Senate Foreign Relations Committee Subcommittee on International Development:

The argument that in the face of COVID-19, the U.S. must isolate itself from the world (and specifically China) and cut funding to the World Health Organization is precisely backwards.
From tearing up the Iran nuclear deal, cutting funding to UNRWA, exiting the Paris Climate Accord, the U.N. Human Rights Council, the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, and more, Trump’s decision to cut funding to the WHO comes amid the long list of international treaties, accords and global institutions his administration has abandoned, or broken — all resulting in disastrous outcomes. These horrific decisions, as well as the sanctions, embargoes, and trade barriers that Trump has either implemented or increased since coming to power, have divided us from global cooperation just when we need it most. As the subcommittee that oversees the WHO, we call on you, on the Subcommittee On Multilateral International Development, Multilateral Institutions, And International Economic, Energy, And Environmental Policy, not to let Trump make one of the most dangerous decisions to date by de-funding the WHO in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Right now, the WHO is providing daily supplies, guidance, and support to 194 member states to assist their planning and execution of responses to the pandemic. As Richard Horton, editor of the prestigious medical journal The Lancet, said, “President Trump’s decision to defund WHO is simply this — a crime against humanity. Every scientist, every health worker, every citizen must resist and rebel against this appalling betrayal of global solidarity.”

Blaming the WHO and isolating the U.S. from China is moving in the opposite direction for U.S. and global health and safety. During the H1N1, H7N9 crises and the Ebola outbreak in 2014, the U.S. and China shared information and resources and the WHO was instrumental. But since Trump came into power, the CDC and the National Institutes of Health had their Beijing staff reduced, the Chinese office of the National Science Foundation was closed, and the U.S. CDC’s medical epidemiologist who had been embedded inside China’s CDC was removed. With COVID-19 sweeping across the U.S., it is critical that the U.S. fund and cooperate with the WHO and cooperate with China. The U.S. must learn from China how they successfully handled the virus — exactly which social distancing measures and medical treatments were the most successful — and how they are returning to normalcy without a vaccine.

The U.S. refused tests from the WHO as the virus was first appearing in the U.S. and the U.S. is still horrifically behind on testing. It is neither the WHO nor China’s fault that the U.S. response to COVID-19 has been so lacking and behind — it is Trump’s!

COVID-19 has shown just how deeply interconnected people are— from the U.S. to Latin America to the Middle East to China. People in places like Yemen are relying on the WHO as COVID-19 prepares to wreak havoc on their already war-torn lives. Without solving the COVID-19 crisis in every country, no county will be protected.

Now is precisely the time to be increasing global cooperation, not cutting funding to the WHO. As the American public, we call on you, as the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee that oversees the WHO, to stop Trump from pouring fuel onto the global COVID-19 pandemic fire by cutting funds to the WHO.

Thank you,