Rep. Buchanan (FL-13): UN “Inefficient.” “Inconsistent.” “Unpredictable.”

Congressman Vern Buchanan in an email to constituents cited a report calling the United Nations inefficient, inconsistent and unpredictable.”  

Read the full text of his email below:

America is one of 193 member countries of the United Nations, yet it pays nearly 25 percent of the organization’s cost. It would be one thing if we were getting our money’s worth. But a scathing new report exposes gross waste and inefficiency. And who prepared the report? The U.N.’s own internal watchdog — the Joint Inspection Unit.

“Inefficient.” “Inconsistent.” “Unpredictable.”  

These were just a few of the adjectives the watchdog group used to describe the U.N.’s humanitarian aid practices. In its report issued earlier this month, the Inspection Unit cited multiple instances where basic global relief efforts were only “partly met” and where the reporting and monitoring of humanitarian financing remained “somewhat elusive.”

This is unacceptable.

For over 60 years, the United States has been the largest contributor to the U.N., giving a whopping $3.5 billion each year. Over the years, audits and inspections of the U.N. have unveiled repeated cases of waste, fraud and abuse. Few can forget the recent scandal involving the U.N.’s procurement department revealing that over 40 percent of the agency’s peacekeeping contracts were tainted by fraud.

It’s bad enough that the world’s largest and most prominent international organization struggles to manage its own finances. It’s even worse when you consider who is predominantly footing the bill for this mismanagement — the American taxpayer.

At a time when America faces unprecedented fiscal challenges, we simply cannot afford to be wasting tax dollars on ineffective overseas projects that lack full transparency and accountability. That’s why I have voted to cut off spending taxpayer dollars on dues to the United Nations. We need to take care of America first.

As always, please let me know what you think.

Vern

This email comes as the Obama administration is pushing a UN arms control treaty through the US Senate. According  Theodore R. Bromund, Ph.D. from the Heritage Foundation, “One of the most important disputes in the negotiation of the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) at the United Nations is the question of whether the treaty should include a customary international law (CIL) criterion. This is a complex question. It is also one fraught with considerable risks for the United States, which should firmly oppose the introduction of such a criterion into the treaty.”