[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 94 (Wednesday, July 13, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8243-S8244]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


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                  MEASURE READ THE FIRST TIME--S. 1394

  Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. President, I understand there is a bill at the 
desk. I ask for its first reading.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (S. 1394) to reform the United Nations, and for 
     other purposes.

  Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. President, I ask for a second reading, and in order 
to place the bill on the calendar under the provisions of rule XIV, I 
object to my own request.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection having been heard, the bill will 
receive its second reading on the next legislative day.
  Mr. SMITH. Mr. President, I rise today to discuss the issue of United 
Nations reform. This year marks the 60th anniversary of the founding of 
the United Nations. As you know, the U.N. emerged from the ashes of the 
Second World War with a mandate to save succeeding generations from the 
scourge of war and to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights and in 
the dignity and worth of human beings.
  These basic principles embodied in the U.N. charter are still 
significant in today's changed strategic environment. Yet, the scandals 
and mismanagement that has engulfed the organization threaten both its 
reputation and its relevance.
  These scandals have resulted in a consensus that the U.N. must be 
reformed. Three major reports have been released in the past 7 months, 
including one by Secretary-General Kofi Annan, that outline the need 
for specific reforms to make the U.N. more efficient, more accountable, 
more transparent, and more effective in responding to the challenges we 
face today. I am pleased to see that there is agreement on this need. 
Yet, I remind my colleagues that when the current Secretary-General 
took office in January 1997, he vowed to make the hard decisions 
necessary to reform the institution.
  But 8\1/2\ years have gone by, and he has been unwilling or unable to 
do so. In fact, reprehensible dealings and scandalous behavior at the 
U.N. has continued unabated.
  Furthermore, the U.N. budget has grown by leaps and bounds. Over the 
past 4 years, the U.N. regular budget has increased by more than $1.1 
billion over a 2-year period--from $2.5 billion to $3.6 billion.
  The U.S. is handed a bill from the U.N. for 22 percent of the cost, 
and whether or not we agree with the way the U.N. spends its money, we 
are expected to pay. And this does not take into account the costs of 
peacekeeping operations, which are expected to be over $5 billion this 
year alone.
  The Constitution gives to Congress the power of the purse and as 
such, it is our duty to monitor how the American taxpayers' money is 
spent. In the case of the massive waste, fraud, and abuse at the U.N., 
we must take action to rectify an untenable situation.
  As the recent report issued by the USIP Task Force on the United 
Nations said, ``Americans are vested in a United Nations that embodies 
values of honesty, decency, and fair play.''
  Yet, the U.N. is hardly a model for these basic values.
  The appalling kickbacks, bribes, and financial mismanagement of the 
Oil-for-Food program are the most obvious illustration of an 
insufficient oversight system within the U.N. The design of the program 
and the failure of the U.N. to properly monitor it allowed Saddam 
Hussein to pocket billions of dollars in money that was meant for the 
Iraqi people suffering under his brutal regime.
  Sexual exploitation and abuse by U.N. peacekeepers serving in 
missions around the world is an intolerable abuse of trust by those who 
are supposed to be contributing to a peaceful resolution to conflict 
situations.
  Embezzlement and extravagant personal spending have been documented 
at U.N. programs such as UNICEF, the United Nations Development 
Programme, and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.
  Countries such as Zimbabwe, Cuba, and Sudan--known violators of the 
basic human rights of their citizens--have been included as members of 
the U.N. Commission on Human Rights and have used their position to 
manipulate its agenda to prevent resolutions that condemn their human 
rights records.
  If the U.N. does not act boldly, and act now, it will have little 
credibility to serve as an organization that promotes the values in its 
Charter. As a European diplomat told me recently, however, the U.N. is 
incapable of reforming itself. It is quite good at issuing reports, 
having meetings, appearing contrite, and then resolutely promising to 
change when news reports publicize the details of the problems within 
the organization. But history has shown that U.S. leadership is 
critical to ensuring that meaningful reform is implemented at the U.N.
  Last month, the House of Representatives passed comprehensive 
legislation that provides a framework for implementing U.N. reform. 
This effort was led by the Chairman of the House International 
Relations Committee, Mr. Hyde, who worked diligently to produce a 
responsible bill that addresses the need for serious, meaningful, and 
practical reform.
  Today I am introducing this legislation in the Senate. I recognize 
that the method used in this bill to compel the U.N. to make these 
reforms may not be popular with some of my colleagues. But I feel that 
there is no other way to proceed.
  This legislation requires that 50 percent of the U.S. contribution to 
the United Nations regular budget be withheld if specific reforms are 
not implemented. Before dismissing this approach, I urge my colleagues 
to examine the reforms mandated and the flexibility inherent in the 
legislation.
  First, the reforms. Title I requires management and budgetary reforms 
to create a more streamlined, efficient,

