Wenstrup: World Health Organization Bowed to Chinese Interests, Needs Immediate Reform

Below are Select Subcommittee Chairman Wenstrup’s remarks as prepared for delivery:

Today the Select Subcommittee is holding a hearing to examine the future of the World Health Organization.  

The World Health Organization is supposed to be the preeminent organization that governs just that, the world’s health.

It played a key role in eradicating smallpox and significantly reducing the cases of polio around the globe.

Yet when the world was faced with the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, we saw that the W.H.O. does not serve all of its members equally.

We saw it is not an organization that serves all of humankind, but instead an organization that became beholden to or entrapped in politics.  

When it was most essential that the W.H.O. step up and help everyone, it bowed to political affiliations over global public health.

When the W.H.O. should have been conducting independent investigations into the origins of COVID-19 and presenting the global community with verified information to keep them safe, we instead saw them ignore facts and parrot back statements from the Chinese Communist Party.

We saw the W.H.O. deny that COVID-19 was spread via human-to-human transmission, based entirely on the word of the Chinese government.

The W.H.O. delayed naming COVID-19 a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, a World Health Organization procedure that, amongst other things, would have allowed for the procurement and distribution of scarce supplies, all because the Chinese Communist Party told them the spread was under control.

The W.H.O. delayed serious measures to counter the global spread of COVID-19, because the CCP was only worried about their own bottom line.

When the W.H.O. produced a report evaluating the possible origins of COVID-19, it became unquestionably evident that the entire report was nothing but more Chinese propaganda.

Even Dr. Fauci was worried about that report, stating “there was a lot of restrictions on the ability of the people who went there to really take a look…I have some considerable concerns about that.”

The CCP was so entrenched in influencing the W.H.O.’s investigation into the origins of COVID-19 that they even contacted me.  

With unanimous consent, I wish to submit for the record an e-mail sent to me by the Chinese Embassy.

This e-mail from the Chinese Embassy is another attempt to interfere with investigations into COVID.

The letter stated, “we express our grave concern regarding the COVID-19 origins hearing…We firmly oppose it.”

This kind of communication and action hardly expresses a clear conscience.

The W.H.O.’s lack of independent investigation potentially allowed the beginning of the pandemic to be worse and spread further than it could have been.

All in all, we saw the W.H.O. more influenced by politics than public health.

There is no denying it, the W.H.O. stumbled out of the gate.

This Subcommittee is as much about looking back as it is looking forward to and preparing for the future. We must be better prepared when the next pandemic surfaces, and a scientifically focused W.H.O. is paramount to that.

It is evident the W.H.O. is in dire need of reform.

So why not take an opportunity to ask the people who are in the trenches how we can help them?

Why not ask direct sources what we can do right now to equip future generations?

Should there be an independent body that is able to conduct oversight? How can the ideal methods of data sharing and development be implemented across the world?

What we do know is that the W.H.O. needs to be reestablished with raised expectations of transparency, verifiability, and accountability.

Running any public health organization in a political manner destroys that organization’s credibility.

The W.H.O. needs to police its members, and not cower behind bullies.

The W.H.O. should have been in a position to tell the world that China was lying. The fact that it did not to do so until much later is telling.

Honesty is always non-negotiable, especially during a once in generation public health emergency.

The W.H.O. is currently drafting a new Pandemic Accord and new International Health Regulations that will apply to all its members.  

These changes must ensure American interests are protected. They must not violate international sovereignty. And they must hold China accountable.

Further, any accord or treaty must be presented to Congress for approval. Anything else is wholly insufficient, especially in the minds of the American people.

Let’s use this opportunity to ensure that the W.H.O. can actually protect the world’s global health, and not just the political interests of a few of its members.

The United States should be setting the gold standard in incentivizing best practices.

And we should be doing everything we can to force the W.H.O. to listen to American interests.

Nothing is more important than global public health – and properly reforming the W.H.O. is the first step to that protection – so that our officials and our providers can better care for our citizens and establish best practices.

We are holding this hearing to look at the current circumstances surrounding the W.H.O. and see how we can make it better and stronger for the future.

I look forward to a strong, on topic, discussion today.

I would now like to recognize Ranking Member Ruiz for the purpose of making an opening statement.

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