Terry Everett, June 27, 2005

On June 17, the U.S. House of Representatives voted 221 to 184 to cut American dues to the United Nations by 50 percent if that organization does not take concrete steps to address over 30 areas in dire need of reform. The stern warning from Congress is necessary to get the U.N.'s attention since it depends upon the United States for nearly one-quarter of its operational budget.

The 60th anniversary of the signing of the United Nations charter will be observed next month in San Francisco. The world body was created in 1945 with the aim of avoiding future global conflict and resolving disputes between nations. While the U.N. has played a constructive role in some efforts over the last six decades, more recently it has lost its way under an increasingly corrupt leadership and a growing anti-American ideology. American tax dollars which support U.N. activities are being wasted and stolen outright by U.N. workers.

The United Nations has much for which to answer. Its recent peacekeeping missions are riddled with scandal - from U.N. peacekeepers accused of sexual exploitation in the Congo this year, to allegations of peacekeeper sexual misconduct in Burundi last year, to U.N. workers being accused of rape in Sierra Leone in 2003, to accusations of U.N. police involvement in corruption and sex trafficking in Bosnia in 2001, to the disappearance of $3.9 million from the U.N. headquarters in Mogadishu in 1994. And this is just a sampling.

The U.N.'s better-regarded aid programs are also not immune from wrongdoing. In 1995, two dozen staffers at the United Nation's Children's Fund (UNICEF) office in Kenya defrauded up to $10 million. In fact, more than a quarter of the UNICEF budget was mishandled by its own staff. The U.N.'s Development Program (UNDP), which is supposed to help nations relieve poverty, recently saw $6 million stolen by workers over an eight-year period.

If this is not bad enough, Ruud Lubbers, head of the United Nations Refugee Agency resigned this year after allegations of sexual harassment. In 2001 and 2002, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and Save the Children documented widespread sexual exploitation of refugees in Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea by personnel from over 40 aid agencies, including the UNHCR agency itself. In the news right now is the United Nations' involvement in the Oil for Food Scandal which reportedly personally enriched the coffers of Saddam Hussein, as well as a number of high level U.N. officials and the son of U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan. The case remains under investigation.

The United States, through its annual dues, provides 22 percent of the United Nation's budget. The American taxpayer cannot possibly be getting their money's worth and the U.S. House sent the message to the U.N. on June 17th that 50 percent of America's dues will be withheld until the world body cleans up its act. The House also agreed to withhold U.S. support for new peacekeeping missions until reforms are made. This is a good first step, but tougher action is warranted.

I believe the U.N. has lost all credibility and no longer serves the interest of America. Therefore, I have cosponsored the American Sovereignty Restoration Act (HR 1146) which would end U.S. membership in the U.N., bar U.S. military from serving under U.N. command, and deny the U.N. access to American facilities or property. America has been accused by U.N. officials of being "stingy" for not pouring more money into scandal-plagued programs. It's time to show the U.N. what "stingy" really means.

Congressman Terry Everett, a Republican, represents Alabama's Second Congressional District, which includes the state capitol, Montgomery.