June 17, 2005
House Passes Bill to Withhold Some U.N. Dues
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS 
Filed at 10:19 a.m. ET
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The House is ready to decide whether to slash U.S. contributions if the United Nations doesn't carry out reforms. Lawmakers had to weigh their frustrations with the international body against administration objections that the legislation could be counterproductive.
The legislation under debate and facing a vote Friday would withhold half of U.S. dues to the U.N.'s general budget if the organization doesn't meet a list of demands for change. Failure to comply would also result in U.S. refusal to support expanded and new peacekeeping missions.
Before the final vote, legislators discussed the seating of such human rights abusers as Cuba and Sudan on the U.N. Commission on Human Rights and the oil-for-food program that became a source of up to $10 billion in illicit revenue for former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.
Rep. Jeff Fortenberry, R-Neb., proposed an amendment under which the United States would use its influence to ensure that any member engaged in acts of genocide or crimes against humanity would lose its U.N. membersship and face arms and trade embargoes.
''Over the years, as we listened to the counsels for patience, the U.N.'s failings have grown,'' said House International Relations Committee Chairman Henry Hyde, R-Ill., sponsor of the measure. ''The time has finally come where we must in good conscience say 'enough.'''
Hyde was joined by lawmakers with a litany of complaints against what they said was the U.N.'s lavish spending, its coddling of rogue regimes, its anti-America, anti-Israel bias and recent scandals such as the mismanagement of the oil-for-food program in Iraq and the sexual misconduct of peacekeepers.
The House will choose Friday between Hyde's bill and an alternative offered by the committee's top Democrat, Tom Lantos of California. The Lantos bill also demands an overhaul of the U.N. but leaves it to the secretary of state to decide whether withholding of funds is warranted. The Senate has no similar legislation pending.
Under the Hyde approach, the cutoff in contributions would be automatic, Lantos said. ''Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice would have absolutely no choice in the matter. The president of the United States will have no choice in this matter. The Congress will have no choice in this matter.''
The vote is expected to be close, and the administration on Thursday urged the Republican-led House to reconsider the legislation. The administration said in a statement that it is actively engaged in U.N. reform, and the Hyde bill ''could detract from and undermine our efforts.''
Eight former U.S. ambassadors to the United Nations, including Madeleine Albright and Jeane Kirkpatrick, also weighed in, telling lawmakers in a letter that withholding of dues would ''create resentment, build animosity and actually strengthen opponents of reform.''
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan expressed support earlier this week for another congressional effort to bring about U.N. reform. A task force led by former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, a Republican, and former Senate Majority leader George Mitchell, a Democrat, recommended such changes as setting up an independent auditing board and weighted voting on financial issues for members who contribute more to the budget.
Also Thursday, the administration supported a measured expansion of the Security Council, but said widespread reform of the United Nations takes precedence.
''We are not prepared to have Security Council reform sprint out ahead of the other extremely important reforms that have to take place,'' Rice said at a news conference. She cited management, peace-building and halting the proliferation of dangerous weapons technology.
The bill lists 39 reforms sought. They include cutting the public information budget by 20 percent, establishing an independent oversight board and an ethics office, and denying countries that violate human rights from serving on human rights commissions.
The secretary of state would have to certify that 32 of the 39 reforms have been met by September 2007, and all 39 by the next year, to avoid a withdrawal of 50 percent of assessed dues.
U.S.-assessed dues account for about 22 percent of the U.N.'s $2 billion annual general budget.
The financial penalties would not apply to the U.N.'s voluntarily funded programs, which include UNICEF and the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees.