In applauding President Donald Trump's decision Wednesday to pause U.S. funding of the World Health Organization, Rep. Guy Reschenthaler, R.-Pa., told Newsmax Friday he would not support resumption of WHO funding even if controversial Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus resigns.
"While Director-General Dr. Tedros must resign before U.S. taxpayer funding is restored to WHO, his resignation alone would not be enough," said Reschenthaler, who introduced a House resolution to stop WHO funding two weeks ago.
The freshman congressman emphasized that the United Nations-affiliated agency's "failure to contain this [coronavirus] pandemic is evidence of systemic issues, not just with Dr. Tedros but throughout WHO.
"Beyond the resignation of Dr. Tedros, the Chinese Communist Party's perversion of WHO's mission from 'keeping the world safe' into an extension of the party's propaganda wing necessitates a thorough investigation before hard-earned U.S. taxpayer dollars are restored," Reschenthaler said.
The Reschenthaler resolution also calls for an international commission to investigate the origins of the coronavirus in China and the ways its government tried to underreport and even cover up the extent of the virus' deadly nature.
Before Trump's surprise announcement Wednesday that the U.S. would halt funding the WHO, the Reschenthaler resolution had 20 House co-sponsors calling on him to do precisely that. Since then, the number of co-sponsors has jumped to 38.
Eight more co-sponsors were expected to be announced Friday afternoon, a spokesman for Reschenthaler told Newsmax.
The European Union and Democratic lawmakers in Congress denounced the sudden pause in the U.S. funding the WHO. During its most recent two-year funding period, the U.S. has provided the agency with $893 million — including $236 million in dues — and is therefore its largest contributor.
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.
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