Hastert Urged to Hurry Vote on U.N. Dues

In a show of bipartisanship, one of the House’s more liberal members is pressing Speaker Dennis Hastert to rush action on a bill written by one of the most conservative senators, a measure authorizing payment of U.S. debts to the United Nations.

“Delay could seriously undermine U.S. leadership at the United Nations and in the international community at large,” wrote Rep. Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.). The letter also was signed by Minority Leader Richard Gephardt (D-Mo.) and Reps. Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.), Christopher Shays (R-Conn.), Marge Roukema (R-N.J.) and Sherwood Boehlert (R-N.Y.).

The Senate voted 99-0 on Feb. 7 for the bill by Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and longtime U.N. nemesis. Helms pushed the bill after the world body satisfied him that it was streamlining its operations and reducing America’s share of the U.N. budget.

The bill would release $582 million in back dues owed the United Nations for its operations and peacekeeping costs. That represents the bulk of the $926 million Congress promised in a 1999 law on condition that the organization reform its huge bureaucracy and reduce the financial burden on the United States.

Hastert’s spokesman, John Feehery, said Friday there would be no rush on the bill, saying, “We’ll go through the regular order, and the committees of jurisdiction will have a chance to make their proposals.”

The letter said that although the Bush administration’s proposed State Department authorization bill contains the Senate bill’s provisions, “We are concerned that this bill could take substantial time to enact.”

Secretary of State Colin Powell called for quick action on the bill during testimony before the House International Relations Committee, saying, “If we do not deliver on our end of this commitment, we will halt the momentum for U.N. reform and accumulate new arrears.”

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Engel: https://www.house.gov/engel/

Helms: https://www.senate.gov/~helms/

The bill is S. 248.