,i #aacth ,,congress #ast ,session ,h4 ,r4 #bgch ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of ,,representatives ,july #ah1 #bjac ,mrs4 ,lowey 7for herself1 ,ms4 ,bass1 ,mr4 ,bera of ,california1 ,mr4 ,blumenauer1 ,ms4 ,bonamici1 ,mr4 ,braley of ,iowa1 ,ms4 ,brown of ,florida1 ,ms4 ,brownley of ,california1 ,mrs4 ,capps1 ,mr4 ,capuano1 ,mr4 ,crdenas1 ,ms4 ,chu1 ,mr4 ,cicilline1 ,ms4 ,clarke1 ,mr4 ,clay1 ,mr4 ,cleaver1 ,mr4 ,cohen1 ,mr4 ,connolly1 ,mr4 ,conyers1 ,mr4 ,crowley1 ,mr4 ,danny ,k4 ,davis of ,illinois1 ,mrs4 ,davis of ,california1 ,mr4 ,de,fazio1 ,ms4 ,de,gette1 ,ms4 ,de,lauro1 ,ms4 ,del,bene1 ,mr4 ,deutch1 ,mr4 ,doggett1 ,ms4 ,duckworth1 ,ms4 ,edwards1 ,mr4 ,ellison1 ,mr4 ,engel1 ,ms4 ,eshoo1 ,ms4 ,esty1 ,mr4 ,farr1 ,mr4 ,foster1 ,ms4 ,frankel of ,florida1 ,mr4 ,garamendi1 ,mr4 ,garcia1 ,mr4 ,grayson1 ,mr4 ,grijalva1 ,mr4 ,gutirrez1 ,ms4 ,hanabusa1 ,mr4 ,hastings of ,florida1 ,mr4 ,heck of ,washington1 ,mr4 ,higgins1 ,mr4 ,holt1 ,mr4 ,honda1 ,mr4 ,huffman1 ,mr4 ,israel1 ,ms4 ,jackson ,lee1 ,mr4 ,johnson of ,georgia1 ,mr4 ,kennedy1 ,mr4 ,kilmer1 ,mrs4 ,kirkpatrick1 ,ms4 ,kuster1 ,mr4 ,larsen of ,washington1 ,ms4 ,lee of ,california1 ,mr4 ,levin1 ,mr4 ,lewis1 ,mr4 ,loebsack1 ,ms4 ,lofgren1 ,mr4 ,lowenthal1 ,ms4 ,michelle ,lujan ,grisham of ,new ,mexico1 ,mr4 ,maffei1 ,mrs4 ,carolyn ,b4 ,maloney of ,new ,york1 ,mr4 ,sean ,patrick ,maloney of ,new ,york1 ,ms4 ,matsui1 ,ms4 ,mc,collum1 ,mr4 ,mc,dermott1 ,mr4 ,mc,govern1 ,ms4 ,meng1 ,mr4 ,george ,miller of ,california1 ,ms4 ,moore1 ,mr4 ,moran1 ,mr4 ,murphy of ,florida1 ,mr4 ,nadler1 ,ms4 ,norton1 ,mr4 ,o',rourke1 ,mr4 ,pallone1 ,mr4 ,payne1 ,mr4 ,peters of ,michigan1 ,mr4 ,peters of ,california1 ,ms4 ,pingree of ,maine1 ,mr4 ,pocan1 ,mr4 ,polis1 ,mr4 ,price of ,north ,carolina1 ,mr4 ,quigley1 ,mr4 ,rangel1 ,mr4 ,rush1 ,ms4 ,linda ,t4 ,snchez of ,california1 ,ms4 ,schakowsky1 ,mr4 ,schiff1 ,mr4 ,schneider1 ,mr4 ,scott of ,virginia1 ,mr4 ,sherman1 ,ms4 ,sinema1 ,mr4 ,sires1 ,ms4 ,slaughter1 ,mr4 ,smith of ,washington1 ,ms4 ,speier1 ,mr4 ,swalwell of ,california1 ,mr4 ,takano1 ,mr4 ,thompson of ,california1 ,mr4 ,tierney1 ,ms4 ,titus1 ,ms4 ,tsongas1 ,mr4 ,van ,hollen1 ,mr4 ,veasey1 ,ms4 ,wasserman ,schultz1 ,ms4 ,waters1 ,mr4 ,waxman1 ,mr4 ,welch1 ,ms4 ,wilson of ,florida1 and ,mr4 ,yarmuth7 introduced the following bill2 which was referred to the ,committee on ,foreign ,affairs ,a ,,bill ,to prohibit the application of certain restrictive eligibility requirements to foreign nongovernmental organizations with respect to the provision of assistance under part ,i of the ,foreign ,assistance ,act of #aifa4 #a4 ,short title ,this ,act may be cited as the ,global ,democracy ,promotion ,act4 #b4 ,findings ,the ,congress finds the following3 7#a7 ,it is a fundamental principle of ,american medical ethics and practice that health care providers should1 at all times1 deal honestly and openly with patients4 ,any attempt to subvert the private and sensitive physician-patient relationship would be intolerable in the ,united ,states and is an unjustifiable intrusion into the practices of health care providers when attempted in other countries4 7#b7 ,freedom of speech is a fundamental ,american value4 ,the ability to exercise the right to free speech1 which includes the right of the people peaceably to assemble1 and to petition the government for a redress of grievances is essential to a thriving democracy and is protected under the ,united ,states ,constitution4 7#c7 ,the promotion of democracy is a principal goal of ,united ,states foreign policy and critical to achieving sustainable development4 ,it is enhanced through the encouragement of democratic institutions and the promotion of an independent and politically active civil society in developing countries4 7#d7 ,limiting eligibility for ,united ,states development and humanitarian assistance upon the willingness of a foreign nongovernmental organization to forgo its right to use its own funds to address1 within the democratic process1 a particular issue affecting the citizens of its own country directly undermines a key goal of ,united ,states foreign policy and would violate the ,united ,states ,constitution if applied to ,united ,states-based organizations4 7#e7 ,similarly1 limiting the eligibility for ,united ,states assistance on a foreign nongovernmental organization's willingness to forgo its right to provide1 with its own funds1 medical services that are legal in its own country and would be legal if provided in the ,united ,states constitutes unjustifiable interference with the ability of independent organizations to serve the critical health needs of their fellow citizens and demonstrates a disregard and disrespect for the laws of sovereign nations as well as for the laws of the ,united ,states4 #c4 ,assistance for foreign nongovernmental organizations under part ,i of the ,foreign ,assistance ,act of #aifa ,notwithstanding any other provision of law1 regulation1 or policy1 in determining eligibility for assistance authorized under part ,i of the ,foreign ,assistance ,act of #aifa 7#bb ,u4,s4,c4 #baea et seq471 foreign nongovernmental organizations-- 7#a7 shall not be ineligible for such assistance solely on the basis of health or medical services1 including counseling and referral services1 provided by such organizations with non-,united ,states ,government funds if such services do not violate the laws of the country in which they are being provided and would not violate ,united ,states ,federal law if provided in the ,united ,states2 and 7#b7 shall not be subject to requirements relating to the use of non-,united ,states ,government funds for advocacy and lobbying activities other than those that apply to ,united ,states nongovernmental organizations receiving assistance under part ,i of such ,act4