Congress No Longer Hostile, Kassebaum Tells U.N. Leader
Sen. Nancy Landon Kassebaum (R-Kan.), author of a 1986 measure that slashed U.S. contributions to the United Nations, on Thursday told Secretary General Javier Perez de Cuellar that Congress has reversed its hostility to the world organization.
“I said I believed the change is due to his efforts,” she said after a meeting with Perez de Cuellar. “I think the whole world has changed its attitude, and he has injected a lot of vitality into the U.N.”
The world body had approached bankruptcy in the last two years, in large part because of the Kassebaum measure, which called for cuts in U.S. payments unless the U.N. changed its voting procedure to give bigger donors more influence over spending.
Last month, however, President Reagan announced that he accepted U.N. changes and would seek full payment of $188 million in fees.
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