UN Ambassador Nikki Haley announced that the United States negotiated a $285 million cut in the United Nations’ “bloated” budget for next year. “We will no longer let the generosity of the American people be taken advantage of or remain unchecked,” Haley said.
“In addition to these significant cost savings, we reduced the UN’s bloated management and support functions, bolstered support for key US priorities throughout the world and instilled more discipline and accountability throughout the UN system,” the statement said.
Haley’s announcement came just days after she slammed the UN for “singling out” the United States and voting on a resolution to oppose President Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. “The United States will remember this day in which it was singled out in this assembly for the very act of exercising our right as a sovereign nation,” Haley said ahead of last week’s vote. “We will remember it when, once again, we are called up to make the world’s largest contribution to the UN, and we will remember it when many countries come calling on us to pay even more and to use our influence for their benefit.”
In the past, waste of previous foreign aids were debated. Watch Senator Rand Paul’s speech In this clip. Rand Paul: Politicians are more COMPASSIONATE when they give out SOMEONE ELSE’s money! We Spent $45 million for a natural gas station in Afghanistan; we spend money on home mortgages in Nigeria, on tourism in Albania, on lower Cambodia’s insurance, on teaching people in Kenya how to use Facebook. “What about building our country?” “Why is the U.S. tax payer asked to pay for a cricket league in Afghanistan?”
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Calling it “a big step in the right direction,” U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley on Sunday night announced a historic reduction in the U.N. biennial operating budget.
Haley said the plan calls for a $285 million cut for the 2018-19 fiscal year.
“The inefficiency and overspending of the United Nations are well known,” Haley said. “We will no longer let the generosity of the American people be taken advantage of or remain unchecked.”
She added, “This historic reduction in spending – in addition to many other moves toward a more efficient and accountable U.N. – is a big step in the right direction.”
The U.N. budget now covers a two-year period, beginning in January of an even-numbered year.
The United States was seeking a $250 million cut to the U.N. budget for 2018-19, on top of $200 million in savings already proposed by U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Agence France-Presse reported two weeks ago.
Guterres has proposed capping the U.N. biennial budget at $5.4 billion, shaving off $200 million from the 2016-17 budget.
The U.S. pays about 22 percent of the U.N.’s budget, or roughly $3.3 billion, and 28 percent of its peacekeeping effort.
The U.N.’s operating budget is separate from its peacekeeping budget, which was cut by $600 million this year, under pressure from President Donald Trump, AFP reported.
Trump last week threatened to cut off financial aid to countries that voted in favor of a draft U.N. resolution calling for the U.S. to withdraw its decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
The final tally was 128-9, with 35 nations abstaining, including five members of the European Union.
The former South Carolina governor went on the warpath last week over the UN’s resolution — and said the US would be “taking names,” as a result.
“The United States will remember this day in which it was singled out in this assembly for the very act of exercising our right as a sovereign nation,” Haley told member nations ahead of their vote.
“We will remember it when, once again, we are called up to make the world’s largest contribution to the UN, and we will remember it when many countries come calling on us to pay even more and to use our influence for their benefit.”
Haley’s full transcript is as follows:
US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley spoke to the UN General Assembly ahead of its vote on the status of Jerusalem, December 21, 2017
To its shame, the United Nations has long been a hostile place for the state of Israel. Both the current and the previous Secretary-Generals have objected to the UN’s disproportionate focus on Israel. It’s a wrong that undermines the credibility of this institution, and that in turn is harmful for the entire world.
I’ve often wondered why, in the face of such hostility, Israel has chosen to remain a member of this body. And then I remember that Israel has chosen to remain in this institution because it’s important to stand up for yourself. Israel must stand up for its own survival as a nation; but it also stands up for the ideals of freedom and human dignity that the United Nations is supposed to be about.
