President Obama entered office vowing to fully pay
U.S. dues to international organizations, but his administration's efforts to
do so have hit a snag: Tom Coburn.
Today comes
word that the State Department is circulating a memo on Capitol Hill opposing a
measure by the Oklahoma Senator that
would shift funds currently designated for U.S. contributions to the United
Nations for new benefits for American veterans.
The document points out that the U.S. has just
finally paid its back bill owed to the U.N. after 10 years of being in arrears.
"The full payment of assessed contributions affects
the standing and influence that the U.S. has at these organizations," the State
Department memo reads. "As we call upon others to help reform and strengthen
the UN, the United States must do its part -- and pay its bills."
Foggy Bottom is just the latest actor to be roped
into Coburn's ongoing feud with Veterans' Affairs Committee Chairman Daniel Akaka, D-HI, over Akaka's bill
to authorize money for family caregivers tending to injured soldiers returning
home from Iraq and Afghanistan and other new benefits that the Congressional
Budget Office estimates will cost $3.7 billion. Akaka's bill has wide support,
but Coburn has been holding it up as part of his promise to oppose any bill
that isn't specifically paid for in advance.
The fight got dramatic last week when Akaka held a
press conference to criticize Coburn's intransigence and Coburn showed up and
sat in the front row. Coburn waved smugly at Akaka during the event and then
got up and held his own impromptu presser to defend his position. Senate
Democrats were not amused.
Late Tuesday, the Democrats and Republicans came to
an agreement to vote on the bill, including a separate vote on Coburn's
amendment.
"Paying for veterans' benefits is a cost of war; this
is not the appropriate place or time for a debate about the United Nations,"
Akaka's spokesman Jesse Broder Van Dyke
told The Cable. "Diplomacy can
prevent wars so we shouldn't shortchange that. Our veterans shouldn't be used
as pawns in that debate."
Coburn
spokesman John Hart disagreed. "Dr.
Coburn hopes his colleagues will put the needs of our wounded veterans ahead of
the wishes of corrupt bureaucrats at the United Nations," he told The Cable.
The vote on Coburn's amendment will probably come
tomorrow.
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