NPr's Ann Cooper reports that the New U-N Secretary General Kofi Annan (KOH-fee AN-nan) took his promises of reform to Capitol Hill today, trying to convince skeptical members of Congress that the United Nations is still a vital investment. The U-S has failed to pay over a billion dollars that it owes to the U-N, partly because of intense congressional criticism of U-N management. In a meeting with Annan today, House Speaker Newt Gingrich said that he believed problems with the U-N could be worked out, and made it clear that Congress does NOT want to shut the world body of diplomats down.
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