Monitoring Policy Making at the United Nations |
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James Rubin: US May be in Trouble on Article 19 James Rubin: US May be in Trouble on Article 19
Excerpt from March 12 Press Conference
of State Department Spokesperson James Rubin
Question: The Secretary General also said that he alluded to or one of his aides did yesterday that come January, if the US hasn't paid $600 million, you're going to lose your voting rights. Is that do you have any comment on that?Mr. Rubin: I don't want to commit myself to that exact date, but there are some major, major problems we face in the coming months if the Congress does not allow us to pay back the money we owe. And it would be truly an embarrassment of the highest order for the United States of America, the richest country in the world, the most powerful country in the world, the country that created the United Nations, that has seen the UN pursue the goals that the United States has laid out in the world of promoting democracy, promoting peace, have its voting rights denied because of an unrelated dispute over what should happen or not happen in conferences on family planning.
If there is a view in Congress that that's an issue that needs to be decided, let's decide it the democratic way. Let's have a vote up or down the way democracies operate, but let's not stigmatize, embarrass the United States of America before the court of world opinion at the United Nations; and let's not harm America's ability to promote America's interest in fighting terrorism, in fighting rogue states, in New York at the UN by denying the United States the funds that it owes to the United Nations by treaty.
That doesn't mean that the Congress isn't capable of stopping the money. They surely are; they have. But it is an obligation that we undertook freely, and it is something that ought to be paid because it would be an embarrassment for the United States to lose its vote and it certainly will harm our national security if we can't pursue our policies in New York.
Question: Leaving aside the date of January then, he is generally correct about that?
Mr. Rubin: There is a risk in the coming months. It's complicated as to when, because it depends on how much money you can pump in at what time. But in the coming months, we do face a genuine risk of losing our vote in the United Nations, and that would be a great embarrassment to the richest and most powerful country in the world.
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