Corrupt U.N. Council Won’t Get U.S. Money

Congress is finally working to eliminate the millions of U.S. tax dollars that annually go to the shameful Human Rights Council of the scandal-plagued United Nations.

The council was created last year to supposedly compensate for the decades-long failure of the U.N. Commission on Human Rights, which was supposed to review and promote human rights around the world. Instead, the new band aide council is an international joke with 47 members that include some of the worldâ??s most atrocious human rights violators.

Precisely because the regimes of renowned violators such as Algeria, Cuba, China, Iran, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia sit on the council the United States refused to join. But the U.S. government still sends hefty checks and lawmakers may finally end the bizarre practice.

Even the traditional liberal legislators who unconditionally supported the councilâ??Democratic senators John Kerry and Edward Kennedy among themâ??favor the funding cut. It would translate to a savings of about $3 million for U.S. taxpayers.

Last month the House of Representatives approved the cut by passing legislation sponsored by Florida Republican Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and this month the Senate passed a foreign operations bill with an amendment stating that none of the U.N. contributions would be available to the council.

The United States still gives the U.N. $5.3 billion dollars a year, despite the fact that it has failed miserably to meet its goal of maintaining international peace and security and is instead best known for its severe mismanagement and corruption.