Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson Reignites Effort to Protect America’s Sovereignty Against World Health Organization’s Pandemic Treaty
17 Repub Senators cosponsor bill to require WHO treaty to undergo Senate ratification before becoming US law
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Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) reintroduced legislation Wednesday that seeks to protect the sovereignty of the United States against the World Health Organization’s (WHO) attempt to push through a pandemic treaty onto its member states.
Johnson led other Republican senators as he reintroduced the No WHO Pandemic Preparedness Treaty Without Senate Approval Act.
The legislation would require any agreement the WHO’s intergovernmental negotiating body creates to be deemed a treaty, thereby requiring the advice and consent of a supermajority of the Senate.
The WHO, the international health agency of the United Nations, has continued to press for a pandemic treaty and is expected to formally present a draft to member states later this month, Johnson’s office explained in a press release.
The release added:
After the Biden Administration’s failed COVID-19 response and the WHO’s mismanagement of the pandemic, Americans remain skeptical of continuing infringements on personal liberties and freedoms. The legislation would provide more transparency in WHO agreements and a constitutional check on the administration.
“The WHO, along with our federal health agencies, failed miserably in their response to COVID-19,” Johnson said in a statement. “This failure should not be rewarded with a new international treaty that would increase the WHO’s power at the expense of American sovereignty.”
The bill states its purpose is “require any convention, agreement, or other international instrument on pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response reached by the World Health Assembly to be subject to Senate ratification.”
When Johnson first introduced the legislation in May 2022, it was welcomed by many American constitutionalists, lawmakers, and healthcare professionals.
The Biden administration planned to forfeit the decision-making power of the United States over its healthcare policies to the WHO, an organization Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) called a “corrupt, Chinese Communist Party (CCP) entity.”
Biden’s Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) had proposed 13 amendments to the WHO’s International Health Regulations (IHR) – related, but separate, from the pandemic treaty – that sought to surrender the power of the U.S. to declare and launch its own response to an infectious disease episode, within its own borders, to the authority of the U.N. bureaucracy.
Roy introduced legislation to block U.S. taxpayer funding of the WHO.
In May 2020, former President Donald Trump terminated the U.S.’s relationship with the WHO and froze its funding over its favoring of China and the UN health agency’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, which originated in China.
“The world is now suffering as a result of the misfeasance of the Chinese government,” Trump said at the time.
As Fox News reported, the U.S. had been the top contributing nation to the WHO at about $450 million annually, while China had been contributing about $50 million before Beijing announced it would add $2 billion in funds.
“This is one of those things that sounds like science fiction,” virologist Dr. Robert Malone told Steve Bannon on War Room. “It’s hard to believe that the president of the United States and his administration are intentionally undermining the Constitution, but that’s what it is, as far as I’m concerned.”
In late May, however, the Biden administration was dealt a stunning blow at the World Health Assembly (WHA) in its attempt to push through its amendments to the IHR that would hand over U.S. decision-making power regarding healthcare policies to the WHO.
None of the 13 amendments were adopted when nations including Africa, Brazil, Brunei, Namibia, Bangladesh, Russia, Malaysia, India, Iran – and even China – all expressed concerns about Biden’s proposed amendments.
Brazil, under former President Jair Bolsonaro at the time, especially noted it would choose to exit the WHO entirely rather than allow its people to be made subservient to the global agency.
Senators who have joined Johnson on the bill are Senators Chuck Grassley (R-IA); Bill Hagerty (R-TN); John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Rick Scott (R-FL); John Hoeven (R-ND); Marco Rubio (R-FL); Ted Cruz (R-TX); Steve Daines (R-MT); Thom Tillis (R-NC); Tom Cotton (R-AR); Mike Braun (R-IN); Tommy Tuberville (R-AL); Roger Marshall (R-KS); and Katie Britt (R-AL
How can it be that not one Democrat, or Independent, joined these 17 Senators? Not one Democratic Senator cares about sovereignty. Not one. The Senate is where every state has an equal number of votes. It represents not the population, but the nation of equal states. No treaty should be effectuated with out approval of the Senate. We are off our rocker!
Meryl....this just could backfire big time. With the Democrats in the majority the Senate would surely pass the treaty and not pass this bill. I would be better if the House would defund the WHO, WEF and the UN. They need to hold out until all funds for these organizations is stricken from the budget. There is already legislation in the House to defund the WHO and the WEF. Rep. Rogers also had legislation last year (HR7806) to get the US out of the UN. He is supposedly going to submit the same legislation this year but we do have legislation to defund the WHO and the WEF. Even if the Senate, by some miracle, passes this bill Biden will never sign it. Sen. Johnson is not a dumb man and he knows this. When Congress tries to pass bills they KNOW cannot get passed or signed by the President it smells of a campaign ploy.