[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 4 (Wednesday, January 8, 2014)]
[House]
[Pages H29-H30]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      OPPOSITION TO UNESCO FUNDING

  (Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, there are congressional and 
administration attempts to circumvent and undermine decades-old laws 
that prohibit the United States from funding

[[Page H30]]

any agency at the United Nations that admits a nonexistent Palestinian 
state.
  In October 2011, UNESCO chose to welcome Palestine to its membership. 
It did so, knowing full well that this would trigger U.S. laws that 
prohibit us from funding any entity at the U.N. that grants membership 
to the PLO or any other organization that doesn't meet the 
internationally recognized attributes of statehood.
  We must not grant a waiver to UNESCO nor approve any backdoor 
congressional attempt to provide U.S. funding to UNESCO until it 
reverses its decision regarding the Palestinian Authority.
  We are in an economic tailspin, Mr. Speaker. So why waste $250 
million in U.S. taxpayer money by giving it--wasting it--to UNESCO? It 
is madness.

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