"The issue of national sovereignty will be on the line when the new Bush administration selects the individual to be its ambassador to the United Nations," said Tom DeWeese of the American Policy Center. "Right now, it appears to be leaning toward people known more for their support of United Nation's objectives, than people who are dedicated to preserving the sovereignty of this nation."

The American Policy Center is an activist think tank headquartered just outside Washington, DC. National sovereignty is a major concern of the Center and it has joined a coalition called The Committee for American Leadership to oppose the appointment of either former Congressman Lee Hamilton or former diplomat, John Whitehead, both mentioned as choices for the job.

Both Hamilton and Whitehead are associated with the United Nations Association (UNA-USA), the premier pro-United Nations lobbying organization in the US. The Association favors granting the UN the ever-widening powers of a world government.

"The United States is at a critical moment," said DeWeese, "able now with a Republican President-elect and a Republican Congress, to assert the most fundamental right of all governments, its national sovereignty, as determined by the oldest living constitution in effect." The Committee for American Leadership is supporting the appointment of former Ambassador Frank Ruddy, an international lawyer who has expressed concerns about the direction of the UN in the past.

Ambassador Ruddy was a Deputy Chairman of a UN Peacekeeping Referendum for the Western Sahara in 1994 and has testified regarding the flaws of UN operations worldwide. "Ambassador Ruddy represents an independent view of the UN," said DeWeese," and has addressed UN corruption and comparable issues before Congress. He has served as general counsel to the US Department of Energy, US Ambassador to Equatorial Guinea, and as an assistant administrator at the US Agency for International Development."

By contrast, the Center points out that former Congressman Hamilton is a Democrat and served on the board of the UNA-USA in 1999 while Mr. Whitehead has served as vice chairman of the organization. "Neither would serve the interest of the US to remain an independent nation, free of the ever-growing intrusion of the UN into the internal affairs of the US," said DeWeese.

"The choice of US Ambassador to the United Nations will send a signal that American sovereignty is a priority of the new administration," said DeWeese.