Dear Friend,

I am writing today to encourage all of our friends and supporters to contact your elected officials in Washington, D.C., to urge them to co-sponsor H.R. 4284, the United Nations Oil for Food Accountability Act.

To say the United Nations' Oil for Food program was plagued by scandal and corruption is an understatement.

We know now that literally billions of dollars -- money supposed to be used to buy food and medicine for the oppressed Iraqi people -- ended up in Saddam Hussein's fat pockets in the form of kickbacks to the brutal dictator. The U.N. stood by and did nothing.

We know now that Saddam used proceeds from Iraqi oil he sold under the terms of the so-called Oil for Food humanitarian effort to pay off and bribe French, Russian, U.N. and other officials at the highest levels. The U.N. stood by and did nothing.

And recently, evidence has surfaced which suggests that Oil for Food proceeds -- again, money that was supposed to be used to feed the Iraqi people -- may have made their way to al Qaeda and other known terrorist organizations. The U.N. stood by and did nothing.

Now, with as many as nine formal investigations underway into the Oil for Food scandal, the U.N., led by Secretary-General Kofi Annan, is consistently failing to cooperate with any of the investigators. Even basic requests for information by Congress and the General Accounting Office meet resistance or are rejected outright.

U.S. taxpayers currently foot a whopping 22 percent of the U.N.'s annual operating budget, and we put billions of dollars more into U.N. programs and peacekeeping missions. And, whether Mr. Annan likes it or not, we do have a right to know where the U.N.'s money is going and the extent to which the U.N. bureaucracy is rife with corruption.

Thanks to Congressman Jeff Flake (R-AZ), there is an answer to the U.N. stonewalling and Annan's failure to cooperate.

Congressman Flake, along with 62 other congressional co-sponsors, has introduced H.R. 4284, the United Nations Oil for Food Accountability Act. This legislation, if passed, would require the U.N. to turn over information requested by Congress as part of its investigations. If the world body continues to stonewall, the United States would withhold a portion of its contributions to the U.N. until the organization comes clean and waives all diplomatic immunity for U.N. officials implicated in the Oil for Food scandal.

A companion bill, sponsored by Senator John Ensign (R-NV), has already been approved in the U.S. Senate as part of this year's Foreign Operations Appropriations Bill. But now we need your help to ensure that the United Nations Oil for Food Accountability Act is passed by the U.S. House of Representatives.

Leaders in the House have indicated that they would hold a vote on Congressman Flake's bill if he can secure a sufficient number of co-sponsors. But in order for that to happen, our elected representatives in Washington, D.C., need to hear our voices loud and clear.

Take action now!

Contact your Member of Congress today! Urge him or her to co-sponsor H.R. 4284, the United Nations Oil for Food Accountability Act.

As Congressman Flake said recently, this scandal "begs for immediate, meaningful, and decisive action." The U.N. isn't an independent world government. It must be accountable to sovereign nations like the United States.

Passage of H.R. 4284 would help ensure such U.N. accountability.

Please join the Center today in urging your Member of Congress to co-sponsor this important piece of legislation. To do so, simply click here and proceed to the Center's e-mail form to send your representative a message.

Thank you in advance for your help in preserving our American freedom.

Yours in Freedom,

Jeff Mazzella
Executive Director

P.S. In order to help ensure the U.N. is held accountable for the billions of our hard-earned taxpayer dollars it receives each year, we need to reach as many people as possible in this vital effort. Please help us by forwarding this to 10 of your friends and family members.

P.P.S. Please help us ensure accountability by the U.N. and protect individual freedom from "world government" by making a contribution today. Your contribution will help us reach tens of thousands of people who, like you and me, are fed up with the U.N. stonewalling. To contribute today, click here.