Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, has taken another step in her anti-UN campaign--asking the leaders of the congressional "supercommittee" to cut funding for the United Nations.

August is usually a quiet time in Washington, but not this year for those who advocate in support of the United Nations.  On August 30^th, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) introduced the United Nations Transparency, Accountability, and Reform Act of 2011, a bill which threatens to undermine the United Nations by conditioning U.S. financial support on the U.N. meeting a number of reforms demanded by Republicans in Congress.

Chairwoman Ros-Lehtinen timed her introduction of the United Nations Transparency, Accountability, and Reform Act to come right before the U.N. General Assembly session in September, when a vote on Palestinian statehood is expected to occur.  In doing so, she hopes to capitalize on American support for Israel in order to push through an anti-U.N. agenda she has long championed (she introduced the same bill in the previous Congress, with a few changes). 

John Danforth, a former U.S. Ambassador to the UN (2004-05), and a Republican U.S. senator from Missouri (1976-94) just published an excellent article in USA Today laying out why it is in the United States' interest to stay engaged in the UN.

He says that while Congress has been debating whether to limit contribution to the UN, the real debate is:

"how we can best influence the institution to accelerate the adoption of reforms while not shutting down the organization's work, decreasing U.S. influence, and costing American taxpayers more money."

His bottom line is this:

"Cutting or limiting our funding, particularly at a time when the world is facing a number of global challenges, can only handicap U.S. diplomacy and give our adversaries a stronger hand."

With time running out before a temporary federal funding measure expires on March 4^th, the House of Representatives last week passed H.R. 1, which would provide funding for federal agencies for the rest of the fiscal year, through September 2011-but it cuts deep into the international affairs and peacekeeping budget. 

Don Kraus, CEO of Citizens for Global Solutions, laid out the consequences of the House budget to IPS News: "The House FY 2011 funding bill would have a devastating impact on U.S. foreign affairs funding, and if adopted could be a serious setback to U.S support for the Millennial Development Goals (MGDs).  The legislation would cut funding for critical poverty fighting food aid programs by up to 50 percent, decimate support for refugees in Africa, Burma, Iraq and other places, and shrink funding for fighting AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis.  This legislation represents a serious retreat for U.S. poverty reduction efforts."