) a convention (without any protocols) or an international covenant (without any protocols) to which the United States is not party; or (2) a convention, with a subsequent protocol, if the United States is a party to neither.

(Sec. 107) Directs the President to direct the U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations to use U.S. influence to expand the Western European and Others Group (WEOG) to include Israel as a permanent member with full rights and privileges. Requires the Secretary to notify the appropriate congressional committees every six months for the next two years regarding such situation.

Directs the Secretary to audit and report respecting duplicative entities and functions of: (1) the United Nations Division for Palestinian Rights; (2) the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People; (3) the United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process and Personal Representative to the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Authority; (4) the NGO Network on the Question of Palestine; (5) the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories; and (6) any other entity the Secretary determines results in duplicative efforts or funding or fails to ensure balance in the approach to Israeli-Palestinian issues.

Directs: (1) the U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations to use U.S. influence to seek implementation of such report's recommendations; (2) that U.S. contributions to the U.N. regular assessed budget be withheld in amounts that are proportional to the percentage of such budget expended for such entities until such recommendations' implementation; and (3) the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to conduct a related audit.

(Sec. 108) Directs the Secretary to report on: (1) U.N. reform since 1990; (2) U.N. personnel; and (3) U.S. contributions to the United Nations.

(Sec. 111) Directs the President to direct the U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations to use U.S. influence to: (1) secure implementation of Security Council Resolution 1559 (Lebanon's sovereignty, foreign forces, and militias); and (2) secure a Security Council resolution imposing punitive measures on countries whose forces remain in Lebanon and directly or through proxies infringe on Lebanon's sovereignty.

(Sec. 112) States that it shall be U.S. policy to oppose Security Council expansion if such expansion would: (1) diminish U.S. influence on the Security Council; (2) include veto rights for new Security Council members; or (3) undermine Security Council effectiveness.

(Sec. 113) Directs the President to direct the U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations to use U.S. influence to: (1) suspend the membership of a country engaged in or complicit in genocide, ethnic cleansing, or crimes against humanity; (2) impose an arms and trade embargo and travel restrictions on, and freeze the assets of, all responsible groups and individuals; (3) deploy a U.N. peacekeeping operation or authorize and support an international or regional peacekeeping operation to stop such acts; (4) deploy monitors from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to areas where such acts are occurring; and (5) authorize the establishment of an international commission of inquiry into such acts. Requires a related certification.

(Sec. 114) Directs the President to direct the U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations to use U.S. influence to: (1) require U.N. employees to officially and publicly condemn anti-Semitic statements made at any U.N. session or its specialized agencies; (2) require U.N. employees and its specialized agencies to be subject to punitive action for making anti-Semitic statements or references; and (3) implement education awareness programs about the Holocaust and anti-Semitism as part of an effort to combat intolerance and hatred. Requires a related certification.

Title II: Human Rights and the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) - States that shall be U.S. policy to use its influence at the United Nations to ensure that a credible Human Rights Council or other human rights body is established within the United Nations whose member countries uphold the values embodied in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

(Sec. 201) Directs the President to direct the U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations to ensure that the following human rights reforms have been adopted by the United Nations: (1) a member country that fails to uphold the values embodied in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights shall be ineligible for membership on any U.N. human rights body; (2) a member country shall be ineligible for membership on any U.N. human rights body if such country is subject to Security Council sanctions, or under a Security Council human rights investigation; (3) a member country shall be ineligible for membership on any U.N. human rights body if it is currently, or has been within the previous three years, subject to an adopted country specific resolution relating to human rights abuses perpetrated by the government of such country; (4) a member country that violates the principles of a U.N. human rights body shall be ineligible for membership on such body; (5) no human rights body has a standing agenda item that relates only to one country or region; and (6) the practice of considering in the principal U.N. body country specific resolutions relating to human rights abuses perpetrated by the government of a member country within such country shall not be eliminated. Requires a related certification.

Directs the U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations to work to prevent abuse of "no action" motions, particularly relating to country specific resolutions.

States that it shall be U.S. policy to strongly support the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. Requires a certification by the Secretary that the Office has been given greater authority in field operation activities, such as in the Darfur region, and in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Prohibits a U.N. employee from having unauthorized contact, including business contacts, with a member country that is subject to U.N. sanctions.

(Sec. 202) States that it shall be U.S. policy to use its influence at the United Nations to: (1) abolish secret voting in ECOSOC; (2) ensure that, until such time as the Commission on Human Rights is abolished, only countries that are not ineligible for membership shall be considered for membership; and (3) ensure that after candidate countries are nominated for Commission on Human Rights membership, ECOSOC conducts a recorded membership vote. Requires a related certification.

(Sec. 203) Directs the President to direct the U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations to use U.S. influence to establish a Democracy Fund at the United Nations to be administered by United Nations Democracy Caucus members. Requires a related certification.

