By Brandon Moseley
Alabama Political Reporter
Congressman Mo Brooks (R) from Huntsville proposed adding language to the Department of State Operations and Embassy Security Authorization Act for 2014, which would require that the Office of Management and Budget provide the Congress with annual report of all taxpayer contributions to the United Nations. The House Foreign Affairs Committee passed H.R. 2848 Department of State Operations and Embassy Security Authorization Act for FY2014, including Representative Brooks’ proposal.
Congressman Brooks said in a written statement, “I am very pleased that the Department of State Authorization Act includes my proposal to increase the transparency of United Nations (UN) funding. In the past, UN funding has proved difficult for both lawmakers and the public to track, and the purpose of this bill is to lift the veil on the funding process, and provide the same transparency that our laws require for many other uses of American taxpayer dollars.”
Rep. Brooks continued, “Specifically, there is no mechanism in place to provide funding information on the UN to the public in a single, accessible location. My language included in the Department of State Authorization Act will require the Office of Management and Budget to provide an annual report of all United States government contributions to the UN, including in-kind donations. This is an important step in making sure that American taxpayers have access to information about where their taxes are spent, in all areas of the Federal Government.”
Rep. Brooks sponsored H.R. 2099 Improve Transparency of UN Funding. H.R. 2099 was then incorporated word for word into the state department authorization bill, H.R. 2848.
The Department of State Operations and Embassy Security Authorization Act for FY2014 still has to pass on the House floor. If so it will then move to the U.S. Senate and if successful there, President Barack Obama would still have to sign the act for it to become law.
According to ‘National Review’ in 2010 the United States government funneled $7.691 billion to the United Nations…..far more than any other country.
Congressman Brooks is a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and is a members of the Subcommittees on Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade, and Asia and the Pacific. He represents Alabama’s Fifth Congressional District and is in his second term in the U.S. House of Representatives.
