The US House Appropriations Committee on Thursday approved an initial foreign operations bill that provides $3.3 billion for Israeli security and does not fund an Iran deal and the United Nations general budget.
“It should come as no surprise that no funds are included in this bill for the UN regular budget,” Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Florida) said.
The committee’s passage of the $52b. bill is an initial step toward the formation of the US’s foreign operations budget. It is expected to undergo many changes before it is approved by the full chambers of the House and the Senate.
It presented a heavily Republican agenda, including prohibiting funding for organizations that back abortions and cutting environmental support, which run counter to the policies of the Biden administration and the Democratic Party.
“This bill cedes America’s position as the leader of the global community to our adversaries, Russia, China, [and] Iran,” Rep. Rose DeLauro (D-Connecticut) said prior to the bill’s passage.
Support for Israeli security
“It fails to protect America, and it weakens our national security,” she said, adding that it “is a reversal of the US’s historic position on the world stage.”
Diaz-Balart lauded the bill, particularly its commitment to fulfilling the terms of the US memorandum of understanding by which Israel is provided with $3.3b. annually in military assistance.
“It also includes a new prohibition on funding for any nuclear agreement with Iran until… such an agreement is submitted to Congress and ratified by the Senate,” he said.
Diaz-Balart said his support for the bill focused on the need to defund the UN general budget.
According to the UN, the US contribution to its general budget last year was assessed at $707.8 million, which amounts to some 22% of the overall $3.2b. budget. Countries that fail to pay their assessed contributions risk losing voting rights.
The bill’s stance on the UN comes as the Biden administration has sought to reengage with the international body after former US president Donald Trump pulled out of a number of its institutions.
The UN Security Council had been chaired by Russia in April, Iran was slated to be the next UN General Assembly vice president, and Cuba is on the UN Human Rights Council, Diaz-Balart told the committee. In addition, North Korea has become one of the newest members of the World Health Organization, he said.
“While the world’s worst human-rights abusers ascend in UN bodies, Israel routinely faces biased and unjustified attacks and is undermined across the UN. system,” Diaz-Balart said.
“The ineffectiveness and egregious failures of the United Nations and UN bodies is counter to the goals and priorities of this bill, and they do not merit the support of the American people,” he said.
The bill also prohibits direct funding to the Palestinian Authority due to its policy of providing monthly stipends for terrorists and their family members. It also strengthens the standard that the UN Relief and Works Agency must prohibit antisemitism prior to receiving US funding.