Title III: International Atomic Energy Agency - (Sec. 301) Directs the President to direct the U.S. Permanent Representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to use U.S. influence to: (1) establish in IAEA an Office of Compliance as an independent body of technical experts that will assess member country compliance and recommend penalties for violations of IAEA obligations; (2) establish in IAEA a Special Committee on Safeguards and Verification to improve IAEA's monitoring and enforcement abilities; (3) seek the suspension of privileges for member countries that are under investigation for IAEA noncompliance; (4) ensure that a member country that is in breach of, in noncompliance with, or has withdrawn from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty shall return to the IAEA all nuclear materials and technology received from the IAEA or any member country of the IAEA or the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty; (5) ensure that inspection funds are prioritized for countries with beginning nuclear programs; (6) block IAEA funds to a country that has aided international terrorism and not dismantled its weapons of mass destruction program, or is under investigation for, or in violation of, IAEA obligations; (7) block membership on the Board of Governors to countries that are under investigation or in violation of IAEA obligations and have not signed or ratified the Additional Protocol; (8) eliminate the Small Quantities Protocol; and (9) ensure the adoption of a Board of Governors resolution making Iran ineligible to receive any nuclear material, technology, equipment, or assistance from any IAEA member country and ineligible for any IAEA assistance not related to safeguards inspections or nuclear security until Iran provides IAEA access to its nuclear-related facilities, is in compliance with the Additional Protocol, and has dismantled its nuclear-enrichment and reprocessing programs. (Provides penalties for member countries in violation of such provisions respecting Iran.)

(Sec. 302) Expresses the sense of Congress that U.S. national security interests are enhanced by IAEA's Nuclear Security Action Plan, and IAEA should incorporate the Nuclear Security Action Plan into the its regular budget.

Title IV: Peacekeeping - (Sec. 401) Expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) although U.N. peacekeeping operations have contributed greatly toward peace and stability and the majority of peacekeeping personnel have served with honor and courage, U.N. peacekeeping has been tarnished by operational failures and acts of misconduct; and (2) reforms, particularly in the areas of planning, management, training, conduct, and discipline, are necessary to restore confidence in U.N. peacekeeping operations.

(Sec. 402) States that it shall be U.S. policy to pursue reform of U.N. peacekeeping operations in the areas of: (1) planning and management, including auditing and review of operations, leadership qualifications, pre-deployment training, and use of gratis military personnel; (2) conduct and discipline, including adoption of a uniform code of conduct, creation of an independent investigative body for operations, and personal rather that institutional liability for misconduct; and (3) creation of a Peacebuilding Commission to marshal the efforts of the United Nations, international financial institutions, donors, and non-governmental organizations to assist countries in transition from war to peace.

(Sec. 403) Directs the President to direct the U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations to oppose the creation of any new or expansion of any existing U.N. peacekeeping operation until the Secretary certifies to the appropriate congressional committees that specified reforms have been implemented, including: (1) adoption of a uniform code of conduct and related training mechanisms; (2) design of educational outreach programs within local communities to explain prohibited acts and identify the individual to whom the local population may direct complaints of misconduct; (3) creation of a centralized database to track cases of misconduct; (4) establishment of an independent investigative and audit function; and (5) adoption of a model memorandum of understanding for troop contributing countries.

(Sec. 404) States that nothing in this title shall be: (1) construed as superseding the Uniform Code of Military Justice or operating to effect the surrender of U.S. officials or members of the armed forces to a foreign country or international tribunal, including the International Criminal Court, for prosecutions arising from peacekeeping operations or other similar U.N. activity; and (2) interpreted in a manner inconsistent with the American Servicemembers' Protection Act of 2002.

Title V: Department of State and Government Accountability Office - (Sec. 501) Directs the Secretary to make every effort to recruit U.S. citizens for positions in international organizations.

(Sec. 502) Requires the annual congressional budget justification to include an itemized request in support of the assessed U.S. contribution to the U.N. regular assessed budget. States that: (1) such itemization shall contain information relating to the amounts in support of each section and title of the regular assessed budget, and compare such amounts with previous U.S. contributions; and (2) the Secretary shall consult with the appropriate congressional committees respecting any proposed U.N. budget adjustments.

(Sec. 503) Directs the Secretary report to the appropriate congressional committees with respect to U.N. programs that are funded through assessed contributions, including recommendations concerning which programs should be continued and which should be voluntarily funded.

(Sec. 504) Directs GAO to report respecting: (1) the status of the management reforms recommended by the Secretary General in 1997, 2002, and 2005; (2) certifications required by this Act and the United Nations Participation Act of 1945; and (3) construction costs for the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) buildings in Geneva, Switzerland.

Title VI: Certifications and Withholding of Contributions - (Sec. 601) States that if the budgeting, oversight and accountability, and human rights certifications (or the alternative certifications) required by this Act are not implemented the United States shall appropriate but withhold 50% of its contributions to the U.N. regular assessed budget.

Requires: (1) certifications for 2007 and subsequent years; and (2) annual compliance reviews by the Secretary, and reapplication of the 50% withholding for subsequent certification noncompliance.

Sets forth an alternative certification process under which the Secretary may certify to the appropriate congressional committees that the requirements for each certification have been implemented through reforms that are substantially similar or accomplish the same purposes (as defined by this Act).

States that: (1) if at least 32 of the reforms have been implemented all reforms shall be considered to have been implemented for the year of certification; and (2) if the remaining reforms have not been implemented by the next year the 50% withholding provision shall apply.

Specifies 15 reforms required to be among such 32 reforms, including: (1) 20% reductions for Public Information and General Assembly Affairs and Conference Services budgets; (2) annual budget level maintenance; (3) new program sunset provisions; (4) an Independent Oversight Board; (5) a United Nations Office of Ethics; (6) U.N. human rights body ineligibility for a member country failing to uphold the values of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, or under Security Council sanction or investigation for human rights abuses; (7) barring any U.N. human rights body from having a standing agenda item that relates only to one country or region; (8) Economic and Social Council secret voting abolishment; and (9) Commission on Human Rights membership.

Written by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. All summary versions on Congress.gov