Democrats Offer Alternate U.N. Reform Bill
By NICK WADHAMS
The Associated Press
Tuesday, June 7, 2005; 8:39 PM
UNITED NATIONS -- U.S. congressional Democrats on Tuesday sought to deflate a Republican bill that would link U.S. dues to the United Nations with reform of the world body, offering a version of their own that doesn't directly tie payments to change.
The offer from U.S. Representative Tom Lantos of California would give the U.S. State Department the choice of withholding up to 50 percent of dues if the United Nations doesn't carry out reforms, Lantos spokeswoman Lynne Weil said. But it does not require the money be held back.
The proposal is far less drastic than a Republican bill introduced by Representative Henry Hyde of Illinois, on Tuesday. It would oblige both the United Nations and the United States to take specific steps, and has raised fears of a funding battle that could plunge the United Nations into financial crisis.
The Secretary of State needs more flexibility in determining whether and when to withhold dues, Lantos said in a statement. We don't need more 'big stick' diplomacy. Strangely enough, in this case, the Democrats evidently trust the secretary of state more than the Republicans do.
The U.S. House International Relations Committee, which Hyde chairs, was set to begin debating his bill during a hearing Wednesday. The offer from Lantos, the ranking Democrat on the committee, is an amendment that would replace it entirely.
The prospects for Lantos' amendment are dim because Democrats are the minority in the committee and Congress as a whole. Overall, however, the success of Hyde's own bill isn't guaranteed. The administration of President George W. Bush has said it opposes tying reform to dues, while the U.S. Senate would also have to craft similar legislation.
A U.S. State Department officials said Tuesday that the Bush administration believes U.N. reform is critical and wants greater accountability and management reform, but sees some of Hyde's reform conditions as not feasible. We believe moreover that U.S. obligations for our dues should be fully funded, the official said.
Hyde's bill has caused a stir in part because the United States is the biggest financial contributor to the United Nations, paying about 22 percent of the annual $2 billion general budget. That doesn't include money for peacekeeping, most international tribunals, or programs like the U.N. Development Program and UNICEF, which are funded separately.
It comes as U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan pushes his own proposals to reform the United Nations. Some officials fear that Hyde proposal would only alienate other U.N. member states, which generally oppose the idea of holding back money.
Withholding dues is a terribly counterproductive tactic because the rest of the reformers don't believe in it, Annan's chief of staff, Mark Malloch Brown, said last week.
Still, Lantos' bill isn't the complete reversal that U.N. officials may have hoped for because it still raises the possibility of withholding dues.
There is much broader public support in the U.S. for tough reform than many in the U.N. are willing to acknowledge, Hyde spokesman Sam Stratman said.
Hyde's bill would require that several U.N. programs now funded under the general budget instead raise their money through voluntary contributions from governments and individual donors. If that doesn't happen, it would require the United States to either withhold or redirect tens of millions of dollars in dues.
Lantos' proposal, on the other hand, says Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice would have the option of withholding up to 50 percent of dues if there wasn't significant progress toward changing the way the programs are funded.
On peacekeeping, Hyde's bill also requires the United States withhold support for future missions unless a series of reforms are enacted, mostly to crack down on sex abuse. Lantos' offer would let the State Department waive that requirement if U.S. interests are at stake.
© 2005 The Associated Press