Meanwhile, Republican lawmakers are once again threatening to cut US funding of the United Nations. The International Relations Committee of the House of Representatives this week approved a sweeping bill that, if passed, would require Washington to withhold funds if the UN does not alter several of its policies. The bill would require the U.N. to fund most of its programs through voluntary contributions, rather than mandatory dues from its 191 member-states, and enable Washington to pick and choose those programs it wished to fund. It would also require the U.N. to set up a number of new oversight boards to investigate the U.N. bureaucracy and specific agencies, as well as adopt new rules that would bar government’s Washington opposes from serving on the U.N. Human Rights Commission. It would also withhold U.S. support for new or expanded U.N. peacekeeping operations until specific reforms are implemented. Failure to implement any of the specific mandates would result in the withholding of half of the assessed U.S. obligations which amounted to 438 million dollars this year. The bill is expected to be introduced to the full house next week.