Political

A letter signed by every single Republican Senator demands that President Biden withdraw US support from the proposed Pandemic Treaty and IHR Amendments. The Senators call upon Biden to:

1. Withdraw support for the current IHR amendments and pandemic treaty negotiations.

2. Shift focus to comprehensive WHO reforms that address its persistent failures without expanding its authority.

3. Should Biden ignore this advice, the Senators demand that President Biden submit any pandemic-related agreement to the Senate for its advice and consent.

The full letter with all of the signatures can be found here.

There was a House bill introduced (HR1425) titled: “No WHO Pandemic Preparedness Treaty Without Senate Approval Act”. This bill would have established that any convention or agreement on pandemic-related issues reached by the World Health Assembly (WHA) shall be deemed to be a treaty requiring the advice and consent of the Senate.

Unfortunately, the bill was sent to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, which never voted on it. Near as I can tell, this has essentially killed that pending legislation. This is called a pocket-veto.

Congressman Michael McCaul is the chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee. If you wish to contact him to discover when HR 1425 will be voted on, so it can be released out of committee- please follow this link. To find your Congressional member to ask them to support HR1425, go here.

For a list of other House Foreign Affairs Committee members to ask them to support HR1425 getting out of committee, go here.

Senator Ron Johnson introduced Bill S.444 in March 2023, which is the companion to the above. The bill had 49 co-sponsors (all republicans). The Committee on Foreign Relations has also pocket-vetoed this bill, as it never left the committee. Also, consider reaching out to your senator or the committee to voice your concerns.

Please also reach out to both sides of the aisle. Even a single vote from “the other side” would make all the difference for passing HR1425 and S444.

In the WHO's 75-year history, only been one legally binding treaty has been agreed upon, and that was a tobacco control treaty in 2003. There is very little precedence for this treaty, and it is time to end WHO’s power grab now.