Ending U.S. Membership in the United Nations (H.R. 1205)

What is H.R. 1205?

(Updated September 5, 2019)

The bill repeals the United Nations Participation Act of 1945, which is the bill that authorized U.S. participation in the United Nations (U.N.). The president would be directed to end U.S. participation in the U.N. and all related organizations and close the U.S. Mission to the U.N., which is based in New York.

The bill also prohibits the U.S. from doing the following things:

• Funding the general body of the U.N.;

• Funding any U.N. military or peacekeeping operation;

• Using the U.S. Armed Forces as part of any U.N. military or peacekeeping operation;

• Allowing the U.S. Armed Forces to serve under U.N. command; and

• Granting diplomatic immunity for U.N. officers or employees.

Argument in favor

The U.N. shouldn’t be able to influence U.S. policies while forcing the U.S. to fund a large portion of the U.N.'s annual budget.

Argument opposed

Remaining in the U.N. allows the U.S. to more effective exert its influence over the rest of the world and is well worth the cost.

Impact

The U.S.; members states of the U.N.

Cost of H.R. 1205

A CBO cost estimate is unavailable.

Additional Info

In Depth:  Sponsoring Rep. Mike Rogers (R-AL) explained in a press release why leaving the U.N. was a good idea:

“Although the United States makes up almost a quarter of the U.N.’s annual budget, the U.N. has attempted a number of actions that attack our rights as U.S. citizens. To name a few, these initiatives  include actions like the Law of the Sea Treaty, which would subject our country to internationally-based environmental mandates, costing American businesses more money, or the U.N.’s work to re-establish an international regulation regime on global warming which would heavily target our fossil fuels.”

However, as diplomacy PhD Shashi Tharoor points out, staying in the U.N. helps the U.S. influence global norms and standards:

“The UN helps establish the norms that many countries — including the United States — would like everyone to live by. Throughout its history, the United States has seen the advantages of living in a world organized according to laws, values, and principles; in fact the republic was not yet 30 years old when it first went to war in defense of international law (attacking the Barbary pirates in 1804), and it has done so multiple times since, including in the first Gulf War. The UN, for all its imperfections — real and perceived — reflects this American preference for an ordered world.”

Of Note: The recent exit by the United Kingdom from the European Union (Brexit for short) has reignited discussion of the bill. On July 5, USA Today reported that Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) compared his support of the bill to his support of Brexit, arguing that the U.S. spends too much funding U.N. operations.

Massie isn’t the only politician who’s using the Brexit to advocate for leaving the U.N. the Boston Globe reported that former Vice-Presidential candidate Sarah Palin called for the U.S. to leave the U.N. following the Brexit, making the same comparison as Massie.

Media:

• Sponsoring Rep. Mike Rogers (R-AL) Press Release
• Foreign Affairs
• USA Today
• Boston Globe