Little Chance of U.S. Paying UN Dues in 1998

by Jim Lobe

The White House revealed that President Bill Clinton would carry out his threat to veto a long-stalled bill authorizing payment of the arrears because it included a provision that barred U.S. aid money going to groups abroad involved in abortions or that lobbied governments to ease anti-abortion laws.

The bill would be vetoed "as soon as we get it," said White House spokesman Mike McCurry. "They ought to just send it down here so that we can send it back to them in the same day's mail."

Republican leaders, who succeeded in passing the bill in the Senate by a razor-thin 51-49 majority, warned that a Clinton veto will kill any chances that the arrears will be approved this year.

"If he vetoes this bill, there will be no further action," said Jesse Helms, the right-wing chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He was supported by fellow Republican Trent Lott, the Senate Majority Leader.

"They've got to make an effort to see if there's any way they can succeed," said one veteran lobbyist from the United Nations Association-USA here. "But I don't see it, particularly with the approach of the (November) elections."

"The Republicans see (their position) as a vote-getter, rather than a vote-loser," said a senior UN official who monitored the debate.

Clinton labelled the Republicans out of touch. "I think a huge majority (of the public), when it comes to the United Nations, believes we should share responsibilities.

And we're saying to the world: 'Yes, we want to continue to lead the world toward peace and freedom, (but) we don't think we ought to pay our dues to the UN We think that different rules apply to us and we have a right not to pay our way, so we can have this fight over an issue that is unrelated to our UN responsibilities.'

"I don't think that is a responsible, mature message to the send to the world by the leading country in the world."

The impasse between the Republicans and the administration, if continued through the end of the year, could result in Washington losing its vote in the UN General Assembly. Under Article 19 of the UN Charter, countries lose their voting rights if they fall more than two years behind in paying their assessments.

Currently, 31 countries, most of them -- including Burundi, Niger, Haiti, and Cambodia -- among the poorest nations in the world, have lost their votes under Article 19, according to administration testimony in Congress last week.

"In some ways, I think a lot of Republicans hope that the United Nations will take such action because they know that, if it does, the UN will never get another dollar from us," said one Congressional aide who works for a pro-UN Democratic senator. "This is part of their agenda."

The administration has also been worried about the diplomatic fallout from Washington's failure to pay the world body what it owes. "When I go to my fellow ambassadors and ask for their support on resolutions or agenda items, my position is weakened by America's debtor status." Bill Richardons, U.S. ambassador to the world body, told a House of Representatives committee.

The anti-abortion measure included in the bill was an attempt to resurrect the "Mexico City" policy which prevailed under Republican presidents Ronald Reagan and George Bush. It provided that no U.S. foreign aid money could be given to foreign groups or agencies, such as the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF), which perform abortions or which lobby governments overseas to ease their abortion laws.

Clinton, whose support among women virtually ensured his victory over Bush, repealed the policy as one of his first acts as president. Population and women's groups call the Mexico City policy and the measure included in the authorization bill a "gag rule," which curbs the right of private groups overseas to participate in their domestic debates about abortion.

"It would be a violation of their freedom of expression to say they couldn't participate in any of these debates," McCurry noted. Washington has long been the world's biggest source of family-planning assistance, donating hundreds of millions of dollars in money and supplies to groups and hospitals overseas.

"For the first time in history," noted the senior UN official, "the United nations is becoming a partisan issue. That, in itself, is particularly worrying."