Bill Summary

Bill Summary

I 118 THCONGRESS 1STSESSION H. R. 1425

To require any convention, agreement, or other international instrument on pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response reached by the World Health Assembly to be subject to Senate ratification.

Introduction

This bill was introduced in the House of Representatives on March 7, 2023, by Mr. Tiffany and a group of other representatives. It has been referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs.

Purpose

The purpose of this bill is to require that any convention, agreement, or other international instrument related to pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response, which is reached by the World Health Assembly, must be subject to Senate ratification. This means that the Senate would need to approve the convention or agreement with a two-thirds majority vote before it can be implemented.

Key Findings

The bill presents the following key findings:

President Donald Trump sent a letter to the World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General on May 18, 2020, announcing the halt of US contributions to WHO due to its mismanagement of the COVID-19 outbreak and lack of independence from China.
President Trump's letter cited instances of WHO mismanagement, including delays in informing member states about the disease outbreak in China and inaccurate claims about the virus.
On June 30, 2020, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo formally notified the United Nations of the US decision to withdraw from WHO.
A survey showed that 51% of Americans felt that WHO had done a poor or fair job in managing the COVID-19 pandemic.
President Joseph Biden retracted the US notice of withdrawal from WHO on January 20, 2021.
The World Health Assembly established an intergovernmental negotiating body (INB) to draft and negotiate a WHO convention or agreement on pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response.
The INB proposed five themes for the convention, including building capacities, establishing global access and benefit sharing, creating robust systems, ensuring sustainable financing, and empowering WHO.
The INB agreed that the convention would be legally binding on the parties and adopted under Article 19 of the WHO Constitution.
An initial draft of the convention was sent to WHO member states in January 2023.
The bill cites Section 723.3 of the Department of State's Foreign Affairs Manual, which lists criteria for determining whether an international agreement should be a treaty or an executive agreement.

Sense of Congress

The bill expresses the sense of Congress that:

A significant segment of the American public is skeptical of WHO and its leadership.
Congress prefers that any agreement related to pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response be considered a treaty requiring Senate approval.
The scope of the INB's drafting work supports considering the agreement as a treaty.
Any new agreement by the World Health Assembly that cannot garner two-thirds Senate ratification should not be agreed to or implemented by the US due to public distrust.

Treaty Requirement

The bill states that any convention, agreement, or other international instrument on pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response reached by the World Health Assembly as a result of the INB's work is deemed to be a treaty. According to the Constitution, treaties require the advice and consent of the Senate, with a two-thirds majority of Senators concurring.

Rep. Erin Houchin

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