| Dear
Members of Congress: War
and hostility are far too prevalent in today's world, exacting a huge economic,
moral, and human cost. In contrast, the price of peace is a fraction of the cost
of war. I strongly support UN peacekeeping as a fair and effective means of sharing
the burdens for international security and stability. No nation should have to
bear every burden, pay every bill, or take every risk; I urge you to act now to
fully fund our promised contributions to the UN. Today,
the UN oversees a record 18 peacekeeping missions around the world, including
in some of the world's most dangerous places, such as Sudan, Lebanon, Congo, and
Haiti, all of which are critical to our national and international security, and
the U.S. votes to approve. The
UN's lifesaving peace missions are in jeopardy because donor countries are not
living up to their commitments to support UN peacekeeping, particularly the U.S.
Growing shortfalls in U.S. contributions, policy restrictions, and long-standing
unpaid bills threaten to put the United States more than $1 billion behind in
peacekeeping obligations. Shortchanging UN peacekeeping has real impacts, forcing
the UN to cobble together the necessary means for deployment and discouraging
other countries from contributing their fair share of resources. I
urge you to take a leading role in fulfilling U.S. commitments to UN peacekeeping
by increasing funding to the Contributions to International Peacekeeping Activities
(CIPA) account by $500 million in the fiscal year 2008 appropriation process.
The U.S. should also take steps to pay off prior U.S. arrears. Investing in peace
serves our country better than paying for the soaring costs of war. PriceOfPeace.org
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