Fw: John Bolton Appointed UN Ambassador Without Senate's Consent - FCNL

----- Original Message -----
From: "Kathy Guthrie" <kathyguthrie@fcnl.org>
To: "Miriam Vieni" <miriamvieni@optonline.net>
Sent: Thursday, August 04, 2005 11:09 AM
Subject: John Bolton Appointed UN Ambassador Without Senate's Consent - FCNL

John Bolton Appointed UN Ambassador Without Senate's Consent

President Bush's recess appointment of John Bolton to the post of U.S.
Ambassador to the United Nations (UN) could seem like a defeat for the
vast majority of people in the U.S. who support the UN and arms
control. In the past, John Bolton certainly has been no friend to the
UN. In fact, however, the nation-wide grassroots effort to prevent
Senate confirmation of John Bolton was a great success. Why?
Because senators - Republican and Democrat - listened to the concerns
of their constituents who asked them not to appoint an opponent of arms
control and the UN.

It was due to thousands of calls, emails, and letters from supporters
like you, that the Senate did not give its consent for this
appointment. Thank you for all your hard work in support of global
cooperation through diplomacy. Also because of you, Congress is now
engaged in a substantive debate on the nature of U.S.-UN relations and
UN reform.

Now we need the Senate to take action when it returns in September to
show strong support for the UN. The Senate should counter the
House's proposed cut in U.S. funding for the UN and support a more
effective approach to UN reform.
ACTION: Please contact your senators in their local offices while they
are on August recess. You can find local contact information by
visiting FCNL's web site at
http://capwiz.com/fconl/utr/1/DEBLEYFEBT/ISRWEYFGUV/ and entering your
zip code.

In your letter or phone call, express your support for the UN and for
effective global engagement. Urge your senators to oppose legislation
that would cut U.S. dues to the UN and to support proposals for more
effective, cooperative approaches to UN reform. The UN - whatever
its flaws - serves an essential problem-solving role in the current
age of politically motivated mass killings, global warming, the
HIV/AIDS pandemic, and the proliferation of nuclear weapons. The UN
needs cooperative U.S. leadership, as well as strong political and
financial support, for it to be more effective.

BACKGROUND: Confident that the Senate would not confirm his nominee,
President Bush this week used a constitutional procedure to appoint
John Bolton as U.S. Ambassador to the UN without Senate confirmation.
According to Article 2, Section 2 of the Constitution, the president is
empowered to fill vacancies when the Senate is in recess. The
appointments are temporary, effective through the final adjournment of
the sitting Congress (in this case, January 2007). The constitutional
clause was originally created to fill vacancies that occurred during
long congressional recesses, but more recently presidents have used
this provision to circumvent Senate opposition. Although
disappointing, the recess appointment demonstrates that President
Bush's nominee could not garner sufficient bipartisan support for
Senate confirmation. To avoid this situation in the future, we hope
President Bush will consult with senators in advance on future
nominations to assure broad bipartisan support.

While FCNL opposed the nomination of John Bolton because of his extreme
views, we hope that as UN Ambassador he will demonstrate the diplomatic
traits required of this important position and engage with the
international community to address pressing global problems. His
appointment comes at a critical time for U.S.-UN relations. This
September, more than 75 world leaders will gather at the 2005 World
Summit to address issues of UN reform, international peace and
security, and global poverty and development. The U.S. should be
engaging cooperatively and helping lead the world community at this
important time. The U.S. Ambassador must aid this engagement by being
a consensus-builder who demonstrates restraint, moderation, and
diplomatic skill and by conveying a compelling vision for global
cooperation.

Unfortunately, the House has recently passed a misguided UN reform bill
(H.R. 2745) that would withhold 50% of U.S. dues if the UN fails to
implement a long list of specific reforms. Similar legislation has
been introduced in the Senate. This type of legislation is no way to
demonstrate cooperative U.S. leadership for a more effective UN.
Instead, the Senate should pass legislation that offers a positive
vision for U.S.-UN relations and promotes effective UN reform.

Col. Dan Smith (USA, Ret.) has written an analysis of the House's UN
reform bill if you would like to find out more:
http://capwiz.com/fconl/utr/1/DEBLEYFEBT/KROSEYFGUW/

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