Feb. 22, 2023, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement in opposition to the draft World Health Organization (WHO) Pandemic Agreement:
“Americans for Limited Government opposes President Joe Biden’s negotiated draft agreement with the World Health Organization that abrogates U.S. sovereignty without any Senate ratification. Article 4, Section 3 of the draft clearly states that the United States and other signatories would retain sovereignty, but only ‘provided that activities within their jurisdiction or control do not cause damage to their peoples and other countries.’
“In other words, America would retain our sovereignty so long as it complies with the measures that WHO recommends. It even allows for provisional adoption of the agreement in Article 35 to expedite implementation.
“Toward the end of protecting the Senate’s advice and consent process on treaties, Senator Ron Johnson has introduced legislation the ‘No WHO Pandemic Preparedness Treaty Without Senate Approval Act’ which we wholeheartedly support. Additionally, we urge the House and the Senate to end U.S. financial support to the World Health Organization should President Biden press ahead on this disastrous shattering of our liberties under the U.S. Constitution.
“It is clear that President Biden intends to sign and follow the WHO Pandemic Agreement without submitting it to the Senate, and it is incumbent on Congress to send the current president a strong message that he cannot trade away our nation’s freedoms to unaccountable third party actors.”
Attachments:
WHO Pandemic Agreement, Draft, Feb. 1, 2023 at https://apps.who.int/gb/inb/pdf_files/inb4/A_INB4_3-en.pdf Article IV, Section 3: “Sovereignty – States have, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations and the principles of international law, the sovereign right to determine and manage their approach to public health, notably pandemic prevention, preparedness, response and recovery of health systems, pursuant to their own policies and legislation, provided that activities within their jurisdiction or control do not cause damage to their peoples and other countries. Sovereignty also covers the rights of States over their biological resources.”
President Biden proposed amendments, Jan. 18, 2022 at https://apps.who.int/gb/ebwha/pdf_files/WHA75/A75_18-en.pdf
Council of the EU gives green light to start negotiations on international pandemic treaty, March 3, 2022 at https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2022/03/03/council-gives-green-light-to-start-negotiations-on-international-pandemic-treaty/
For media availability contact Americans for Limited Government at media@limitgov.org.
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