Here's some of the history including Pres Reagan's decision to with-hold funds from UN until they cleaned up the corruption:
Congress Should Hold the Line on U.N. Reform
by Brett D. Schaefer
Backgrounder #1290
June 4, 1999 | Executive Summary | |
Congress is coming under increasing pressure 2 to pay the arrears of the United States to the United Nations (U.N.) in the amount of $1.293 billion. Much confusion surrounds the debate on this issue; the U.N., the U.S. Department of State, and Congress disagree even on how much the United States actually "owes." The Department of State, for example, calculates the arrears to be just $712 million. Although the United States is paying over $500 million to the U.N. in 1999 alone, Congress is withholding some of the money the U.N. says it is owed in order to force the organization to reform. This is appropriate because instances of waste, fraud, and mismanagement at the U.N. are well documented.
Congress soon will debate legislation on paying the arrears, but it will be pressed to provide the funds unconditionally by failing to require the U.N. to reform. This would be a mistake. In the past, the U.N. implemented reforms and refrained from objectionable activities only when the United States threatened to withhold--or actually withheld--some of its assessed contributions. Yet supporters of the U.N. argue that (1) the United States is reneging on its obligations; (2) the U.N. is reforming (or already has reformed); and (3) nonpayment of U.S. arrears undermines the influence of the United States at the U.N. There is no justification for these charges. Consider:
The United States is the single most generous benefactor of the U.N. It pays 25 percent of the U.N.'s regular budget--more than the combined assessments of 177 members; from 1995 through 1998, it paid $2.6 billion to the organization's three budgets, 3 and an additional $1.4 billion to its affiliated agencies; 4
The U.N. has failed to implement many necessary reforms despite the ample evidence of its waste, mismanagement, and fraud; 5 and
Historically, the influence of the United States at the U.N. has not depended on payment of its arrears.
For the most part, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee ignored the false arguments when it drafted the Foreign Relations Authorization Act for Fiscal Years [F.Y.] 2000 and 2001 (S. 886). This bill, which was placed on the Senate's calendar on April 27, 1999, includes a bipartisan plan to pay $926 million in arrears in return for specific U.N. reforms that is similar to an agreement between Congress and the Administration in 1997. This legislation, S. 903, would have paid $926 million in arrears to the U.N. in return for such specific reforms as enacting sunset provisions for U.N. programs and capping assessment levels for member states. 6
Unfortunately, S. 886 contains provisions that would allow the Clinton Administration to ignore two key reform requirements, and it fails to mention some of the reforms included in previous legislation. This is a mistake, because the reforms called for in S. 886 would represent only the first steps toward the goal of overhauling the U.N. American taxpayers would be better served if Congress continued to press for all the reforms it sought in 1997.
Congress should continue to use its "power of the purse" to persuade the U.N. to reform. It should pay no more than the U.S. Department of State calculates. It should remain steadfast in demanding that the U.N. reform itself in return for payment of U.S. arrears. Moreover, it should demand that the Clinton Administration work to bring U.N. assessment levels in line with the caps Congress enacted. Congress should change the current practice of paying U.N. assessments nine months late by making payments before they are due, a practice Congress followed until 1982. This would help to avoid confusion about what the United States actually owes. Finally, Congress should refrain from its practice of paying the minimum amount of arrears necessary to maintain the U.S. vote in the General Assembly.
UNDERSTANDING U.N. BUDGETS AND ARREARS
Much of the confusion in the debate over paying U.S. arrears to the U.N. is caused by the fact that the U.N., the U.S. Department of State, and Congress calculate the amount "owed" in different ways. Some Members of Congress have come to a contrary conclusion: that the U.N. actually owes money to the United States. 7 An understanding of the ways in which the U.N. assesses the dues of each of its member states should help to clarify such misunderstandings.
