The Speaker of Parliament,Rt. Hon. Rebecca Kadaga has pledged to encourage the United States Congress to rejoin the Inter Parliamentary Union (IPU).
Kadaga was contributing to an item in the report of the Secretary General of the IPU during the meeting of the Executive Committee of the 130th IPU Assembly currently taking place in Geneva, Switzerland. The committee was discussing updates to membership to the IPU and efforts being taken to encourage past members to return to the IPU.
“The Parliament of Uganda usually has at least three committees visiting the US Congress annually. We can go with a similar message to our counterparts in the Congress,” Kadaga said.
The United States was one of the original participants in IPU activities when it begun in 1889 and formally withdrew on October 1, 1999 following divergence with the Executive Committee on matters of funding and reduced membership.
The United States formally joined in 1935 when the House and Senate enacted statutory authority for U.S. participation in the IPU.
In July 1997, Congress (through the Clerk of the House and Secretary of the Senate) notified the IPU that, given the diminished congressional participation, the U.S. Congress could no longer justify the annual U.S. contribution of almost $1 million or 15% of the IPU annual budget and had decided to reduce its membership status and proposed to make an annual donation of $500,000 to support the aims of the organization.
The IPU Executive Committee did not accept the offer so, in 1998, Congress passed legislation to end U.S. participation on October 1, 1999.
The Secretary General of the IPU Anders B. Johnsson reaffirmed that Parliamentarians listen better to their peers.