Tom Lantos: “Mr. Chairman, arguably the most respected Republican Secretary of State of recent decades is George Shultz. In 1984…”

“Mr. Chairman, arguably the most respected Republican Secretary of State of recent decades is George Shultz. In 1984, Secretary Shultz recommended that we withdraw from the United Nations; and many of us, myself included, supported him because the UNESCO at that time was a corrupt anti-American organization. It has cleaned up its act. Our former Secretary of State, Republican George Shultz, and our former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, Democrat, are recommending now that we rejoin UNESCO. I find it almost ludicrous that we spent the previous hour debating the United States being voted off a U.N. body. Here we have an opportunity of joining a U.N. body, the Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. It is waiting for us with open arms. We are debating as to whether we should enter an organization which has over 180 members. The United States is conspicuous by its absence, and the lack of a United States voice on UNESCO is hurting our foreign policy and international interests. I urge all of my colleagues to reject the amendment of the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Tancredo), to preserve the action taken in the Committee on International Relations, and usher in a new era of U.S. participation in UNESCO.”