Senate Approval of Spending Bill Means New Dollars for Peacekeeping

June 15, 2006 - The US Senate has voted to pass an Emergency Supplemental spending bill (S.4939) that will provide new funding for UN peacekeeping activities.

The bill came out of conference this week, sailing through the Senate in a vote of 98 to 1. It passed easily in the House of Representatives last Tuesday, and awaits the president’s approval to become law. This will be the last spending initiative for Fiscal Year 2006.

Although most of the bill’s $94.5 billion in spending has been allocated to Iraq, Afghanistan, and relief for the Gulf Coast states, $129.8 million have been appropriated for UN peacekeeping activities - a full $60 million more than President Bush originally requested.

Over the past weeks, Citizens for Global Solutions has been urging senators and House representatives to preserve this level of funding, and we now applaud them for having done so. These appropriations will help to preserve peace and security in conflicted areas all over the world. We are extremely pleased that Congress went beyond the president’s requested amount for peacekeeping.

Even so, there remains a great deal of work to be done. The United States has accrued $391 million in peacekeeping arrears that must still be addressed. This shortfall puts strain on existing UN operations, obstructs the implementation of new missions, and damages America’s credibility within the UN system.

CGS applauds these new supplemental appropriations as a step in the right direction. We urge Congress to fully address America’s peacekeeping arrears in the FY07 appropriations process.