Dick Lugar: “I rise to join Senator Norm Coleman in introducing the United Nations Management, Personnel, and Policy Reform Act of…”

“I rise to join Senator Norm Coleman in introducing the United Nations Management, Personnel, and Policy Reform Act of 2005. United Nations reform is not a new issue. The structure and role of the United Nations have been debated in our country almost continuously since the U.N. was established in 1945. But in 2005, we may have a unique opportunity to improve the operations of the UN. The revelations of the Oil-For-Food scandal and the urgency of strengthening global cooperation to address terrorism, the AIDS crisis, nuclear proliferation, and many other international problems have created momentum in favor of constructive reforms at the UN. We have ample evidence that the United Nations is in need of reform. The Foreign Relations Committee held the first Congressional hearing on the UN's Oil-for-Food scandal a year ago last April. Since that time, through the work of Paul Volcker, Senator Coleman, and many others, we have learned much more about the extent of the corruption and mismanagement involved. Senator Coleman's hard work as a Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and as the Chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations has provided the Senate with extensive knowledge of what went wrong in the Oil-for-Food Program.…”