U.S. Should Seek Cut in U.N. Contribution Rather Than Be in Arrears, Walters Says

U.N. Ambassador Vernon A. Walters said Thursday that the United States should seek a reduced level of financial contributions to the world body rather than continue to allow its arrears to mount.

“We want to be realistic about this. If we are not prepared to meet the present funding requirements, then we should seek an assessment that we are prepared to meet,” Walters told a House Foreign Affairs subcommittee hearing.

State Department officials said the United States was $253 million in arrears on its assessments for the U.N. headquarters budget at the end of 1987.

Walters said U.S. failure to pay even half of its dues last year made other countries unwilling to move ahead with further U.N. budget reforms and threatened to diminish U.S. influence.

“We cannot continue to neglect our financial commitments to the United Nations and then expect that our opinions, policies and positions will carry their former weight in the world body,” Walters said.

Contributions to the United Nations are assessed according to national wealth. The United States is the largest single contributor, paying 25% of the U.N. budget.