Elise Stefanik will deliver on President Trump’s America First Agenda at the UN

By U.S. Sen. Jim Banks 
R-Indiana

For four years, we have seen the consequences of weak leadership in the White House: a world rife with conflict, a foreign policy that has emboldened adversaries like Communist China and Iran and abandoned allies like Israel further degrading American security. 

This past fall, the American people voted to usher in an era of renewed American strength. President Trump campaigned on a promise to restore American leadership on the world stage and is appointing the right team to ensure that promises made are promises kept. Specifically at international institutions like the United Nations, this America First leadership cannot come soon enough. Elise Stefanik is the perfect choice to deliver on President Trump’s agenda as Ambassador to the United Nations.

Her pledge to bring “transparency and reform” to the international body is desperately needed. For too long, American interests have taken a backseat at the UN.

The UN rakes in billions of American taxpayer dollars while actively undermining our interests. It allows the worst human rights abusers to sit on the so-called “Human Rights Council,” pushes a radical climate agenda that would destroy our energy industry, and persecutes our most greatest ally Israel while turning a blind eye to bad actors like China and Iran.

Elise understands that there can be no equivocation in our support for our greatest ally, Israel. As a fellow member of the Armed Services Committee during our shared time in the House, she joined me in pushing legislation after legislation that ensures Israel’s right to defend itself and combat the rampant antisemitism polluting our institutions including the United Nations. 

At a time when we face upheaval across the globe, Elise understands that security and peace can only be obtained through strength. Gone are the days of allowing our adversaries unchecked. And under President Trump’s historic national security team filled with my former colleagues and friends, we will restore American standing to the world stage. 

During his first administration, President Trump successfully instituted a historic maximum pressure campaign to hold Iran accountable for its violent actions. Working alongside Congress and with President Trump in the White House, Elise will use her position at the UN to strengthen international pressure on the Iranian regime and hold them accountable once again. 

In addition to standing with Israel and combating Iranian aggression, another key pillar of restoring American strength will be standing up to China, which continues to be a pressing threat to our nation’s security.

Elise summed up the dire need for UN reform and specifically the influence of Communist China when she wrote, “We must strive for a UN in which no one nation is expected to foot the bill but receive no accountability or transparency in return, in which no despot or dictator can sit in judgment of others while deflecting attention away from their own human rights abuses, and in which no organization corrupted by the likes of the Chinese Communist Party can dictate sweeping conventions and international standards across its membership.”

As we saw from their actions during the COVID-19 pandemic, the UN and its World Health Organization are in the pocket of Communist China and its leadership. Across the UN body, subagencies have become mouthpieces for Communist Chinese talking points turning a blind eye to their disgusting human rights violations as they hypocritically chastise other nations’ on the matter from their seat on the Human Rights Council. Under America First leadership and with Elise at the helm, the United Nations will root out this corruption, ensuring accountability for taxpayer dollars sent to the United Nation serve the American people first and foremost. Elise has proven time and time again to be a fighter who will not stand idly by while these international organizations do China’s bidding. 

During her time in public office Elise has shown that she will fight to protect the interests of the American people, defend American sovereignty, and strengthen American security by empowering our allies like Israel and deterring the malign actions of our adversaries like Communist China and Iran. 

Now more than ever that fighting spirit is needed at the UN. I look forward to voting in support of her nomination on the Senate floor and encourage my colleagues to follow suit.