[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 6 (Tuesday, February 1, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: February 1, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                     SUPPORT FOR THE DOLE AMENDMENT

  Mr. PRESSLER. Mr. President, I rise to support the Dole amendment to 
reform the United Nations. This amendment, the Peace Powers Act, would 
reform requirements that U.S. troops serve under the foreign command 
when they are participating in U.N. peacekeeping armies.
  The amendment also provides several other ways to define the 
relationship between the United States and the United Nations. I have 
been a supporter of the United Nations, but I also introduced an 
amendment here on the floor that would require the United Nations to 
get an Inspector General to clean up some of the fraud and corruption 
in the United Nations.
  Recently, ``60 Minutes'' and several other national news articles 
carried stories about how the United Nations cannot deliver food and 
medicine in many Third World countries. The reason the United Nations 
cannot deliver the food and medicine is because it is stolen, sometimes 
by United Nations employees. That is disgraceful. Even more disgraceful 
is the fact that there is no provision for an independent inspector 
general; there is no way of either firing these people or prosecuting 
them.
  American taxpayer dollars go to the United Nations and constituents 
expect us to account for our contributions. We all want to support the 
United Nations. Senator Dole's amendment goes even further. It takes a 
broad foreign policy look at the relationship between the United States 
and the United Nations. This legislation is a needed thing. I am a 
cosponsor and have worked on similar amendments in the Foreign 
Relations Committee.
  I think it is time that we insist that the United Nations reform 
itself, that we clearly define our relationship with the United 
Nations, and that we move forward. This country pays about 26 percent 
of the basic assessment at the United Nations and about a third, or 
31.7 percent, of the peacekeeping assessments; when you include all of 
the other assessments, we pay--in some people's view it amounts to 
about 35 percent. That is one country--the United States. Our rich 
European allies and Japan do not share that burden equally.
  The way the assessment is calculated is not fair to the United 
States. I was pleased that when President Clinton spoke to the United 
Nations, he said that the United Nations needed an inspector general; 
he also raised the issue of assessments. I am glad he has embraced 
those ideas.
  So, Mr. President, I shall be supporting the Dole amendment very 
strongly. The other day, this Senate passed a binding amendment that I 
offered that would require that we withhold 10 percent of our dues to 
the United Nations in 1994, and 20 percent in 1995, unless they create 
an independent inspector general, and unless the President of the 
United States can certify that in his judgment it is an independent 
inspector general who is making real reforms and investigating the 
waste and fraud that has been taking place.
  It is a sad thing when medical supplies go to a country in Africa and 
are put in a warehouse, the next day it is reported that they have all 
been stolen, and then the next day they are all for sale on the black 
market. It is a sad circumstance when the United Nations cannot 
dispense food without having it stolen and resold. It is also a sad 
thing that in Yugoslavia, where food and medical supplies are needed 
desperately, that the United Nations finds its materials disappear and 
the next day they appear for sale on the black market. Incidents like 
that show that there is a lack of good management, that there is 
corruption, and it shows the American taxpayers that their hard-earned 
tax dollars are being wasted.
  So I rise in support of the Dole amendment and I urge its adoption.
  Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. PRESSLER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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