The hearing was held amid ongoing concerns from u. S. Lawmakers w. H. O. It was was impy influenced by china through the covid19 pandemic. This is about two and half hours. It was not. [background noises] these select a subcommittee of the coronavirus pandemic will come to order but want to welcome everyone here today. Without objection the chairman to clear recess at any time. I now recognize myself for the purpose of making an opening statement. Today the select subcommittee is holding a hearing to examine the future of the World Health Organization. And our relationship with the w. H. O. The World Health Organization is supposed to be the preeminent organization that governs just that, the worlds health. Played a key role in eradicating smallpox and is significantly reduced in the cases of polio around the globe. And yet when the world was faced with the outbreak of covid19 and the pandemic we saw w. H. O. Does not always serve all of its members equally. We saw its not an organization that serves all of humankind but instead perhaps an organization that became beholding tosa oriet trapped in politics. List most essential w. H. O. Be able to step up and help everyone, it seems to have bowed to political affiliations over Global Public health. When w. H. O. Should have been conducting independent investigations into the origins of covid at 19th and present in the Global Community with verified information to help keep them safe, we instead saw they ignored some facts and impaired back statements that came from the chinese, and his party. We saw w. H. O. Deny covid19 was spread via human to human transmission based entirely on the word of the Chinese Government. W. H. O. Delayed naming covid19 a Public Health emergency of International Concern for World Health Organization procedure amongst other things would have allowed for the procurement and distribution of scarcee supplie. 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 to the spread was under control. The w. H. O. Delayed serious measures to counter the global spread of covid19, 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 more than chinese propaganda. I have some considerable concerns about that. The ccp was so entrenched in influencing whos investigation into the origins of covid that they even contacted me with unanimous consent i wish to submit to the record an email sent to me by the Chinese Embassy, so ordered. This email from the Chinese Embassy is another attempt to interfere with the investigations of covid. The letter stated weve expressed our grave concern regarding the covid19 origins hearing. We firmly oppose it. This communication and action hardly expresses clear correspondence. The w. H. O. s lack of investigation potentially allowed the pandemic to be worse and spread further than it could have been. Not necessarily their fault. Theres no denying it. The w. H. O. Stumbled out of the gate. The subcommittee is as much about looking back as it is looking forward and preparing for the future. We must be better prepared when the next pandemic surfaces. And the scientifically focused w. H. O. Is paramount for that. Its evident that the w. H. O. Is in need of some reform. So why not take an opportunity to ask the very people who are in the trenches how we can help them, why not ask direct sources what you 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. Accountability amongst its members as well. Running any public Health Organization in a political manner destroy itac is organizations credibility. The w. H. O. Needs to police its members and now coward behind police, the w. H. O. Should have been in the position to tell the world that china was lie if they were lying. The fact that it didnt do so until later is very telling. Honesty is always nonnegotiables especially once in a generation. These changesne must ensure american interests are protected. They must not violate International Sovereignty and they must hold china and others accountable. Further any accord or treaty must be presented to congress for approval. Anything else is holding insufficient especially in the minds of the American People. Lets use this the opportunity to ensure that the w. H. O. Can actually protect the World Global Health and not just literal interest 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 interest, nothing is more important than Global Public health and properly forming the who he is the first step to that protection so there are officials and are providers that can better care for our citizens and establish best practices not only for here but perhaps around the world. We are holding the hearing to look at circumstances surrounding w. H. O. And seens how we canan make it better and stronger for the future. I look forward to a strong ontopic discussion today and i would like to recognize Ranking Member dr. Ruiz for the purpose of making an opening statement. Thank you and i believe, i think it is absolutely appropriate to congratulate you on your decision regarding your retirement and to show you full respect and appreciation for the amount of service you have given to our nation not just as a policy maker here in congress but also in your service in our military and as a physician and so as a fellow physician, its going to be sad too see you leae but know youre loved and know that youre very well respected and our nation appreciates you 100 . And i will miss working with you and i think we have a few bills we can get passed this bill. We must, we must. Its been a while, my friend. And thank you to ambassador, assistant secretary pace and assistant administrator for your participation today. I must say chairman, right now you probably cant see or really feel but inside im like a kid at a candy store. Im really excited to have all of three of you here. All three of you have done remarkable work, have led your profession and have been thought leaders for our nation and many countries aroundd the world. I want to the thank you personally and i also want to give a special thank you to doctor because when i was a thirdyear medical student doing my general surgery rotation the at the Womens Hospital i actually scrubbed in with doctor when he was aus fellow there ani really need to thank you for your kindness because despite you looking like you hadnt slept in 7 days, you were still kind and patient in helping me maneuver around the operating room so thank you so much. [laughter] in the last 3 years, the world has preserved through a deadly pandemic that has claimed nearly 7 million lives across the globe. K now as we reflect on the International Response to this Public Health crisis and look to the future, we must do so with a commitment to advancing Global Health security. Theres no International Organization as central to this work as the World Health Organization which has contributed to monumental advancements in healthcare and defeat of deadly diseases even in the furthest corners of the world. The w. H. O. Global vaccination programs have helped contribute to the an overall 54 increase in global Life Expectancy in the last 70 years and put us on track to prevent 51 million debts from measles and hepatitis b around the world. So i want to take the time to emphasize now that our work to prevent and prepare for future pandemics is not in conflict with enhancing International Cooperation. Instead our efforts are strengthened and fortified by it. In our last hearing on safety and security we all agree that threats to the american Peoples Health does not end at our borders so in order to ensure our nation is truly prepared for the next pandemic, we must continue to engage with the International Community on work thatam prevents future threats from reaching our nation. The United States has served as the preeminently leader in Global Health for decades and now is not the time to see that role to another country angling for global influence. No, now is the time to reinforce the United StatesGlobal Health leadership with meaningful reforms to the w. H. O. That promote transparency and strengthen International Cooperation in the event of future pandemics. Thankfully after years of volatile leadership under the previous Trump Administration, the Biden Administration has sought to correct course by reengaging not only with the World Health Organization but our partners around the world to advancele Global Health and our interest abroad. You see, when we become an isolationist nation we leave a void that other countries can come in and fill to use Public Health diplomacy as way of geopolitical dominance. Taking a Lessons Learned approach from the early days of the pandemic, the Biden Administration has pursued reforms to the w. H. O. And i think we can all get behind. Reforms that one enhance oversight in Member States compliance with International Health regulations to develop an Early Warning system for Public Health threats and strengthen capabilities fort Public Health emergencies of International Concern. Exactly what we are working onto to strengthen. So these reforms would not only institute positive change at the World Health Organization but they would enhance pandemic preparedness on a global scale and reinforce u. S. Influence in International Institutions and norms. You see in many ways Global Health is the cornerstone of diplomatic efforts and we must continue to find way that is enhance our role in this space on the International Stage. The fact of the matter is, when we leave gaps our adversaries will fill them. So now more than ever we should work to deepen cooperation with our allies and commit to the a collaborative approach to Global Health security that will ultimately counter the Chinese Communist party and deter their influence. Bold investments in Global Health and pandemic prevention made through consolidated appropriations act and the American Rescue plan have set the stage for this work, for example, the American Rescue plan funds bolstering the w. H. O. s Covid VaccinationAdministration Efforts help vaccinate approximately half the worlds population for covid19 within 1year period with the u. S. Vaccines making their way to key regions of the world where we compete with the prc for influence. Additionally, the Biden Administration has complemented these investments with forwardlooking policies that advance u. S. Interest abroad. Notably under President Bidens leadership the state department established its bureau of Global Health security and diplomacy with ambassador at large at the helm. Ambassador, i look forward hearing from you today about how the bureau has integrated Global Health security in our National Security informed policy priorities and how the United States is engaging with w. H. O. To advance that effort. So theres certainly a great deal of ground to cover in todays discussion and it is my hope that today we can identify constructive reforms to the w. H. O. That build on the administrations effort to enhance Global Pandemic preparedness as well as forward looking policies that further cement americas leadership in Global Health security. So with that, thank you, mr. Chairman and i yield back. Well, thank you. Our Witnesses Today are ms. Pace, secretary of health and Human Services for global affairs. Ambassador john, ambassador is the u. S. Global aids coordinator and Senior Bureau official for Global Health security and diplomacy for the department of state. He worked as the w. H. O. Special envoy for africa during the covid19 pandemic. And doctor is the surgeon, writer and Public Health researcher and assistant of the u. S. Agency for International Development for Global Health as well as Board Certified in general and surgery. Pursuant to the committee on oversight andwr accountability rule 9gr the witnesses will please stand and raise their right hands. Do you solemnly swear or affirm that the testimony that youre about to give is the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help you god . Thank you. Let the record show that the witnesses all answered in the affirmative. Let the record show witnesses all answered in the affirmative. This selective subcommittee certainly appreciates you all being here today. And i am sorry we had a delay in this meeting, but we are grateful you are here today, and look forward to your testimony. Let me remind the witnesses, we have read your written statements, and they will appear in full in the hearing. But, please limit your oral statements to five minutes. As a reminder, please press the button on the microphone in front of you so that it is on when you speak, and so that the members can hear you. When you begin to speak, the light in front of you will turn green. After four minutes, the light will turn yellow. When the red light comes on, your five minutes has expired, and we would ask that you please wrap up the statement. I now recognize ms. Pace to give an opening statement. Good afternoon, chairman, Ranking Member ruiz, and members of the subcommittee. Thank you for ensuring that we identify these lessons from the covid19 pandemic to enhance our Public Preparedness and National Security. My office leads u. S. Engagement with w. H. O. , and has been working since the start of the pandemic, on Institutional Reforms that improve transparency and accountability, both within the organization, and as he said, sir, across its 194 Member States. We work closely with our colleagues at the department