Helms lectures U.N. to stay within its bounds, calls for
reform
January 20, 2000
Web posted at: 1:52 p.m. EST (1852 GMT)
UNITED NATIONS (CNN) -- U.S. Sen. Jesse Helms of North Carolina, one of the U.N.'s harshest critics, lectured the Security Council on Thursday, warning the United Nations not to overstep its bounds.
"If the United Nations is to survive into the 21st
century, it must recognize its limitations," said Helms, the
Republican chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations
Committee.
"A United Nations that focuses on helping sovereign states
work together is worth keeping. A United Nations that insists
on trying to impose a utopian vision on America and the world
will collapse of its own weight," said Helms.
"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 U.S.
withdrawal."
Helms, who the U.N. said is the first U.S. senator to
speak to the Security Council, was invited by U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Richard Holbrooke.
Helms said the American people want the United Nations "to
serve the purpose for which it was designed: They want it to
help sovereign states coordinate collection action by
'coalitions of the willing'-- where the political (will) for such action exists."
Helms said as matters stand now, "many Americans sense
that the U.N. has greater ambitions than simply being an
efficient deliverer of humanitarian aid, a more effective
peacekeeper, a better weapons inspector, and a more effective
tool of great power diplomacy.
"They see the U.N. aspiring to
establish itself as the central authority of a new
international order of global laws and global governance.
This is an international order the American people will not
countenance."
Many Americans, said Helms, do not feel the United Nations
gives it the respect and appreciation it deserves, and he
said they "expect a reformed U.N. that works more
efficiently, and which respects the sovereignty of the United
States."
Helms said the U.S. Congress has moved to pay its back
dues to the United Nations but those payments are not coming without a price.
"Congress has written a check to the United Nations for
$926 million, payable upon the implementation of previously
agreed-upon common-sense reforms," said Helms. "Now the choice is up to the U.N. I suggest that if the U.N. were to reject this compromise, it would mark the beginning of the end of U.S. support for the United Nations. I don't want that to happen."
Helms said he did not intend for his frank remarks to be
offensive. He noted that the Senate Foreign Relations
Committee that he chairs will hold "field hearings" at the
United Nations to discuss reform and improved relations.
He also invited U.N. officials to Washington to be guests
of the Senate and his committee.
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