[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 143 (Tuesday, September 25, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S12046-S12047]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



  (At the request of Mr. Reid, the following statement was ordered to 
be printed in the Record.)

                THE UNITED STATES AND THE UNITED NATIONS

 Mr. OBAMA. Mr. President, I rise to discuss the United Nations 
General Assembly. Today, as President Bush prepares to speak before the 
United Nations General Assembly, we are reminded both of the great 
potential of American leadership to enhance global security and 
prosperity and, tragically, of how much ground we have lost in recent 
years in fulfilling that potential. That ground can only be regained 
with new, bold, and visionary American leadership that acknowledges 
past mistakes, embodies and embraces change, and unifies our country to 
meet the challenges of the 21st century.
  America has surmounted far greater hurdles before, renewing itself 
and leading the world towards shared security and common progress. That 
is the story of the founding of the United Nations. Its original 
architect, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, died weeks before the 
U.N.'s inaugural meeting in San Francisco. Roosevelt never had the 
opportunity to address the U.N. General Assembly, but his legacy speaks 
volumes. As American power reached new heights and Allied forces swept 
across Europe and the Pacific islands to free the world from tyranny, 
Roosevelt laid the foundations for a new era of collective security by 
creating a new institution that aimed to guarantee the peace and 
protect the basic rights of all human beings.
  Stalin's obstruction created stalemate in the United Nations, but the 
United States was not deterred. American presidents created new 
institutions, like NATO, and encouraged others, including the European 
Economic Community, to advance the principles and mandate of the U.N. 
Charter. In the decades that followed, the United States led and 
listened, gained by being generous, and ultimately prevailed in the 
struggle with totalitarianism.
  Today, it is fashionable in some circles to bash the United Nations. 
This is all too easy to do, but it is also short-sighted and self-
defeating. The United Nations is, we should recall, an American 
creation. It is also a commonsense vehicle to share global burdens and 
costs. Despite its evident flaws and failings, the U.N. remains 
essential to advancing U.S. interests, enhancing global security, 
spurring development, and providing food, medicine, and life-saving 
assistance to the world's most needy every day.
  The U.N.'s work in development addresses the dire needs of 1 billion 
people living in extreme poverty. It is the U.N., funded in part by the 
generosity of America's taxpayers, that prepares and monitors elections 
in more than 30 countries and assists fragile new democracies. It is 
the U.N., funded in

[[Page S12047]]

