[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 198 (Wednesday, December 13, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S18570-S18571]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     AMBASSADOR JOSEPH VERNER REED'S ADDRESS TO INTERPARLIAMENTARY 
                               CONFERENCE

 Mr. PELL. Mr. President, in October, Ambassador Joseph Verner 
Reed represented U.N. Secretary General Boutros Boutros Ghali at the 
94th Inter-Parliamentary Conference in Bucharest, Romania.
  At the Conference, Ambassador Reed delivered an exceptional speech 
concerning the current financial crisis at the United Nations. As a 
longtime friend and supporter of the United Nations, I can think of no 
issue more important to the U.N.'s future. Moreover, the United 
Nation's fiscal health has critical implications for our own country's 
foreign and domestic agenda.
  In his address, Ambassador Reed--formerly one of the United States' 
most accomplished diplomats and now a high-ranking U.N. official--made 
a compelling argument about the necessity for resolving this crisis. I 
commend the speech to my colleagues and ask that excerpts be printed in 
the Record.
  The excerpts of the speech follows:

       Mr. President, the fiftieth anniversary of the United 
     Nations has arrived at one of the turning points in modern 
     history.
       The United Nations is the only machinery we have for 
     collective cooperation among all Nations. It is the only 
     global tool for promoting peace and security. It is the only 
     worldwide institution for furthering development. It is the 
     only universal mechanism for protecting human rights. It is 
     the only shared framework for strengthening international 
     law.
       But today I feel compelled to share my distress with you on 
     a subject which is unavoidable, the survival of the United 
     Nations. For almost four years, we have tried to convince the 
     governments of member states of the United Nations to pay 
     their assessments on time. For four years we have warned of 
     the financial consequences of the failure to pay assessments. 
     We have argued, we have pleaded.
       The organization has cut expenses. We have streamlined 
     operations. We are working hard to reduce waste, duplication 
     and overlap. Peace-keeping is expensive. The operation in the 
     former Yugoslavia costs five million dollars per day.
       In Every major statement and document of the Secretary-
     General, he has drawn attention to the financial crisis and 
     proposed steps to remedy it. In meeting after meeting with 
     foreign ministers and heads of state over these years, he has 
     pleaded with them to address this deteriorating situation.
       As of October 1995, 70 countries had not paid their regular 
     budget assessment. Today, the United Nations is owed a total 
     of $3.4 billion by its member states.
       I appeal to you as parliamentarians to help me resolve this 
     crisis. I ask you to try to convince your governments to pay 
     their arrears, and to pay future contributions on time, and 
     in full.
       I make this appeal to you because the United Nations is 
     your organization. I make this appeal here because without 
     peace, and without the global efforts of peace, and without 
     the global efforts of the United Nations, all your efforts 
     for development will be to no avail.
       The United Nations is not one of the luxuries of 
     international life. The work of the United Nations is of 
     vital, critical importance:
       Saving children from starvation and disease.
       Providing food, clothing and shelter for refugees.
       Delivering humanitarian relief to devastated areas.
       Working to stop the cycle of natural disasters in lands 
     repeatedly afflicted by them.
       Countering the new international threats of crimes, drugs, 
     disease.
       Defending human rights in individual cases as well as 
     through international commitments.
       Advising, training, monitoring and institution-building in 
     countries seeking to democratize.
       Maintaining ceasefires, preventing conflicts from erupting, 
     peacemaking between 

[[Page S18571]]
     adversaries and peace-building in devastated countries.
       These activities are going on now. They are being conducted 
     on the ground in locations all over the world. They are 
     carried out by dedicated, hard-working national and 
     international staff members.
       The financial crisis is being felt on the frontlines of all 
     these efforts. If emergency measures to restore the financial 
     health are not taken quickly, human suffering will 
     dramatically increase. People will die. The structural 
     ability of the United Nations to continue this work will be 
     damaged. It will not soon or easily be reconstructed, if 
     ever.
       Unless substantial assessment payments are received by the 
     end of November 1995, the Secretary-General will have no 
     choice but to request that an emergency special session of 
     the United Nations General Assembly be convened immediately 
     to consider the financial crisis--and future of the 
     organization.
       The financial crisis of the United Nations is now 
     destroying its very foundations. We can no longer pretend 
     otherwise. That is why we appeal today to you--the world's 
     parliamentarians for assistance. You must be our voice. You 
     must be our advocate. You must be the protectors of our 
     common future.
       Mr. President, this is an emergency--the Secretary-General 
     and all of us in the secretariat believe that positive change 
     can be achieved, and he is convinced that this change can be 
     the vehicle for fulfilling the aims and aspirations of the 
     charter. He is convinced that working together in partnership 
     we can save succeeding generations from the scourge of war; 
     we can enhance the dignity and worth of the human person; and 
     we can promote social progress and better standards of life 
     in larger freedom.

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