WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Senators Rick Scott and Josh Hawley introduced the World Health Organization (WHO) Accountability Act to hold the WHO responsible for its role in helping Communist China cover up information regarding the threat of the coronavirus. The WHO Accountability Act withholds U.S. taxpayer dollars from the WHO until the organization replaces its leadership, as of January 1, 2020, and accepts Taiwan as a member state. It also limits U.S. funding to the same or less than the top contributor nation to the WHO each year. 

Senator Rick Scott said, “The mission of the WHO is to get public health information to the world so every country can make the best decisions to keep their citizens safe. The WHO not only failed its mission, but it failed the world when it comes to the coronavirus. They served as a puppet for the Chinese Communist Party – parroting misinformation and helping Communist China cover up a global pandemic. Last February, I called on the WHO to do its own in-depth analysis on the extent and origins of the coronavirus. It took them nearly a year to take action and we still have no answer. They have even dropped their investigation into whether COVID-19 leaked from Wuhan lab. Their inaction has grave consequences.

“The WHO also needs to answer for its refusal to include Taiwan in its membership, meetings, and information, especially in the face of the coronavirus. They are complicit in Communist China’s effort to isolate Taiwan. There is no reason U.S. taxpayers should be spending hundreds of millions a year, more than any other country, to fund the WHO without significant reform. I’m proud to introduce the WHO Accountability Act to withhold American taxpayer dollars from the WHO until they start actually caring about public health, stop acting like a puppet for the Communist China and allow Taiwan as a member.”
 

Senator Josh Hawley said, “Time and again, the World Health Organization has prioritized advancing the Chinese Communist Party’s interests over building a healthier world. Dr. Tedros and other WHO leaders must be held accountable for this dereliction of duty, and the WHO must undertake comprehensive reform before it is allowed to benefit from U.S. tax dollars once again.”

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