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“THE IMPORTANCE OF THE UNITED NATIONS” mentioning the U.S. Dept of State was published in the Extensions of Remarks section on pages E1488-E1489 on July 21, 2006.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
THE IMPORTANCE OF THE UNITED NATIONS
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HON. CAROLYN B. MALONEY
of new york
in the house of representatives
Thursday, July 20, 2006
Mrs. MALONEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to bring to the attention of the House several key moments over the last several weeks where the United Nations has been called upon by the international community to address issues of grave global concern and has taken significant steps to increase its own efficiency and efficacy.
In the last week alone, the U.N., which is located in my congressional district, has been asked to deal with the nuclear threat from North Korea, hostilities in Lebanon, and the deteriorating peace and humanitarian situation in Gaza. In fact, as I speak, a U.N. team, led by Under Secretary General Vijay Nambiar, is on the ground in the Middle East helping defuse the current crisis. They have already met with the prime ministers of both Israel and Lebanon and the foreign ministers of the Arab League. Over the next few days, they may return to Lebanon and, perhaps, travel to Syria, Jordan, and the Palestinian territories before returning to New York to brief the U.N. Security Council. Secretary Rice called for the creation of this team and has, along with the President, the National Security Advisor, and a host of other administration officials, publicly supported it since its inception. In fact, during a press briefing in Germany on July 13, Secretary Rice called the Secretary-General's mission ``the best opportunity now for deescalation of this crisis.''
The U.N. Security Council has also taken action against Iran and North Korea, two regimes that the United States has deemed a serious threat to international security and stability but has been unable or unwilling to address directly on its own. Last Saturday, the Security Council voted unanimously to demand that North Korea suspend all ballistic missile launches and related activity and required all member states to prevent the import or export of funds or goods that could fuel Pyongyang's missile or weapons of mass destruction programs. And, as reported in Tuesday's New York Times, the Security Council, including China and Russia, is currently developing a resolution based on a previous agreement to require Iran to suspend its nuclear programs or suffer actions under article 41, chapter 7, of the U.N. Charter, which allows for sanctions.
In addition, at the request of President Bush and the Iraqi Government, the United Nations announced earlier this month that it will help create an ``International Compact for Iraq'' to provide a platform for international support. The Deputy Secretary General has already traveled to Baghdad to begin discussions with Iraqi President Jalal Talibani. The U.N., through a similar ``Compact'' for Afghanistan, raised billions of dollars for relief and reconstruction and built an international consensus on ways to improve the economy, security, and human rights situation in Afghanistan. Today, in part because of the U.N.'s role as a platform for international cooperation, Afghanistan has its first democratically elected parliament in more than 20 years; 4 million refugees have returned; 5 million children are back at school; 60,000 combatants have rejoined society; and the economy is growing.
These are only the most recent of a long list of ways in which the U.N. helps to safeguard American peace and prosperity. The U.N. currently maintains the world's second-largest standing army, which is keeping the peace in some of the world's most hostile environments. It is working to detect any outbreaks of avian flu and develop the first line of defense against a possible world pandemic, as the President noted in his National Strategy for Pandemic Influenza. It is providing humanitarian assistance and saving lives in volatile regions of the world. And it is developing an international legal framework and bringing those guilty of crimes against humanity to justice.
In addition to taking a central role in addressing these global problems and maintaining an increasingly important presence around the world, the U.N. has taken significant action over the past few months to look inward and improve its own efficiency, transparency, and accountability.
Over our July 4 recess, the U.N. General Assembly--with U.S. consensus--agreed to a slate of broad reforms, many of which had been recommended by former State Department Under Secretary for Management and current U.N. Under Secretary General for Management Christopher Burnham, that include an upgrade to the U.N.'s information technology systems to help better analyze and organize real-time financial data from computer systems spread around the globe and an acceptance of internal accounting standards. These particular actions were made against a backdrop of broader reform over the last 6 months, during which time the U.N. dismantled and replaced the discredited Human Rights Commission; increased staff and funding for internal auditing; created an Ethics Office; and enacted whistleblower and financial disclosure policies that are more far-reaching that those in the U.S. Government.
Mr. Speaker, the U.N. is an indispensable presence in the world, and it is absolutely necessary for maintaining peace and prosperity in the United States. Were the U.N. not to exist or were it unable to fully fund its programs, the U.S. would be forced to confront a rising tide of issues that are simply too numerous, complex, costly, and diplomatically implausible for us to handle on our own. The U.N., as the world's platform for international engagement, can only work when member states, especially the United States, actively engage with the organization and each other. Today--and in the future when we discuss U.S. dues to the U.N.--we will be sending a message to the international community. We must make sure, in the interest of all Americans, that the message is one of cooperation, engagement, and support for the United Nations.
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