U.S. House Res. 1146: Time to Dump the U.N.


May 14, 2011

By Henry Lamb

Even the most enthusiastic Progressives have to be thoroughly disgusted with the U.N. officials who, like Navi Pillay, the United Nations high commissioner for human rights, demand a full report from the U.S. about the bin Laden operation. Other U.N. advocates are convinced that the United States has violated some international law.

Usama bin Laden did not attack the United Nations; he attacked the United States. What the U.S. did to bring bin Laden to justice is none of the U.N.’s business. This jaw-jacking from the U.N. crowd is just more of the same useless noise that has been flowing from the obsolete institution for several years.

The United Nations is useless in the face of conflict. Rwanda and Darfur are great examples of U.N. incompetence. The U.N. shuffled papers and made speeches while hundreds of thousands of people died. The recent uprising in the Middle East has left the U.N. talking to itself, utterly helpless to do anything about the slaughter taking place there.

For more than 50 years, the U.N. has tried in vain to become a government for the world. It now pretends to be a world government, and is working diligently to gain the power to tax so it can become an independent, unaccountable world government.

The Convention on the Law of the Sea gives a U.N. agency the authority to tax member nations on any activity that takes place under the sea. The U.N. denies that it has taxing authority, only the authority to impose a $250,000 permit fee, and charge royalties for any product that comes from the seabed. What’s worse, this treaty requires that:

“Sovereignty over territorial seas is exercised subject to this convention and other international law.” (Article 2(3))

Fortunately, common sense has prevailed in the Senate despite the best efforts of Bill Clinton, George Bush, and so far, the Obama administration. The treaty remains unratified by the U.S.

The U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change absolutely ignores science that has pretty well concluded that climate change is a natural reaction to solar activity, and has little or nothing to do with the use of fossil fuel. Even after being caught doctoring data in the reports of the International Panel on Climate Change, the UNFCCC continues to insist that not only must all nations reduce carbon emissions, but that the use of fossil fuel be taxed for the benefit of the U.N. This is just another attempt to secure independent financing.

There is no justification for the United States to pay 22-percent of the U.N. budget, and 25-percent of the U.N. peacekeeping budget. Payments to the U.N. do not stop with the annual dues to the U.N. General Assembly. The U.S. pays 22-percent of the budget of every U.N. agency to which it belongs. The UNFCCC, for example, has a separate budget from the U.N. The U.S. funds 22-percent – at least. This money goes to pay the expenses of many of the delegates from developing countries who consistently vote against the interests of the United States. This is nothing short of madness.

It is high time the U.S. got out of the U.N. and kicked the U.N. out of the U.S.

Rep. Ron Paul has, once again, introduced his famous “American Sovereignty Restoration Act – HR1146. This bill would repeal the United Nations Participation Act from 1945, stop all funds to all U.N. agencies, and give all U.N. agencies two years to vacate U.S. property.

Rep. Paul has introduced this bill into every Congress. In every Congress, the bill has died from lack of support. The new crop of freshmen legislators may have more backbone than the legislators they replaced. In the past, it was not cool in Washington to be seen too close to Ron Paul. It certainly was not politically correct to criticize the U.N., and certainly not to advocate for its demise.

This is an issue that Tea Party people should embrace and encourage their representatives to embrace. It is amazing how a few phone calls, emails, and visits to district offices can stiffen the backbone of elected officials. Now is the time to change the mind-set in Washington. U.N. lovers should become an endangered species in Washington.

Republicans who love the U.N. should be summarily dismissed, starting with Richard Lugar, Ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. If he had his way, the Convention on the Law of the Sea, and every other proposed U.N. treaty would become law. These folks, whether Democrat or Republican, need to know that rank-and-file Americans neither need nor want the U.N. in the United States.

There is a year and a half before a new Congress convenes. Perhaps this is the Congress that will stand up to the U.N. and enact Rep. Ron Paul’s American Sovereignty Restoration Act.

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Henry Lamb, is the author of “The Rise of Global Governance,” Chairman of Sovereignty International , and founder of the Environmental Conservation Organization (ECO) and Freedom21, Inc..