The Three U.N. Budgets
Article 17 of the United Nations Charter states that the "expenses of the Organization shall be borne by the members as apportioned by the General Assembly," 8 which is made up of 185 member states. To fund its activities, the U.N. system has established three separate budgets:
The regular budget funds the U.N. system and includes funds for the General Assembly, Security Council, Economic and Social Council, Trusteeship Council, International Court of Justice, and Secretariat. This biennial budget has been held to zero growth, largely at the request of the United States, since the 1994-1995 budget cycle. The current (1998-1999) U.N. regular budget is $2.532 billion. The General Assembly adopted an outline for the 2000-2001 budget that exceeds the current budget by $13 million. 9
The peacekeeping budget provides the funding for the U.N.'s peacekeeping missions. Sixteen active missions received funding in the 1998-1999 budget. 10 Unlike the biennial regular budget, which operates on a calendar fiscal year, the peacekeeping budget is annual and extends from July 1 to June 30. It has been declining sharply since 1993. The 1998-1999 budget is estimated to be $844 million; the 1999-2000 budget less than $700 million. 11
The two active international tribunal budgets are small by comparison, totaling $99.1 million in 1998. The two tribunals are in the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda. Total contributions in 1998 amounted to only 4.5 percent of combined assessments in 1998.
In addition to its contributions to the U.N. budgets, the United States contributes to the U.N.'s affiliated organizations, such as the Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Health Organization, whose budgets are independent of the U.N. The United States contributed $348 million to these organizations in 1998. 12
U.N. Assessments
The U.N. General Assembly assesses each member a percentage of these three budgets. Each country's assessment is based on a complex formula involving national income, exchange rate adjustments between domestic currency and the U.S. dollar, and reductions or increases for poor and wealthier countries. 13 The Committee on Contributions, which includes a representative of the United States, periodically reviews the scale of assessments and the General Assembly confirms it.
Under the 1999 assessment scale, the United States is assessed 25 percent of the regular budget, 30.4 percent of the peacekeeping budget, and 29.7 percent and 28.6 percent respectively for the Yugoslavia and Rwanda tribunals. 14
Disputed "Arrears" of $472 Million
According to the U.N., the United States is in arrears in the amount of $1.293 billion as of December 31, 1998. The U.S. Department of State, however, calculates the amount of U.S. arrears to be substantially less--about $712 million, a difference of $472 million. 15
The difference in the arrears occurs because the United States does not regard the funds Congress withholds as arrears because Congress enacted, and the President approved, the restrictions. The arrears are created by U.S. law. Because international treaties and U.S. laws are equal in weight under the U.S. Constitution, the more recent of overlapping or conflicting treaties or laws would take precedence. Each authorization and appropriations bill, if it does not provide the funding sought by the U.N. General Assembly, overrides the U.S. treaty obligation to the U.N. On the other hand, the U.N. does regard the funds withheld as arrears and continues to charge them against the U.S. account. According to the U.S. Department of State, total withholdings based on U.S. law amount to $472 million 16 --$307 million from peacekeeping assessments, about $162 million from regular budget assessments, and $3 million from the international tribunal budgets. (See Table 1.)
The U.S. arrears increase each year by the amount equivalent to about 5 percentage points of the entire U.N. peacekeeping budget--$286 million between 1995 and December 31, 1998. 17 Until this discrepancy is resolved, the United States will continue to accumulate annual arrears according to the difference between the 25 percent cap and the amount of the peacekeeping budget the U.N. assesses the United States (currently 30.4 percent).
Supporters of the U.N. in Congress and the Clinton Administration have refused to recognize the reasons for this dispute in the amount of the arrears; they want Congress to adhere to U.N. accounts. Although all U.N. member states declare their willingness to support the organization financially when they sign the United Nations Charter, this willingness of necessity is subject to national interest. No country should be expected to fund activities that would harm its security or economic interests or pose a threat to the welfare of its citizens.
