mr. chairman , i yield myself such time as i may consume . 
i rise with this amendment today that would prohibit any employee of a united nations entity , bureau , division , department , or specialized agency from having any unauthorized contact , particularly business contact , with a government that is subject to united nations sanctions . 
the purpose and ideals of the united nations are to maintain international peace and security and to engage in collective action to preserve both . 
it also is to promote friendly relations among nations founded upon the principles of human rights and self-determination . 
finally , it is to achieve multilateral cooperation on the critical global crises of our age . 
i support these goals and ideals , but these purposes are being undermined and threatened by corruption and mismanagement within the u.n . 
today . 
that is why i am here today in support of this overall legislation and offering this particular amendment . 
one of the most blatant examples of fraud , corruption , and abuse in the united nations is that of the united nations employees enriching themselves through personal deals with rogue governments . 
in 1991 , the united nations placed sanctions on iraq for saddam hussein 's persistent noncompliance with the provisions of the cease-fire that ended the first gulf war . 
in an effort to mitigate the sanctions impact on the iraqi population , the oil-for-food program was created in 1996 to allow the iraqis to sell oil in order to pay for humanitarian goods . 
under the auspices of the united nations , the oil was to be sold with the proceeds to be deposited with the banque national de paris . 
humanitarian goods were then to be supplied to iraq using those funds . 
however , saddam hussein was allowed to choose his own business partners for this program , those buyers for iraq 's oil , as well as the suppliers of humanitarian goods . 
for each 180-day phase of the program , iraq developed a list of allocations identifying companies and individuals to whom it would be willing to sell oil . 
saddam personally reviewed who would receive the oil . 
mr. hussein would then complete oil contracts based on the allocations list . 
as this process evolved , saddam began to give special allocations for the benefit of particular individuals or entities that were perceived to support his brutal regime . 
it is abominable for u.s. taxpayers ' funds to be used to pay u.n . 
employees who take advantage of international sanctions and make deals to receive kickbacks . 
that is exactly what happened with the u.n . 
oil-for-food program . 
while visiting iraq in the course of his official duties , director of the oil-for-food program , mr. benon sevan , requested special allocations from the iraq oil ministry for african middle east petroleum company to help a friend . 
that friend turned out to be former secretary-general boutros boutros gali 's nephew . 
it was later found by the independent inquiry committee into the u.n . 
oil-for-food program that what mr. sevan sought was more than just for his friend . 
mr. sevan was in a position of influence and could lift restrictions on various parts of the oil-for-food program . 
so the saddam hussein regime granted the oil allocations to amep and mr. sevan . 
amep purchased the oil from iraq , but then sold it to oil companies for as much as $ 750 , 000 per transaction more than what they paid for it , all while giving the proceeds to mr. sevan for making the deal . 
additional oil allocations granted through the years of the program as restrictions were lifted on aspects of the oil-for-food program . 
when the program came under scrutiny , mr. sevan blocked the proposed audit of his office . 
because of these personal deals , saddam was able to skirt around the restrictions of sanctions , siphoning off as much as $ 10 billion in the form of illicit revenue while the iraqi people starved . 
saddam hussein used much of this money to purchase weapons , many of which are being used to kill americans and iraqis today as the allied forces continue to fight terrorism in that country . 
actions such as mr. sevan 's personal dealings with the sanctioned iraqi government undermine the united nations ' purposes . 
i ask that my colleagues support this amendment that makes clear to the united nations that the united states will not tolerate u.n . 
employees making deals with rogue governments subject to u.n . 
sanctions . 
mr. chairman , i reserve the balance of my time . 
