SECRETARY-GENERAL EXPRESSES 'DISAPPOINTMENT AND CONCERN' AT US CONGRESS' FAILURE TO ACT ON PROPOSED LEGISLATION THAT WOULD FUND OVERDUE US PAYMENTS TO UN
Press Release
SG/SM/6394
SECRETARY-GENERAL EXPRESSES 'DISAPPOINTMENT AND CONCERN' AT US CONGRESS' FAILURE TO ACT ON PROPOSED LEGISLATION THAT WOULD FUND OVERDUE US PAYMENTS TO UN
19971114 The following statement was made to correspondents this afternoon by Secretary-General Kofi Annan:As you know, the United States Congress did not act on proposed legislation that would have taken a significant step towards funding the more than $1 billion in overdue United States payments to the Organization. It is both unreasonable and regrettable that the legislation was held hostage to the entirely unrelated domestic politics of abortion.
I am disappointed and I am concerned.
The failure comes during a week when the United Nations Security Council has been seized by the crisis regarding arms inspection in Iraq, in which the United Nations plays a role that is indispensable to international peace and security, as well as to the vital national security interests of the United States. And it comes only a day after the United Nations General Assembly endorsed a major component of my programme of institutional reforms.
I am grateful to all those in the Clinton administration, the Congress as well as the public at large who worked tirelessly to make it happen. And I know that they, like us, are dismayed by the outcome.
But the United Nations must move on. We will, of course, continue our efforts to reform the Organization. I have said since I was elected Secretary-General on 17 December 1996 that we must reform for our own sakes, to revitalize this Organization, not to please any particular constituency.
At the same time, we must also take serious stock of our financial vulnerabilities.
First of all, we have been borrowing from our peacekeeping funds to pay our regular budget bills. This practice is imprudent at best. Because United States arrears payments have not been legislated in the expected amount, I cannot assure the prospect of repayment to those Member States who have supplied troops and provided material for peacekeeping missions -- many of which are developing countries. Therefore, I would want guidance from the General Assembly on whether and how to continue with this practice.
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Secondly, I am asking the President of the General Assembly to reconvene, as a matter of urgency, the Assembly's high-level group on finance to explore all possible options for ensuring prompt payment by Member States of their dues, and to report their recommendations before the end of the current session of the Assembly.
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