House Passes Reckless and Flawed UN Reform Legislation
Citizens for Global Solutions Opposes Hyde Act, calls on Senate, Bush Administration to do the Same

Washington DC – Despite the opposition of the Bush Administration, the House of Representatives passed a measure today that would require the United States to withhold statutorily mandated UN dues. Citizens for Global Solutions regards the UN Reform Act of 2005 (HR 2745), introduced by Rep. Henry Hyde (R-IL), as a reckless bill that represents a clear break with a strong bipartisan tradition of supporting the United Nations and a major setback to U.S. foreign policy.

The House decided to pass the Hyde Bill instead of a far more reasonable substitute, introduced by Rep. Tom Lantos (D-CA) and Rep. Chris Shays (R-CT), which would ensure that diplomatic means were exhausted before UN dues were withheld. At a time when the U.S. is participating in serious discussions on UN reform with other member states, the Hyde bill undermines American credibility. Citizens for Global Solutions agrees with the Bush Administration that adoption of the Hyde bill would seriously inhibit rather than enhance America’s ability to influence the scope and direction of UN reform.

Don Kraus, Executive Vice President for Citizens for Global Solutions, said: “Withholding our dues to the UN is the absolute wrong approach for U.S. policy. The Hyde bill hurts the chances of effective UN reform – which everyone agrees is needed – and exacerbates America’s isolation in the world community. Congress should stop it’s ‘all stick and no carrot’ approach and renew its commitment to effective diplomacy.”

The Hyde Bill passed despite opposition from the Bush Administration, which argued that the bill could "impermissibly infringe on the president's authority… to conduct the nation's foreign affairs,” and Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs, Nicholas Burns, who has stated, “[the bill] would undermine American credibility at the United Nations, it would undermine our effectiveness.”

The Hyde Bill largely ignores the recent findings of a congressionally mandated bipartisan task force led by former House speaker Newt Gingrich and former Senate majority leader George Mitchell. The Gingrich-Mitchell study on UN operations calls upon the U.S. to take a leading role in the UN reform process, and argues “real change may now be possible [at the UN] without resorting to the stick of U.S. financial withholding.”

The Hyde bill mandates a 50 percent reduction of U.S. dues to the UN, unless the international body adopts thirty-nine specific reforms in an unreasonably short timeframe. The bill also shifts funding for several UN programs from a regular assessed budget to a voluntary basis, and prohibits the expansion of new peacekeeping missions until reforms are implemented. Such policy, Citizens for Global Solutions maintains, undermines those UN operations, and reform initiatives, which are currently underway, and generates additional resentment towards U.S. policy.

As Charles J. Brown, President and CEO for Citizens for Global Solutions notes, “The history of UN reform demonstrates that withholding dues is not an effective way to advance U.S. interests. During the 1990s the America built up over a billion dollars in arrears to the UN, creating resentment and making it more difficult to achieve U.S. foreign policy goals. America must choose a more prudent, sensible way to go about reforming the United Nations. The Bush Administration recognizes this. The State Department recognizes this. The Gingrich-Mitchell task force recognizes this. It is up now up to the Senate to recognize this.”

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Notes to Editors:
Citizens for Global Solutions is a grassroots membership organization that envisions a future in which nations work together to abolish war, protect our rights and freedoms, and solve the problems facing humanity that no nation can solve alone. We promote effective democratic global institutions that will apply the rule of law while respecting the diversity and autonomy of national and local communities.
 

Update June 17, 2005                                         

Contact:

Don Kraus
Executive Vice President
202 546 3950 ext. 103

Sam Stein
Communications Associate
202 546 3950 ext. 123