Sen. Mike Lee, Rep. John Curtis support legislation to cut funding from United Nations
Utah Rep. John Curtis is cosponsoring a bipartisan bill — the Stand With Israel Act — to cut funding from the United Nations Human Rights Council after a resolution condemning the Hamas attacks on Oct. 7 failed to pass in the U.N. General Assembly.
“U.S. taxpayers should not be financially supporting a council that often acts as a stage for nations like China, Russia, Cuba, Venezuela, and others to divert attention from their own human rights abuses and target Israel,” Curtis, a Republican who represents Utah’s 3rd Congressional District, said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
On Friday, the U.N. failed to pass a resolution condemning the Hamas attack on Israeli civilians. A separate resolution, drafted by Jordan, called for the release of more than 200 hostages alongside a call for a “sustained humanitarian truce,” as Hamas continues to bombard Israel and as Israel launches its ground offensive, according to CNN.
The U.S. was one of the 14 countries to vote against Jordan’s resolution, as The Guardian reported.
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Curtis’ communications director Adam Cloch told the Deseret News that the Utah representative is concerned about Iran, its proxies, and issues within the U.N.
“We are seeing those concerns come to fruition right now with the Hamas attack on Israel,” Cloch added.
Utah Sen. Mike Lee is on the same page as Curtis and has already begun drafting legislation. He said in a post on X that it’s time to officially withdraw funding from the intergovernmental organization.
“The U.N. does a lot of bad things. And if it can’t even do a good thing as simple as condemning war crimes, it’s over between us,” he added.
“I want to be clear about this,” Lee, a Republican, said. “NOT. ONE. MORE. DOLLAR. NOT. ONE. MORE. CENT.”
The Stand With Israel Act was introduced by Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., on Monday. It seeks to cut funding from the U.N. until the international organization condemns Hamas’ attack on Israel, which resulted in the death of 1,400 Israelis.
“It should not be a heavy lift for the U.N., which claims to promote global human rights, to pass a resolution condemning what will go down in history as one of the deadliest attacks against the Jewish people,” Luna said in a press release, per Fox News.
As KSL News reported, the U.S. has been the biggest backer of the U.N. In 2021, it contributed nearly $12.5 billion to the organization.
Curtis also said in his post that Iran will be a leader in the U.N. Human Rights Council starting next week.
A U.N. Watch press release noted that Iran’s “record of oppression, torture and executions make it ill-suited for the post,” which Tehran has held four other times.
John Kirby, spokesperson for the National Security Council in the White House, said at a press conference Monday, the U.S. recognizes that Iran, which has faced U.S. sanctions since 1979, backs Hamas, Hezbollah, Houthis and other terrorist groups in Iraq and Syria.