of state and usaid as well as other agencies to build pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response capacities, worldwide. Of course, the world has been profoundly impacted by the covid19 pandemic. In the u. S. , unfortunately, we tragically lost more than 1 million lives, and nearly 7 million have died locally. We know there is no ocean large enough to protect americans from a virus that can spread rapidly. So, we also know that it is only a matter of time before the world faces another serious Public Health threat. As it turns out, w. H. O. Has been on the frontlines of nearly every Global Health challenge over the past 75 years, combating, containing, and curing some of the planets most deadly diseases. Currently, w. H. O. Is responding to dozens of serious Health Emergencies, including in gaza and in ukraine. But, it takes an effective w. H. O. To adequately guard health and wellbeing, supporting the safety and sovereignty of america. Frankly, if w. H. O. Didnt exist, we would have to create it. That said, the covid19 pandemic also revealed major gaps in our Global Health security architecture, including, and importantly, at w. H. O. Working with likeminded Member States, the u. S. Is leveraging our seat at the table to draw dialogues and solutions required today, because unfortunately, we have learned the hard way that this is in our national interest. So, at that table, hhs is leading efforts to update the International Health regulations, to make them clearer, more precise, and better fit for purpose. Among other important reforms, we are advocating for amendments that would ensure rapid and transparent information sharing, and hence w. H. O. s ability to assess Health Threats, and improved Global Implementation and compliance. Additionally, we are actively working alongside state Department Colleagues to negotiate a global agreement that seeks to improve International Accountability and collaboration on pandemic preparedness and response. Through both of these negotiations, we are advancing longstanding u. S. Priorities, to reinforce regional capacity and reduce risks posed by emerging infections. Ultimately, we are focused on finding Sustainable Solutions that break the cycle of pandemic crisis and complacency. The u. S. Is also pushing for reforms within w. H. O. Itself. With vocal u. S. Leadership, the 2023 executive Board Meeting and World Health Assembly approved a set of recommendations and plans for more stringent oversight of w. H. O. s budget and business functions. We are closely Monitoring Progress with w. H. O. Leadership, and ensuring principles of Good Governance , at all levels of the organization. In closing, i would like to highlight two of the greatest Health Achievements of the 20th and 21st centuries. The elimination of smallpox, and significant progress in eradicating polio. Both are the direct results of a partnership between the u. S. , nongovernmental organizations, countries around the world, and w. H. O. In fact, the u. S. Was 1 of 59 countries that first signed the treaty, establishing a World Health Organization. Since then, we have been party to many of its successes, and at the same time, have pushed the organization to be better over these last 75 years. You can be assured that the Bidenharris Administration is committed to building on this legacy. Through ongoing work, and service to the American People, which is our north star. Thank you, again, for the opportunity to testify on these important issues. Thank you. I now recognize ambassador nkengasong to give an opening statement. Good afternoon, chairman, Ranking Member ruiz, and members of the subcommittee. It is an honor to be with you today on behalf of the department of state, to discuss the u. S. Governments commitment to strengthening security to protect the American People. We engage internationally at all levels, bilaterally, regionally, and multilaterally. Further w. H. O. , World Health Organization. I come before you today to present the u. S. Bureau of Global Health security and diplomacy, which was launched on august 1st of this year, by secretary blinken. I would like to thank members of the congress for their support in establishing this bureau. The covid19 pandemic left a deep Lasting Impact on all of us. With over 1 million american lives lost, and at least 7 million globally, one study found that the American Economy lost more than 14 trillion, due to the pandemic, and economies estimates that global gdp contracted by three Percentage Points in 2020. The last three years have reinforced that a pandemic is not only a hard crisis, it is an economic crisis, and it is a National Security crisis. Without the combined leadership of the United States, with our partners including w. H. O. And others, the world might not yet have successfully made it out of the active phase of the covid19 pandemic. The coordinated global efforts required to deploy covid19 vaccines around the world was a major demonstration of this lesson. A coalition of countries, including the United States, came together with the w. H. O. To support the covid19 vaccines, the Global Access initiative. United states, in partnership with kovacs, and bilaterally, has administrated close to 7 million safe vaccines to over 117 countries around the world. Whereas, simultaneously, investing in Regional Vaccine manufacturing. Supporting workers, and strengthening our capacity to prevent, detect, and respond to covid19 and future Health Threats. Under secretary blinkens leadership, the state department continues to play a Critical Role in eliminating Global Health and security, as a major player in international dialogues. Security and diplomacy is focused on collaborating across the u. S. Interagency community, and with congress, to do all that we can to mitigate future threats. Unfortunately, it is not a question of if a new threat will emerge, it is a matter of when. The world needs greater cooperation, coordination, collaboration, and communication. A major priority continues to be ending the hiv a. I. D. S. Threat, and in the future, i look forward to working with you, in a strong passion to pass a clean five years through authorization. These are part of the challenges w. H. O. Has faced and continues to face in advancing Global Health security priorities. By coordinating laws and responding to emergencies and promoting the w. H. O. s leadership in developing these guidelines and policies for combating hiv a. I. D. S. Has been critical for enhancing diplomatic efforts when working with partners and countries to advance their respective hiv a. I. D. S. Responses. United states played a continued continue to play a Critical Role in ensuring the w. H. O. Is reformed to effectively address current and future Global Health challenges. We have engaged with the task force involved in these efforts, and we continue to exercise these in this space. Thank you, chairman with rob, and Ranking Member ruiz to testify on this topic, and i look forward to your questions. Thank you, ambassador. I now recognize dr. Gawande to give an opening statement. Chairman wenstrup, Ranking Member ruiz, dr. Ruiz, we are across a different table, and who knew we would be here from where we were a few years ago . Also, members of the select subcommittee, thank you for your chance to speak about u. S. Commitment to global security, to our partnership with the World Health Organization, and the importance of continuing reform to the systems required to secure our collective protection from International Health threats. Usaids Health Investments focus on the global burden of mortality and disease, and protecting americans from Global Health threats abroad. We work daily to prevent and respond to emerging threats, while also pursuing longterm goals, such as eradicating polio, and ending the Public Health threats of hiv, malaria, and tuberculosis, by 2030. Success requires global collaboration, collaboration for impact on health is what w. H. O. Has done for 75 years, and that is why w. H. O. Has been an essential partner and recipient of usaid funding. W. H. O. s leadership of the global polio allowed vacation Eradication Initiative is one example. W. H. O. Demonstrates its unique convening power and technical capacity in leading polio activities worldwide. Usaid has supported w. H. O. s polio eradication efforts for 35 years, and now we have only 12 wild type cases documented, worldwide, in the last year, in a small region along the afghanistanpakistan border. Last week, w. H. O. s quiet, but consistent diplomacy persuaded the taliban to finally allow house to house vaccination , reversing its long opposition. Among usaids Top Priorities is strengthening Global Health security. The capacity to prevent, detect, and respond to infectious threats that can for example, in february an outbreak of mara virus, cousin of ebola occurred in Central Africa in guinea. Had resisted as often countries with countries resisted sharing information or permitting foreign involvement in what was happening but w. H. O. Persuaded the government to accept u. S. Support that ended up delivering capacity, diagnostic capacity, proper screening, isolation and emergency treatment procedures and pbe from the u. S. , w. H. O. Stockpile for frontline workers. That produced a turnaround that ended the outbreak before it spread anywhere else. Uced a tur ended the outbreak before it spread anywhere else. There is simply no entity in Global Health other than w. H. O. That has an equivalent mandate reach, or capacity to influence the countries where usaid works, and where we dont. That influence is not, however, foolproof. It is up to countries whether they adhere to w. H. O. Recommendations, but as we saw during the covid19 pandemic, w. H. O. s role is vital. There are systems for safety review, for sharing technical information, for emergency response, made vaccines, tests, and treatments available globally, saving millions of lives. The pandemic exposed some fractures in our Global Health security systems, including at w. H. O. With our interagency partners, usaid has pushed for the Critical Reforms at w. H. O. Needed to increase effectiveness, transparency, and accountability in future emergencies and in tackling other health goals. And, we see progress in what matters, which is lives saved. For example, historically, Ebola Outbreaks have killed thousands, but in the six outbreaks of ebola that have occurred since i have started, we have seen the response get faster and better. I was especially concerned about in april 2022, an Ebola Outbreak in a city of 1 Million People in the democratic republic of congo. In 2018, a similar outbreak in that region killed more than 2000 people, and required a two year, billiondollar global effort to stop it from getting across the world. Since then, usaid, cdc, and w. H. O. Came together with others to help the country improve its response capacity. So, in 2022, when a man with a high fever arrived at a clinic in the province and died that day, the Health Worker had the training to recognize, this could be ebola. He had the protective gear he needed, he had the test equipment to make the diagnosis, he alerted contacts, and the National Health authorities who got a team on site within 48 hours. They identified the contacts, and brought newly approved vaccines. As a result, ebola claimed just five lives, compared to the 2000 lost in 2018. W. H. O. And u. S. Investment meant that the outbreak required no emergency foreign assistance, at all. I thanked the subcommittee, and i look forward to your questions. Well, thank you. That is excellent testimony from all of you. It is greatly appreciated. I now recognize myself for questions. You have really touched on some things that i appreciate greatly. I have been in vietnam twice in the last year. And i dont know that w. H. O. Was involved, but more our own cdc. And i think the work that we did with our cdc and the vietnamese government during covid was a tremendous plus. Not only for the lives of the vietnamese people, but for our diplomacy. And so, there is great opportunity. So, like i said, i dont know if w. H. O. Was involved with that, but the importance of the w. H. O. Being trusted comes into play with the example you just gave, dr. , where they came in and said, trust the americans on this. Let them work with you. And if that is what is needed for that conduit, then they certainly need to be the trusted institution that we want them to be, and that they have been. Make sure that everyone agrees with that. And i suspect everyone here would agree that politics getting involved with science can create a distrust among the public, atlarge, just as politics always does. But, with your knowledge of what we have now, in looking at covid19, i asked, was, in your opinion, china forthcoming, transparent, regarding covid19 . Because the w. H. O. Put together a group to study this, and go to china, the only american in the group was dr. Peter danzig, of the pico health alliance, and he maybe should have been somebody who recused himself because he was a collaborator with the Milan Institute of neurology, and china was deciding who got to go. So, these were things that raised peoples concerns. Secretary blinken said, we have real concerns about the methodology and process that went into your report. Including the fact that the government in beijing apparently helped to write it. That is not an independent organization. So, do you agree with the secretarys assessment, and what are your thoughts during that time, and moving forward . And im willing to go down the line. Thank you, mr. Chairman, and thank you for your reflexes on your travel to vietnam. I, too, have been able to visit the work of cdc and our partnership with w. H. O. There. With regard to your question, it is an important one, especially because we have a lot of lessons to learn, regarding covid19. Unfortunately, one of those lessons is the importance of transparency. We are quite disappointed, and share your frustration with the government of china not being as forthcoming as they should have been with w. H. O. At the time, especially because getting to the bottom of this crisis is critically important, as you said, not only for covid, but for any outbreaks moving forward. Thank you, chairman. We fully agree with your remarks about the trust, the trust that is required to do global disease trades. That comes with the ability to be fully transparent, to be accountable, to report in a timely fashion, and also to cooperate. All of these elements were lacking in chinas ability to cooperate with w. H. O. And the world. You have a fastmoving respiratory disease like covid, all of these elements are important for the Global Health security. I think the budget is still on china that for the past three years, china has not been forthcoming the way it should be in working with w. H. O. , working with us. We see that we just understand what the origin is, of the virus, so that it can better prepare us for the future. As we have all said, it is a matter of time before we face another pandemic. So, i think i fully agree with you that we need to have a trusting relationship, in order to respond in a very timely fashion. I will add only that i am in complete agreement with my colleagues. China was not forthcoming early on about human to human transmission. As we noted, a common reluctance, under sars, which happened years before, w. H. O. Pushed hard, and was public about that lack of forthcoming behavior in a way that did not occur in this particular instance. However, w. H. O. Got a lot right, that were critical to getting vaccines out to the world, getting treatments out to the world. I will say we have also seen that history has shown they are capable of improvement. After ebola, where response to emergencies were very slow, u. S. Pressure ended up creating driving the creation of a global Emergencies Program that massively improved response on the ground in many subsequent outbreaks. Similarly, after covid, u. S. Post, successfully, for the creation of a Standing Committee on Health Emergencies prevention, preparedness, and response. That is already giving u. S. And others more realtime oversight of handling in the case of potential of phenc, Public Health emergencies of emerging national concern. I guess my real concern is if a member is not participating in the way that should be expected, not only, how do we call them out in a way that might get them to behave as they should . You know, so, my question would be, do we say, well, you cant be part of the w. H. O. If you are not going to adhere to the rules . Or, is there some enforcement mechanism . I dont know where to turn on that, if it were to happen again in the same way. And i dont know if that is why i would love to hear your ideas, as you deal with the w. H. O. And the frustration that everyone had. So, i will try to respond to this question, mr. Chair. Again, it is a good one, especially because we need everyone to be good actors around the table. One of the things that we are able to do, as Board Members of w. H. O. , is at least track that very level of accountability, and really understand how we all come together to support the work of the organization. As it turns out, we are Board Members alongside the Chinese Government, as well as other actors, like syria. So, it is one of the reasons why we want to remain at the table, if nothing else, to be a voice in that room, and ensure that voice is rooted in science, and the important work of w. H. O. Really serving not only america, but the world, in ways that we want to see. Chairman, i agree with my colleague that we have to be at the table all the time, and exercise our leadership, because by being at the table, a rally of friends and allies to put pressure across the board on countries that do not want to cooperate fully, we know that when we are not at the table, we cant not take a seat at the table. We always have to be at the table and continue to put pressure. The administration has been very clear on this, that we have to work in the area of global security, we must work with people that we agree with, and people that we do not agree with, because there is just no way of knowing where the next one will come from. The way to do that, the platform for that is w. H. O. I cant think of any other platform that could set that rule. Now, the burden is on all of us, the burden of continuing to put pressure on w. H. O. Reform so it can be more agile, more forceful, and more accountable in putting pressure where it is needed so that countries can be more transparent. I will only add a couple of points to my colleagues. One is that we want to respect for our sovereignty. So, we also limit how much w. H. O. Can control or demand things up. That is one of the challenges here that we are protective of our own sovereignty and therefore do not want to have those tools potentially challenge us or other Member States. The second point about possibly, well, could we force out a china that does not adhere . We want china under the tent. Once a country pulls out, they become a blind spot in our National Security. Currently, china does participate in a network of 129 countries that submit flu and other illness data. It is the reason we have an effective annual flu vaccine, because we have access to information being supplied through those means. So, we want to have china continue to be a joint actor in this work. So, that leaves us in a space where it is diplomacy. Now, the additional reforms that u. S. Is advocating for under reforming the International Health regulations will make a clear tiered response. Right now, we just have a Public Health emergency of International Concern and that is the declared level and we are looking at a three level set of tears, so that there is an earlier indication that countries have a health issue developing of concern. There are clear standards about what transparency requires, and then clear requirements that w. H. O. Has to live up to for reporting public and indicating when countries are not adhering to those. So, that set of commitments are part of what we are aiming to negotiate, and produce, in strengthening International Health regulations with the pandemic accord. Well, i would also like to see something where the host nation in this case, china doesnt get to decide who the United States ascends, and doesnt restrict who we send, because frankly, i would have been very pleased if any of the three of you were there, when that occurred. With that, i yield back, and i now recognize the Ranking Member for questions. Thank you. As Ranking Member of the subcommittee, i have long called for a forwardlooking approach to preventing for and preparing for threats from lessons we learned from the covid19 pandemic. Emerging Health Threats are not bound by our borders, meaning that this objective is as important for our engagement with the International Community, as it is for domestic efforts. Reforming the World Health Organization to be insulated from political pressure and strengthen the International Communitys response to emerging Public Health threats is central to this mission. So, i would like to begin by asking each one of our witnesses, with respect to the United StatesGlobal Health engagement in reforming the w. H. O. , what is the single most important lesson, the single most important lesson that we should take away from the covid 19 pandemic . Lets start with you, assistant administrator gawande, and then we will move to the left. Thank you. Number one lesson from covid, i think, is that in crisis, u. S. Leadership is dispensable. First, we are often the first in, and we bring others along. A case in point is the u. S. Providing more covid vaccines without charge, then any other country in the world, with 700 million vaccines. But then, we also supported covax as a mechanism that then got other countries to do their share. We came in early with funding first, but the net contribution of covax was even larger in the end. There are multiple other examples in the ways we have lead on oxygen capacity and building that out in places that didnt have capacity for oxygen in the face of a respiratory virus, around antivirals being distributed. American leadership works because when we lead, we pull in partners and allies with us. We demonstrate the values of global collaboration and harnessing collective National Security. And american engagement with the w. H. O. Has been essential to our affective Global Response, as a result. Thank you, ambassador. Nkengasong . Thank you, congressman. I think number one, the lesson or, one of the lessons from the covid pandemic is that these trends anywhere in the world, immediately take track in the United States. It took nearly two months for covid to spread to 165 countries. Two months. There were just four countries in the world that had reported covid. But, by march 20th, 165 countries reported covid. So, in terms of our common connectivity, common vulnerability, and the inequalities or inequities that we have to address. In other ways, i think a lesson that follows from there is that leadership is important. Leadership in making sure that we are properly engaged, so that anyway it occurs, we squash it before it becomes a threat in the United States. Thank you. Assistant secretary pays . Thank you, Ranking Member ruiz, for this question. My colleague, assistant administrator gawande touched on the importance of the International Health regulations. When it comes to the lessons, i think we can think of it in a couple different ways. First, there are different ways that we, as hhs, are working to amend those health regulations. Not only through the alert system or the approval of that alert system he described, but also thinking of ways to give w. H. O. Flexibility to share the information that they see or receive, by other means. So, i believe the chair, as well, spoke to the limitations with regards to countries if and when they choose to be transparent with us. In the event they are less than transparent with w. H. O. , w. H. O. Actually has other means to understand the situation, perhaps by other sources, or other publicly available information. But, they might hesitate for fear of backlash from that country, if they get ahead of them. And then, that country essentially retracts and isnt a partner in the response, or otherwise continues to be more opaque in what they share, or less than forthcoming. And so, what we are hoping to do also through these amendments, is make it so that w. H. O. Has permission, so to speak, to notify other countries around the world if and when they give certain actors a chance to provide what they know, and those actors just dont respond. We just essentially dont want to be in the dark, and that is why it is so important to work in this way on these ihrs. Thank you. The state department and department of health and Human Services have also been representing the United States in the ongoing pandemic agreement negotiations, which are generating recommendations for Member States to promote cooperation on preventing, preparing, and responding to future pandemics. Ambassador nkengasong, what steps is the state Department Taking to advance the United States interest in Global Health leadership in the ongoing pandemic agreement negotiations . Thank you, the state department is working very closely with our colleagues from the department of health and human safety to support our negotiating team in geneva. It is very clear, as you said, that we need this instrument, of a pandemic accord, pandemic agreement, that would protect us. I mean, if you asked me to summarize that in one line, i would say, it is an accord that we will do the things we have been discussing here, which is allow us to detect early, respond early, to threats that emerge and invariably will emerge because we all know that we live in an era of pandemics. So, we are actually looking at ways we could continue to work with several countries, more than 190 countries, around the table, negotiating this is not a fast process. But, it is a necessary process. We have to be at the table and continue to sail that ship in the way that we want countries to share secrecys, share viruses when a threat of arises and share with us medical countermeasures. I think that is central to our ability to protect ourselves. Imagine if an unknown virus emerged anywhere in the world where we dont have access to it, i mean, we would rely on this kind of an accord or agreement to have access to news, specimens, sequences, so that we can develop a diagnostic test, vaccines. Assistant secretary pays, how will the frame of the pandemic agreement apply lessons we learned from the covid19 pandemic to advance International Pandemic prevention and