Standing here today, being forced to defend sovereignty and the integrity of my country – the United States of America – many of the same thoughts have come to mind. The United States is by far the single largest contributor to the United Nations and its agencies. We do this, in part, in order to advance our values and our interests. When that happens, our participation in the UN produces great good for the world. Together we feed, clothe, and educate desperate people. We nurture and sustain fragile peace in conflict areas throughout the world. And we hold outlaw regimes accountable. We do this because it represents who we are. It is our American way.
But we’ll be honest with you. When we make generous contributions to the UN, we also have a legitimate expectation that our good will is recognized and respected. When a nation is singled out for attack in this organization, that nation is disrespected. What’s more, that nation is asked to pay for the “privilege” of being disrespected.
In the case of the United States, we are asked to pay more than anyone else for that dubious privilege. Unlike in some UN member countries, the United States government is answerable to its people. As such, we have an obligation to acknowledge when our political and financial capital is being poorly spent.
We have an obligation to demand more for our investment. And if our investment fails, we have an obligation to spend our resources in more productive ways. Those are the thoughts that come to mind when we consider the resolution before us today.
The arguments about the President’s decision to move the American embassy to Jerusalem have already been made. They are by now well known. The decision was in accordance to U.S. law dating back to 1995, and it’s position has been repeatedly endorsed by the American people ever since. The decision does not prejudge any final status issues, including Jerusalem’s boundaries. The decision does not preclude a two-state solution, if the parties agree to that. The decision does nothing to harm peace efforts. Rather, the President’s decision reflects the will of the American people and our right as a nation to choose the location of our embassy. There is no need to describe it further.
Instead, there is a larger point to make. The United States will remember this day in which it was singled out for attack in the General Assembly for the very act of exercising our right as a sovereign nation. We will remember it when we are called upon to once again make the world’s largest contribution to the United Nations. And we will remember it when so many countries come calling on us, as they so often do, to pay even more and to use our influence for their benefit.
America will put our embassy in Jerusalem. That is what the American people want us to do, and it is the right thing to do. No vote in the United Nations will make any difference on that.
But this vote will make a difference on how Americans look at the UN and on how we look at countries who disrespect us in the UN. And this vote will be remembered.
Thank you.
In the past, waste of previous foreign aids were debated. Watch Senator Rand Paul’s speech In this clip. Rand Paul: Politicians are more COMPASSIONATE when they give out SOMEONE ELSE’s money! We Spent $45 million for a natural gas station in Afghanistan; we spend money on home mortgages in Nigeria, on tourism in Albania, on lower Cambodia’s insurance, on teaching people in Kenya how to use Facebook.
“What about building our country?” “Why is the U.S. tax payer asked to pay for a cricket league in Afghanistan?”
“We send billions and billions of dollars to countries who hate us.” “We send billions and billions of dollars to countries who burn our flags.”
We spend over $100 billion dollars to blow up roads and rebuild them in Afghanistan. “What about building our country?”
“In the foreign aid account, we spent $273 million dollars last year teaching people how to apply for more of our money.”
We spent $1 million for a televised cricket league in Afghanistan. “The only problem, they don’t really have any televisions.” “Why is the U.S. tax payer asked to pay for a cricket league in Afghanistan?”
We spent $45 million for a natural gas station in Afghanistan with an original estimate of $0.5 million. But nobody in Afghanistan has natural gas cars. “So we bought them cars.” “These are the people who chant ‘death of America’”
“We are spending money on home mortgages in Nigeria. We spent money on tourism in Albania.”
“We spent money on teaching people in Kenya how to use Facebook”
“What about building our country?”
“They are giving away your grandchildren’s money”
“We have US A.I.D. money going to Cambodia to help them get cost effective or lower cost insurance.” “We couldn’t even do anything with the health care in our country.”
Nikki Haley negotiated $285M cut in ‘bloated’ UN budget: https://t.co/OI9N6ui3ef via @YouTube
— HYGO News (@HygoNews) December 25, 2017