[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 15 (Thursday, January 25, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Page S1192]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. BIDEN:
  S. 392. A bill to ensure payment of United States assessments for 
United Nations peacekeeping operations for the 2005 through 2008 time 
period; to the Committee on Foreign Relations.
  Mr. BIDEN. Mr. President, today I introduce legislation to ensure 
that the United States does not fall further into debt at the United 
Nations, and to pay the debt that we have accrued since January 1, 
2006.
  For over a year, we have not been paying our full contribution to the 
U.N. for its peacekeeping operations--for missions in places like 
Lebanon, Haiti, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Kosovo--that 
advance our national interests and spread the burden of keeping the 
peace among other nations. We are approximately $80 million in debt, 
and the number grows every month as new bills come in for peacekeeping 
operations.
  Here is why.
  In 1994, Congress passed a law limiting U.S. payments for U.N. 
peacekeeping at 25 percent after fiscal year 1995. The United Nations 
continued to bill the United States at 31 percent. As a result, a debt 
accrued--that is, the gap between the 25 percent allowed under U.S. 
law, and the 31 percent we were charged by the U.N.
  In 1999, when Congress approved the ``Helms-Biden'' law, it 
authorized the repayment of U.S. arrears to the U.N. conditioned on 
certain reforms in the U.N. system. One of those reforms was a 
negotiated reduction of the U.S. peacekeeping rate down to 25 percent. 
Through negotiations in 2000, U.S. Ambassador Holbrooke succeeded in 
reducing the U.S. assessments for peacekeeping to just over 27 percent.
  In 2001, Congress amended the Helms-Biden law to allow the arrears 
payments to be provided to the U.N., even though Ambassador Holbrooke 
had not reached the target of 25 percent. But the original 1994 law 
limiting our payments to 25 percent was never repealed.
  In the past few years, Congress has amended the 1994 law on a 
temporary basis by raising the 25 percent limitation to conform it to 
the rate negotiated by Ambassador Holbrooke, but the most recent 
temporary change in law expired on December 31, 2005.
  Therefore, the law today is this: the United States may not pay more 
than 25 percent for peacekeeping, even though the United Nations 
assesses the United States at a higher rate.
  Mr. President this is a problem. At a time when our government 
continues to seek important reforms at the United Nations, it is a 
mistake for us to continue to fall short on our dues. Rather than 
encourage reform, it may give other countries an excuse to avoid it. 
How can we, in good faith, fail to pay our bills while at the same time 
push the U.N. to get its financial house in order?
  More important, U.N. peacekeeping operations advance America's 
national security. If the U.N. didn't do them, we might have to do so. 
The U.N. `blue helmets' are literally on the front lines in conflicts 
that are the worst of the worst: protecting civilians, monitoring 
cease-fires, clearing mine fields, and disarming combatants. Right now, 
the United States continues to seek support at the U.N. for a robust 
mission in Darfur. We have voted time and again in the Security 
Council, and rightfully so, to support these critical missions.
  Through U.N. peacekeeping, the U.S. contributes to international 
peace and stability where we have critical foreign policy interests, 
while sharing the human, political and financial costs with other 
nations. We should not shortchange these operations.
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