H.R. 193- American Sovereignty Restoration Act

Today I will be highlighting H.R. 193 which has been titled "American Sovereignty Restoration Act of 2017." The title may sound vaguely appealing to some but what this bill is actually about is removing the U.S. from participation in the United Nations. You can read the actual bill here on Congress' website. As of today the bill has been introduced and referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. It has been with the committee since 1/3/17.

History:
A bill to remove the US from the UN has been introduced twice in recent years. First in February 2009 and again in March of 2011. Both of these bills were introduced by Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) and both failed in committee.

Some of the key points of this bill are as follows:
- Terminate membership in the United Nations
- Closure of the US Mission to the UN (about 150 government positions in various departments interacting with the UN)
- Closure of the UN headquarters in New York and removal of that facility from US soil
- Termination of United States participation in UN peacekeeping operations
- The UN may not occupy or use any property of the US government
- Removal of diplomatic immunity for all UN personnel previously laid out in the Vienna Convention and other documents
- Repeal US membership in UNESCO
- Repeal membership in the UN Environmental Program
- Repeal membership in the World Health Organization
- Immediately ending involvement in all UN conventions and agreements
- To be effective 2 years after the date of enactment

All of that seems a lot to chew over. In a developed nation with military spending greater than the next 5 nations combined it is easy to ask "why do we need the UN?" or "what does the UN do for us?" Well to start here are 70 things the UN does to make a difference in people's lives around the world. If even one of those items has you nodding in agreement it may be time to pause and consider just what leaving the UN would mean.

The UN, above everything else, is a key diplomatic tool to connect our nation with the rest of the world. It provides a venue for negotiating trade deals with member nations and gives us access to scientific resources around the globe. In an ever growing international community it is important that the US stay active and involved with, not just our neighbor nations, but with the world at large.

If all of that's not concrete enough for you then take a look at New York's United Nations Impact Report for 2016 showing that the UN produced $3.69 billion dollars toward's New York City's economy last year alone. And that is not counting all of the contracts the UN makes with US businesses which totaled approximately $1 billion dollars for the combined 2014 and 2015 fiscal years (source here). Under a president who seems so determined to support American business it seems counter-intuitive and reckless to suddenly remove such a large contribution to our nation's economy.

An action such as this could only hurt our nation on the international level. With any luck this initiative will fail for the third time while still in committee but if it does get sent to the House for approval we should be ready to fight back. Those responsible for this bill are as follows:

Sponsor:
Mike D. Rogers (R-AL)

Cosponsors:
Walter B. Jones (R-NC)
Andy Biggs (R-AZ)
Jason Smith (R-MO)
Thomas Massie (R-KY)
John J. Duncan (R-TN)
Matt Gaetz (R-FL)