One week after cutting $50 million for a UN organization that helps women and children in developing countries, the House Foreign Affairs Committee targeted the billions of dollars the United States contributes to the United Nations. Republican Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the committee chairwoman and a fierce critic of the United Nations, argued that the legislation would give the United States leverage in pushing for change at the UN
“We will never achieve lasting, sweeping reforms if the US keeps paying in full what the UN dictates to us, with no consequences for the UN’s failures,” Ros-Lehtinen said. “We need a game-changer.”
The panel approved the bill on a party-line 23-15 vote. The action came despite Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s opposition and her vow to recommend to President Barack Obama that he veto the legislation. That may not be necessary, however, as it is unclear when the full House will consider the measure, and it has little chance in the Democratic-led Senate.
Republican New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg also opposes the legislation, according to Rep. Eliot Engel, a New York Democrat.
Clinton sent a strongly worded letter to the committee this week warning that the legislation would severely limit US participation in the world body, undercut US interests and damage the security of Americans at home and abroad.
“This bill would effectively cede American leadership, creating a void for our adversaries to fill,” Clinton wrote.
Nevertheless, the panel pressed ahead with the measure, with Republicans taking swipes at the UN
“They’re really our buddy,” Republican Rep. Dan Burton said sarcastically. “They vote with us almost never.”
Republican members said the UN Human Rights Council includes “gross human rights violators” including China, Russia, Saudi Arabia and Cuba. A recent conference on nuclear disarmament was chaired by North Korea, and Iran is a member of the UN Commission on the Status of Women.
“They’re appointing every crackpot regime to leadership positions,” Burton said.
Responding to the complaints, Democratic Rep. Gary Ackerman said the United Nations “is not supposed to be our pal. We don’t own it. ... If we agreed on everything, we wouldn’t need it.”
“Hope rests with the UN with all its flaws,” Ackerman added.
The legislation would pressure the UN to adopt a voluntary funding system by withholding 50 percent of the US non-voluntary regular budget contributions if, after two years, 80 percent of the UN regular budget is not funded on a voluntary rather than assessed basis.
In the 2010 budget year, the US provided $7.7 billion to the UN for its regular budget, peacekeeping and other programs, up from $6.1 billion the previous year. The US assessment is 22 percent of the total UN operating budget. By comparison, China pays 3 percent.
The bill also would block US funds for any United Nations entity that supports giving Palestine an elevated status at the UN and prohibit US contributions to the UN Human Rights Council and an anti-racism conference seen as a platform for anti-Israel rhetoric.
Rep. Howard Berman of California, the top Democrat on the committee, accused the Republicans of casting the bill as a means to stop the Palestinians from gaining statehood in the United Nations and a way to challenge the biases against the United States and Israel.
“That’s nothing more than false advertising,” he said. “The true purpose of the bill is to end US participation in the UN and in the process, deal a fatal financial blow to the world body.”
The committee, on a voice vote, turned back a substitute amendment from Berman that would strengthen the Obama administration’s ability to push for reforms at the UN, which has faced criticism for scandal and mismanagement.
