June 15, 2005
Congress Report Calls for Rapid U.N. Reforms
By REUTERS 
Filed at 1:41 p.m. ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. congressional report on Wednesday criticized the United Nations as lacking oversight and accountability and urged rapid management reforms by Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
The report from a bipartisan U.S. task force gave dozens of recommendations, including creation of a rapid-reaction capability to prevent genocide and of a new human rights council. It opposed creating a standing U.N. military force.
It also called for an independent oversight board, the appointment of a chief operating officer and protection for whistle-blowers who expose corruption in the world body.
The report follows a slew of scandals at the United Nations, from sex abuse by peacekeepers to allegations of corruption in the Iraq oil-for-food program, which is the subject of many other investigations.
It said officials reported dismal morale at the world body.
``The need for internal reform has never been more pressing,'' the report said. ``If we are to see the United Nations recover from its present difficulties, American leadership will be indispensable in effecting change.''
Secretary-General Kofi Annan welcomed the report, especially its conclusion that the United States had much to gain from a ``strong and effective'' United Nations, said chief U.N. spokesman Fred Eckhard.
``He supports many of the recommendations and believes that the task force's call for a U.S. commitment to work with other member states and the U.N. staff is the best basis on which to pursue and achieve lasting reform,'' said Eckhard.
The congressional task force, created last December to improve U.N. effectiveness, was led by former House of Representatives Speaker Newt Gingrich, a Republican, and former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell, a Democrat.
``Institutional reform of the United Nations is not a favor to the United States. It is a vital aspect of the continued integrity and vitality of the U.N.,'' Mitchell told a news conference to release the report. 
DEEP FAILINGS
Task force members interviewed scores of U.N. officials for the study and all of them recounted deep failings within the United Nations.
``Despite the efforts of a few member states, the United Nations remains lacking in oversight and accountability,'' said the report.
The task force backed many of Annan's own proposals to overhaul the world body, including one for a permanent Human Rights Council to replace the current Human Rights Commission.
Gingrich said the UN human rights group had been taken over by the very violators it was meant to stop, such as Libya and Zimbabwe. ``The current human rights commission is destructive by its very nature,'' he said.
There were many areas where task-force members could not agree, such as whether the United Nations should be expanded and over the composition of the Permanent Security Council.
Several members of Congress have called on Annan to step down because of the scandals in the oil-for-food program, but Gingrich said the panel did not focus on U.N. personalities.
The report also stopped far short of endorsing legislation proposed by Republicans to link U.S. payment of its U.N. dues to progress on reforms.
Rep. Henry Hyde, an Illinois Republican who chairs the House International Relations Committee, has introduced legislation that would withhold half of the United States' dues to the United Nations unless it makes certain reforms.
The United States is by far the biggest donor to the United Nations and contributes 22 percent of the regular operating budget and nearly 27 percent of the peacekeeping budget.
Hyde's bill is expected to be put to a vote in the House on Thursday. The Bush administration opposes it so far and there is no companion measure in the Senate.