Today, the U.S. House of Representatives

is expected to vote on the State Department Authorization Act (H.R. 1646)

for fiscal years 2002 and 2003. The bill will provide $8.2 billion dollars

in funding authority to pay for the foreign policy activities of the U.S.

State Department. Included in this budget are appropriations for U.S.

participation in various United Nations initiatives.

Just as Congress was preparing

to vote, in a striking show of stupidity, duplicity, or audacity, I'm

not sure which, the United Nations voted to oust the United States from

its seat on the U.N. Commission on Human Rights.

If the shock of our ouster

wasn't enough, the United Nations dug their hole a little deeper by seating

known human rights violators China, Libya, and Sudan in our stead. What

followed was a firestorm in Congress.

There has been a storm brewing

for some time now among conservative American citizens at the increasingly

far-reaching arm of the U.N., but the United Nations ouster of the U.S.

from the Commission on Human Rights seems to have ignited a wild fire

in the U.S. Capitol. And all the while, President Bush and Secretary of

State Colin Powell are throwing buckets of water out to douse the flames

and cool off the tempers in Congress.

When H.R. 1646 came to the

floor last Thursday, representatives voted on three amendments to the

bill which were all aimed at sanctioning the United Nations by withholding

U.S. money in the form of "owed" dues. Two of the amendments

passed and one failed.

The Tom DeLay amendment passed

that "American citizens, especially U.S. military personnel, are

not prosecuted by the International Criminal Court for actions undertaken

the treaty establishing the Court." This amendment will cloak American

service men and women abroad in the same constitutional protections afforded

them on U.S. soil, which is of particular importance to men and women

serving on United Nations peacekeeping missions.

The Henry Hyde amendment passed

puts a freeze on the repayment of $244 million in back dues until the

United States' seat on the U.N. Commission on Human Rights is restored.

Hold your applause. The State

Department Authorization Act (H.R. 1646) still guarantees the payment

of $582 million in other back "dues." I use the term lightly,

because our participation in the United Nations is voluntary, after all.

The third amendment, sponsored

to remove language currently in H.R. 1646 which authorizes the

payment of the necessary funds (essentially back dues, or initiation fees

for membership, if you will) for the U.S. to rejoin the United Nations

Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

The amendment also attempted

to remove language "expressing the Sense of Congress that the president

should renew the membership ... in UNESCO." Since the amendment

failed, the language reauthorizing our membership in UNESCO will remain

in the full bill.

All I can figure is that the

people who support the federalization of education are the same people

who support the globalization of education as the tres chic cause celebre

du jour . Unfortunately the trends in education espoused by UNESCO

have little to do with imparting knowledge and everything to do with instilling

attitudes and behaviors that are necessary to perpetuate a global government.

One of the biggest roles of

UNESCO is the management of a World Heritage Sites list. These sites are

designated as significant to all humanity in terms of understanding ourselves

and our purpose, and are thereby designated to be protected for the future

and our posterity.

The United Nations has designated

a number of sites on U.S. soil as World Heritage sites, such as the Grand

Canyon, the Everglades, Yosemite National Park, Mesa Verde, the Statue

of Liberty, the Great Smoky Mountains, and Independence Hall, to name

a few. (For the full list, go to www.unesco.org/whc/heritage.htm .)

So if you find yourself out

hiking in the wilderness and encounter a sign that reads, "Property

of United Nations, A Designated World Heritage Site," I suppose you

should be grateful that it doesn't also read, "No Trespassing."

I have grave concerns about

renewing our UNESCO membership.

When we suspended our participation

in 1984, it was because of the organization's "growing politicization

and anti-Western bias," among other things, according to Brett Schaefer,

a Fellow at the Center for International Trade and Economics at The Heritage

Foundation.

I don't see that much has changed

since then, do you? You might want to call your representative and urge

him to reconsider realigning with UNESCO.

[Your comments are welcome

at: [email protected].]