United Nations Transparency, Accountability, and Reform Act of 2013
Latest action. Read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.
United Nations Transparency, Accountability, and Reform Act of 2013 - Requires the President's annual congressional budget justification to include a detailed itemized request in support of the U.S. contribution to the regular budget of the United Nations (U.N.).
Directs the President to use U.S. influence at the U.N. on a variety of issues, including: (1) shifting the funding mechanism for the regular budget of the U.N. from an assessed to a voluntary basis, (2) terrorism, (3) anti-Semitism, (4) maintaining U.S. influence in the U.N. Security Council, and (5) human rights violators.
Withholds from U.S. contributions to the regular U.N. budget 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 a convention or an international covenant to which the United States is not party.
Establishes the Office of the United States Inspector General for Contributions to the United Nations System.
Sets forth requirements for the Office with respect to audits and investigations of U.S. contributions to the U.N. and such contributions' use by U.N. entities.
Prohibits the obligation or expenditure of a U.S. contribution to any U.N. entity unless it has provided the Office with a transparency certification and is in compliance with it.
Withholds U.S. contributions from any U.N. entity that recognizes a Palestinian state or grants full membership to the Palestinian observer mission at the U.N., the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), the Palestinian Authority (PA), or any other Palestinian administrative organization or governing entity before the achievement of a final peace agreement with Israel.
Declares that until the Secretary makes a specified certification to Congress: (1) the Secretary shall withhold from a U.S. contribution to a regular U.N. budget an amount equal to the amount that would be allocated for the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), (2) the Secretary shall not make a voluntary contribution to UNHRC, and (3) the United States shall not run for a UNHRC seat.
The summary continues for 3 more paragraphs. Read it in full on Congress.gov
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in Senate" stage on July 17, 2013. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on July 17, 2013: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the Senate
- Passage by the House
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 113th Congress (2013-14), 296 of the 9,091 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 3.3 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
Marco Rubio (R-FL) introduced it on July 17, 2013, and 4 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They are 4 Republicans.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on July 17, 2013, 4803 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 4803 days ago, on July 17, 2013.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 113th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2015 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- SenateIn committee, no floor vote yet
- HouseAwaits Senate passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers