No WHO Withdrawal Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 4240 To prohibit the use of funds to withdraw the United States from the World Health Organization. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JULY 21, 2020 Mr. COONS (for himself and Mr. LEAHY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations A BILL To prohibit the use of funds to withdraw the United States from the World Health Organization. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘No WHO Withdrawal 4 Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress makes the following findings: 7 (1) In 1948, the United States became a state 8 party to the Constitution of the World Health Orga- 9 nization, done at New York July 22, 1946, and en- 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:49 Aug 01, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4240.IS S4240 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 4240 IS tered into force April 7, 1948 (62 Stat. 2679; TIAS 1 1808), a multilateral treaty to which the United 2 States was an original signatory and the terms of 3 which the United States helped draft. 4 (2) Pursuant to Article 4 of the Constitution of 5 the World Health Organization, the United States 6 accepted that Constitution’s terms in accordance 7 with the provisions of that Constitution and in ac- 8 cordance with the constitutional processes of the 9 United States. 10 (3) The Constitution of the World Health Orga- 11 nization lacks an explicit withdrawal provision. 12 (4) Congress passed the joint resolution entitled 13 ‘‘Joint Resolution providing for membership and 14 participation by the United States in the World 15 Health Organization and authorizing an appropria- 16 tion therefor.’’, approved June 14, 1948 (62 Stat. 17 441, chapter 469), authorizing the President to ac- 18 cept United States membership in the World Health 19 Organization and specifying that the United States 20 could withdraw from the Organization upon the sat- 21 isfaction of the following two conditions: 22 (A) The United States would provide no- 23 tice one year before withdrawing. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:49 Aug 01, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4240.IS S4240 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 4240 IS (B) The United States would continue to 1 meet its financial obligations to the World 2 Health Organization for the Organization’s cur- 3 rent fiscal year. 4 (5) That joint resolution authorized an annual 5 appropriation to the Department of State for the 6 payment by the United States of its share of the ex- 7 penses of the World Health Organization, and in 8 doing so, Congress exercised both its constitutional 9 power of the purse and its power to approve inter- 10 national agreements. 11 (6) President Harry Truman’s statement of the 12 acceptance of the United States of the Constitution 13 of the World Health Organization expressly acknowl- 14 edged that he was ‘‘acting pursuant to the authority 15 granted by the joint resolution . . . and subject to 16 the provisions of that joint resolution’’ (62 Stat. 17 2792). 18 (7) On July 2, 1948, the World Health Assem- 19 bly unanimously recognized the validity of the ratifi- 20 cation of the Constitution of the World Health Orga- 21 nization by the United States. 22 (8) The World Health Organization plays an es- 23 sential role in the global governance of health and 24 infectious disease, including through setting norms 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:49 Aug 01, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4240.IS S4240 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 4240 IS and sharing information, facilitating international 1 coordination, providing technical support, and moni- 2 toring health trends around the world. 3 (9) The United States was the World Health 4 Organization’s largest donor in 2018 and 2019, pro- 5 viding $893,000,000, or about 15 percent, of the Or- 6 ganization’s budget. 7 (10) On January 30, 2020, the World Health 8 Organization declared the coronavirus disease 2019 9 (commonly known as ‘‘COVID–19’’) outbreak a pub- 10 lic health emergency of international concern. 11 (11) The World Health Organization is working 12 to help countries manage and respond to COVID–19 13 and a multitude of other public health threats, in- 14 cluding by improving preparedness and response ca- 15 pacity, accelerating research and development for 16 treatment and therapeutics, distributing essential 17 supplies, and coordinating across regions to assess, 18 respond, and mitigate risk. 19 (12) On April 14, 2020, in the midst of the 20 deadliest global pandemic in decades, President 21 Donald J. Trump announced the suspension of 22 United States funding to the World Health Organi- 23 zation pending a review into the Organization’s re- 24 sponse to the spread of COVID–19. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:49 Aug 01, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4240.IS S4240 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 4240 IS (13) On July 6, 2020, President Trump sent a 1 formal notice to Congress and the World Health Or- 2 ganization that the United States will withdraw 3 from the Organization after 72 years of membership, 4 despite the Organization’s vital role in the global re- 5 sponse to the COVID–19 pandemic. 6 (14) The United States may not legally with- 7 draw from the World Health Organization Constitu- 8 tion until, at the earliest, July 6, 2021, one year 9 after the date of the formal withdrawal notice, and 10 the United States would still be legally obligated to 11 pay the balance of its financial obligations to the 12 World Health Organization. 13 SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 14 It is the policy of the United States— 15 (1) to remain a member in good standing of the 16 World Health Organization, including by payment of 17 the financial obligations of the United States to the 18 Organization; 19 (2) to reject any efforts to withdraw the United 20 States from the World Health Organization, either 21 directly, or indirectly through condemnation of the 22 Organization; and 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:49 Aug 01, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4240.IS S4240 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 4240 IS (3) to continue to work within the World 1 Health Organization to reform and improve the Or- 2 ganization. 3 SEC. 4. PROHIBITION ON THE USE OF FUNDS TO WITH- 4 DRAW FROM THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZA- 5 TION. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi- 7 sion of law, no funds described in subsection (b) may be 8 obligated or expended to take any action to withdraw the 9 United States from the World Health Organization. 10 (b) FUNDS DESCRIBED.—The funds described in this 11 subsection are funds— 12 (1) authorized to be appropriated or otherwise 13 made available for fiscal year 2021 or any fiscal year 14 thereafter; or 15 (2) authorized to be appropriated or otherwise 16 made available for any fiscal year before fiscal year 17 2021 and available for obligation as of the date of 18 the enactment of this Act. 19 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:49 Aug 01, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S4240.IS S4240 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS