Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) (AP Photo)
(CNSNews.com) – The chair of the U.S House Foreign Affairs Committee said Monday she will introduce legislation that makes U.S. funding for the United Nations contingent on reform. It also calls for the U.S. to withdraw from the Human Rights Council.
Describing the Obama administration’s attempts to reform the HRC as a failure, Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen said the U.S. should quit the HRC and “explore credible, alternative forums to advance human rights.”
The Florida Republican’s statement came as the Geneva-based HRC began the final week of a month-long session in which it will adopt up to six resolutions condemning Israel.
The disproportionate attention given by the 47-member HRC to Israel was one of the main reasons cited by the Bush administration for staying away from the council.
Ros-Lehtinen’s comments on the HRC formed part of a broader statement announcing her intention to introduce a revised version of a bill she first put forward in 2007.
“Its fundamental principle will be ‘reform first, pay later,’” she said in a statement Monday. “I hope that my colleagues on both sides of the aisle will partner with me on this important issue. Fixing the U.N. is a vital American interest.”
Ros-Lehtinen outlined four lessons she said were learned from previous reform efforts – money talks; U.S. leadership matters; don’t settle for cosmetic changes; don’t cite good U.N. activities to justify bad ones.
“I am not interested in tearing down the U.N. or withdrawing the United States from that body,” she said. “I believe that we must focus on how to fix the U.N. to make it more transparent, accountable, and effective.”
When it comes to the Human Rights Council, however, Ros-Lehtinen implied it was beyond redemption.
“Israel is the only country on the council’s permanent agenda, while abuses by rogue regimes like Cuba, China, and Syria are ignored,” she said.
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