Letters to/from Congress

The following was the only letter I received. It contains Senator Helms' response:

Thank you for your letter concerning S.5, "The Peace Powers Act of 1995" and the comparable legislation in the House of Representatives, H.R.7 "The National Security Revitalization Act".

I am a cosponsor of S.5, which was introduced in the Senate on January 4 by Senator Bob Dole. In an era of fiscal austerity, when many foreign assistance programs -- as well as those in the domestic arena -- are facing cutbacks, our contribution to peacekeeping operations must be reevaluated, particularly in light of the fact that many of these operations have been rife with waste and fraud. The cost of untied Nations peacekeeping has skyrocketed in recent years, witnessed by the fact that in 1994, the United States spent as much money on peacekeeping as the previous forty years combined.

The U.S. is the largest monetary contributor to the United Nations, funding 25% of the UN regular budget. We have the right if not the duty to demand that the billions of dollars sent to New York and various international destinations are spent wisely.

I appreciate you writing to share your views with me on this matter.

Sincerely,
/s/ Jesse Helms

I was surprised that my letter, on behalf of the UNDIG, was characterized as presenting any position--something I tried to avoid because that was not our intent. The Congress has already enacted legislation that reduces the US peacekeeping commitment from 31.7% to 25% as of October 1995. Pending legislation may reduce that amount to 20%, with an additional offset for any US operation which the Pentagon characterizes as generally fulfilling UN peacekeeping objectives.

The ASIL has a policy against taking positions on pending legislation. I received only two (conflicting) responses to my request for a draft resolution to Congress from the UNDIG. I believe that these developments bring this matter to a close in terms of any further action to be taken by the our UN Decade Interest Group. Also, by the time that you receive this Newsletter, Congress is likely to have voted on the pending legislation (see Richard Hartzman's excellent overview of this legislation in the second quarter ASIL Newsletter).