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will also require the UN to reimburse the American taxpayers for U.S.

contributions to UN peacekeeping operations. This means the U.S.

defense budget will no longer be raided to support UN experimentation

with such operations. . . .

Most important, this bill prohibits the payment by the American

taxpayers of any so-called "UN arrears" until the tough benchmarks have

been met by the UN.23

The bill's reference to seeking reimbursement or credit from the United Nations is

noteworthy. In fact, however, the provision on reimbursement referred only to future

operations. Moreover, the bill permitted the president to waive the provision "if he

determines that an important national interest exists."24 That was precisely what the

administration had been doing all along, without of course issuing a formal waiver.

Indeed, it is difficult to conceive of the administration's providing such peacekeeping

assistance to the United Nations without claiming that it is somehow in our national

interest. Thus, the Helms bill would not prevent the diversion of money to the UN but

would only require some additional paperwork.

Senator Helms's reference to the "so-called" arrears is most interesting because it

seemed to reflect his awareness that the money in question is not a debt in the true sense

of the word. During a February 15, 1997, appearance on the CNN Evans & Novak

program, he referred to the "arrears" but then pointed to the other side of the issue. "I

forget how much it is--it's about two billion dollars worth of expenditures that the United

States, meaning the American taxpayer, have made to support activities of the UN that

nobody has even thought about reimbursing the American people for."

His observation was misleading on two counts. First, it implied that somebody

should have thought about reimbursing the American people but no one did. That

comment ignored the role that Bartlett and other critics of the United Nations have played

in citing the failure to reimburse. Second, the actual figure for peacekeeping assistance is

far higher than Helms reported.

In any case, the Senate-passed UN "reform" bill pushed by Helms was derailed

when Congress and the administration could not come to an agreement on the abortion-

related matter noted earlier. That has brought the issue of the so-called UN debt to the

forefront once again.

Improper or Illegal Diversion of Funds

In deciding whether to pay the alleged arrears, Con-gress has the authority to

review all forms of assistance to the United Nations and determine whether the United

States has been given adequate credit for its peacekeeping expenditures. Although there