[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 140 (Thursday, September 20, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1940]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   CREDIBILITY OF THE UNITED NATIONS

                                 ______
                                 

                              HON. TED POE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 20, 2007

  Mr. POE. Madam Speaker, next week I will be traveling to New York 
City as a Congressional Delegate to the United Nations General 
Assembly. It's no secret, Mr. Speaker, that I believe the United 
Nations has a lot to do in order to restore the trust of the American 
people.
  Since its inception, one of the primary objectives of the United 
Nations has been to protect and advance fundamental human rights around 
the world. It's a noble cause. Unfortunately, Mr. Speaker, in my view, 
this goal has been tarnished by the problem of corruption, hypocrisy, 
and an unapologetic bias against the state of Israel. This kind of 
behavior is unacceptable and the United Nations must be held 
accountable.
  We all know about the fraud, mismanagement, and abuse prevalent in 
the Oil-for-Food program. The program was established to bring 
humanitarian relief to the people of Iraq and it fell victim to 
despicable corruption by U.N. officials. Yet, since the scandal was 
first discovered and reports were issued, little has been done by the 
United Nations to ensure reform.
  The Human Rights Council was established in 2006, to replace the U.N. 
Human Rights Commission which had become so discredited that Secretary-
General Kofi Annan admitted, ``the declining credibility [of the 
Commission] has cast a shadow on the reputation of the United Nations 
system as a whole . . . .'' The mission of the Commission--not to 
mention the United Nations as a whole--was questioned by the election 
of some of the world's worse human rights abusers to serve as members 
of the Commission. The record of the new Human Rights Council is 
dismally better; of the 47 members only 25 were considered ``free'' 
states.
  This Council has also demonstrated a strong bias against Israel. In 
the first year of its operations, more than 70 percent of the country-
specific resolutions were on Israel. This disproportionate focus on 
Israel and disregard for holding major human rights violators across 
the world accountable cannot be tolerated. It goes against the most 
basic, fundamental principles of the U.N.
  I appreciate the mission of the United Nations, Mr. Speaker, but I'm 
concerned about the way it's being carried out. The U.N. has got to 
take reform seriously if they plan on gaining the support of the 
American people.
  And that's just the way it is.

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