Just how much money does the United States spend on the United Nations every year? You won't believe the answer (or perhaps you will):
Those who know aren't saying.
In its fiscal 2014 State and Foreign Operations budget proposal
released in April, the Obama administration asked for $1.57 billion for
contributions to international organizations, including $617.6 million
for the U.N. operating budget — up from $568.8 million in fiscal 2012.
But other agencies giving to the U.N. include the
Departments of Labor, Energy, Agriculture, Defense, and Health and
Human Services, CNS News reported.
Fiscal 2007 legislation stipulated that the
Office of Budget and Management (OMB) report all federal agencies'
contributions, but the requirement expired in 2011.
Now Republican Sens. Mike Enzi of Wyoming and
Mike Lee of Utah, and others, are submitting legislation that would
reinstate the requirement.
"It's disturbing that no one, including our
ambassador to the United Nations, knows exactly how much money we send
the U.N. every year," Enzi said in a statement.
"With a national debt exceeding $17 trillion, we
need to be able to account for every dime we spend, including what we
send to the U.N."
And here's a hint of how much the US is really spending:
The last OMB report to Congress on U.N. contributions was issued in
June 2011 and covered fiscal 2010. It showed that State was just one of
17 government agencies giving money to U.N. organizations, funds,
affiliates and other bodies, and the total expenditure that year was
$7.69 billion — more than 10 times the amount requested for State in
fiscal 2014.
In addition to the billions being contributed to
various bodies within the U.N. system, the United States provides 22
percent of the U.N.'s operating budget, more than twice as much as the
No. 2 contributor, Japan (10.8 percent).
Your tax dollars at work! What could go wrong?
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