By Xinhua
United Nations : US Senator Joseph Biden has said that he was pressing the US Congress to pay in full Washington's dues to the United Nations.
Biden, a Delaware Democrat, told reporters at the UN headquarters Monday that the Senate's Foreign Relations Committee he chairs would make a resolution on funding the United Nations.
He said he expected the committee to adopt the resolution this week, which would "hopefully" find its way into the "intervening period of the budget process."
According to assessments, the US should pay 27 percent of the UN's peacekeeping costs but the Congress has imposed a 25 percent cap, resulting in the US owing huge arrears to the world body.
"The more important point is to agree with the 27 percent … one is to deal with the arrears and the other is to make sure we don't further create as we go forward," Biden said.
Biden introduced a legislation on Jan 25 that would allow the US to fully pay its dues to UN peacekeeping missions and prohibit it further debt in the coming years.
Biden led a bipartisan delegation to the UN headquarters for talks with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the UN General Assembly, President Sheikha Haya Rashed Al Khalifa, and the permanent members of the Security Council.
The senator, who has announced he is running for the next US presidency, said he had "good" and "useful" talks with the UN officials and diplomats.
"The general point conveyed by us as well as conveyed to us is that the US needs the United Nations and the United Nations needs the US," he said.
Total US arrears to the UN amounted to about $1 billion by the end of 2006, including $291 million for peacekeeping operations and $677 million for the regular budget.
The US is responsible for approximately half of all debt owed to the UN by member states, according to UN figures.