A United States official assigned to the United Nations requested this week that the international organization do something about drunk diplomats at budget debates.

The problem arises every December, when diplomats fresh off visiting numerous holiday parties sometimes show up inebriated at UN budget committee meetings.

Joseph Torsella, deputy U.S. ambassador to the UN for management and reform, asked the budget committee if “negotiating rooms should in future be an inebriation-free zone."

He recommended that foreign representatives “save the champagne for toasting the successful end of the session,” so the budget committee could clean up its reputation.

One diplomat, requesting anonymity, told Agence France-Presse that it wasn’t just his fellow diplomats who caused problems. “On one occasion the note-taker who was meant to be recording the talks was so intoxicated he had to be replaced.”

-Noel Brinkerhoff

To Learn More:

U.S. Urges Ban on Drunk Diplomats at UN Budget Debates (by Louis Charbonneau and Michelle Nichols, Reuters)

U.S. Calls on UN to Ban Drunken Diplomats from Budget Negotiations (Agence France-Presse)

Nominated Ambassador to Netherlands Withdraws after Drunk Driving Arrest: Who is Timothy Broas? (by Matt Bewig, AllGov)

Head of Federal Aviation Administration Resigns after Drunk Driving Arrest (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)

Bureau of Prisons Director Resigns after Arrest for Drunk Driving: Who is Harley Lappin? (by Noel Brinkerhoff and David Wallechinsky, AllGov)