Read-Out of Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon's Meeting with House Foreign Affairs Committee

He discussed with Committee members the situation in Cote d'Ivoire and Libya and other trouble spots today in which the United Nations is playing a significant role.

"The United Nations does on a daily basis what no country can do alone," he told committee members.

He said the United States and the United Nations share the same goals and objectives. It is important for U.S. dollars to go as far as possible, especially in hard economic times, he said.

The record shows an outsized return on investment through the United Nations whether it be in Iraq, Afghanistan, Sudan, Haiti, or in reforming the United Nations itself.

He agreed with members that the United Nations must deliver on these responsibilities with the greatest possible commitment to accountability, transparency, and effectiveness. This is essential in the best of times and even more important in tough economic conditions, he said.

The Secretary-General expressed his gratitude to the United States, by far the largest contributor to the UN system. “The continued engagement and leadership of the United States is essential for the United Nations to be able to succeed in the many tasks you look to us to do,” he told the members.

The meeting was his third with the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

He is spending the day in Washington, D.C. for meetings with key legislators in the Senate and the House of Representatives, including the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and Foreign Operations Subcommittee members. He is also scheduled to meet with the Secretary of State Hillary Clinton this afternoon before returning to New York.