[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 202 (Thursday, December 7, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Page S5876]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                               DEFUND ACT

  Mr. LEE. Mr. President, in the words of a Simon and Garfunkel song, 
they sing of a dream in which ``the world had all agreed to put an end 
to war.'' And they reached this agreement, apparently, just by signing 
a single piece of paper.
  This dream is just a dream, of course. That is not how things are 
brought about. That is not how lasting peace occurs. But the dream 
echoes the stated aspirations that led to the creation and, eventually, 
the perpetuation of the United Nations. But as history unfolded, the 
stark reality has not lived up to those lofty aspirations.
  We have witnessed failure upon failure, and yet the 20th-century 
notion of a collective world peace still lingers in the minds of the 
American foreign policy establishment. It is a notion that believes 
that, somehow, U.S. participation and leadership within the United 
Nations is a foundational pillar of our security and our strength.
  A glance at the world today, however, reveals the harsh truth: 
Enduring global peace remains just a dream. While the corridors of the 
United Nations were designed for diplomacy, it now serves as a place 
where America's adversaries--people who trample on diplomatic 
principles and even human dignity itself, to say nothing of national 
sovereignty--sponsor initiatives that fly in the face of our 
foundational principles and values.
  Just last November, we saw Iran, known for its support of terrorist 
groups and its systemic targeting of Jewish people, chairing a U.N. 
human rights event--actually chairing it. Russia and China, nations 
that challenge our interests and undermine our values at every turn, 
hold permanent seats on the U.N. Security Council. China, for its part, 
also continues to enjoy the benefits of developing nation status, 
exploiting U.N. programs and other monetary benefits for questionable 
gain.
  Now, the United States, as the U.N.'s largest funder, ends up tacitly 
supporting these things through its funding. The largest contributor to 
the U.N.'s budget is the United States. The Biden administration 
continues to fund, indirectly, groups like Hamas through the United 
Nations Relief and Works Agency, known for its anti-Semitic 
indoctrination.
  Similarly, the previous administration halted funding for the United 
Nations Population Fund due to its support for coercive abortion 
practices in China.
  The bloated bureaucracy of the U.N. epitomizes the very foreign 
entanglements that our Founding Fathers warned against. The global 
security environment of today underscores the urgency of reasserting 
American sovereignty.
  The DEFUND Act, which I have introduced this week in the Senate, 
seeks to end U.S. participation in the United Nations system, ensuring 
that any future attempts to rejoin would require Senate approval.
  Now, detractors argue that U.S. involvement is essential for our 
security and that absence from the U.N. would somehow diminish our soft 
power, forcing us to rely solely on military might.
  These are misleading distractions. The current U.N. system itself 
erodes American soft power and compels us to conform our national 
interest to the whims of the so-called rules-based international order. 
This fearmongering overlooks the proven value of bilateral 
relationships, which are the true bedrock of international diplomacy.
  At the U.N.'s inception in 1945, President Truman presented a choice 
between ``international chaos'' and the ``establishment of a world 
organization for . . . peace.'' Yet, despite the U.N.'s existence, 
chaos abounds, adversaries leverage their U.N. positions, and the goal 
of peace is overshadowed by the ambition for supranational governance.
  The true hope for a peaceful world lies not in such global 
institutions but in the strength of our national sovereignty and the 
use of that strength to forge and continue to foster bilateral 
relationships around the world.
  As William Shakespeare said, ``What win I, if I gain the thing I 
seek?'' One must truly ask: What does the United Nations seek? Is it 
truly peace? I think not. Its actions speak for themselves.
  Since 1945, the United States has slowly surrendered national 
sovereignty to the U.N. under the guise of customary international law 
and under this broad aspirational goal of somehow bringing peace and 
harmony through this international organization, an international 
organization that is, itself, utterly untethered from the electoral 
politics of any country. They very much operate as an island unto 
themselves once they enter the halls of the U.N.
  Now, we in the United States finance a very significant portion of 
the U.N., much of it voluntarily, with no obligation to do so. Our 
generosity has been misused to empower terrorists; foment hate; 
facilitate coercive practices abroad; and in many, many ways, undermine 
our values.
  The DEFUND Act aims to restore American independence from the U.N.'s 
bureaucracy. It will repeal the foundational Participation Act within 
the U.N., the U.N. Participation Act of 1945; terminate our 
contributions and participation in peacekeeping operations; and strip 
U.N. personnel of diplomatic immunity within the United States. It will 
also remove the United States from the World Health Organization and 
prohibit reentry into the U.N. system without the Senate's advice and 
consent.
  It is time that we face reality. The U.N. has long since ceased to be 
an effective or responsible steward of our resources. It is time for 
America to lead through strength and sovereignty, not through 
subservience to an organization that no longer serves our interests--
much less the interests of a realizable, lasting peace.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Alaska.

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