Political Quotes

“Mr. Chairman, we are not anti-United Nations, we are not anti-reasonable peacekeeping operations. There are some good peacekeeping operations, we have to say. There have been some bungled ones, obviously. Those are the ones we need to focus on. However, let me say this, Mr. Chairman, three points. There must be some fairness in the sharing of the burden of peacekeeping in the world. The United States is being overburdened in this process. The direct contribution that we make is, as has been noted, almost a third of the total cost, not to mention the extra costs of the Department of Defense and the others in support of those missions. It is reasonable to say we are paying upwards of 60 to 70 percent of the total cost of peacekeeping missions. That is unfair. That must be addressed by the United Nations. The only way to get them to address those kinds of questions is for this Congress to be obstinate on funding. That is what we will be doing. Two, the ineptitude of the United Nations operations, both its regular operations and peacekeeping.”