[[Page S8244]]

and effective organization. It shifts funding mechanisms for 18 
programs of the U.N. from the regular assessed budget to voluntarily 
funded programs in an effort to make these programs more accountable to 
those who fund them. It calls for budgetary practices that would allow 
us to measure the effectiveness and relevance of programs. And it 
creates an Independent Oversight Board, an Office of Ethics, and a 
Chief Operating Officer to increase the accountability of the U.N.
  This Title also addresses the shameful anti-Semitism inherent in U.N. 
structures by calling for Israel to have a permanent seat in one of the 
regional groups, with all the accompanying rights and privileges. And 
it requires the State Department to review U.N. agencies that focus 
exclusively on the Palestinian agenda.
  Title II deals with the human rights mandate of the U.N. It 
establishes basic criteria that member states must meet to be eligible 
to serve on U.N. human rights bodies and requires the U.N. entity that 
selects members on these bodies to abide by these criteria.
  Title III mandates reforms of the International Atomic Energy Agency 
so that it can better focus on the key issues of nuclear safety and 
security, and nuclear verification activities.
  Title IV calls for a review of U.N. peacekeeping operations and 
requires that the U.S. deny support for new or expanded missions until 
procedures are in place to prevent further sexual exploitation by U.N. 
peacekeepers.
  These measures, including adopting a Code of Conduct for all 
personnel participating in these operations, and establishing a data 
base so that past abusers are not able to participate in future 
operations, have been specifically endorsed by the Secretary General's 
special advisor on sexual exploitation and abuse and should be in place 
by this summer. Yet it is incumbent upon us to ensure that they are not 
stalled by member states that don't see this tragic situation as a 
serious problem.
  Title V puts forward ways to improve budget practices by requiring 
more details about the U.N. budget, including proposed increases, to be 
presented to Congress.
  And finally Title VI provides the leverage.
  If I could come up with a better way, I would pursue it 
wholeheartedly. But even the strongest supporters of the U.S.-U.N. 
relationship acknowledge that the only way the U.N. pays attention to 
calls for reform is when its budget is threatened. Experience has shown 
that the U.N. will institute needed improvements only when Congress 
threatens to withhold U.S. funding.
  This is not meant to be draconian. These reforms, if implemented, 
will increase the credibility, the legitimacy, and the effectiveness of 
the U.N.
  In fact, I want to underscore the importance I place on a United 
Nations that can fulfill its core objective--to serve as an institution 
that supports the preservation of international peace and security. I 
feel this objective is at risk.
  Finally, it is important to highlight the flexibility that is built 
into this legislation. It allows the administration 2 years to work 
with the U.N. to make these necessary reforms before the withholding 
provision is triggered. Even after 2 years, it does not insist that 
every one of the reforms be implemented, but allows an additional year 
for the U.N. to complete the job. If the U.N. adopts measures that 
achieve the same purpose as those outlined in this bill, it allows the 
full U.S. contribution to be expended. And if the U.N. chooses not to 
implement these needed reforms, the legislation authorizes the 
contributions that are withheld from expenditure to remain available 
until the U.N. acts.
  In 1949, Dean Acheson said that the United States must work actively 
to make the United Nations an effective instrument of international 
cooperation. There is, and always will be, a role for America in 
ensuring that the U.N. lives up to the ideals of its charter. By 
pushing for these critical reforms, I believe that we can forge the 
U.N. into the effective instrument of international cooperation that we 
all hope it can be.
  It is my belief that this legislation is the instrument to get the 
job done--to make the U.N. the organization that its founders 
envisioned 60 years ago.
  I yield the floor.

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