"In the aftermath of the 70th session of the UN General Assembly, we are painfully reminded of just how far the UN has strayed from its once noble mission and how desperately that institution is in need of drastic reform. The UN has now become the tool of choice for enemies of freedom, peace and stability: from Abu Mazen continuing to undermine the peace process by seeking unilateral statehood to Russia doing everything in its power to protect the Assad regime in Syria, it is clear that the UN is being manipulated by obstructionists and cronyism, undermining any real effort at resolving many of the world's most pressing issues.
Millions of Syrians are in desperate need of some form of assistance, ISIL is threatening to eradicate ancient ethnic and religious minority communities in the Middle East, and instead of bringing the nations of the world together to address and resolve these crises, the UN is in a state of paralysis and fecklessness. The UN has become an institution that other nations use to undermine our national security interests and block our foreign policy, yet at the same time it benefits from our generosity...
Each year, the U.S. assessment of the UN budget is 22 percent, and 27 percent of all Peacekeeping Operations. That is by far the largest single assessed contribution for both, and it amounts to billions of dollars. And what is the return on investment? Two-thirds of the UN member countries pay a combined total of around 1 percent of the entire UN budget, yet these countries can outvote and outmaneuver any U.S. initiative they oppose. Tyrants in Iran, Cuba, North Korea and elsewhere use the UN to stymie American-led proposals and to disseminate anti-U.S. and anti-Israel propaganda; and we're paying for them to do it. The dysfunctionality and hypocrisy at the UN are rampant: some of the world's worst human rights violators sit on the Human Rights Council; countries that summarily stone women have been selected to the Commission on the Status of Women; and, nations under UN Security Council sanctions for violating their nonproliferation obligations were selected to chair a conference on disarmament...
Last week, during his speech to the UN General Assembly, President Obama missed a golden opportunity to address the need for reform at that institution in order to return it back to the principles it was founded upon. Instead, the president took partisan swipes at Congress and used the pulpit to abdicate American leadership on the world stage regarding the most pressing security issues to a body that has proven time and again its feebleness and indifference. Last week was an opportunity for the president to lead the global community; to press for reforms at the United Nations so that it could one day be a body that helps maintain peace and stability throughout the world and promote the respect for human rights and the rule of law. But the president opted to take the path of least resistance. That is why Congress needs to take the lead in the effort to fix this broken system, for the interests of the U.S. taxpayer and our national security."