WASHINGTON (Diya TV) — South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley is preparing in her confirmation hearing to sharply criticize the Obama administration for allowing the U.N. Security Council to condemn Israel and pledge to never allow it to happen again if confirmed as the next U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.
Haley will refer to the U.N. as “often at odds with American national interests and American taxpayers,” according to remarks prepared for delivery at her Wednesday Senate confirmation hearing.
“I will not go to New York and abstain when the U.N. seeks to create an international environment that encourages boycotts of Israel,” Haley plans to say, based on prepared testimony provided by a Senate aide on the condition of anonymity. “I will never abstain when the United Nations takes any action that comes in direct conflict with the interests and values of the United States.”
Haley also plans to question the priorities of the United Nations during her hearing, and whether or not the U.S. is getting its money’s worth for its contribution and investment. While she plans to say she looks forward to serving and representing the country in the international forum, her comments reflect those of the president-elect, who has said the New York-based body is biased, bloated and ineffectual.
“We contribute 22 percent of the U.N.’s budget, far more than any other country. We are a generous nation,” Haley’s prepared remarks say. “But we must ask ourselves what good is being accomplished by this disproportionate contribution. Are we getting what we pay for?”
The first Indian-American to receive a nomination from Trump, Haley was expected to be the least controversial of the Republican’s nominees. This despite the fact she has little experience handling the global issues and negotiations she would face as an ambassador to the United Nations.
She’ll very likely receive some support from Democrats. However, the stakes for Haley, a Republican rising star and one of the party’s few women of color in high office, rose after the problematic audition of her would-be boss — secretary of state nominee Rex Tillerson.
Haley is best known nationally for her handling of the 2015 racially motivated killings of black worshippers at a Charleston church. She was hailed for her handling of the matter, she spoke at memorials and ordered the Confederate flag to be removed from the state Capitol grounds. At one point, she was mentioned as a potential vice president pick for the president-elect, Haley herself is regarded as a potential future Republican presidential candidate.
Democrats are planning to question her carefully about her views of Russia, its international ambitions and the U.S. intelligence finding that Moscow attempted to influence the presidential election. Haley will likely be asked whether she could tell the Trump White House things it may not want to hear about Russian behavior internationally and at the United Nations.
Haley, who turns 45 on Inauguration Day, is the South Carolina-born daughter of Indian immigrant parents. She was a member of the state legislature before her election as the state’s first female and first minority governor.