At various times, the Administration, Congress, or both have determined that some of the programs or groups created or funded by the U.N. undermine the national interest of the United States. If the United States refuses to support these programs or groups, it has only three options: (1) to work within the organization to eliminate or change the objectionable activities; (2) to withhold unilaterally the U.S. share of the U.N. funding that would go to those activities; or (3) to withdraw its membership in the U.N.
U.S. representatives to the U.N. consistently have worked to change objectionable activities in the past. When their efforts have failed, the United States has withheld payments of assessed contributions equal to the U.S. portion of the funds the U.N. spends on those activities. Congress utilizes this option in S. 886. Should this effort fail, it is unlikely that the U.S. government would withdraw from the U.N. The Clinton Administration and many in Congress believe membership in the U.N. offers several advantages and furthers the national interest of the United States. Thus, the need for Congress to hold the line on the reforms it seeks is critical.
REASONS TO WITHHOLD PAYMENTS TO THE U.N.
Generally, the United States would withhold its U.N. contributions for three reasons:
To force the U.N. to meet certain conditions.
For example, a provision in S. 886 would require the United States to withhold $80 million from the regular budget assessment each year until the U.S. Secretary of State certified that the U.N. regular budget did not exceed the legislated level. But these funds would be released once that certification was made.
To limit appropriations.
Congress, for example, refused to pay 1995 peacekeeping assessments in full because of the sustained high costs of the U.N. peacekeeping missions and concerns over the U.N.'s effectiveness at peacekeeping after failures in Somalia and Yugoslavia. 18 According to the U.S. Department of State, this comprises the bulk of U.S. arrears--some $658 million. 19
President Bill Clinton recommended lowering the U.S. payment levels to the U.N. peacekeeping budget by more than 6 percentage points--from nearly 32 percent down to 25 percent. In a speech before the U.N. General Assembly in 1993, he stated,
the U.N.'s operations must not only be adequately funded, but also fairly funded.... I believe our rates should be reduced to reflect the rise of other nations that can now bear more of the financial burden. 20
Later that same day, the Clinton Administration stated that the President would "continue to push for a reduction in the assessed contribution of the U.N. [peacekeeping budget].... We have argued that it should be 25 percent." 21 A Democrat-led Congress passed, and the President signed, the State Department Authorization Act for FY 1994 22 in April 1994 to implement this policy.
To express opposition to specific policies and activities.
In this case, payment would be restricted until the U.N. changed the objectionable policies or ceased the activities. Once the U.N. changed the objectionable practices, the United States would make its payments in full with the understanding that the previously withheld amounts would not be paid. Such action is not unusual. Indeed, the United States has followed this practice for decades with some success. These arrears comprise a relatively small portion of the total amount in dispute, however--some $21 million for the peacekeeping budget and $162 million for the regular budget. Two examples of this practice occurred when Congress passed:
The Kemp-Moynihan Amendment to crack down on terrorist organizations.
In 1979, Congress sought to limit U.N. support of certain terrorist organizations by withholding a modest percentage of its contributions until it was satisfied that the U.N. had stopped this objectionable practice.
The Kassebaum-Solomon Amendment to force U.N. reforms.
In 1985, Congress mandated a reduction in payments to the U.N. regular budget from 25 percent to 20 percent in response to repeated criticisms of U.N. activities. Two years later, Congress resumed full payment after President Ronald Reagan had certified that the U.N. had implemented the reforms demanded in the amendment. This amount is responsible for the largest share of the current U.S. arrears to the regular budget.
FAULTY PAYMENT JUSTIFICATIONS
Many of those who advocate paying the arrears argue against attaching reform requirements to the payments. But their justifications are faulty:
Faulty Justification #1: The United States is a "deadbeat" for not paying its dues. Not true.
