FIRST ON FOX: A group of Republicans in the House of Representatives is in favor of completely blocking US funding World Health Organization (WHO).
Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, policy chairman of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, introduced the bill Tuesday and argued that the international health body “does not serve our interests and does not deserve our money.”
He also attacked current efforts by WHO member countries to draft an international agreement on pandemic preparedness, accusing the organization of trying to consolidate and strengthen its own influence.
“Taking money from hard-working families struggling with the consequences of the Biden inflation crisis to send to a bunch of leftist ‘public health’ tyrants in Geneva is unacceptable,” Roy told Fox News Digital.
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Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization, talks to the media about the 2021 COVID-19 coronavirus. ((Salvatore Di Nolfi/Keystone via AP))
“I am confident that President Trump will cut funding to the WHO — as he did last time — but this bill will ensure that no future administration can restart it.”
At least a dozen GOP lawmakers support the bill.
A significant number of Republicans, including President-elect Donald Trump, have criticized the WHO, particularly in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, is seen outside the U.S. Capitol after the final votes before the August recess on Thursday, July 25, 2024. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Trump announced that he did stopping WHO funding during his first term in April 2020, a move that sparked backlash from the American medical community, Politico reported at the time.
“Fighting a global pandemic requires international cooperation and reliance on science and data,” Patrice Harris, president of the American Medical Association, he said to the socket.
However, conservatives in Congress view the organization as a power-hungry group that has no regard for US interests.
The US is currently the largest contributor to the WHO, according to the World Population Review. The organization’s website states that 60% of funding comes from member states.
Roy’s “World Health Organization Taxpayer Ban Act” would stop all contributions to the WHO, both mandatory and other voluntary funding.
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A WHO spokesman said the body was focused on maintaining relations with the US when asked for comment on Roy’s account.
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“The director-general of the WHO, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said in December, at a press conference, that the new US administration has not yet taken office and that it needs time, like any new government, to do so. As Dr. . Tedros said, WHO will do everything possible to work with the new US administration to continue to strengthen global health security,” the spokesperson said.
“I would add that the WHO-US partnership and America’s contribution to global health security more broadly has protected and saved millions of lives in America and around the world. WHO greatly values its relationship with the US and is committed to maintaining and strengthening it. “
