Originally published on the CGS blog on January 27, 2011.
The first full committee meeting of the House Foreign Affairs Committee (HFAC) was titled “The United Nations: Urgent Problems that Need Congressional Action.” Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen has made it known that she plans to launch an attack on the U.N., and this first briefing got straight to the point. Since the full committee has not been set up yet this was a briefing rather than a hearing, and Rep. Ros-Lehtinen was unable to be at the briefing due to a family emergency, so Rep. Schmit presided over the briefing.
Rep. Ros-Lehtinen, in a statement read by Rep. Schmidt, called for withholding U.N. dues, and making the contribution to the U.N. budget voluntary. While ranking chair member Rep. Berman called for U.N. change through working together with the U.S. and its allies.
Rep. Ros-Lehtinen hoped that “U.N. efforts will be strongly bipartisan,” but there does not seem to be much bipartisanship going on when one side is calling for withholding U.N. dues while the other wants to work to improve the U.N. through engagement in order to make it a more effective organization.
The briefers included two speakers who wanted to use the power of the purse to facilitate U.N. reform, and two speakers who wanted U.N. change through engagement. Mr. Brett Schaefer and Ms. Claudia Rosett called for using the threat of withholding U.S. dues to the U.N. to force reform. Mr. Peter Yeo and Mr. Mark Quarterman also called for more U.N. transparency and accountability, but through U.S. engagement with the U.N. and its allies.
Mark Quarterman stated that, “Peacekeeping has often referred to as a “force multiplier” for the U.S., but I believe that in a broader sense. The UN is an “influence multiplier” for the U.S. as well.” The U.S. is able to spread its influence through the U.N. without sending in American troops; this can only be a good thing. Withholding funds as Rep. Ros-Lehtinen suggested would not do much.
Peter Yeo stated that the U.N. has been able to make improvements on its own and operate without U.S. funds. He also stated that, “for every $1 invested by the United States into the United Nations, American firms receive approximately $1.50 in contracts.” How does withholding funds help the U.S. when it takes away American jobs?
Both Peter Yeo and Mark Quarterman advocated for paying our dues on time and in the full amount. According to Peter Yeo, “When we act otherwise, we send a strong and provocative signal that we are more interested in tearing down the UN than making it better…”
While there are issues with the U.N., there are many different ways to fix these issues. We cannot ignore the work of the U.N. in Haiti, the Sudan referendum, Afghanistan, the work of WHO and UNICEF, and in Cote d’Ivoire. Withholding U.S. dues would make it difficult for these projects to continue, which help millions of people every day. Through my work at Citizens for Global Solutions, I support active engagement with the U.N. and its members as way to facilitate a more effective and empowered U.N.
