McCaul Questions Biden Administration's Decision to Rejoin UNESCO

Letter

"Dear Secretary Blinken,

We write to express grave concern regarding the Biden administration's decision to rejoin the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), an entity which promotes the interests of authoritarian regimes, has admitted "Palestine" as a full member, and has a long history of anti-Israel bias.

As discussed below, the Biden administration rejoined UNESCO without a detailed strategy setting forth how this action would promote the interests of the United States, including a plan demonstrating how -- according to the administration -- rejoining the organization purportedly would counter malign Chinese influence. The Biden administration also rejoined UNESCO absent meaningful negotiations to reduce the $612 million in arrears owed to UNESCO. This decision -- like many other foreign policy decisions of the Biden administration -- thus prioritizes token so-called "success[es]" at the expense of vital American interests and taxpayer dollars.

As you are aware, UNESCO has a marked history of taking actions adverse to American interests. The organization admitted "Palestine" as a full member in 2011, and its anti-Israel bias has, most recently, been carried forward through inclusion of an entire agenda item on "Occupied Palestine" during the UNESCO Executive Board session on May 15, 2023. The agenda for the Executive Board's session beginning on October 4, 2023 contained the same item. As is stated in the United States-Israel Strategic Partnership Act, "[i]t is the policy of the United States … to reaffirm … the security of Israel as a Jewish state." Rejoining UNESCO does not further this aim.

Indeed, on October 9, 2023 (two days after Hamas' acts of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes against the Jewish people and the State of Israel), the UNESCO Executive Board issued a "progress report" "deeply deplor[ing] the ongoing military developments around the Gaza Strip." And on October 13, 2023,"Palestine"gave a speech before the UNESCO Executive Board session stating that "the only way to reach peace and security is the end of the Israeli occupation." This notwithstanding, President Biden -- at a UNESCO reception at the White House on October 17, 2023 inexplicably asserted that "we're glad to be part of your outfit. If you think I'm kidding, I'm not." In such times, itdefies understanding that the Biden administration continues to support an organization with such posture towards Israel.

Moreover, UNESCO has elected members of Syria's Assad regime to its committees dealing with human rights, and Russia -- which, among other horrific acts as part of its war of aggression against Ukraine, has destroyed historic buildings in Odesa -- remains a member of UNESCO's World Heritage Committee. Further, the Chinese Communist Party uses UNESCO to "rewrite history" and to "legitimize the party's rule over regions with large ethnic minorities." In this regard, the Biden administration's need to pay $612 million in arrears owed to the organization (to say little of the obligation to pay upwards of $75 million in annual dues going forward) is an affront to the longstanding American tradition of supporting human rights and fundamental freedoms. Further, we had commitments last year from the State Department and UNESCO that the United States would not have to pay the full arrears amount.

To rejoin UNESCO, over my objections, the longstanding congressional funding restrictions to the organization arising from its admission of "Palestine" as a full member were waived. In this regard, the Department stated that rejoining UNESCO "would unlock important opportunities for the United States" and determined that the waiver "would enable the United States to counter Chinese influence or to promote other national interests of the United States . …" Yet, apart from vague notions that the "United States needs to have a seat at the table" and that "the PRC's efforts in UNESCO [must be] challenged through enhanced U.S. engagement," the memorandum of justification for waiving the funding restriction wholly fails to explain how rejoining and refunding UNESCO would permit the United States to address malign Chinese influence.16 Such vagaries do not justify the Biden administration's decision to spend hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars to rejoin the organization. Rather, the only clarity provided to the Committee is that the United States (and the U.S. taxpayer in consequence) will be required to pay the entire $612 million in arrears to UNESCO as a condition for rejoining the organization -- which is inconsistent with statements made by the Department to this Committee that it would negotiate down the arrears.

Since this determination, the House Foreign Affairs Committee has requested information regarding the Department's specific plans to leverage its position in UNESCO to counter Chinese influence and strategies regarding other national interests the United States will promote as a member of the organization. In response, the Department merely has continued to proffer hollow assertions, including that the United States needs to be "present to shape the discussion," that "[r]ejoining UNESCO aligns directly with the Indo-Pacific Strategy's goal of upholding freedom and openness," and that "the Department will develop a strategy in line with [congressional] priorities and concerns." The Department has failed to provide a detailed strategy to this Committee for the United States' reengagement with UNESCO.

We therefore request that the Department provide the Committee with a detailed strategy setting forth how U.S. membership in UNESCO will be used to effectively counter Chinese influence and promote other national security interests of the United States. This strategy should also specifically describe why contributing funding to UNESCO is the best possible use of taxpayer resources to promote U.S. efforts to "address … our global competition with China." I believe there are better uses of such amounts of appropriated dollars. The State Department's Countering Chinese Influence Fund is only $325 million this fiscal year. Further, we want to know if you believe you're using the funding restriction waiver was an error, and if so, what you will do to correct that error. We request that this information be submitted to the Committee no later than November 30, 2023."

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