Title: To direct the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Secretary of Health and Human Services, to submit a report on the actions of the World Health Organization to address the spread of the virus responsible for COVID-19, and for other purposes.
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
This bill directs the Department of State to report to Congress on the actions of the World Health Organization (WHO) in response to the spread of the virus responsible for COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019). The report shall address topics including (1) the failures of the WHO to address the spread of the virus, (2) the extent to which the WHO withheld information from United Nations member states, and (3) the relationship between the WHO and China.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6665 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6665

To direct the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Secretary of 
  Health and Human Services, to submit a report on the actions of the 
     World Health Organization to address the spread of the virus 
           responsible for COVID-19, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 1, 2020

   Mr. Carter of Georgia (for himself, Mr. Crawford, Mr. Budd, Mrs. 
   Rodgers of Washington, Mr. Van Drew, Mr. Banks, Mr. Watkins, Mr. 
  Steube, and Mr. Crenshaw) introduced the following bill; which was 
              referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To direct the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Secretary of 
  Health and Human Services, to submit a report on the actions of the 
     World Health Organization to address the spread of the virus 
           responsible for COVID-19, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) On December 30, 2019, Dr. Li Wenliang of Wuhan, China 
        warned the Chinese medical community of the outbreak of the 
        virus responsible for COVID-19.
            (2) Four days after warning the Chinese medical community, 
        the Chinese Public Security Bureau forced Dr. Li Wenliang to 
        sign a letter admitting that he made ``false comments'' and 
        that he had ``severely disturbed the social order''.
            (3) Chinese authorities suppressed information concerning 
        the spread of such virus by censoring certain keywords on 
        Chinese messaging applications.
            (4) On January 14, 2020, the World Health Organization 
        tweeted that ``preliminary investigations conducted by Chinese 
        authorities have found no clear evidence of human-to-human 
        transmission of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China''.
            (5) The virus was later determined to be highly contagious 
        and spread through human-to-human contact.
            (6) Public health researchers have found inconsistencies in 
        the data reported by the World Health Organization in their 
        situation reports and that the World Health Organization has 
        failed to address such inconsistences.
            (7) In the middle of the month of January 2020, the World 
        Health Organization refused to declare a public health 
        emergency as they did not want to ``spook the world further''.
            (8) On February 3, 2020, despite warning signs of an 
        ongoing cover-up, the Director General of the World Health 
        Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, praised the People's 
        Republic of China saying he was ``impressed'' by President Xi's 
        leadership.
            (9) Senior World Health Organization officials praised the 
        People's Republic of China's response to the spread of the 
        virus noting that the ``Chinese people feel protected''.
            (10) There is a longstanding and concerning relationship 
        between the World Health Organization and the People's Republic 
        of China, as the People's Republic of China co-chaired the 
        China-Africa Health Ministers Conference, hosted the Belt and 
        Road Forum for International Cooperation, and worked together 
        with the World Health Organization for the ``One Belt, One 
        Road'' initiative.
            (11) In 2017, the People's Republic of China worked 
        ``tirelessly behind the scenes'' to ensure the election of 
        Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus as Director General of the World 
        Health Organization.
            (12) In 2014, while serving as Health Minister in Ethiopia, 
        Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus covered up three cholera outbreaks 
        in Ethiopia.
            (13) In 2017, leaked emails revealed that the World Health 
        Organization refused to classify ebola outbreak as a public 
        health emergency for over two months as to not ``anger'' the 
        leaders of African countries.
            (14) The United States is the largest financial contributor 
        to the World Health Organization, providing the organization 
        with up to $500 million in American taxpayer money every year.
            (15) If the World Health Organization had been truthful 
        concerning the spread of the virus, the international community 
        could have better prepared to combat such spread.

SEC. 2. REPORT ON THE ACTIONS OF THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION TO 
              ADDRESS THE SPREAD OF THE VIRUS RESPONSIBLE FOR COVID-19.

    (a) In General.--Not later than one year after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, in consultation with the 
Secretary of Health and Human Services, shall submit to the appropriate 
congressional committees a report on the actions of the World Health 
Organization (referred to in this section as the ``WHO'') to address 
the spread of the virus responsible for COVID-19.
    (b) Matters Included.--The report required under subsection (a) 
shall include information relating to the following:
            (1) The failures of the WHO to address the spread of the 
        virus responsible for COVID-19.
            (2) The extent to which the WHO withheld information from 
        Member States of the United Nations relating to such spread.
            (3) The accuracy of infection data published by the WHO 
        relating to such spread.
            (4) The relationship between the WHO and the People's 
        Republic of China.
            (5) The role of the WHO in covering up such spread in the 
        People's Republic of China.
            (6) Any other systemic failure of the WHO, as determined 
        appropriate by the Secretary of State for inclusion in the 
        report.
    (c) Appropriate Congressional Committees Defined.--In this Act, the 
term ``appropriate congressional committees'' means the following:
            (1) The Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of 
        Representatives.
            (2) The Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of 
        Representatives.
            (3) The Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate.
            (4) The Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 
        of the Senate.
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