The United Nations claims that the U.S. is a billion dollars behind in its dues, but more than 50 Congressmen insist that the UN actually owes us three and a half billion!
On February 10th, Congressman Roscoe Bartlett of Maryland and 31 of his colleagues delivered letters to President Bill Clinton and Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich protesting statements the two had made conferring legitimacy on an alleged debt owed by the United States to the United Nations. The Congressmen denied the existence of any such debt and cited a General Accounting Office report to support their claim that the UN actually owes us money. "It is not in the United States taxpayers' best interest," they argued, "to pay back 'dues' that do not take into account all of the other assistance that we have provided."
Bartlett and his brethren pointed out that the U.S. "supported the United Nations during fiscal years 1992-95 in its military/peacekeeping operations to the tune of $6.6. billion. These funds," they noted, "were used to provide military supplies, transportation, humanitarian relief, and other services. However, only $1.8 billion of the $6.6 billion the United States has spent was counted against our 'dues' or assessments to the UN. Of the remaining $4.8 billion, only $79 million was reimbursed to the United States by the UN. This has had the effect of converting the remaining $4 billion-plus spent by the United States into a gift to the international organization."
The Congressmen contend that the partial reimbursement bolsters their argument that the entire sum "constitutes assistance for which the United States should be credited." According to their calculations, the UN "owes the United States about $3.5 billion. Rather than prepare a bailout of the UN," they argue, "it is more appropriate for the Congress to make arrangements for the UN to pay us back."
On March 5th, Roscoe Bartlett and 50 cosponsors introduced a House bill called "The United Nations Erroneous Debt Act." The proposed legislation would "prohibit any U.S. payment to the UN until our overpayments are either reimbursed or properly credited," the Congressman from Maryland explained. "That's just common sense." Bartlett declared that the bill sends "a clear message to the UN: Unless it fixes its books, it will not get a single penny of American taxpayers' money."
The fifty Members of Congress who joined Roscoe Bartlett in shouting from the rooftops "Enough is enough!" are, in alphabetical order, as follows: Bob Barr, Joe Barton, Sonny Bono, Dan Burton, Ken Calvert, Chris Cannon, Helen Chenowith, Howard Coble, Phil Crane, Tom DeLay, Jay Dickey, John Doolittle, John Duncan Jr., Robert Ehrlich, JoAnn Emerson, Lindsey Graham, Doc Hastings, Wally Herger, Van Hilleary, John Hostettler, Duncan Hunter, Asa Hutchinson, Ernest Istook, Sam Johnson, Walter Jones, Ron Lewis, Don Manzullo, David McIntosh, Howard McKeon, Jack Metcalf, Mark Neumann, Anne Northrup, Ron Packard, Ron Paul, John Peterson, Joseph Pitts, Dana Rohrabacher, Matt Salmon, Joe Scarborough, Pete Sessions, Joe Skeen, Vince Snowbarger, Jerry Solomon, Mark Souder, Cliff Stearns, Bob Stump, Todd Tiahrt, Jim Traficant, J.C. Watts, and Dave Weldon.
