Arlen Specter: “the purpose of this amendment is to express the sense of the Senate that $170 million in outlays be allocated by pay…”

“the purpose of this amendment is to express the sense of the Senate that $170 million in outlays be allocated by pay arrearages owed by the United States for U.N. peacekeeping operations. These arrearages are estimated to be as much as $1 billion by the end of this fiscal year. The sum of $170 million is obtained by reinstating certain cost now borne by the U.S. Government as subsidies for foreign arms sales. The thrust of this amendment is readily apparent, that the purpose of U.N. peacekeeping forces is a very high value for the maintenance of international peace, contrasted with the subsidies offered by the U.S. Government for the sale of arms worldwide, which is quite a detriment to the interest of peace. The sense-of-the-Senate resolution cites an exception for Israel and Egypt because of the spirit, if not the technical requirements, of the Camp David Accord exempting those two countries from any additional costs which might be incurred as a result of eliminating this subsidy. Mr. President, the administration had requested that the sum of $670 million be included in the recent dire emergency supplemental, and that request was denied when the supplemental, which was directed principally for the California earthquakes, was substantially overburdened. That request was rejected. The $670 million requested by the administration was to pay for peacekeeping forces to the United Nations.”