After years of bad decisions made by leaders during the COVID-19 pandemic, Americans are still left cleaning up the mess. But certain bad actors aren’t finished capitalizing on it yet. The World Health Organization (WHO) is trying to grant itself the power to enact pandemic policies on a global level.
The WHO has drafted a proposed treaty which will be considered at a meeting on February 27 to work out the final terms. According to the draft, WHO will declare itself as the “directing and coordinating authority,” have the power to “declare pandemics,” and move forward policies itself if no consensus is reached by world leaders. One of the policies they are already enacting is the right to eliminate intellectual property rights of “pandemic-related products.” Those terms are left intentionally broad to have more control.
Based on the WHO’s previous actions on infectious outbreaks, it is extremely unqualified to make such sweeping decisions. Population control has been a core mission of the WHO for some time. If the desire is to have fewer people in the world, an organization is not going to act quickly to save lives during a pandemic. The WHO took four months to address the 2003 SARS outbreak, failed to issue adequate guidance on protecting first responders from Ebola in 2013 and ignored the warnings of COVID-19 spreading in China for three months. These actions cost lives across the globe.
When the COVID pandemic was declared, the WHO did not improve its dismal track record. It refused to investigate the origins of COVID-19 in Wuhan labs, even saying, an entire year later, that the virus was unlikely to have come from there. For two years, the WHO ‘experts’ took various stances on masks, lockdowns, herd immunity, social distancing, and vaccines. It was bullied by the left when it printed something at odds with the Centers for Disease Control leading to the rescission of any commonsense guidance. The WHO cannot be trusted to make clear decisions or to follow the science.
Pew Research Center found that 51 percent of Americans were unhappy with the WHO’s pandemic response. When the numbers are broken down by party, the feelings are very partisan. Those considering themselves Democrat or lean Democrat were more likely to give the WHO a favorable rating. The authorities who forced lockdowns, mandated vaccines, and shamed those who disagreed were largely from the Democrat party. Handing over such immense power to the WHO is in line with the power grab over American lives consistent with the leftist agenda.
The WHO’s agreement allows for ‘provisional’ membership pending a nation’s formal ratification. This means President Biden will be able to sign onto the treaty and have it go into effect even if he never submits it for ratification. This ignores the important role of the Senate to speak on behalf of the will of the American people, by ratifying international agreements.
Thankfully, Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) has been a leader in holding accountable those pandemic bad actors. This week, he re-introduced the No WHO Pandemic Preparedness Treaty Without Senate Approval Act (S.444) to ensure that the American people have a say in who is making decisions regarding pandemic responses. Any treaty entered by the United States should not be decided by a small group of partisan individuals but must be ratified by a 2/3 majority of the Senate. Senator Johnson’s bill does that and also declares that “a significant segment of the American people is deeply skeptical of the World Health Organization, its leadership, and its pernicious political influence of certain members, including the People’s Republic of China.” The bill already has 16 co-sponsors but needs more and must be voted on soon. Please contact your two Senators and encourage them to join Senator Johnson and others on this bill.
Former President Donald Trump suspended all government funding of the WHO and many members of Congress called for legislation to defund the organization altogether. Of course, President Joe Biden promptly reissued funds to the WHO and formally had the US rejoin the WHO once he was elected. Our elected officials can and must reign in this power-hungry organization and defund it once again.
While the pandemic is still fresh in our minds, we must continue to hold the bad actors accountable and prevent them from continuing their power grab. We can do that by encouraging both the House and Senate to defund the WHO and for the Senate to become a mandatory check on this type of sovereignty-destroying treaty.
