Chris Smith: “the criticisms that have been leveled against section 501, I believe, are misplaced. The Committee on International…”

“the criticisms that have been leveled against section 501, I believe, are misplaced. The Committee on International Relations carefully considered the objection and amended the reimbursement formula in an effort to ensure that funds would be available for true peacekeeping operations even after the offsets. We have received preliminary estimates from GAO of the amount of unreimbursed incremental chapter 6 peacekeeping expenses from fiscal year 1994. These are the only true peacekeeping expenses and the only ones for which legislation, as amended, would strictly require and offset. The total amount of these expenses is about $227 million. This is some $300 million less than the administration's budget request for peacekeeping in fiscal year 1996, and about $800 million less than the peacekeeping budget for fiscal year 1995, including the supplemental appropriation. The remaining $1.5 billion in unreimbursed chapter 7 expenses for operations such as Desert Storm, Operation Deny Flight, and Uphold Democracy, which are more aptly described as peacemaking, would not require an offset provided that the President provided the necessary certification to Congress. In essence, this is a certification that the U.S. role in these operations was in its own strategic interest and not solely at the behest of the United Nations.”