No Straw Men

The Honorable Cliff Stearns
United States House of Representatives
2370 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515

Dear Congressman Stearns:

On behalf of the nearly one million members and supporters of the American Conservative Union, I write to express our support for your legislation, H.R. 5476, to withhold United States funding from the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC).

In March, the U.N. General Assembly voted to replace its Commission on Human Rights with the Human Rights Council. But a name change cannot mask the underlying reality that any group is only as good as its membership. Thus, in granting dictatorships such as Cuba, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Russia the same legitimacy as democracies like Brazil, the Netherlands, Canada and the United Kingdom, the council remains an abhorrent affront to the very things it is supposed to uphold.

As Victor Davis Hanson, of the Hoover Institution, has observed, “Many delegates vote only when they come to the U.N. [Their home countries] would never offer their own people the same rights that their spokesmen take for granted in New York.” Indeed, like the organization of which it is part, the UNHRC is too often a shield behind which autocrats both elude and issue criticism. And if odious double standards, flagrant waste and pervasive corruption characterize the U.N., they plague the UNHRC.

Moreover, sending the hard-earned money of American taxpayers to bankroll this swamp pit abuses the trust we have placed in our elected officials. By contrast, the suspension of funds would send a clear signal that the American people will not pander to or perpetuate a costly charade.

Thank you for your leadership in this regard. ACU looks forward to working closely with you to pass this important bill.

Sincerely,

J. William Lauderback
Executive Vice President