Disputed Legislation to Hold Up Payment of U.S. Arrears on U.N. Dues

The United States will contribute enough money to the United Nations to retain its vote in the General Assembly next year, but developments on Capitol Hill ensure that it will not begin to repay its enormous debt to the world body, U.S. and U.N. officials said Friday.

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who is widely considered a U.S. ally and is usually extremely guarded in his public comments, reacted bitterly to reports that Washington will not do anything this year to address its U.N. arrears.

“I feel disappointed and deceived,” Annan said in a statement to The Times.

“Despite the extensive program of reform that we’ve undertaken, and despite the many promises that have been made to us, in the end the Congress and the administration failed to honor America’s legal commitments and moral obligations to the U.N.,” Annan said, according to his spokesman, Fred Eckhard.

Under last-minute budget agreements, whose details have not yet been released, a pending State Department funding measure is expected to contain about $475 million to begin paying U.S. arrears at the United Nations. However, the legislation includes language barring U.S. aid to international family-planning groups that lobby for abortion rights abroad, and President Clinton has threatened to veto any bill containing such restrictions.

In addition, there were reports late Friday that the money might be deleted from the bill before it comes up for a vote in the House and Senate.

“We’re not going to see [money to pay the arrears] this year,” one Capitol Hill staffer said. “It’s dead.”

The precise amount owed by the United States is a subject of disagreement. The United Nations calculates the U.S. debt at $1.6 billion, while the State Department says it owes between $712 million and $1 billion, depending on which U.N. organizations are included. The discrepancy in the figures stems largely from a dispute over what percentage the U.S. should pay for U.N. peacekeeping operations in Somalia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, as well as other programs undertaken in the 1980s and early ‘90s.

Other U.S. spending for the United Nations apparently will not be jeopardized by pending legislation. Congress’ overall budget bill, expected to win final House and Senate approval Tuesday, includes a total of $922 million for the United Nations and 48 other international organizations, plus $231 million for U.N.-sponsored peacekeeping operations, officials said.

About $325 million of that amount would pay Washington’s annual dues to the United Nations. An additional $200 million would be applied by the end of the year to stave off a U.N. rule that denies any member voting rights in the General Assembly if it is more than two years in arrears, officials said.

“There’s no jeopardy of losing the vote,” a House staff member said. “Regardless of what happens on U.N. arrearages, it does not threaten our vote.”

Even so, Annan bluntly described the developments as “grim indeed” in a speech to Empower America, a conservative group led by former Republican vice presidential nominee Jack Kemp.

“It appears the United States will squeak by, paying just enough to avoid losing its vote in the General Assembly, which happens to nations who fall two years behind in their contributions,” Annan said.

But Washington will have failed on the “larger question” of paying its back debt, Annan added.

Annan and his staff have grown increasingly frustrated as the U.S. arrears have been held hostage to the political battle over abortion. They say the debt has crippled the organization’s ability to carry out its role and respond to changing conditions in the post-Cold War era.

In the past, Annan has generally aimed his criticism at congressional Republicans who bash the U.N. But privately, some top U.N. officials have criticized what they see as the Clinton administration’s limp support for payment of its debt.

In his speech, Annan made his frustrations clear.

“Great nations keep their word,” he said. “They do not inflict wounds on their own prestige or undermine their claim to leadership at crucial moments in world affairs.”

Drogin reported from Washington and Turner from the United Nations.