part by the generosity of America's taxpayers, that feeds the famished 
and shelters 20 million refugees fleeing conflict and natural disaster. 
It is the U.N., funded in part by the generosity of America's 
taxpayers, that has convened the world's leaders on the urgent issue of 
climate change. It is the U.N., funded in part by the generosity of 
America's taxpayers, that strengthens global health and has helped 
reduce child mortality to its lowest level in history.
  Today, the U.N. has more peacekeepers than ever--over 100,000--
deployed in 18 missions around the world. Only a small handful are 
Americans. Since September 11, 2001, more than 700 men and women have 
lost their lives serving on U.N. peace operations to protect fragile 
post-conflict transitions in the Great Lakes region of Africa, 
Afghanistan, Lebanon, Haiti, Sudan, and elsewhere. We should not forget 
that one of the first terrorist attacks in Iraq targeted the U.N. 
compound in August of 2003 and resulted in the murder of 22 people, 
including U.N. Envoy Sergio Vieira de Mello.
  No country has a greater stake in a strong United Nations than the 
United States. That is why it is particularly painful when the U.N. 
falls short not only of its potential but also of the principles 
expressed in the U.N. Charter. All too often, member states use U.N. 
processes as a means to avoid action rather than a means to solve 
problems. In recent years, U.N. member states have failed to act 
swiftly or decisively to end the genocide in Darfur.
  The Human Rights Council has passed nine resolutions condemning 
Israel, a democracy with higher standards of human rights than its 
accusers, but none condemning any other country. The Council has 
dropped investigations into Belarus and Cuba for political reasons, and 
its method of reporting on human rights allows the Council's members to 
shield themselves from scrutiny. The oil-for-food scandal revealed the 
extent of corruption in the institution and the extent of member 
states' willingness to tolerate it. Although U.N. operations are often 
greeted as legitimate, their inefficiencies or misdeeds can turn local 
people against them.
  Progress and renewal will come from reform, not neglect. In the 
1940s, the international community with American leadership created the 
United Nations to meet the needs of their times, but its leaders well 
understood that time would not stand still. Today, we face a world that 
is dramatically different than that of 1945. Decisionmaking procedures 
designed for a world of some 50 nations must now accommodate almost 
200. Some of the old rules are harmless. The General Assembly meets 
when it does because this was when the steamships used to arrive in New 
York harbors. But some of the procurement and hiring rules have slowed 
and encumbered multifaceted peace operations that depend on nimbleness 
and efficiency for success.
  Most of the gravest threats faced by the United States are 
transnational threats: the proliferation of weapons of mass 
destruction, terrorism, climate change, and global pandemics like HIV/
AIDS. These threats are bred in places marked by other transnational 
challenges: mass atrocities and genocide, weak and failed states, and 
persistent poverty. By definition, these are challenges that no single 
country can manage. America's national security depends as never before 
upon the will and capacity of other states to deal with their own 
problems and to take responsibility for tackling global problems. A 
strong and competent United Nations is more vital than ever to building 
global peace, security, and prosperity.
  The United States must champion reform so the United Nations can help 
us meet the challenges of the 21st century.
  The United Nations must step up to the challenge posed by countries 
developing illicit nuclear programs. The largest test of our resolve on 
this grave matter is in Iran, where leaders appear resolved to ignore 
their responsibilities to the international community. The United 
Nations must send a clear message to Tehran that if Iran verifiably 
ends its nuclear program and support for terrorism, it can join the 
community of nations. If it does not, it will face tougher sanctions 
and deeper isolation. To this end, all U.N. sanctions against Iran must 
be fully enforced in order to ensure their effectiveness in pressuring 
Iran to halt its illicit nuclear program, which has all the hallmarks 
of an attempt to acquire nuclear weapons.
  Governments willing to brutalize their own people on a massive scale 
cannot escape sanction by the international community. The U.N., joined 
by the United States, has endorsed the responsibility to protect--the 
right and responsibility of the international community to act if 
states do not protect their own people from genocide, war crimes, 
ethnic cleansing, and crimes against humanity. But, there is a huge gap 
between words and deeds. Governments must replace their willingness to 
talk about the abstract ``responsibility to protect'' with an actual 
willingness to exercise that responsibility. And they should start in 
Darfur.
  The United States should seek to reform the U.N. Human Rights Council 
and help set it right. If the Council is to be made effective and 
credible, governments must make it such. We need our voice to be heard 
loud and clear, and we need to shine a light on the world's most 
repressive regimes, end the Council's unfair obsession with Israel, and 
improve human rights policies around the globe.
  We need ambassadors to the U.N. who will represent all of America, 
not an ideological fringe, who will forge coalitions with others, not 
isolate America, and who will work tirelessly to strengthen the U.N.'s 
capacity, not revel in weakening it.
  The U.S. needs to lead the effort to reform and streamline the U.N.'s 
bureaucracy, increase efficiency and root out corruption. Managing 
urgent and high-stakes transnational challenges will be difficult under 
the best of circumstances. Just as we must demand professionalism, 
rigor, and accountability from officials in our own government, we must 
not ask less of those who serve the global good.
  Congress needs to support the U.N. with the resources it deserves and 
abide by the commitments we have made. The Bush administration's record 
on the payment of dues is uneven, which has depleted the U.N.'s 
capabilities and sent a signal that this administration does not 
respect its purpose or its promise. We must guarantee full and prompt 
payment of our U.N. dues. At the same time, the U.N. and its member 
states have to uphold their end of the bargain. Too often, we have seen 
resources wasted or spent to protect parochial interests. It is time to 
ensure that the U.N.'s money is well spent.
  We should not merely react to crises once they occur. By working 
through the U.N., as well as other multilateral agencies and private 
organizations, the United States can do more to prevent mass violence 
from occurring in the first place. Combining effective diplomacy and 
economic assistance or, when necessary, sanctions can help forestall 
crises that undermine regional and international security.
  The U.N. is ultimately an instrument of its member states. Its future 
is in our hands. Let us provide bold and effective leadership to 
reinvigorate it so it finally achieves the potential that Roosevelt 
envisioned and on which our common security and common humanity 
depend.

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