[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 67 (Wednesday, May 7, 2003)]
[House]
[Page H3687]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    REFORM NEEDED AT UNITED NATIONS

  (Mr. FOSSELLA asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. FOSSELLA. Mr. Speaker, as the President of the United States has 
indicated, the war against terror is far from over. The battle may be 
won but it is far from over. Therefore, I think it is important that 
the United Nations step up to the plate and reflect reality and serve 
in the positive role that it can. That is why I think H.R. 800 is a 
needed step toward reform at the United Nations. It reduces U.S. 
funding for United Nations commissions like the Commission on Human 
Rights which have been hijacked by terrorist nations. The latest 
outrage is Cuba. The dictatorship is in the midst of a brutal 
crackdown, having executed three men for trying to escape Cuba and 
imprisoned dozens of others for daring to speak out. The U.N. said 
nothing about the crackdown but elected Cuba to another term on the 
human rights panel. The current chair of that panel is Libya, that 
beacon of human rights. At the beginning of the year, Iraq was going to 
head the Conference on Disarmament. Iraq did not take over but remained 
on the commission. Iran chairs that conference. North Korea and Cuba 
also sit on the Disarmament Committee. This is all symptomatic of a 
culture of carelessness at the U.N. It would not be as grave if not for 
the fact that the United States pays 22 percent of the United Nations' 
operating budget. Diplomacy and dialogue are important, but sometimes 
dollars are the only thing that makes sense.

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