preparedness . Well, certainly, this potential agreement, which to complement what is already in place, such as the International Health regulations, one of the shortcomings, unfortunately, of the covid19 pandemic is it did not allow for a high degree of accountability, when it came to accessing innovations, in particular. One of the things we were trying to negotiate as part of this agreement is to ensure that those innovations reach everyone, including americans, on time. As the ambassador mentioned, that involves sharing samples and data so that we can actually produce or manufacture these innovations. In other words, spare our essential r d. But then, there is the question of how these Safety Innovations reach people around the world. That isnt just a moral question , but a historic one, frankly. Because in the absence of vaccinations, for example, we have the opportunity for variants to emerge, and thus kept us in this ongoing fight against covid. So, it is our hope that this potential agreement help so, again, sort of buttress what we are able to do at a more technical level, with regards to pandemic preparedness and response. Thank you. And as negotiations for the pandemic agreement have been underway, there have been some misrepresentations of how this treaty would square with United States sovereignty. Ambassador nkengasong, could you please help us understand, correct, direct, or regard, regarding these interpretations . Thank you, congressman. Let me say up front that that has not at all been a subject of discussion, during the pandemic accords, or agreement. We were not allowed such, if ever, such a discussion was to occur during the imposition, i can assure you that we would not allow it to happen. As a matter of fact, when you look at the draft, that is separating the draft pandemic accord agreement or instrument, article three, section 2, on the principles, clearly stipulates and affirms the importance of the sovereignty of the countries, that it is the countries themselves which have the right over the people. I think that is article three, section 2 of that. So, i think the misinformation or disinformation is unfortunate. That has absolutely nothing to do with the sovereignty of our country. Thank you. Now that we have closed the chapter on the darkest days of the covid19 pandemic, we must dedicate our efforts to ensuring the United States is leading the way, as you have identified of one of the biggest Lessons Learned, in preventing and preparing for the future Public Health risk, which requires an International Response that will allow access, transparency, and data to contain an emerging virus in the host country, with full cooperation of the host country, in order to prevent it from spreading elsewhere. I think that should be our singular focus, as a Global Community, wherever this virus may arise, even if it arises in the United States, to really have International Cooperation to prevent, because that is how you are going to prevent the next pandemic. Thank you. With that, i yield back. I now recognize from new york. Thank you. I am sure you all know that the United States stands as one of the World Health Organizations top donors, contributing roughly 700 million in 2020 and 2021, with over 65 being voluntary above our membership dues. And in december 2021, the Biden Administration announced another 280 million contribution, aimed at ending covid19, bowstring healthcare systems, and providing urgent relief. As taxpayers, we want to make sure that our money is being used properly, that there are metrics in place, and that, as you say, we have a seat at the table. However, i am really concerned about what we have seen from the w. H. O. Throughout the covid19 pandemic. I mean, they denied human to human spread of covid19, based solely on ccp propaganda, it was not until january 23rd, 2020 that w. H. O. Finally recognized human to human spread was occurring. This was a month after the first warnings. The w. H. O. Delayed naming covid19 a Public Health emergency. It delayed serious measures, like travel restrictions, because the ccp told them under the w. H. O. Push for the investigation into the origins, the ccp was given full veto power over inclusion, right, the communist chinese vetoed put forward by our government and the ccp was given full power over final reports. Im compelled to ask the question, how u do you justiy concern for the w. H. O. Given handling covid investigation and apparent compliance with misleading communist chinese narratives. The history of the United States was one of the founders when it came to the aids epidemic. Seems to me that they are corrupted by the communist chinese, why should we continue to fund them if they continue to take their well, thank you madame congresswoman. We appreciate being able to reflect on some of the important Lessons Learned. With regard to our support of w. H. O. , the leadership is very clear that we expect with regard the way they do business in the u. S. And we have worked with the w. H. O. Particularly in the past years towards those types of reforms. You had assistant administrator mention the committee on Health Emergency preparedness and respond and that was by held committee and we felt the burden need today have better oversight over w. H. O. s response in emergenciesit and direct them accordingly. Yeah, the issue is that even when we have a seat at the table, doesnt mean that we have actual reforms. We have a problem with the International Organizations as well. Not just the World Health Organization. We have some of the most egregious violators of human rights and theyre allowed to get away with it. Its a much larger issue of the global International Organizations that have been infiltrated by the nefarious bad actors, iran chairing the un human rights council. I mean, thats disgraceful. Its just another example. The way that here communist china having this much influence in the World Health Organization. So its a much larger question. I guess my question to the all of you, what can we do as the United States other than send more american tax dollars to the organizations, what else can we do to truly reform them because what i hear from the administration we will elect better actors to the committee. After President Trump removed us because this administration, freedomloving people to be represented on those councils but it has not happened. So what really can we do to change it . Thank you. You heard from us. 67 of those have been implemented. And we have about 25 or more that that end of 2025 must be implemented. We put in pressure, we believe, position the return on investment in terms of the actions that were required of w. H. O. And what they are actually implementing. I appreciate that. Its to be seen other than this amounts to anything other than nice words. Again, i have run out of time. I think we have to stop throwing good money until we see changes from the International Institutions. Now recognized ms. Dingel. Thank you, mr. Chair. In the wake of covid19 and what are you doing . Youre not just talking, your acting absolutely not congresswoman, thank you for your question. We want to assure you of our role as leaders at the table is connected to what we view as our National Security interest. We talked about the executive work and ill continue to talk about the executive work because that body does serve an important purpose at the who. As i mentioned theres syria, belarus are also members of that body. What we do is take advantage of our seat at the table is take advantage of our of interest whether it be Global Health or bio security or in other areas are well represented. We had other members in support as well even during my time as a member on russia and you can imagine during that time we were deliberating as a board about how we would respond in ukraine for example and how important the us leadership was at that table. When it comes to the reforms we mentioned weve been specific and deliberate with who about what wed like to see. We need to understand how their allocating funding and ensuring that funding is going towards progress as a real impact. This might seem basic to us but who was a Technical Institution in its origination and over time it has become more management savvy. We as a government are holding spur innovation in that direction and encouraging its highest and best use. Mister ambassador going to ask you to build on that. By the administration as established work on protecting and responding to infection. How has the Biden Administration implemented Social Security across policy and have we advanced our National Security interest . Youve acknowledged we Work Together. How do we make sure china doesnt lie to us next time. How do we not undermine peoples confidence and assure them we are working to make those countries tellus whats going on. Thank you congresswoman for that. The driving initiative secretary blinken launch was to leverage American Assets globally on bio security as a whole. As the Security Director notes, we have footprints in over 55 countries and weve kept those assets and systems responding to other threats like covid especially in africa when covid emerged and we used that for testing and other people hes so having such a footprint we have diplomatic leverage in countries we are operating in and to assess the leadership of those countries. We have the right information through such platforms and secondly we said separately during this hearing weve highlighted the importance of cooperation in what we are doing to advance our Foreign Policy through Global Health security to coordinate the assets that we have both internally and externally. Lastly to implement Global Health security Foreign Policy and during the covid19 pandemic theres secretary blinken established a platform called the foreign minister platform which was instrumental in reaching out bl to all sectors of society other than the ministries of health. That platform was very useful. We discussed how vaccines were distributed and with ppe were made available so we want to build on that and expand on it so we have contacts with foreign ministries across the world to continue our foreignpolicy. I yield back. Now recognize doctor meeks. I think the witnesses for testifying. Its no secret World Health Organization failed during the earlymonths of the pandemic. Our world health or seagency was used to dilute transparency and accountability when it came to investigating the origins of the coronavirus and since the beginning of 2021 i stated the origins were necessary to understand because of disclosure of potential pathogens, because of Biosafety Lab work being done in the Laboratory Setting and the ethics of certain types of research such as gain of function research. As a Health Director highvalue Public Health and both the mission of the World Health Organization and since eradicating polio or smallpox in 1980 working to reduce polio cases worldwide. Previous achievements can be used as a cover for costly gains during the covid19 pandemic when the United States has been the iowhos largest contributor. During the pandemic the who raised chinas leadership, delayed calling it pandemic and acknowledged human to human transmission while many in the Health Community were saying exactly those things and since the Chinese Communist party was lying to World Leaders and restricting access to its labs and information. The ccp was given full access to the origins report before it was published. The wall street journal g acknowledged teams sent to investigate its origins have little time to conduct an investigation during the trip and china initially resisted pressure for an inquiry and rt later posed strict participation and expanded its scope to other countries. As the who seeks to alter regulations vital that the United States and other member countries not let bad actors hijack the review process. Similar to the house the cdc lost Public Confidence the who has accomplished the same but has the chance to rebuild its reputation and let me commenton a couple of the things you said. Doctor gawande, we dont want respect for our sovereignty. We demand to be respected. We demand it. Especially from members not acting in good faith and it is up to members of congress to have an accord work treaty , how congressional approval so our sovereignty is respected. And miss pace, we dont choose to be transparent. The 24 hour disclosure of pathogens is not a choice. It is a violation and that is where accountability comes into play so oversight of the global bureaucracy is vital as is reviewing investments the United States made in Global Health landscapes through agencies like the agency for International Development. Miss pace your written testimony used the Biden Harris Administration is working to make sure who is delivering transmission you believe limiting the influence of the chinese , as party or revision process is important to ensure the who is effectively delivering on its mission. Thank you for that . Congresswoman and rtyes, it is quite important for us to ensure that in these deliberations that they are they involved in the way that serves all countries and importantly to your point ensures our highest and best level of prevention preparedness and response. Its one of the reasons the us took a leadership role in calling for the revisions of the International Health regulation and