GOP Senators Introduce U.N. Reform Bill
BY BENNY AVNI - Staff Reporter of the Sun
July 14, 2005
UNITED NATIONS - A new bill aimed at reforming the United Nations was introduced on Capitol Hill yesterday by Senator Coleman, a Republican of Minnesota, and Senator Lugar, a Republican of Indiana. The proposed legislation threatens cuts in American funding to the world body, which comprises 22% of Turtle Bay's overall budget, but unlike a House bill that passed earlier this year, the Senate bill does not mandate automatic enactment of cuts conditioned on reform.
The Lugar-Coleman bill, known as the United Nations, Management, Personnel, and Policy Reform Act of 2005, sets criteria for reform and requires that the country's president submit an annual report to Congress. The president could withhold 50% of America's U.N. contributions if Turtle Bay has made insufficient progress in implementing such reforms.
The proposed legislation strives to attain its goals of U.N. reform, without undermining the ability of the president to direct foreign policy and alienating important allies on reform at the U.N., one of Secretary-General Annan's toughest critics, Mr. Coleman, said.
One senior U.N. official said yesterday that management was grateful that automatic cuts were not included in the Senate bill. However, a U.N. spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, called it tough. Mr. Annan believes withholding dues would only hamper attempts to make the organization more effective, and represent a step backwards, not forward toward U.N. reform, Mr. Dujarric told The New York Sun.
The House version of a U.N. reform bill, initially proposed by Rep. Henry Hyde, a Republican of Illinois, and passed last month despite objections by the Bush administration, called on the State Department to certify annually that the United Nations has followed through on 39 reform provisions. In case of failure, American funding would be halved automatically.
Although the Lugar-Coleman bill is more forgiving than Mr. Hyde's, Republicans at the House were encouraged yesterday that the Senate legislation included the possibility of cuts in dues.
The very fact that they have introduced the bill is an indication of how important this issue is, Mr. Hyde's communication director, Sam Stratman, told the Sun.