Congress must get us out of UNESCO. Again!
By Tom DeWeese
web posted August 16, 2004
The nation laid Ronald Reagan to rest with a massive outpouring of respect and affection for the accomplishments of this great man. One of his most important achievements was to get the United States out of the United Nations Economic, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
Yet it was just one year ago that Congress voted to undo President Reagan's work and authorized the nation to begin again to pay dues of $60 million annually to this corrupt organization. That's an incredible 25 per cent of UNESCO's total operating budget.
During the nation's week of mourning it was shameful to watch those same politicians, with crocodile tears running down their faces, telling us how they admired the former president's courage to do the right thing. If these congressmen truly want to honor his memory, then they should show some courage themselves and take immediate steps to undo their mistake and get us out of UNESCO again.
UNESCO is the root of much of the evil oozing out of the United Nations. It is the source of much of the anti-American education curriculum that is now cropping up in our nation's public classrooms. UNESCO is the source of the International Baccalaureate (IB) program. The IB program teaches our children that they are citizens of the world and that love of country is an evil that must be abolished. UNESCO says that the IB program promotes human rights, social justice, sustainable development, population, health, environmental and immigration concerns. In other words, IB teaches our children to accept the international socialist agenda.
Remember, the United States is now paying $60 million per year to help pay for this propaganda.
UNESCO wants to control the Internet by taxing its use. UNESCO would like to collect a fee every time you send e-mail. UNESCO would also like to control who can open up a web site and who can put information on the web. UNESCO wants to get control of the world's greatest source of information in order to control its flow.
Control of the Internet will open personal privacy to inspection by non-elected bureaucrats who are accountable to no one. If you want to know how UNESCO would oversee the Internet, just take a look at how Communist China does it. That's the model UNESCO intends to use.
And the United States is now paying $60 million per year to pay for this effort.
UNESCO has laid claim to 47 United Nations biosphere reserves in our nation, accounting for more than 70 million acres of U.S. soil that is locked away. Worse, UNESCO's rule over these lands extends beyond the actual boundaries into what are called buffer zones. That's how UNESCO successfully stopped a private gold mine operation located miles from Yellow Stone National Park, a UNESCO Heritage Site.
Thanks to the courageous men and women of the United States Congress, American
taxpayers are now giving UNESCO $60 million per year for the privilege of having our own land locked away.
These are just a few of the evils of UNESCO and the very reasons why Ronald Reagan did the "right thing" and got us out in 1984. For 19 years UNESCO whined and cried about how the U.S. took its money away so the poor UN bureaucrats couldn't spread their brand of socialism around the world. America, ever the sucker for a sob story, came crawling back.
In July, some truly courageous members of Congress said they had had enough of this folly. Texas Representative Ron Paul introduced H. Con Res. 443, declaring that the United States should withdraw from UNESCO. Paul noted that there is a sizable block of anti-UN votes in the House of Representatives and the Resolution would help energize them to action. 145 members voted last year to keep the U.S. out of UNESCO. On July 7th the House voted on H. Con Res. 443 and 135 Members voted for it. Though the measure failed, clearly the block of anti-UN votes is holding. The majority of votes for the Resolution came from western and southern states.
Paul will continue to offer more Resolutions and they should be used as a rallying point for all who love the American brand of independence and liberty. Call or write your Congressman and tell him to support renewed efforts to get America out of UNESCO. If, as you watched the national memorial for Ronald Reagan, you had a sense of pride for the America he stood for, then the time to act is now.
Send a strong message to those who seek UN global governance. Tell them that the United States will not go quietly into the night. 
Tom DeWeese is the president of the American Policy Center, a grassroots, activist think tank headquartered in Warrenton, VA. The Center maintains an Internet site at www.americanpolicy.org. © Tom DeWeese 2004
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