introduced the original 13 or handful of amendments that now other countries have also come in to say we think this is also a good idea and we are also willing to come to the table and have a constructive conversation about how this can be improved. While i dont support with drawing from the who were not funding the who i do believe there are other ways to hold the Chinese CommunistParty Accountable and one of those is whether or not they have a seat at the negotiating table for thereports and revisions. Mister nkengasong do you believe china was transparent do you think they should have a seat at the negotiating table . Thank you congresswoman. As i said earlier, china was nontransparent. In these its ability to report and be accountable to the trip and it ended up costing the lives of 1 billion people here in the United States and 7 billion in the world. This is the worst crisis that we faced in the last 200 years in terms of the pandemic and absolutely required more transparency on what happened at that time and we think the last three years we can see that china has been fully cooperating and accountable but not only with the who but the rest of the world. One last question in relation to fraud within the us aig and the request for additional funding. To my to my time expiringi am going to send the question and ask for it to be responded to in writing. Itiyield back. The gentleman from marylandis recognized. By the way i didnt know that you were with us so i will associate my remarks with the Ranking Member. Say to you that it is indeed a loss for the congress and for the sentence bipartisanship quite frankly. Its really been demonstrated over and over again by this committee. I want you to know that your decision to voluntarily leave his not the same thing as i did 25 years ago and look where it got me. You may be back. For decades and by the way i want to also agree that this is a great panel of witnesses. I appreciate all the work that youve done. All that youre doing. And the many things we dont know about because we get an hour or two hours with you but your reputation precedes all of you and i am glad you are here today. The World Health Organization has helped as we all know to build an Effective Health system and has overseen for many years Healthcare Access across the globe. In fact through this work the World Health Organization is markedly different on a number of things not the least of which is the average Life Expectancy global from 47 years to 72 years. It is of course important for countries that are part of the who such as the United States to give critical feedback to the who on reforms and health strengthen its mission. Even though we have some ideas of what wed like to see and thats why i was shocked when i learned that the committee was not going to center this hearing around raining witnesses from the World Health Organization to testify before us, particularly since the title of the hearing is performing the who, it seems like weve lost a great opportunity here some of the things that have been raised such as finding a way to reduce did not eliminate chinas influence, finding ways to have greater accountability and finding ways to make sure that oversight is fixed and set seem to have included us as a result and i strongly hope the committee will at fisome point in the future consider bringing in representatives from the who so that we might in fact be able to get to all parts of some of the things that keep us up at night. As we think about what we would like to see from this particular organization. Ge again i appreciate the witnesses were here today, theres a couple things that strike me as kind of ironic and i believe mister chairman that the horse just got out of the barn that some of this stuff we are reacting to was the role of this congress and the Previous Congress to get in front of and i did not happen so we are mopping the floor. We are assigning blame but the real plane here is in congress for not providing the proper oversight at the time the pandemic hit and i agree it was a difficult time for all of us but we want to be a little careful about forming reform without identifying the type of reform we want. This year several members of the other side of the aisle are offering amendments that do away with ntthe World Health Organization. I have before me hr team 46 that prohibits the use of any and all funds that prohibit the use of the United States under the World Health Organization pandemic treaty. Hr 79 directing the gapresident to withdraw from the constitution of the World Health Organization and an amendment to the labor hhs appropriations that says none of the funds made available by this appropriation shall be made available to the World Health Organization and i asked unanimous consent thatthey be delivered into the record. Without objection. So this is a very serious situation. Im going to come to the assistant secretary in just a moment because she said something that struck me which is that if there was no World Health Organization we would have to invent one and i agree with that totally, much as was the case in 1948 when countries around the world understood the need to find a way to collaborate together. I would ask miss pace if you had your way and a magic lawn since we dont have the who here to talk about reforms that they think might be needed k would be one or two things you would suggest for the consideration of this body . Thank you for that question mister congressman. I appreciate it because we do want a who that is effective and in service to the world. I also want to reflect on what weve offered as highlights in what the who has done right or well t. It is not just smallpox portfolio are its Success Stories but in fact many of the Success Stories in Global Health security as we call it our even seen and heard today only they dont make headlines because of their very success so whether its with regards to people up or an outbreak which weve all experienced and work with who to do address in the past couple of years or even in longstanding programs of such as Childhood Immunization or maternal care along the world addressing Maternal Mortality and other important issues such as aids tb and malaria this is the work of who that even to complement longstanding us programs. The fact is we cannot be everywhere as a country nor should we be. We cannot be the World Health Organization ourselves so we rely on this Multilateral Institution to work or partner with us and leverage our resources so that they can be collectively we can have that much greater. Thank you very much, my time is expired. I want to point out the who and other International Organizations are immune from testimony. That doesnt mean we cant reach out to them directly. In a less official way. And were planning that. I now recognize miss lesko from arizona. To you all for being here today. My questions are going to be to the ambassador. Ambassador in january 14 2020 who tweeted that quote, preliminary investigations conducted by chinese authorities have found no clear evidence of human to human transmission of the coronavirus. A National Review article states that the Chinese Communist party jailed any doctor that disseminated any information about covid that was not first cleared through their state run media but the wall street journal article states the Us Intelligence sources since discovered that the ccp card out and lied about the extent of the outbreak. According to the cia january 21 2020 china threatened to cease participation in all international efforts. If the who declared a Public HealthEmergency International concern. Guess what, who delayed firing a Public HealthEmergency International concern. By the time the who declared a Public Health emergency, on january 30 2020 the disease infected almost 10,000 and kill 1019 different countries. Despite the clear declaring a Public Health emergency of International Concern and extensive evidence of transmission through travel, the who insisted other countries not restrict travel or trade to china. In fact the who never recommended restrictingtravel. The who routinely praised the Chinese Communist partys efforts to combat the spread of covid19 despite multiple reports the ccp engaged in a massive disinformation campaignaccording to the Us Intelligence reports. The ccp severely underreported its total number of cases anddeaths caused. My question ambassador, do you believe that this who relied too much on false information from the Chinese Communist party. Thank you congresswoman for that important question. Its very clear that and i agree with you entirely that the ccp did not act in this crisis in a way that was responsive in terms of fighting a trend. It wasnt accountable, and it didnt act in a timely fashion. Thats very clear. Who has seen more forceful, they delivered pronouncements that whos leadership has faced because of the as the pandemic evolved and its become more critical but thats provided the right access to information to continue to press the ccp to have the right information. I think the reforms on the pandemic and immigration are all instruments that i believe that working with others is the best way for us to be at the table, you a coalition of people that are likeminded so that you can put the right pressure on any country thats is in that fashion including in the geography. I think you and what other reforms are needed before the us investing more money in the who because ultimately isnt that the United States leverage is not to invest money until they do the reforms . The reforms that who is currently leading we are at the table pushing in the areas of accountability. Country level impact, that is what happens in country because we know a threat anywhere in the world is a threat here. Human resources, financial reserves so its all set of reforms that we put on the table for who and we are pressing to carry that on the line as i said earlier. 96 action items about 67 have been active. 29 of them will be acted on by the end of 2035 and we will keep an eye on it. And press them to change reforms. Please continue to press them to reform because thats alot of money we are investing. I dont want them to be controlled by the Chinese Communist party so with that ideal back. We now recognize miss ross from north carolina. I do want to thank you for your leadership. So i want to appreciate first all of the witnesses acknowledging the problems with the who and the Chinese Communist party during the coronavirus pandemic. Mister raskin is not with us today so i also want to remind the committee that the Trump Administration was praising the Chinese Communist party at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic and wasnt stepping up to the plate to work with our international partners. The Biden Administration came in, recognized many ofthese problems and thanks to the good work of many of you , we have become a better global partner. It does not mean that the who should be exonerated for not cracking down on the Chinese Communist party but the who was not alone in believing the Chinese Communist party at the beginning of the pandemic to the detriment of the entire world and to this country. I do want to talk about how we should work with the who Going Forward and the value of all of your leadership and any contributions that we make Going Forward. So with our guidance and our leadership, the who has worked to improve Health Outcomes throughout the world, standing up localized responses to communities and bolstering defenses against deadly diseases and we will talk about some of the ones that miss pace has raised. But for every dollar we invest in the who the who generates a minimum return of 35 to help benefit. Administrator gawande how has participation in the who not just benefited the world but benefited Public Health here at home. This is such an important question. There are multiple roles who plays that leads to them improving the life span of billions around the world including americans and there are three central roles. One is that they lead collective action. We talked about eradication ofsmallpox, polio. But there are many other examples and one that we rely on here at home is who is essential for the annual flu shot. Global tracking system has a at network of 129 countries including china that report on flu optics, share specimens fland data and thats the way we end up with a annual effective flu shot here and its important that we participate to maintain that effectiveness. A second example is who coordinates action on Health Threats in countries where us aid and our other agencies are and in places that are not. And they do that through something called the global outbreak alert and Response Network and i can attest from experience we responded to ac news of potential outbreaks across the world whether its potentially a unknown causes but that information is vital for our early action triangulating to other sources where we dont necessarily trust the resource and making sure we understand whats happening so we can quickly to stop the spread and address issues that protect the lives of Economic Security of all and third we who brings together global experts who agreed upon norms and standards treat and prevent every medical condition that a human being can face and the result of that benefits us in a variety of different ways. One example is they create