Congressman Introduces Bill to Get the U.S. Out of the UN

Article audio sponsored by The John Birch Society

As outrage over the United Nations continues to grow, legislation to restore American sovereignty by withdrawing from the scandal-plagued UN was introduced in Congress this month. In addition to getting the U.S. government out of the UN and evicting the global outfit’s headquarters from U.S. soil, the bill would end American involvement in the full panoply of UN agreements and agencies. It would also prohibit putting of U.S. troops under UN command.

The legislation has been introduced in Congress for decades. However, the current president’s publicly expressed hostility to globalism and his oft-stated support for U.S. sovereignty make the issue especially salient right now. In Congress and in the administration, as well as among everyday Americans, anti-UN sentiment is surging. Even some Democrats are fed up with the UN’s criticism of Israel. Advocates of the measure are urging Americans to contact their representatives, senators, and the White House in support.

The American Sovereignty Restoration Act of 2019 (H.R. 204) was introduced by Congressman Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) right as the new Congress was getting started. “One of my first priorities in this new Congress was to make sure this bill was reintroduced,” said Rogers, who serves as the ranking member of the House Committee on Homeland Security. “The United Nations is a disaster and our country bankrolls over 20 percent of its annual budget.”

As in years past, Rogers outlined a range of concerns about the international organization. “The UN continues to attack our greatest ally Israel, and they continue to attack American ideals like the Second Amendment,” he explained, echoing frequent criticisms of the international organization widely referred to as the “dictators club” by critics. “President Trump has done his part to rein in the UN’s continual attacks on American sovereignty, but it’s time we did more.”

Indeed, Trump has already announced that the United States would withdraw from or defund a vast collection of UN agencies and programs. Among the most high-profile so far: the disgraced UN “Human Rights” Council, the UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the UN Migration Compact, the UN Paris Agreement on “climate,” the UN Relief and Works Agency, and more. He has also repeatedly told the UN that America rejects the “ideology of globalism” and that Americans — not the UN or other foreign bodies — would be in charge of governing America.

Representative Rogers, one of the leading advocates of getting the United States out of the UN in Congress today, has said that many of his constituents in East Alabama agree with his position that American involvement in the globalist organization should end immediately. Calling the UN an “inefficient bureaucracy” and a “complete waste of American tax dollars,” the congressman noted that it “works against America’s interests around the world” and continues to “attack our rights as U.S. citizens.”

Another regular co-sponsor of the bill, Representative Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), told The New American that there are many reasons why the U.S. government should get out. “The best thing that you can say about the United Nations is it’s mostly ineffective and a waste of money,” said Congressman Massie, who campaigned for an “Amexit” from the UN after the British people voted for a “Brexit” from the European Union. “That’s the best thing you can say about it. So I’m glad that they are somewhat ineffective, but I don’t like that we waste the money.”

But there are many other concerns and reasons why he thinks America should get out. “It’s full of dictators, and it’s also something that I don’t think our sovereign government should defer to,” he explained. “For instance, a lot of these foreign relations bills that come in front of us in Congress and the whereas clauses — they might say ‘whereas the UN has said this,’ or ‘the UN decided this, now therefore be it resolved’ — well that’s almost an automatic no for me, because why would I defer to the United Nations if we’re a sovereign country?”

Massie, whose voting record is among the most constitutional in Congress, noted that U.S. taxpayers supply much of the funding for the UN and its activities overseas, while other governments do not “pay their fair share.” “But a fair share would be zero, and we should get out,” he added. Indeed, after starting his public Amexit and UNexit campaigns in 2016, the liberty-minded lawmaker said the theme caught on and renewed interest in the bill that has been floating around D.C. for decades.

Asked how members of Congress feel about Trump withdrawing from various UN agencies, the congressman noted that the Deep State did not like it. “They would like to see us fully involved in the United Nations and intervening in every country possible,” he said, pointing out that there were a variety of international organizations that dictate policy even to America’s elected representatives and that many members of Congress dutifully comply with the foreign commands.

The anti-UN sentiment is becoming increasingly widespread in policymaking circles. Even Trump’s recently departed UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, who was viewed by some Trump supporters as too moderate, has questioned the value of U.S. involvement in the global organization. “The American people need to decide if it’s worth it,” she said of continued U.S. membership, adding that “the verdict is still out.” According to reports, Trump asked her whether America needed the UN for anything, and she was not sure.

Top conservatives ranging from Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.) to former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin have expressly called for the United States to exit the UN, too. Leading advocates for the American Sovereignty Restoration Act have included then-Congressman Ron Paul (R-Texas), who introduced it regularly in the 1990s and 2000s and urged his colleagues to vote on it so Americans could know where their representatives stand. Another lead champion of the measure was Congressman Larry McDonald (D-Ga.), who was also serving as the chairman of the pro-sovereingty John Birch Society when a commerical airliner he was on was shot out of the sky by Soviet fighter jets.

If approved, the legislation would terminate U.S. membership in the UN, remove diplomatic immunity from its officials in the United States, repeal various federal statutes purporting to authorize U.S. involvement with the UN, end all funding of the organization and its array of tentacles, prohibit the use of U.S. troops by the UN for any purpose, and much more. The legislation would allow two years for the process to be completed. American taxpayers would save over $10 billion each year just on payments to the UN and its agencies. But the real benefit would be the devastating blow to globalism, advocates say.

Most of the far-left media, widely ridiculed by conservatives and even the president as “fake news,” ignored the legislation. But predictably, the little coverage the measure did receive included feigned outrage that lawmakers would seek to evict the UN from America. “In the world view of the Birches [sic] and Pauls and Rogers, the U.N. is bad for the United States because of progressive policies that don’t sync with Republicans’ goals of unfettered gun rights, refusal to accept the science of climate change and irresponsible attitudes toward protecting the environment,” the far-left Anniston Star opined in a hit piece on Rogers and the bill.

On the other hand, grassroots conservatives are mobilizing in support of the legislation. The constitutionalist John Birch Society, an affiliate of this magazine with chapters in all 50 states, has been advocating a U.S. withdrawal from the UN for over five decades. “The only effective way to safeguard our American sovereignty and protect our God-given rights from the perils of participation in this anti-American and pro-one world government confab of socialist and Islamist states is through our formal #Amexit (American exit) from the UN,” the group said in an Action Alert urging members to get involved.

The organization called on its members and other supporters of U.S. sovereignty to contact their representatives and senators and “strongly urge” that they cosponsor and pass H.R. 204, as well as introduce and pass a companion bill in the Senate. “Let them know that you too reject the ideology of globalism and want Congress to likewise do the same by voting in favor of terminating U.S. membership in the United Nations,” the alert said, a reference to Trump’s recent verbal attack on the ideology of globalism that animates the UN and its backers.

The bill has been referred to the House Foreign Affairs Committee, where establishment globalists will likely do everything possible to keep it from even being heard. However, with enough public support, Americans can ensure the protection of U.S. sovereignty by getting the U.S. out of the UN for good.

Image: mizoula via iStock / Getty Images Plus

Alex Newman, a foreign correspondent for The New American, is normally based in Europe. He can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @ALEXNEWMAN_JOU or on Facebook.