In her first appearance before a Senate committee, Elise Stefanik confirmed that she is not coming to promote multilateralism, but to “represent 'America First'”
U.S. President Donald Trump's nominee for U.N. ambassador Elise Stefanik told a Senate committee on Wednesday that the top national security challenges now are, in this order, China, Russia, North Korea and Iran.
In her first appearance before the committee, a mandatory step before the Senate approves her appointment in plenary, Stefanik confirmed why she is considered a "hawk," and made it clear in her introduction that she is not coming to promote multilateralism, but to "represent President Trump's 'America First'."
Stefanik pledged Tuesday to boost the president's "America First" stance Donald Trump if confirmed as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and conduct a review of crucial U.S. funding for the operations of the U.N. and its many agencies around the world.
Noting that the United States is the largest single contributor to the United Nations, Stefanik said at her confirmation hearing that the country needs to ensure that its investments make the United States a safer, stronger and more prosperous country, echoing Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
“Our tax dollars should not be complicit in supporting entities that are contrary to American interests, anti-Semitic, or engaged in fraud, corruption or terrorism“We are very excited about the situation,” Stefanik said in her opening remarks before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Asked by China, I do not hesitate to answer that “they are the biggest perpetrators of intellectual property theft, and the biggest threat to national security. I think that for my generation this is going to be the biggest challenge,” said the one who will soon have to sit down almost daily with the ambassadors of China and Russia in the Security Council.
He stressed the need for reform the UN, where several resolutions have been passed condemning Israel for its war in Gaza, and said the organization has failed to live up to its founding mission after World War II to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war.
Lawmakers highlighted the ability of US rivals Russia and China to veto resolutions in the UN's most powerful body, the Security Council, in particular Moscow's blocking of any condemnation of its invasion of Ukraine.
The senator jim risch, the Republican committee chairman, set the tone by sharply criticizing the U.N., saying Stefanik “can bring about much-needed change.” He called for a reevaluation of each U.N. agency to determine whether their actions benefit the United States and, if not, “hold them accountable until the answer is a resounding yes.”
“At this point, the United States should seriously examine whether further contributions, and indeed participation in the UN, is even beneficial to the American people,” the Idaho lawmaker said.
The United States pays just over a fifth of the UN's regular budget, and Stefanik was repeatedly questioned about U.S. support for her multiple agencies, which address everything from health care, education and migration to reproductive rights and nuclear proliferation.
United Kingdoms currently owes $1.500 billion to the UN regular budget and $1.300 billion almost entirely to the separate UN peacekeeping budget, said UN deputy spokesman Farhan Haq.
Senator Jeanne Shaheen, the committee's top Democrat, stressed the importance of the U.S. presence at the U.N., calling its work irreplaceable and warning that China and other adversaries could fill the void if it steps back.
“We benefit from U.N. peacekeeping missions that would otherwise fall to the U.S. military,” the New Hampshire lawmaker said. “We are better off because of efforts to stabilize societies and provide vital assistance in places like Sudan, Syria and Ukraine.”
Stefanik responded by saying she is open to reviewing agencies to ensure that “all of our taxpayers’ money goes to UN entities that are working very well.” She singled out the children’s agency UNICEF and the World Food Programme as examples of those that are “effective”.
She said that supported Trump's decision to withdraw US funding from the UN's World Health Organization in one of his first executive orders in office on Monday, but also said the United States must remain “a leader in global health.”
Stefanik, a fierce Trump ally who repeated his idea of “peace through strength,” was asked about her views on a range of global issues, including Wars in Gaza and UkraineAs well as Iranian nuclear program, all issues on the UN agenda.
Referring to Russia and Ukraine, he hinted that there would be a negotiated solution: “The president (Trump) needs maximum flexibility to end this conflict, a peaceful solution that ends the killing and bloodshed.”
Regarding Iran, he said he was supporter of “maximum pressure” to end a regime that “received billions of dollars during the last presidency (of Biden)”, implying that the Biden government facilitated this arrival of millions to Tehran, which served to arm the Palestinian terrorist movement Hamas and the Lebanese one Hezbollah.
Harvard-educated Stefanik, the fourth-highest-ranking member of the U.S. House of Representatives, was elected to Congress in 2015 as a moderate Republican and became one of Trump's most ardent allies. She supported Trump after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, when he denied losing the election to the Democrat. Joe Biden
(With information from AP and EFE)
Source: INFOBAE