the International Classifications and that system where we all call diseases the same thing me in our Electronic MedicalRecord Companies have a Global Market for their medical record systems and we are the biggest supplier and the seller of those record systems because of that common framework thats negotiated and there are many examples of these in addition to that. I see my time is about to expire. Im going to submit a couple more questions for the record but a couple of you have mentioned far, could somebody choose to briefly talk about how important it is that congress continue to fund it. Congressman is a collective we the greatest act of humanity in terms of a society to the world. Its saved 25 million lives, prevented hiv infections from occurring. And 5 million children in the world. Before its the face of that devastation of the disease that it caused, we were just fighting it. Without pepfar the country would be extinct by now. We should be proud of what weve done. The values of our society show that we care for the rest of the world and we are leaders in the discretion we have today in the Global Health. Thats also provided a huge form for the ability for countries to be to respond to our system and as i mentioned earlier pepfar platforms were instrumental in getting leverage to testing for covid and the vaccination inother countries where other outbreaks have occurred. Its enabled this infection to be detected early before becoming a threat inouour own countries. Countries in africa and the rest of the world, they are also protecting us and we make sure pepfar continues to be reauthorized so i am looking forward to working with you to get the job done. The goal is to bring hiv to an end and we have been working e towards that sense 2003. I now recognize mister cloud from texas. Thank you for being here today, its an important conversation. I wanted to start with the lead up to covid and what was happening within. In 2018 a19 the us contributed 839 million to china. The rotary club had more investment in the who then china. Is that in the report . China does still . Okay. Then some of the items the resources were being used for in september 2019, the who was publishing a paper on addressing harmful masculinity to improve Sexual Reproductive Health rights, february 2020 right after saying theres not human to human transmission and working tocorrect that , the who was addressing Important Health issues by holding a conference on road safety. Right now theyre still working on groundbreaking research on Health Benefits of the arts. Theres resources being spent to shift negative attitudes towards abortion and prevent conscientious objection. Regardless of what you think on abortion even if you think is right if youre working to change peoples minds on it, thats not providing scientific medical service which i get, i am prolife, i disagree with abortion but this is a political action, not medical action. Legal action on gender for care, these are things that who is investing in. This is not protecting countries against the pandemic so we continue to be the largest contributor to the who, 10 times the amount of china leading in the pandemic but it seems china has 10 times the influence and having their issues protected and addressed and i appreciate the ambassador acknowledging that what ms. Lesko presented of the missteps and misinformation that came from china but you have kept a finger to china which is appropriate but her point was in getting back to the missteps in protecting it, what i wondered at this point is why work where not being full throated response to bring china to account, whyis china still on the board . Will the Biden Administration stand up to china and have them removed from the board . Why do they get a photo Going Forward in any of this . Certainly mister congressman, thank you for this question because it is important to understand the inner workings of who. And how it is direct it or working in service to its needs. So the way that the board of elections works is each region actually brings forth someone from there, from amongst their member countries to serve on the board. There have been times when the us had objected to those nominations. However that being region we dont have the same in terms of they putforward and ultimately nominated to the board. Just as they dont have to say in what the american region does to put the us on the board as many times as we have so we do in the world Health Position object as we did when belarus was nominated. Because for the reasons that im sure you and your colleagues agree there are with their engagement. However what we do. What were not seeing though is full throated acknowledgment that we need to play. There could be held a meeting to discipline rchina to counteract their influence in whats going on but i think after youve killed a couple Million People you should notme be able to get a vote on the board. From our perspective where continuing to fund this so ill go back to my initial list which we could add a number of items to. To encourage you taxing sugar and Climate Change and all these different things. If you are involved in any issue that remotely affects the health of an individual that seems like a whole lot of Mission Creep and a lot of power the who is asking for that door asking us to be the primary funder of with only 1 34 influence on the board. How do we as people funding this on the back of the American People address those concerns whenthere seems to be a lot of Mission Creep that goes on beyond protecting against the pandemic. If i may try again thank you for that question. With regards to whos program of work they do work across the spectrum of Public Health not only in pandemics or outbreaks certainly when it comes back to the benefit for americans, their work in noncommunicable diseases is applicable to us and even justifies engagement whether its on diabetes or cancer or other issues we face in our country n. It is an important partnership. The vast majority is voluntary and my understanding is that comes with our ability to your mark with them and we have great concerns. Theres a lot of capacity t in us adding to what we are working and whats being spent on so we can talk about transparency and the need for transparency in what we are working for a weekend policy pulley administration on that. Then you can your mark these very fake categories. Many of the items ive read are under this the broad category on the who website. If its something the American People feel like they should be funding. Happy to work with polio at those kind of things. A number of these things should be on the back of the board. Thank you, i feel that. We now recognize the gentleman from hawaii. Im an the comments of our colleagues today gsand thanking you for your service. Sadly we have heard too often dangerous warnings that withdrawing from the World Health Organization would make the world safer from americans and hold the prc accountable. Make no mistake return to the isolationist approach to Global Health when americans lives at risk. Calls for accountability and withdrawing from the who are ch not part of any legitimate effort for reform and are not part of any strategy about how to make a safer and healthier as our witnesses have shared today is that we are at the table someone else will take our place accountability we want we china under the test for cooperating. Our public repeated temps to guide the Global Health program that track the outbreaks of emerging diseases and fight bioterrorism will not keep americans safe, infact just the opposite. Donald trumps dissolution of the Security Health council Global Health unit which was monitoring yellow fever just prior to the pandemic isnot keeping americans safe. And one of the most egregious Global Health systems of all, Donald Trumps attempt to withdraw the World Health Organization were not only a National Embarrassment but also sends a signal to our competitors that theUnited States was abdicating our global leadership. Ambassador you served as World Health Organization during the pandemic. How did Donald Trumps decision to cut funding pull us out of the organization shape perceptions of the United States and in what ways like this actually elevate the prcs influence and interest within the organization . Thank you congresswoman for the statement and administration. I stated clearly we always have to have a collaborative attitude. The only way we can frame the issues is to protect our interest is the only way we can frame the issues. We are not at the table because we want to just the generous. Its because we are trying to protect ourinterests. When we the United States is at the table, others will take our place. Our treaty influences that discussion and even in favor we should never allow that to happen. Just for the record congressman i was at dinner at the who so my comments are totallytransparent. I was in africa during the early days of covid and i was nominated for that position so but you are absolutely right. We should always have a seat at the table to protect our interests f. Thank you for that clarification ambassador and i would argue weve heard a lot of the respondent this dais about elevated influence within the who and is probably as a result of the United States vacating its position in the who so we should always have a seat at the table. Were thankful President Biden has reversed the artful decision even if the damage has already been done. This is for secretary pace. What is your assessment of how our country is recovering on the International Stage to cut us funding andwithdraw . Thank you for this very important question. Us leadership is quite essential in this space interning back to the negotiation for example. It took quite a bit for us to bring countries to law with our ability to amend Global Health initiatives tothis day. We feel there is a bit of tension with regard to whether or not the us faces this conversation honestly. We hear the importance of improving those existing regulations but there are questions about our intentions and our staying power if you will. But an important aspect of those regulations includes helping build or rebuild the capacity of countries around the world to implement them and adhere to them. So one important question n that we continue to have whether the us will continue to be part of that kind of insistence even around funding the enduring relationship that we had that my colleague described are intentional so we have tried to assure those Member States that we are here in service to americans but also in ways that will lead the world. No doubt we have a lot of work to do to rebuild that trust and impress that on the global stage. Cuts are not helping and ensuring those countries that we have the power we should have to ensure the safety and te health and accountability for americans is helpful so thank you mister chair and ideal back my time. I now recognizing the chairman for the full committee. During the covid19 pandemic the who did not step up to the plate. Instead it aligned itself with the Chinese Communist party. Seven sent an email to the who that war about a outbreak particularly of human to human transmission. In january who took its information from china and claimed there was noevidence of human to human transmission. This contradicted even the whos own expert and into the who was claiming there was no transmission of covid19. This is also false. Starting with ms. Pace do you agree these statementswere not accurate . Thank you for the question mister chair. We are here to learn from the lessons of covid19 and one of the things we have talked about is the importance of ensuring that we get to the bottom of this outbreak. Ambassador. I agree with my colleague. Who should continue to reform so that in future they can play the role that they played in the past of protecting us. I would agree with your calling out the Chinese Government was intransigent, not transparent and acted irresponsibly. This is the situation where they called out chinese e behavior and when you call out publicly that china was not being forthcoming in this particular case they did not, it was too late so now there was more they didbetter. The who praised chinas transparency in that outbreak even while china was doing its policywhistleblowers were going missing. Again down the line you think china was forthcoming in sharing dataabout the pandemic . Absolutely not. The flaws of the who all collated in its origin in 2021. A report based off an investigation that only had one american who was funding the lab being investigated, who was the only american had its access 20to restricted by the Chinese Communist party and it had final editing privileges of the report so its no wonder the report was bogus. Doctor fauci said he had considerable concerns about the report and secretary blinken said weve got concerns about the process that went into that report th including the fact that the government in beijing helped write the report. Ambassador to you believe the Chinese Government improperly influenced the outcome of the report . It did. Miss pace, it is our understanding that us put forward several things to be part of that and china rejected them, is that your understanding as well . Thank you for the question mister chair. The us has worked to not just put forward names for that particular