Text: SCR00020 Text: SCR00022 Text: SCR00000 - SCR00099 Text: SCR Index Bills and Amendments: General Index Bill History: General Index
PAG LIN
1 1 SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO.
1 2 BY LUNDBY and DRAKE
1 3 A Senate Concurrent Resolution relating to the funding
1 4 of the United Nations.
1 5 WHEREAS, during the past decade, the Congress of
1 6 the United States, in an effort to improve the
1 7 functioning of the United Nations and to provide a
1 8 more effective United Nations for the coming
1 9 millennium, has urged the United Nations to take
1 10 meaningful steps toward reform by reducing
1 11 inefficiencies, streamlining the organization,
1 12 eliminating budgetary growth, reducing staff of the
1 13 Secretariat, reducing United Nations' costs borne by
1 14 the United States, refocusing development efforts in
1 15 support of open trade and free markets, and taking on
1 16 new and emerging global-scale challenges such as drug
1 17 trafficking, crime, terrorism, and environmental
1 18 protection; and
1 19 WHEREAS, according to the Council on Foreign
1 20 Relations, a strong and effective United Nations has
1 21 been, since its founding in 1945, and continues to be
1 22 an important part of a strong and effective American
1 23 foreign policy; and
1 24 WHEREAS, the United Nations has made demonstrable
1 25 progress and has shown good faith in moving to comply
1 26 with American requests by reducing staff by more than
1 27 20 percent in the past decade and eliminating more
1 28 than 3,000 positions in the Secretariat; adopting a
1 29 no-growth budget since 1994 and reducing the regular
1 30 budget by $123 million in the most recent budget
2 1 cycle; appointing an inspector general to expose
2 2 waste, fraud, and abuse and saving more than $80
2 3 million and numerous improvements in organizational
2 4 operations; consolidating a variety of functions
2 5 including consolidation of more than 12 secretariat
2 6 departments' executive units; appointing an efficiency
2 7 board similar to the United States Reinventing
2 8 Government Initiative that has resulted in hundreds of
2 9 efficiency improvements and millions of dollars in
2 10 savings; and attracting dynamic new leaders to head
2 11 key United Nations agencies and to improve overall
2 12 management of the United Nations; and
2 13 WHEREAS, with the end of the Cold War and the rapid
2 14 growth of economic globalization, the United Nations
2 15 is more important than ever as a forum for peace,
2 16 progress, and prosperity, particularly as the
2 17 international institution capable of bringing all
2 18 nations together to accomplish such efforts as setting
2 19 basic standards that are prerequisites to trade
2 20 including standards for telecommunications,
2 21 transportation, and mail; working together on common
2 22 global challenges such as terrorism and the drug
2 23 trade; promoting the health and well-being of the
2 24 world's children; upholding basic human rights;
2 25 feeding the hungry; responding to natural disasters;
2 26 developing peacekeeping operations and mediating
2 27 conflicts; and addressing global health challenges
2 28 such as polio, malaria, and malnutrition; and
2 29 WHEREAS, the executive and legislative branches of
2 30 the United States government have suggested that
3 1 reform of the United Nations would effectuate payment
3 2 of past dues by the United States which the United
3 3 States is legally bound to honor and which now total
3 4 more than $1 billion; NOW THEREFORE,
3 5 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE, THE HOUSE OF
3 6 REPRESENTATIVES CONCURRING, That in recognition of the
3 7 rapidly increasing importance of the United Nations to
3 8 the future stability of the world and to the future
3 9 security and prosperity of the United States and other
3 10 nations, and in recognition of the United Nations'
3 11 marked progress and good faith efforts to comply with
3 12 United States' reform requests, the Iowa General
3 13 Assembly hereby commends the Congress of the United
3 14 States for its role in assisting in the reform of the
3 15 United Nations and commends the United Nations for its
3 16 successful implementation of these reforms; and
3 17 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the Iowa General
3 18 Assembly requests that the Congress of the United
3 19 States authorize and appropriate sufficient funding to
3 20 pay amounts owed by the United States to the United
3 21 Nations, now in arrears, and, in addition, that the
3 22 transfer of these funds to the United Nations be
3 23 authorized by the Congress of the United States in the
3 24 current budget cycle.
3 25 LSB 3414SS 78
3 26 pf/gg/8
Text: SCR00020 Text: SCR00022 Text: SCR00000 - SCR00099 Text: SCR Index Bills and Amendments: General Index Bill History: General Index
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