ACTIVITIES OF SECRETARY-GENERAL IN WASHINGTON, D.C., 24 MAY
On Thursday, 24 May, Secretary-General Kofi Annan went to Washington's Capitol Hill for a series of meetings with members of the United States Congress.
His first session was with Representative Richard Gephardt of Missouri, the Democratic minority leader, who invited along three members of the House Appropriations Committee, David Obey of Wisconsin, Nita Lowey of New York and Nancy Pelosi of California.
The Secretary-General briefed the members on the Balkans, peacekeeping in Africa, the Middle East, including Lebanon, and the sanctions regime for Iraq. He was asked about the recent election in the United Nations Human Rights Commission in which the United States lost its seat, the worldwide AIDS epidemic and the fight against poverty. Joseph Connor, the Under-Secretary-General for Management, who accompanied the Secretary-General, described the United Nations budgetary discipline, especially since 1994, and the rising pressures of inflation.
The Secretary-General then met with members of the House International Relations Committee, including Chairman Henry Hyde of Illinois and ranking minority member Tom Lantos of California. Over 20 members of the Committee sat in on the session, with most of them getting to ask the Secretary-General a question or two. Their concerns covered the gamut of international issues: AIDS, arms control, the Middle East, the United Nations Human Rights Commission, possible United States return to membership in the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the United Nations Conference on Racism, and accreditation of non-governmental organizations at the United Nations, to name a few of the issues raised.
After a private lunch, the Secretary-General met with the Editorial Board of the Washington Post.
He then went back to Capitol Hill, this time to the Senate side, to meet with members of the Foreign Relations Committee. He was greeted by Committee Chairman Jesse Helms of North Carolina. Other members who joined were Sam Brownback of Kansas, Barbara Boxer of California, Bill Frist of Tennessee, John Kerry of Massachusetts, Bill Nelson of Florida and Paul Wellstone of Minnesota. They asked the Secretary-General about his AIDS initiative and the nature of his proposed Global Fund. They also discussed the plight of the world's refugees and internally displaced persons and one Senator asked about the situation in Zimbabwe.
The last meeting of the day was with the Democratic Leader of the Senate, Tom Daschle of South Dakota. He invited a number of other Senators to the meeting who were members of the Appropriations Committee.
These included Kent Conrad of North Dakota, Dick Durbin of Illinois, Daniel Inouye of Hawaii, Patrick Leahy of Vermont and Harry Reid of Nevada.
Senator Daschle said there was broad approval in the Senate of the Secretary-General's leadership on the AIDS issue. The Secretary-General described his Global Fund proposal and the financial requirements to seriously tackle the disease. The group discussed the need for infrastructure in the developing countries to absorb additional assistance and the search for a vaccine.
The Secretary-General concluded with an appeal to the lawmakers to make good on their financial commitments to the United Nations and invited them to New York for a visit.
The Secretary-General returned to New York that evening.