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UNITED NATIONS, Oct. 5 (UPI) A top United Nations official said the organization is "running on empty" and will end the year in debt if the United States does not pay $350 million of the $1.5 billion it owes.
Undersecretary General Joseph Connor told a U.N. budget committee Tuesday, "The U.N. is running on empty with many more miles yet to travel."
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Richard Holbrooke told the committee he would pass the message on to Congress, but added, "Our efforts at arrears are linked to U.N. reforms."
Secretary-General Kofi Annan told the committee that ongoing reforms at the U.N. have "yet to attack what I see as the overly burdensome and overly intrusive approach to administration."
Annan blamed some of the over-administration on "a plethora of resolutions and responsibilities handed down by the member states over the years, layer upon layer."
However, he said, "we cannot rationally manage the United Nations" unless all member states "honor their legal and moral obligations under the (U.N.) Charter and pay their dues in full, on time, and without conditions."
The United States owes four-fifths of the unpaid assessments for the U.N.'s regular budget and peacekeeping operations, according to the United Nations. Congressional leaders, using their own calculations, say the U.S. debt is lower.
China's ambassador to the U.N., Shen Guofang, was among the speakers to criticize Washington for its non-payment, although he did it without naming the United States.
"A major cause (of the U.N.'s financial difficulties) is failure of some member states to pay in full," he told the committee. "It is not acceptable."
Congress continues to hold up paying money to the United Nations. Although the Senate has approved payment of $819 million in arrears, the House hasn't moved on the issue.
While speaking to the committee, Holbrooke said it was "not fun" for the United States to have unpaid bills at the United Nations.
"It is less fun to be the representative that has to come to you and work on critical issues (with the bills unpaid)," he said.