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New Jersey’s Fourth Congressional District Senior Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission and Ranking Member of Congressional-Executive Commission on China FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Jeff Sagnip (609) 585-7878 May 26, 2010 http://chrissmith.house.gov More U.S. Taxpayer Funds for Pro-Abortion Kenyan Constitution WASHINGTON, DC – Potentially illegal U.S. taxpayer funding in support of Kenya’s proposed pro-abortion constitution may now exceed five times the level originally expected. In a May 6 letter to the Inspectors General at the State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), three leading Republicans called for investigations into potentially illegal funding including whether a $2 million donation to promote the proposed pro-abortion Kenyan constitution violates a provision of law known as the Siljander Amendment. The provision stipulates that no USAID and State Department funds “may be used to lobby for or against abortion.” Subsequent meetings with investigators have revealed that actual U.S. taxpayer expenditures in support of the pro-abortion constitution are estimated to exceed $10 million. Representative Chris Smith (NJ-04), the Ranking Republican on the House Africa and Global Health Subcommittee who is spearheading three requests for investigations into U.S. spending in Kenya said, “This week I learned that U.S. taxpayer expenditures in support of the proposed constitution may exceed $10 million—five times the level we original suspected. “This massive spending will undoubtedly be directed to those entities that are pressing for ratification of the proposed constitution. Such support will further enable passage of a constitution that is opposed by many pro-life leaders in Kenya, because it enshrines new rights to abortion. As such, the funding is a clear violation of federal law against use of U.S. taxpayer funds to lobby for or against abortion,” Smith explained. “Learning of significant additional U.S. donations gives even more urgency to our request for thorough and objective investigations into all State Department and USAID funded activities related to Kenya’s proposed constitution. I hope that all investigative agencies will take our request seriously and act swiftly in this matter,” said Smith. Smith authored the May 6 letters and was joined by Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (FL-18), the Ranking Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee and Darrell Issa (CA-49), the top Republican on the House Oversight Committee. All three Members of Congress have broad legal oversight jurisdiction concerning federal international funds. The letters were addressed to Gene L. Dodaro (click here to view letter), Acting Comptroller General of the U.S. Government Accountability Office; to Harold W. Geisel (click here to read letter), Acting Inspector General, U.S. Department of State, Office of Inspector General; and to Donald A. Gambatesa (click here to read letter), Inspector General of the U.S. Agency for International Development. ###
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