Jessie Helms
Speech to Security Council
Criticizing UN
January 20, 2000
Republican Sen. and Foreign Relations Chairman Jesse Helms today
delivered a speech to the United Nations Security Council. Helms,
one of the most persistent critics of the world body said,
"It's my hope that there can begin today a pattern of understanding
and friendship between you who serve your respective countries
in the United Nations, and those of us who serve not only in the
United States government, but also the millions of Americans whom
we represent." Helms added, "It's not my intent to offend
you in any way, and I hope I will not. It is my intent to extend
to you my hand of friendship and convey the hope that in the days
to come and in retrospect, we can join in a mutual respect that
will enable all of us to work together in an atmosphere of friendship
and hope -- the hope to do everything we can to achieve world
peace around the globe." Striking a more combative tone,
Helms said, "It may very well be that some of the things
that I feel obliged to say will not meet with your immediate approval,
if ever." In that respect, Helms continued, "I want
the American people to value a United Nations that recognizes
and respects their interests, and for the United Nations to value
the significant contributions by and of the American people. .
And most Americans.do not regard the United Nations as an end
in and of itself. They see it as just one aspect of American's
diplomatic arsenal. And to the extent that the United Nations
is effective, the American people will support it. To the extent
that it becomes ineffective, or worse, a burden, the American
people, through its elected representatives, will cast it aside."
Helms continued, "The American people see the United Nations
aspiring to establish itself the central authority of a new international
order of global laws and global governance. This is an international
order the America people, I guarantee you, do not and will not
countenance. The United Nations must respect national sovereignty
in the United States and everywhere else. The United Nations serves
nation-states, not the other way around. This principle is central
to the legitimacy and the ultimate survival of the United Nations,
and it is a principle that must be protected. Saying the American
people share his criticisms of the UN, Helms said, "I have
received literally thousands of communications from Americans
all across the country, expressing their deep frustration with
this institution. They know instinctively that the UN lives and
breathes on the hard-earned money of the American taxpayers, among
others. Yet, they have heard comments here in New York constantly
calling the United States a dead-beat nation. I dissent from that
and so do the American people. They have heard UN officials declaring
absurdly that countries like Fiji and Bangladesh are carrying
America's burden in peacekeeping. They've seen the majority of
the UN members routinely voting against America in the General
Assembly. They have read the reports of the ruckus cheering of
the UN delegates in Rome when US efforts to amend the International
Criminal Court Treaty to protect American soldiers were defeated.
They read in the newspapers that despite all the human rights
abuses taking place and dictatorships around the globe, a UN special
reporter deciding that his most pressing task was to investigate
human rights violations in the United States. The American people
hear all of this and they resent it." Rejecting the frequent
UN argument that that US has not paid their share of back dues
to the UN, Helms said, "Last year, the American people contributed
a total of more than $ 1.4 billion to the United Nations system
in assessments and voluntary contributions. That's pretty generous.
But it's only the tip of the iceberg. The American taxpayer also
spent an additional $ 8.779 billion from the United States military
budget to support various UN resolutions and peacekeeping operations
around the world. No other nation on Earth comes even close to
matching that investment." Helms added, "So you can
see perhaps why many Americans reject the suggestion that their
country is a deadbeat nation. And frankly, ladies and gentlemen,
I resent it too." Helms concluded, "A Untied Nations
that focuses on helping sovereign nations work together is worth
keeping; a United Nations that insists on trying to impose a utopian
vision on America and the world will collapse under its own weight.
If the United Nations respects the sovereign rights of the American
people and serves them as an effective tool of diplomacy, it will
earn their respect and support. But a United Nations that seeks
to impose its presumed authority on the American people without
their consent begs for confrontation and, I want to be candid,
eventual US withdrawal."
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