investigation but for multiple investigations that who was seeking to have. Did china reject those names . I am not aware why those recommendations were not accepted. It is my understanding that china rejected those. That china was calling the shots. So the who took charge again and again. How can we make sure that china d reports back not just what the Chinese Communist party is telling you . It is important for us to get to the bottom of this. I want to take a step back and note the multiple International Missions that who. We know about the. Mission. We just have a problem with china calling the shots on it. My last question for each of you and you can answer yes, sir no. Do you believe the Chinese Government sought to be held accountable for the lack of cooperation in the early days of thepandemic . Thank you sir, we think the International Health regulations will make us all. But should china be held accountable. We believe all countries should be held accountable. Do not think china is a little special in this situation since it is filing came from china and they specifically lied and were not truthful with the World Population about the outbreak. That they had veto power over american put on the board to reject and report that we now know could have been helpful. I share your frustration with chinas lack of cooperation. But should we hold china accountable . Thats something where trying to do by amending these regulations and ensuring this violation can happen the way it did previously. Should we hold china accountable. Weve seen that transparency tand accountability. And we hope that it is the purpose and intent of the ih over forms to make agreement more accountability to any country g. As we would do with any country in the future. Doctor. Yes, chinashould be called to account. And the office of director of National Intelligence indicates that we are still in a world where theres no answers into viable theories about the report and that in order to resolve this issue, the peoples republic of china would need to be forthcoming about data that can resolve these issues which they have not. Mister chairman my time has expired, i yelled back. I recognized Mister Garcia from california. I want to thank our witnesses for making time to be here at four service to help not just here at home but across the world. We know the World Health Organization plays an Important Role in Global Response and what happens in the us. During the pandemic especially the World Health Organization was a critical partner to everything going on globally and asked our countries respond i will we learned as we went along that was also the case for the who. Everyone struggled to address this crisis and we lost millions andmillions of lives not just here at home but across the world. Im hopeful for each of you to speak about this in ways we can improve and not just strengthen ourpartnerships. I am grateful to my colleagues for the chance of serious discussion about how to respond to cancer emergencies but we should be clear theres a difference between goodfaith conversations about ways to improve the World Health Organization and puzzles to slash the World Health Organization including critical funding or even withdraw completely. At our last hearing we heard about the importance of International Biosafety standards with a great discussion everyone agreed we needed additional funding and oversight and bio security. There was wide agreement on this. Secretary if im not mistaken the who plays a huge role in safeguarding biosafety and bio security in our laboratories, is that correct . That is correct. So if my colleagues are serious about biosafety standards it seems are in a bill that would withdraw the United States from the constitution of the World Health Organization for another bill titled no taxpayer funding for the World Health Organization it would appear bills like this would hurt Global Health and her our Health Programs in the United States. Would you agree that that would be the case mister secretary . We would certainly not want anything to hinder whos ability to protect americans and the world. Secretary also it is not just members of this committee but numerous members cosponsored these bills thatare on this subcommittee. Are the former president now course trying to be president again donald trump tried to destroy the World Health Organization onseparate the United States from any of its healthresponsibilities. He quoted it as extraordinarily back, a threat to all americans. The us role would be shortsighted edand unequivocally dangerous. Hes talking about the worlds leading Health Collaborative that brings countries together to take on pandemics. We know rightfully that is also responsible in large part for the failures of the last pandemic led to the death of over 1 million americans. So we do also agree that supporting the World Health Organization is critical to the success ofamerican health. I would agree that its critical. Theyve done much over the past 75 years to demonstrate the value to americans. Finally i want to add is also unfortunate theres so much vaccine misinformation happening right now across this country and the world. Having here in the subcommittee last week we had holly published a post encouraging parents of the five pediatricians that refuse childvaccinations. Which we know is not advised i nickel science here today. And antivaccine misinformation is dangerous and is costing american lives. Childhood vaccine rates on polio are declining to dangerously low levels and weve seen this increase because of declining vaccination rates. We must also remember to focus on the truth and support organizations battling the pandemic and trying to keep people safe so with that i yelled back. You are recognized doctor joyce. Thank you for holding todays hearing thank you for ourwitnesses for your time and testimony. It was the most devastating Global PublicHealth Emergency since the inception of the World Health Organization. Their flagrant lack of action from the beginning was a primary concern but their blatant dereliction of responsibility is why there must be for. Why we are holding this hearing. This subcommittee was established in response to the misguided policies and inconsistent guidance that arose amid the pandemic. In the beginning the narrative was controlled by the who. Are corrupted byg. The ccp. They ultimately placed ccp political interests i had of their international duty. The ccp steered the dialogue. The ccp skewed the statistics and spend the who information that would ultimately effectively shield the Chinese Government from blame. Now its almost 4 years later the same organization is calling on member nationsto enter a pandemic tree. Entering a treaty with an organization that refuses to hold actors accountable is the antithesis of what who is mission and it is the antithesis of the principles of all americans. The American People want and deserve answers in this committee. They deserve to know we intend to safeguard our nation, protect our citizens from the next Global PublicHealth Emergency. Ambassador nkengasong, article 2, section 2, clause 2 of the United States constitution states the power of the executive office as pertains to the making or entering of trees nowhere does grant the World Health Assembly that authority. Do you believe the World Health Assembly will act unilaterally and circumvent congressional approval to enter the us into an agreement like the pandemic prevention preparedness Response Tree . Thank you congressman for that statement. Let me just repeat what occurred earlier before you write that the Pandemic Court if you look at article 3 section 2 it talks about the countries and only the countries have the right of over the people to make a determination as to how to manage the country so absolutely its the principle of that court. That is what they are called, not necessarily a tree. The process has more than 194 countries. That absolutely we are the table we will never allow any language in the court were treaty that remotely suggests that our sovereignty will be taken over by who. It would never occur from your understanding whetheryou call it a treaty or a court it would not occur without congressional approval, is that what you stated . R w. H. O. Denied human to human spread of covid19 based solely on ccp propaganda. The w. H. O. Delayed naming covid19 as a Public Health emergency because china claimed that the spread was under control. The w. H. O. Delayed implementing pandemic stalling measures to protect trade with and traveled to china. With that in mind, how can we ever restore public trust in the w. H. O. You just stated that you acknowledged when chairman comer asked if china was forthcoming with covid19 you all said no. When chairman comer continued and all three of you stated that the peoples republic of china should bedg held accountable, isnt that trust permanently fractured with the w. H. O. s alliance with the communist party . Thank you for the question, sir, mr. Congressman, excuse me. It is as i mentioned earlier very frustrating and unfortunate that china in particular did not cooperate at such a critical time. Its one of the reasons why we are working through these International Health regulations to rebalance things to make it that we are not beholding to the failure of a sickle actor. But wasnt that single actor, that didnt fracture your ability to come forth as what you should be doing by your mission statement, isnt that culpability because of Chinese Communist partys undue and overinfluence on the w. H. O. . Its one of the reasons we are frustrated, our hands were tied because we did not receive the information that we needed from them and so what we are trying to do through these amendments is unlock that information by other means in the event Something Like that ever happens again. So my if i believe question, how would you prepare your organizations for the next pandemic, both inhouse and in conjunction with the w. H. O. Knowing what you just stated that that makes it incredible difficult situation and the relationship that doespr not hae trust in it. Thank you again for this question because its so important that we do rebuild that very trust so that we can be most effective in preventing or mitigating a future pandemic. One of the things that we are doing as a Lesson Learned is strengthening our not only our multilateral partnerships but our regional partnerships and so ensuring that we are working with networks particularly in asia but other regions of the world to understand disease trends. This is building on obviously decades of relationships and partnerships that hhs has had globally over time but really looking to not rely again on a single actor to save us is something that we have taken awayay from and my time is closing and i think you really drive home that the single actor did not save us. That single actor, the Chinese Communist party destroyed so many human lives and the culpability and the ability to respond is what we have taken on as a charge for this committee. Mr. Chairman, thank you. I yield the remainder of my time. Thank you, mr. Chairman, thank you to the witnesses that are here today. Due to covid19 pandemic response, government lockdowns, forced vaccinations, school closures, Many Americans havefaith and trust not only in our government butrt also in the w. H. O. And extremely serious. The w. H. O. Colluded with the Chinese Communist party. In january of 2020, the w. H. O. Repeated Chinese Communist propaganda by saying that there was no human to human transmission with covid. The w. H. O. Waited several weeks to declare covid19 a Public Health emergency because china insisted they had the situation under control which was ato lie. The w. H. O. Did not impose travel restrictions unlike President Trump to help slow u the spread of covid19 because china did not want their economy to slow down. The w. H. O. Continue today praise chinas handling of the pandemic despite globally recognized coverup. The w. H. O. Wentvi along with the ccps fake claims about the origins of the virus not being from a lab and our investigations and intelligence agencies have told us otherwise. The International Health regulations, ihr is a treaty of the w. H. O. Meant to usher in a new era of Global Public health that requires all Member States to cooperate to make the world more secure. The ihr requires simple majority to amend it. There have been over 300 amendments proposed and Member States will not be able to see these amendments before they are scheduled to vote. At an october 2023 meeting, the working group compiling the amendments forts the 77th World Health Assembly in may 2024 was told that they do not have to produce their document before the meeting. Some of the amendments include expanding the ability of the w. H. O. Director general to declare Public Health emergencies towa include regionl declarations as well as intermediate threats allowing director general to act on information inam Public Domain without verification from Member States and creation of a Compliance Committee to enforce their worlds i can assure the American People do not want the w. H. O. Enforcing any rules on their own personal decisions regarding their health. Certain ihr amendments are adopted including so much states. The Biden Administration led the charge for amendments to the ihr including a new