The United States has been chastised routinely and incorrectly as a "deadbeat" that reneges on its obligations. 23 The United States is not required to pay the U.N. the dues it assesses, however. Because international treaties and U.S. laws are equal under the Constitution, the more recent takes precedence. Each authorization and appropriations bill, if it does not provide the funding sought by the U.N. General Assembly, overrides treaty obligations to the U.N. At its discretion, Congress can decide not to pay the U.N. any of its assessed contributions. In fact, a good portion of the U.S. arrears to the U.N. are the result of legislated withholdings, and payment of them would violate U.S. law.
Nonetheless, the United States remains the U.N.'s single largest contributor. Every year, the United States pays at least 25 percent of the U.N.'s regular, peacekeeping, and tribunal budgets--more than the combined assessments of 177 other members. 24 The next largest contributors to the regular budget are Japan (19.98 percent), Germany (9.81 percent), France (6.54 percent), Italy (5.43 percent), and the United Kingdom (5.09 percent). 25 According to the U.N.'s records, the United States paid $589 million to the U.N. regular, peacekeeping, and international tribunal budgets in 1998. 26
Moreover, in addition to its assessed contributions, the United States provides generous voluntary financial support to the U.N. for which it rarely receives credit. According to the United States Mission to the United Nations, the United States gave the U.N. system nearly $2 billion in 1998; more than half this amount was voluntary. 27
A 1996 study by the U.S. General Accounting Office estimates that the U.S. voluntary contributions to U.N. peacekeeping operations in Haiti, Yugoslavia, and Somalia exceeded $6.6 billion, for which the country was not reimbursed. That amount is over four times the amount the United States owes in arrears as calculated by the U.N. 28
The United States is not the only country accused of owing money to the U.N., in fact. According to U.N. accounts, many other member states owe the organization greater amounts than the United States does as a percentage of their assessments. For example, as of December 31, 1998, of the 185 member countries in the U.N.:
161 (87 percent) owed the U.N. for its regular budget, peacekeeping missions, international tribunals, or all three. Of these, 159 countries were in net debt to the U.N. 29
67 countries (over 33 percent) had outstanding contributions to the regular budget.
On average, over 130 countries had contributions outstanding to peacekeeping missions. 30
43 countries owed the regular budget for years prior to 1998. For both the Yugoslavia and Rwanda tribunals, over 140 countries had contributions outstanding prior to 1998, and an average of 119 countries had contributions outstanding prior to 1998 for peacekeeping missions active in 1999 as of December 31, 1998. 31
Secretary General Kofi Annan listed 40 countries 32 in February 1999 that were in violation of Article 19 of the United Nations Charter and were liable to have their voting privileges in the General Assembly suspended. 33
Many countries habitually fail to pay their assessments on time or in full. This fact receives little public criticism; but the fact that the United States is not the worst debtor country in the U.N. receives far less notice. Assuming the outstanding contributions as of December 31, 1998, for all member states remained static in 1999, 75 countries would be liable for Article 19 sanctions as of January 1, 2000; and 70 of those countries would have a greater debt to the U.N.--in relation to their assessed contributions--than the United States did (see Appendix B.)
Faulty Justification #2: The U.N. is reforming or has reformed already. Not true.
In her February 24, 1999, testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright claimed the "U.N. system has achieved more reform in the last half decade than in the previous 45 years." 34 Ironically, this statement also highlights the U.N.'s long-standing resistance to reform. Secretary General Annan announced two reform programs in January 1997, one that included actions he could implement, and another actions that required General Assembly implementation. 35 As the following examples of U.N.-recommended reforms demonstrate, they are more show than substance:
U.N. supporters claim the organization has cut personnel levels, but their claims are deceptive. The U.N. cut nearly 1,000 positions 36 in 1997, largely through a reduction of positions left vacant to bring total employment to 8,500 employees. Unfortunately, this reduction was only temporary. Within a year, the U.N. had increased the number of employees to 8,900 and budgeted for 9,050. 37
The U.N. Secretariat was "reformed" by merging two departments into one and giving it a new title, renaming two other departments, and creating an entirely new Department for Disarmament Affairs. 38 The Secretariat had the same number of major departments and offices (11) as it had before the reform plan was released.
