Washington – The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations on Thursday rejected House Republican demands to withhold American dollars from the world body to force changes, arguing such a move would undermine U.S. interests.
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Testifying to Congress for a second straight day, Susan Rice faced tough questions from lawmakers frustrated with the United Nations’ spending practices, attempts at reform and criticism of Israel by its Human Rights Council.
Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., chairwoman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, insisted that the only solution was for the United States to withhold its payments. Ros-Lehtinen also plans to introduce legislation next week that would make U.S. payments voluntary.
“Almost every productive U.S. effort at reforming the U.N. has been based on withholding our contributions unless and until needed reforms are implemented,” the lawmaker said, citing a similar move in the 1990s under legislation sponsored by Sen. Jesse Helms, R-N.C., and Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., now the vice president.
Rice said Republican and Democratic administrations have found such a practice doesn’t work.
“It is counter to our interests to use withholding of dues as a means of trying to obtain our policy objectives,” Rice said. “It’s counterproductive and the record shows it.”
Across the Capitol, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the world body is doing what it can to reduce its budget and said he has instructed his senior advisers to come with a 3 percent cut.
At the same time, “We need to have robust financial support from the United States,” he said after meeting with the top members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
The U.S. is the largest single contributor to the U.N., responsible for 22 percent of the U.N.’s regular budget and 27 percent of the money for peacekeeping operations.
The Obama administration is seeking $3.54 billion for the United Nations and other international agencies, and peacekeeping efforts in the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1.
Several Republicans on the committee echoed Ros-Lehtinen’s complaints and said a nation facing a $1.6 trillion deficit can’t afford to spend on the United Nations.
Rep. Dana Rohrbacher, R-Calif., offered a fresh argument.
“The United Nations is being used as a vehicle to see how global government would function,” he said. “If there’s anything that would convince us we should not be moving toward global government, it is the folly of the United Nations.”
That drew a quick retort from Democratic Rep. Gerry Connolly of Virginia, who called Rohrbacher’s comments “rehashed right-wing claptrap.”
Democrats on the panel argued that withholding funds would diminish the U.S. leverage. The committee’s top Democrat, Rep. Howard Berman of California, pointed out that when the U.S. withheld funds in the 1990s, the United States lost its seat on a critical U.N. budget panel.
He said such a step “would severely hinder our ability to pursue U.S. foreign policy and national security interests, support our allies and achieve the reforms” that both Republicans and Democrats seek.
“The committee’s top Democrat, Rep. Howard Berman of California, pointed out that when the U.S. withheld funds in the 1990s, the United States lost its seat on a critical U.N. budget panel.”
If they don’t have our money, they really won’t have much of a budget, so who cares who is on the budget panel? The UN is a colossal waste of money, and is doing little more than taking up valuable real estate in NY, generating unpaid parking tickets, and giving anti-Semites a place to spew their bile on someone else’s nickel. Reform it, or end it.
Its more important that we pay our dues as a symbol to the other countries that we may not agree with all the policies of the UN but we are obligated to contribute our assessed share of the dues. If I don’t like some of the stupid policies of the government, can I withhold my tax money? I guess I can but also plan on spending some quality time with Madoff and SMR.
The leaders of the UN are drawing enormous salaries and wasting our money. Let the other nations who use it to spew their hatred pay for it.
way to go – MONEY TALKS and people listen – just pay the minimum required. leave the rest for the US taxpayers
U.S. OUT OF THE U.N.-simple as that.
nothing but a hotbed of spies, anti-Americans,and anti-semites.
Big waste of money$.
Sorry. As much as I would have liked that America should withhold the money, it would defeat the whole purpose of the UN. The United Nations was founded to get together to talk about problems before nations go to war.
Before WWII the Germans took over Poland before the world had a chance to react. If America pulls out of the UN, the whole place would fall apart. We would not be better off, and Israel would surely be the biggest loser.