Republican Proposal Would Prohibit Transfer of Critical National Security Program to the United Nations
Washington,
Jan 9, 2007 -
THE ISSUE
Today, in H.R. 1, Democrats will bring legislation to the
House floor supporting the transfer of responsibility for a critical national
security program to the United Nations. House Republicans will offer a
motion to block it.
The Democrat bill supports placing the Proliferation
Security Initiative (PSI) under the purview of the United Nations. This 9/11 Commission report recognized the
PSI as an effective program and suggested it be expanded – the Commission did
not recommend placing PSI under the UN or any other multilateral regime, nor
did it suggest it needed to authorized explicitly in international law.
The PSI is a critical national security initiative –
organized by the United
States and involving a number of countries –
that uses diplomacy, intelligence, and other counterproliferation tools to stop
the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. The PSI was a key
deterrent to Libya’s
nuclear weapons programs, and its dismantling was responsible for uncovering
the nuclear “black market” run by Pakistani A.Q. Khan.
The Democrat proposal would force the United States
to seek the permission of foreign governments before attempting to interdict
illicit WMD material. And it would provide all members of the UN access
to the strategies, routes, and participating countries in the PSI, undermining
the effectiveness of the program
THE REPUBLICAN RESPONSE
House Republicans will offer a motion-to-recommit that would
prohibit this transfer of responsibility and make clear that America’s national security is the
responsibility of America
alone. The Republican motion reads, in
part, that:
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“…the responsibility for ensuring the security of the
American people rests exclusively with the Government of the United States
and should not be delegated in whole or in part to any international
organization, agency, or tribunal or to the government of any other country…”
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