HON. RON PAUL OF TEXAS
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 8, 2003

Say NO to UNESCO

Mr. Speaker, in 1984 President Ronald Reagan withdrew the United States from membership in that UNESCO, citing egregious financial mismanagement, blatant anti-Americanism, and UNESCO's general anti-freedom policies. President Reagan was correct in identifying UNESCO as an organization that does not act in America's interest, and he was correct in questioning why the United States should fund 25 percent of UNESCO's budget for that privilege.

Those calling for the United States to rejoin UNESCO claim that the organization has undertaken fundamental reforms and therefore the United States should re-join. It is strange that in the 18 years since the United States left UNESCO, we only started reading about the beginnings of reform in the year 2000. Are we to believe that after nearly two decades of no change in UNESCO's way of mismanaging itself things have changed so much in just two years? Is it worth spending $60 million per year on an organization with such a terrible history of waste, corruption, and anti-Americanism?

Mr. Speaker, even if UNESCO has been ``reforming'' its finances over the past two years, its programmatic activities are still enough to cause great concern among those of us who value American sovereignty and honor our Constitution. Consider the following as a partial list of UNESCO's ongoing highly questionable activities:

UNESCO meddles in the education affairs of its member-countries and has sought to construct a U.N.-based school curriculum for American schools.

UNESCO has been fully supportive of the United Nations' Population Fund (UNFPA) in its assistance to China's brutal coercive population control program.

UNESCO has designated 47 U.N. Biosphere Reserves in the United States covering more than 70 million acres, without Congressional consultation.

UNESCO effectively bypasses Congressional authority to manage federal lands, by establishing management policies without Congressional consultation of approval.

Mr. Speaker, I hope all members of this body will join me in opposing renewed U.S. membership in the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization by co-sponsoring this "Say NO to UNESCO'' Act.