Even though the "reformed" Secretariat had the same number of departments, it required a 22 percent increase in high-level management bureaucrats. In 1996, the Secretary General was supported by 26 Under and Assistant Secretaries General and senior officers in the Executive Office of the Secretary General. In 1998, 33 senior officers, including a newly created Deputy Secretary General and three Coordinators supported the Secretary General. In addition, 31 "special/personal representatives or envoys of the Secretary General" not present in 1996 were assigned duty. 39
Resolving the U.N.'s most vexing problems--redundancy in programs and inappropriate mandates--requires action by the General Assembly, which is unlikely. The General Assembly lists reform as the 49th item on the preliminary agenda for the upcoming 54th session, and has yet to approve many of the Secretary General's mild reform suggestions proposed in 1997. 40
Meanwhile, the U.N. system continues to grow. For example, the U.N. requires more money to operate. The General Assembly approved a biennial budget of $2.545 billion in December 1998, 41 which exceeded the budget cap of $2.533 billion sought by the United States (as well as the 1998-1999 $2.532 billion budget) by more than $12 million. The general assembly passed the budget even though the Secretary General had agreed in principle to the cap. Furthermore, the spending increase counters the trend of declining budgets over the previous three regular budget cycles. 42 In addition, without counting regional development banks and peacekeeping missions, the U.N. system in 1996 included 60 subsidiary bodies or related organizations. By 1998, there were 69 such bodies, an increase of 15 percent. 43
Faulty Justification #3: Nonpayment of U.S. arrears undermines the influence of the United States at the U.N. Not true.
The United States could be stripped of its vote in the General Assembly because of the amount of its arrears. On November 2, 1998, Congress authorized payment of the minimum amount necessary to avoid suspension of its vote in the General Assembly--$197 million. 44 U.S. arrears will exceed the amount at which the General Assembly can strip the United States of its vote by at least $140 million in 1999. 45 Congress will feel compelled to act again.
Congress should realize, however, that even though the United States could well lose its vote in the General Assembly if it failed to pay the arrears, this "punishment" would not harm U.S. interests seriously. Unlike Security Council resolutions, actions taken by the General Assembly are not binding on all member states. Even if the General Assembly voted for resolutions that ran counter to U.S. policy, they would have little real impact.
The Security Council is the U.N.'s principal political body. Only the Security Council can approve U.N. military operations or apply economic sanctions. General Assembly countries are doubly bound by the decisions of the Security Council: They must abide by all Security Council resolutions, and nearly every important decision (including nominations for Secretary General and new members of the General Assembly) must originate in the Security Council. Article 19 voting sanctions would not affect U.S. voting power in the Security Council.
Some critics argue that maintaining U.S. arrears could spur opposition to the U.S. position on key votes in the General Assembly; but this assumes that those countries care more about snubbing the United States than about protecting their own interests. It is difficult to believe that U.N. member states would undermine their own interests by opposing a U.S. policy that they otherwise would support simply because the United States had failed to pay its arrears.
Moreover, controversial policies sponsored by the United States rarely receive unconditional support in the U.N. For example, only once in the past 10 years has the General Assembly voted with the United States on more than 50 percent of non-consensus resolutions. In fact, the United States received the most resistance to its policies during the Cold War, when its U.N. arrears were much lower than they are today. From 1988 to 1994, U.S. arrears were nearly static--ranging from $402 million to $518 million--yet the percentage of times members voted with the United States in the General Assembly increased more than 300 percent between 1988 (15.4 percent) and 1994 (48.5 percent). Even when U.S. arrears were at their peak in 1998, General Assembly member states voted with the United States almost three times as often (44.2 percent) as they did in 1988. 46 (See Chart 1.)
General Assembly voting patterns since the end of the Cold War show that a U.N. member state's opposition to U.S. proposals is likely to be rooted in the policy itself, not in the amount of U.S. arrears. |