Compliance Committee. The treaty would create conference of the parties which would call on the United Nations for help in implementing the treaty. Theres already talk of the conference of the partys being merged together with ihr. Well, the Biden Administration wants to entangle the u. S. And more Globalist Organizations and imperil the health and safety of american citizens President Trump withdrew the u. S. From the w. H. O. Completely wisely anticipating such precarious mandates as the ones being proposed. The move toward a Global HealthSecurity State is reliant upon surveillance which relies on data, remember china, thats whey they did to their citizens and still do. The treaty in the ihr call for more sharing of personal health data in name of safety and outbreak prevention. Thats invasion of privacy for the American People. D the next step is to create a digital profile of everyone in the world and if the w. H. O. Is giving binding power, the un will essentially have the power to restrict any American Movement access to health care, medicine, et cetera, i can assure you right now the American People will neverne comply with anything like this from a Globalist Organization regarding their personal Health Decisions and as a matter of fact any way they decide to conduct their lives. I think this is extremely dangerous. I have a question ms. Pace, the working group for the ihr were told recently they did not have to produce final draft of proposed amendment to ihr for the 77th World Health Assembly until the event in may 2024, how can the u. S. Or any member state have any meaningful way to evaluate and consider thehe proposed amendments before they are put to a vote. Thank you very much for the question madame congresswoman. This is a really important issue for us especially considering our leadership on the International Health regulations not only in this administration but also going back to the Previous Administration and so a couple of things in response, one, i want to be certain and assure everyone here that we echo what the ambassador said earlier about the pandemic agreement that also applies to the International Health regulations and any negotiations or amendments there. We are not going to accept anything that would undermine our National Sovereignty and, in fact, the w. H. O. Does not have that authority over our u. S. Health policies and so i wanted to be sure and iterate that. I think that in addition the one of the things that we are hoping i also want today assure, excuse me, that the u. S. Is very much at the table for these negotiations and so we do have visibility into the various amendments being proposed and the opportunity or ability to push back as we need to out of respect of our own sovereignty or National Laws and policies and that is something that we ares absolutely doing if and wn necessary. Finally, with regards to our own amendments, we did feel it was important to revisit the tier alert system as we described earlier so that we are not in a position of scrambling in an outbreak but rather have some intermediateen alert whereby we can mobilize resources before we are all in a pandemic. Also one of the reasons why we touched on verification of Public Information is because you had actors like the ccp or or prc not providing that and so we wanted to provide a sort of alternative pathway again to protect america and the world in the event countries werent being forthcoming. Thank you, ms. Pace. I can assure you in a future Trump Administration given the way the w. H. O. Conducted itself it could be very likely that withdraw again from the w. H. O. Thank you, mr. Chairman, i yield back. This worries me greatly. Let me be clear, the United States should never, ever allow International Organizations specifically the World Health Organization to impede our sovereignty can which i know you just reaffirmed. With that said, i think that when you design the World Health Organization it was intended to be a gatherer, informant to nations around world with a goal of providing interchange of information from different Healthcare Organizations for emergencies, however, the Biden Administration must ensure the w. H. O. Authorities limited to setting Public Health standards and providing a forum for countries to Exchange Information but not to be given Greater Authority to infringing in nations warranty. I know we had debate in tribunals where we have organizations that want to overreach. I think its important when we talk about u. S. National interest advance and response accord which i believe both of you are involved in, correct . Can you both commit to complete transparency during this process . Yes, sir, thank you for the question. We have been yes, thank you. Mr. Ambassador . Yes. Can you both commit making the proposed treaty and amendments publicc to any proposal public to allow for commentary and opinion . We have done so. And will continue to do so. With that said, one of the things that imw worried abouts we obviously have been compromised in the past where we have been. Given misinformation and propagated that information which n which you fully admitted andwi pointed ten times yesterdy where we propagated chinese misinformation, if you will, just through not vetting the process or not thinking it through. Th we didnt really take the worlds opinion and took one of countrys and propagated that. My question is how do we get the trust back but more importantly, what have we done to hold account china accountable or is there a way . The world trade organization, for example, china has been taken to the court 27 times the, we still dont have teeth to hold them accountable. How do we keep countries like china and other bad actors from using the system, from given us the inappropriate information and how do we held them accountable. I feel that they havent been held accountable at all. I will try to respond to this question. Its an important one. As the ambassador said earlier, we are quite clear particularly in multilateral settings what we expect of all Member States including china and even in our bilateral engagementsen we also have been able to reiterate our expectation. With all duecl respect, sayig i expect you to do something and holding somebody accountable is like saying, i expect my kid not to take cookies and then doing nothing. What do we do to keep them accountable . Mr. Ambassador, i will give you a shot. Thank you. Thank you for that question. I share the concerns with how china conducted itself with the pandemic and continue to do so. Pa pandemic accord. Let me be clear, this absolutely no room in the pandemic accord that would allow w. H. O. To have influence or determination over sovereignty. Absolutely not. I appreciate you answering the question. We are not going to lose the sovereignty, thats great. The question that was never answered and the reason we are here is to hold you accountable, the question is what are we doing to hold them accountable which was not answered. I think we answered that very quickly with two instruments we are working on. Excuse my absence i was opening a Round Table National round table with the hispanic caucus and back as soon as i could right in the nick of time. Thank you to the witnesses for their testimony. The w. H. O. Plays Critical Role. Throughout today before we conclude today i want to emphasize again for the record that our work to prevent and prepare for future pandemics is not in conflict with enhancing International Cooperation but rather our efforts are strengthened and fortified by it. I hope that we continue in fact, almost everyone in the panel today said that one of the biggest Lessons Learned is that we need to lead in this effort and so right now wein have the opportunity todi not only enhane Global Pandemic prevention and preparedness but also cement our nations leadership in Global Health and we can do so by continuing to Foster International collaboration and advance reforms to the w. H. O. In the International Health regulations, the pandemic accords are very vital realtime priority instruments and pools to have the influence that we need in this space and that promote transparency improve surveillance and cooperations and norms. The matters are of critical importance and hope we can find ways to Work Together here in congress and with administration partnerstr to pursue constructie reforms that will save lives and reduce harm in the event of a futureth pandemic. Again, i want to thank all of our witnesses, you are in the front lines much respect, thank you for your hard work, thank you for your service to our nation and i want to thank the the chairman and yield back. Thank you, doctor. Thank you all for your time today. I think this has been extremely valuable. The whole situation obviously is frustrating but this committee remains committed to shared goal of preparing for the next pandemic. Lessoned learned so that the issues the w. H. O. Had, chinese transparency, all of these, they are highly relevant to our preparedness here in the united feeling the more we can set the tone to be prepared, others can as well and can make an organization like the w. H. O. Much stronger if theres cooperation. Every witness today. Said china was not transparent they werent forthcoming. All of thosew. Things. I can want help but to think of Ronald Reagans line, we need to trust but verify. Thats what was missing, is the verification and so why not trust, you assume people will be honest brokers, you would hope and when theyre not and you cant check that, i think that Lesson Learned is organization, International Organization or at least ourselves need to be there on the ground to see what the actual truth is. I think thats one of the Lessons Learned. Early on in the pandemic i said from the administration, americans need to be hearing from the doctors treating covid patients. Thats who they trust. Trusting without verification is a problem. Telling the president of another country that everything is under control. Weve got this. Ar well, we see what that leads to. When youre lied to and dont know that youre lied to then you dont get the leadership that you should. Honesty is the Lesson Learned. To me the w. H. O. Needs full access and the w. H. O. Representing all of its partners need pull access. We talked about revisions to hr. We need that to be without political influence. You all have testified to that today and i thank you for your work. I heard things today that are good for us to agree. We agree, u. S. Leadership is indispensable in this process and i was pleased to hear all of you talking about an agreement that protects the United States as your priority. Thats what we need to have. But i also agree that if we are going to protect the United States, we have to do everything we can around the globe when we are talk thing about a pandemic, it cant just be the United States you know, without data, accurate truth, without honesty, we cant help, we cant helpfully or quickly which is due to a pandemic response. So it became clear to me that the w. H. O. Success depends on the United States and that the United States is going to have to depend on honest data access and Everything Else through the w. H. O. So we cant have a situation where one country gets to deny us from being part of the team the in controlling the situation on on the ground but i see a lot of opportunity here. I do have in front of me the draft and appreciate that this is public. We need to go through it. We are here to represent the American People and the taxpayer dollars and we want to know what the investment is and what it looks like and so i appreciate the openness, there is difference between accord and treaty and that concerns members of congress as you can imagine. So in congress, when congress is frustrated, whats the power isthey have . The power of the purse. So we do want to be involved. We want to be involved with this, so we can honestly report what the intent is or where the money is going and how we are trying to make the world a better place and the health of america in particular and with that, i yield back and i want to again thank you all, with that, without objection member wills have 5 legislative days to which submit materials the and submit for the witnesses, which will be forward to the witnesses for their response and theres no further business, without objection, thesu subcommittee stands adjourned. Thank you all. [inaudible conversations] healthy democracy doesnt just look like this, it looks like this. From the nations capitol to wherever you are because the opinion that matters the most is your own. This is what democracy looks like. Cspan, powered by cable. At 8 00 p. M. Lectures of history. English professor peter talk thes about how cold war politics shaped literature from africa, asia and the caribbean and at 9 30 p. M. Eastern on the presidency. Justice oconnor diedt the age of3. Ginning at 10 30 a. M. Eastern her body will lien repos in the great hl of the Supreme Court for the plic to pay their respects. You can also watch online at cspan. Org or on the free cspan now video app. Up next Senate Hearing on International Competitiveness of u. S. Banks proposed regulations that increase Capital Requirements for u. S. Banks and access to capital for Small Business owners, veterans and underserved communities with executives from j. P. Morgan chase, citigroup, morgan vanly,