USA to save money on UN

A bill reducing US fees to the UN was approved by the US Congress yesterday evening, ITAR-TASS reports.

The document was initiated by Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. The officials and her Republican colleagues proposed a new system of budget formation. Each state pays regular fees. The fees are set by the UN General Assembly once every three years. This includes the economic level of each state and the population. The US is a leading payer, covering 22% of the UN budget and 27% of peacekeeping expenses.

Ros-Lehtinen believes that the budget should be formed from donations. Thus, the US should pay for the programs it is interested in and suit its interests. Most votes belong to the Republicans so the document may pass the Congress, but not the Senate, where most seats belong to the Democrats. Barack Obama’s administration says that it does not want to reduce UN financing. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that she would not recommend the president to veto the bill.