[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 20]
[Senate]
[Page 29022]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


[[Page 29022]]

                          U.N. ARREARS PACKAGE

 Mr. GRAMS. Mr. President, I have come to the floor today to 
call on Congress and the President to make sure the UN reform package 
is signed into law before we recess. As Chairman of the International 
Operations Subcommittee, I have worked hard to help forge a solid 
bipartisan United Nations reform package.
  Our message in crafting this legislation is simple and 
straightforward. The U.S. can help make the United Nations a more 
effective, more efficient and financially sounder organization, but 
only if the U.N. and other member states, in return, are willing to 
finally become accountable to the American taxpayers.
  The reforms proposed by the United States are critical to ensure the 
United Nations is effective and relevant. Ambassador Holbrooke has been 
pushing other member states to accept the reforms in this package in 
return for the payment of arrears. He has succeeded beyond all 
reasonable expectations, by gaining our seat back on the budget 
oversight committee--the ACABQ. But he needs this bill signed into law 
in order to convince the UN that reform will bring certain rewards.
  But passing this UN package is not just about a series of reforms for 
the future. It impacts directly on the ability of the US mission to 
achieve our goals at the United Nations right now. The US does not owe 
most of these arrears to the UN. It owes them to our allies, like 
Britain and France, for reimbursement for peacekeeping expenses. And 
our arrears are being used as a convenient excuse to dismiss US 
concerns on matters of policy. Depriving the US government the ability 
to use these funds as leverage is irresponsible; after all, our 
diplomats need ``carrots'' as well as reasonable ``sticks'' to achieve 
our foreign policy goals.
  Unfortunately, the Clinton Administration and my colleagues in the 
House of Representatives are jeopardizing the payment of our arrears 
over a policy that I call ``Mexico City lite.'' While I support the 
proposal to prohibit US government grant recipients from lobbying 
foreign governments to change their abortion laws, I do not believe it 
should be linked to the payment of our UN arrears. If these unrelated 
issues continue to be tied, then there is a good chance neither 
proposal will be enacted.
  I am hopeful that my colleagues in the House and the Administration 
will see the wisdom of adopting measures that will enhance America's 
ability to exert leadership in the international arena with the 
revitalization of the UN. The State Department Authorization bill 
should be allowed to pass or fail on its own merit--not on the merits 
of the Mexico City lite policy. This agreement is in America's best 
interest, and the best interest of the entire international 
community.

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