On December 9, the Senate approved, by unanimous consent, a bill (H.R. 6060) to authorize certain activities by the State Department, including actions on maternal care assistance and human rights. The House approved the measure by voice vote on December 8. The bill will now go to the White House for President Bush’s signature.
Sponsored by Rep. Christopher Smith (R-NJ), H.R. 6060 authorizes funding for FY2007 and FY2008 to improve maternal and prenatal care for individuals in Belarus and Ukraine who were affected by the Chernobyl disaster. The committee report accompanying the bill states, “Nearly 20 years after the Chernobyl disaster, there is a large increase in chromosomal damage and birth defects now affecting the new generation in Belarus and Ukraine…With respect to certain types of birth defects (e.g., respiratory distress, anemia, severe cleft palates and facial deformities, missing digits or limbs, damaged, missing or malformed critical organs, and certain types of telltale cardiac defects linked to radiation exposure), pregnant mothers can be monitored and prenatal care can bolster the mother’s ability to carry the child to term, and the child’s ability to increase in weight. Training of medical personnel helps improve prenatal care, and for congenital heart defects, the condition can be detected in utero, monitored and preparations made for surgical intervention after birth.”
The bill also directs the State Department to include information on propaganda of foreign governments that incites acts of discrimination in the annual State Department Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, specifically, propaganda in educational materials produced by foreign governments and government-controlled media that encourages racial hatred or violence against any race.
