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The source and amounts of all U.S. funding to the myriad number of organizations affiliated with the United Nations are difficult to track accurately. This difficulty prompted Congress to pass legislation requiring the Administration to report annually on U.S. contributions to the U.N. A recent report to Congress by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on all U.S. funding to the U.N. system revealed that U.S. contributions to the U.N. system reached record levels in fiscal year (FY) 2009. Considering budget trends, U.S. contributions will continue to rise. Having an accurate account of U.S. contributions to the U.N. is...

(CNSNews.com) – Amid continuing calls to reduce U.S. funding of the United Nations, two senior Obama administration officials this week gave speeches asserting the importance of full – and fully-paid up – engagement with the world body. U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Susan Rice addressed the United Nations Association of the United States (UNA-USA) on Monday, urging the advocacy group to help the administration make the case to the American people that “the U.N. plays an indispensable role in advancing our interests and defending our values.” On Wednesday Esther Brimmer, the assistant secretary of state for international organization affairs, took...

Reading "Masters and Commanders," Andrew Roberts's magnificent account of British and American leaders in World War II, I was struck by how many of them, working prodigious hours and under great strain, were struck down by heart attacks while in their 60s. This doesn't happen anymore, I thought, with the blood pressure and cholesterol medicines many of us routinely take. But it does, as we were reminded by the sudden death at age 69 this week of Richard Holbrooke, who was working prodigiously as Barack Obama's special representative for AfPak, i.e., Afghanistan and Pakistan. Holbrooke was known in cynical Washington...

Copyright 1999 Toronto Star Newspapers, Ltd. The Toronto Star November 4, 1999, Thursday, Edition 1 SECTION: NEWS LENGTH: 648 words HEADLINE: CONTRITE U.S. POLITICIANS SLAM NON-PAYMENT OF U.N. DUES BYLINE: Kathleen Kenna BODY: WASHINGTON - In a rare display of public humility, top American leaders yesterday expressed public shame for their nation's failure to pay its United Nations debt. Veteran senators from both Republican and Democratic parties warned the United States will suffer incalculable harm if it doesn't soon pay an estimated $1 billion (U.S.) in unpaid U.N. dues. (U.N. officials say the true debt is $1.5 billion, but Americans...

U.S. Will Pay Increased UN Dues -- Despite All By John Gizzi Despite the refusal of the United Nations Security Council to enforce its own resolutions calling for disarmament of Iraq, the administration is standing by the budget request it made in January to pay for a $90 million increase in the annual U.S. dues to the United Nations. The budget proposal submitted to Congress by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) requests an appropriation of $322 million for UN dues in Fiscal Year ’04. That’s up from the $232 million in ’03, according to the OMB. (The U.S....