United Nations Foundation President Senator Timothy E. Wirth issued the following statement regarding the House of Representatives’ passage of the United Nations Reform Act of 2005 by a vote of 221 to 184:
“I am disappointed by today’s vote in the House of Representatives in favor of the so-called United Nations Reform Act. Although this bill does contain reform measures that will help make the UN more effective and accountable, many of which the UN has already initiated, it also includes counterproductive provisions that would automatically withhold U.S. payment of dues to the UN and undermine meaningful reform. The U.S. has gone down this flawed path before, incurring more than a billion dollars in arrears to the UN, impairing the ability of the UN to do its job and making other countries less willing to work with the U.S. We should not make this mistake again.”
FULL STATEMENT