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US House Approves US$582m UN Back Dues Payment
The US House voted on Monday to speed US$582 million in back dues to the United Nations, acting just hours after UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan called for the international organization to play a major role in the fight against terrorism.
The measure, approved by voice vote, passed the Senate 99-0 on February 7.
"Meeting our financial obligations to the United Nations will help to ensure that our policy-makers can keep the focus on broad policies that unite the members of the Security Council in the fight against global terrorism," said Rep. Henry Hyde, R-Ill, chairman of the House International Relations Committee.
The bill was written by Sen. Jesse Helms, R-N.C., a longtime UN nemesis and former Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman who pushed the measure after stating he was satisfied that the world body was streamlining its operations and reducing America's share of the UN budget.
The United States promised in a 1999 law that it would pay US$926 million in back dues on the condition that the United Nations reform its huge bureaucracy and cut the financial burden of the United States. The money has been set aside, but thus far, only US$100 million has been sent.
The House tried earlier this year to reduce the arrears, voting 252-165 on May 10 to pay US$582 million as part of the State Department authorization bill for 2002-2003.
At the same time, the House voted to withhold the remaining US$244 million owed until the United States regains its seat on the UN Human Rights Commission, a post it had held since the panel was created in 1947.
The provision also included changes with Helms' version.
For example, the House bill gradually reduces the US portion of peacekeeping costs from 31% to 25%, rather than cutting these costs immediately.
The Helms bill also doesn't address the US$244 million payment the House wanted to withhold until the United States is back on the human rights panel.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee didn't complete its version of the State Department authorization bill until August 3. The full Senate has not yet acted on that bill.
As for the United Nations, the United States and Russia supported Annan's call to play a big role in the fight against terrorism, although there was no clear agreement on what the organization can or should do.
The top Democrat on the International Relations Committee, Rep. Tom Lantos of California, said the United States must make use of the UN's diplomatic reach.
"The United States cannot act alone and expect to prevail in this long-term, painful struggle against international terrorism," he said.
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