Up for Grabs, it appears


"For years, an annual controversy has erupted over whether the United States owes member dues to the United Nations. The controversy has led many critics to label the United States a "deadbeat" nation, unwilling to pay its "fair share" to support the world body. Opponents counter that the United Nations actually owes the United States money: The United States has continually footed the bill for peacekeeping activities, well beyond its required share. The United Nations has failed to repay that money.

"To unravel this accounting mystery and decipher the true state of affairs, we must take a look at some of the history and bookkeeping of the last several years.

"Who Owes Whom?
In 1997, this issue made headlines when Rep. Roscoe Bartlett (R-Maryland) introduced the United Nations Erroneous Debt Act. Bartlett pointed out that, according to a 1996 General Accounting Office (GAO) Report for fiscal years 1992-1995, the United Nations actually owes money to the United States. Between 1992 and 1995, the United States spent $6.6 billion on peacekeeping activities in Haiti, the former Yugoslavia, Rwanda and Somalia. Of this amount, the United Nations reimbursed the United States for only $79.4 million. And of the original $6.6 billion, the United Nations was only willing to count $1.8 million toward U.S. dues.1

Hence, the congressman did some calculations:

$6 .6 billion - U.S. voluntarily paid for peacekeeping
- $1 .8 billion - U.N. counted toward U.S. dues/assessments
$4 .8 billion - U.N. owes to U.S.
- $0 .079 billion - U.N. paid to U.S.
$4 .7 billion - U.N. owes to U.S.
- $1 .3 billion - U.S. "debt" to U.N. (according to Kofi Annan*)
$3 .4 billion - final figure: U.N. owes to U.S.

* Kofi Annan is the Secretary General of the United Nations

"Based on these calculations, Rep. Bartlett concluded that the United States owed no money to the United Nations. In fact, the United Nations owed the United States $3.4 billion. He designed his bill to stop all U.S. payments of assessed or voluntary contributions to the United Nations until our nation's overpayments have been credited or reimbursed.

"The Administration's Response
The Clinton administration argued that the congressman and his supporters came to "flawed conclusions." A fact sheet released by the U.S. State Department in 1998 stated that the United States should not expect reimbursements for all U.N.-sanctioned peacekeeping operations. "When the U.S. undertakes peacekeeping operations that are not under U.N. control, it does so without any expectation of U.N. reimbursement," the document states.

"Therefore, it would seem that, under this definition, anytime the United States takes military action to assist or carryout a U.N. resolution, we have to foot the bill. The administration is saying the United States has a right to require reimbursement only when it has yielded its sovereignty by placing American troops under foreign control."