House Freedom Caucus to Biden: ‘Halt Efforts to Empower Mismanaged, Corrupt W.H.O.’

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus
FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP via Getty Images
Katherine Hamilton

The House Freedom Caucus sent President Joe Biden a letter on Monday demanding he stand against the World Health Organization’s (W.H.O) push for a “global pandemic treaty,” which would transfer much of the authority for pandemic control from member nations to the U.N. agency.

“The House Freedom Caucus urges you to halt your efforts to empower the World Health Organization (WHO) and instead either immediately resume President Trump’s withdrawal from the body or, at the very least, push serious reforms to aggressively correct the organization’s rampant corruption and ineffectual leadership,” the letter reads. 

The caucus, which is led by Republican fighters, Reps. Scott Perry (R-PA) and Jim Jordan (R-OH), called out the Biden administration for proposing amendments to the W.H.O. International Health Regulations — “the set of rules governing responses by the agency and its member states to international public health emergencies” — at the 75th World Health Assembly, which began on May 22. In January, the Biden administration proposed amendments that would eliminate any requirements for W.H.O. to consult with member governments before declaring a disease outbreak.

As Breitbart News previously reported:

Article 9 of the Biden administration’s proposed IHR amendments simply strikes out the existing requirement for W.H.O. to “consult with and attempt to obtain verification from the State Party in whose territory the event is allegedly occurring.” Every subsequent reference in the IHR to consulting with the relevant state party is likewise erased, effectively giving the W.H.O. director unilateral authority to declare outbreaks.

…

W.H.O. would also be empowered to use “undisclosed sources” for its pandemic data, which could include all manner of self-interested or politicized sources, from pharmaceutical companies to organizations like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The director-general of the W.H.O. would gain unilateral authority to declare health emergencies and take punitive action against member nations.

Supporters say the amendments are necessary to improve pandemic response worldwide, but critics say national sovereignty would be lost to a globalist organization that failed to properly handle the coronavirus pandemic. 

“Reportedly aimed at targeting China’s manipulation and obstruction of WHO throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, these amendments in fact empower the same individual most responsible for enabling that nation’s malfeasance: WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus,” lawmakers wrote:

Not only did you fail to propose an alternative candidate to Dr. Tedros, who is expected to be elected to a second term without opposition this week, you are now attempting to hand him more control. We call on you to instead use the 75th World Health Assembly as an opportunity to demand a radical course correction and change in leadership.

The House Freedom Caucus ended its letter by telling Biden he must “provide the American people with total transparency,” and said if a “global pandemic treaty” is reached, he must seek consent from two-thirds of the U.S. Senate to make a treaty.

“Furthermore, as efforts continue by WHO Member States to negotiate a ‘global pandemic treaty,’ we demand that you provide the American people with total transparency and respect for our nation’s sovereignty. Under no circumstances should you cede our government’s operational control in a public health emergency to an international body,” the letter read.

“In the event any agreement is reached on a ‘global pandemic treaty,’ we expect you to fully comply with Article II, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution, which clearly states that ‘the President shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur,’” it concludes. 

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