[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 54 (Wednesday, April 30, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Page S3856]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           PAYMENT OF LEGAL OBLIGATIONS TO THE UNITED NATIONS

 Mr. WELLSTONE. Mr. President, I rise today to join with over 
1,400 of my constituents from Minnesota who have signed a petition 
calling for the payment of all of the United States' legal obligations 
to the United Nations by the immediate payment of all dues in arrears. 
I agree with my constituents that it is embarrassing that the United 
States, the richest and most powerful nation on Earth, expects the 
United Nations to provide peacekeeping and humanitarian aid in response 
to the world's conflicts but does not honor its financial 
responsibility to the United Nations.
  With several billion dollars of uncollected dues, the United Nations 
is now in dire straits. Consequently, it must borrow from scarce funds 
allocated for peacekeeping operations simply to pay staff salaries and 
to meet its other financial obligations.
  Of the unpaid dues approximately half are owed by the United States. 
Rather than providing other U.N. members with an example of 
international responsibility, our Nation is doing just the opposite. 
This makes the United Nations increasingly incapable of carrying out 
numerous tasks that are clearly in our Nation's interest but that we 
ourselves are either unable or unwilling to perform.
  I ask that the cover letter sent to me by the Minnesota Alliance of 
Peacemakers and the World Federalists Association with the petitions on 
this important issue be printed in the Record.
  The cover letter follows:

                                     World Federalist Association,


                                            Minnesota Chapter,

                                  Minneapolis, MN, April 19, 1997.
     Hon. Paul Wellstone,
     U.S. Senate
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Senator Wellstone: We, the undersigned representatives 
     of the Minnesota Alliance of Peacemakers and of the Minnesota 
     Chapter of the World Federalist Association, are honored by 
     your willingness to meet with us in respect to some matters 
     that bear closely on your duties as a member of the Senate 
     Foreign Relations Committee. That assignment is, in our view, 
     among the most important that any member of the Senate could 
     receive, given the complex and increasing political, 
     economic, and ecological interdependencies within our ever-
     shrinking planet.
       While the world looks to the United States for leadership 
     in this period of transition to a new post-Cold War era, we 
     believe that, it would like to see such leadership exercised 
     within the context of the United Nations System. However, as 
     you are well aware, the viability of that system has been 
     seriously jeopardized because of the non-payment or late 
     payment of dues by many member nations. The principal debtor, 
     by far, is the United States. This country's failure to meet 
     its legal obligations as a UN member sets a deplorable 
     example for others and is not a proper way to exercise 
     leadership. Rather, it tarnishes the good name of the United 
     States in the international community and diminishes our 
     effectiveness in world affairs. For this reason, among 
     others, we submit to you copies of petitions signed by 1417 
     Minnesotans calling on the United States to pay its current 
     and back dues to the UN promptly and in full. The collection 
     of these signatures is the result of a local drive by the 
     Minnesota Chapter and a recent national drive by the national 
     organization of the World Federalists Association, on the 
     occasion of the 50th anniversary of the United Nations. This 
     initiative is consistent with one of the accompanying policy 
     positions adopted by the Minnesota Alliance of Peacemakers on 
     November 12, 1996. A copy of those proposals has already been 
     forwarded to your office. The Alliance, be it noted, is a 
     coalition of twenty-seven peace and justice organizations 
     whose combined membership approaches 10,000 concerned and 
     politically active citizens.
       We hope and trust that you will weigh our views carefully 
     in the respective proceedings of the Senate Foreign Relations 
     Committee and wish you much success and courage in the all 
     important arena of foreign policy.
           Respectfully yours,
         The Rev. Lyle Christianson, President, Minnesota Alliance 
           of Peacemakers; Elsie Evans, Board Member, National 
           World Federalists Assoc.; Evangelos Kalambokidis, Board 
           Member, World Federalists Assoc. National & MN Chapter; 
           Mary White, Vice President, Minnesota Alliance of 
           Peacemakers; and Joseph E. Schwartzberg, President, 
           World Federalists Assoc./MN Chapter.

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