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tion.14 Bartlett insists that Congress is merely exercising its constitutional authority in

deciding what, if anything, to pay, and under what conditions to pay it.

Is the United States Obligated to Pay the United Nations?

Bartlett's approach has received support from former assistant secretary of state

John Bolton, who argues that paying "arrearages" to the United Nations is completely up

to Congress and that, under the U.S. Constitution, the legislative branch retains the power

and authority to decide what to pay the United Nations.15

Although there is some debate about whether a treaty can supersede the U.S.

Constitution (Bolton contends that it cannot), that is a moot point with regard to the debt

issue. The reality is that the UN Charter does not require mandatory payments from any

nation. Article 17 of the Charter says,

1. The General Assembly shall consider and approve the budget of the

Organization.

2. The expenses of the Organization shall be borne by the Members as

apportioned by the General Assembly.16

Even though the charter speaks of a nation's being "in arrears in the payment of its

financial contributions," it provides no mechanism for collecting the money. Hence, the

contributions become, in practical terms, voluntary in nature. It is true that Section 2 uses

the phrase "shall be borne," but the context in which that phrase appears suggests that the

intent is to make certain that the world body is financed by countries, not special interests

outside the organization--a point that is directly germane to the $1 billion "gift" recently

announced by media magnate Ted Turner.

Financial contributions to the United Nations have routinely been labeled "assess-

ments" by UN officials. However, if the intention had been to compel nations to pay

certain amounts, the financial contributions would have been tantamount to a tax, and it is

extremely doubtful whether the charter would ever have been ratified under those cir-

cumstances. Instead, the charter merely specifies that a nation "shall have no vote in the

General Assembly if the amount of its arrears equals or exceeds the amount of con-

tributions due from it for the preceding two years."17 Thus, the only "punishment" for

nations that do not pay certain specified amounts is the loss of voting rights. It is ex-

tremely doubtful that such a punishment would be meted out to the United States since

America has been the major financial supporter of the United Nations over the organiza-

tion's 52-year history. Indeed, a denial of voting rights to the United States might prompt

calls for a complete U.S. withdrawal from the world body.

The question of arrears, then, becomes a dispute involving the United Nations and