Rep. Tom Tiffany, R-Wis., told Newsmax on Monday that any deal the federal government cuts to cede control of the United States' pandemic policy to the World Health Organization should require a vote in the Senate.
"If the Biden administration is going to cut a deal with the World Health Organization, giving them greater authority, that is treaty-like, over the American people, then it should be subject to a treaty vote in the United States Senate that requires a two-thirds vote," Tiffany said during an appearance on Newsmax's "National Report."
Along with Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., Tiffany introduced legislation last week that seeks to block President Joe Biden from agreeing to a WHO pandemic accord that would give control of U.S. health policy to the global health agency and could force countries to shut down during another pandemic.
According to the WHO, countries that are part of the organization earlier this month began negotiations for a global accord concerning pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response in an effort to protect nations from future pandemics.
Governments agreed during the World Health Assembly in late 2021 to produce a final draft of the accord by the 77th World Health Assembly in 2024.
In a significant show of bipartisan support, the House voted 419-0 Friday to declassify the intelligence on the origins of COVID-19. The bill heads next to Biden's desk to be signed into law.
When asked what Congress expects to find in the documents, Tiffany expressed uncertainty.
"That's the question: What are we going to find?" he said. "Because we know many things have been hidden. Take a look at some of the things that have been done in regards to oversight, whether it's the Jan. 6 committee, the FBI, whatever.
"All we're saying is that the American people are very fair-minded about these things. Get all the information before them and they'll make good decisions. Plus, us policymakers, if we have all information before us – if it's not cherry picked – we'll come to better conclusions by having all information. Declassify the documents, put it all before the American people."
Tiffany said that the WHO has proven itself "untrustworthy" and should not be given carte blanche to set U.S. pandemic policy.
"Remember, back in December of 2019, the Taiwanese government warned the World Health Organization, 'Something strange is going on in China, specifically Wuhan, China. You need to investigate this. You need to let scientists from around the world come to that lab and see what is happening there,'" Tiffany said.
"They were denied and the World Health Organization carried the Communist Chinese government's water through that whole process and would not reveal the information, would not do the investigation necessary."
The WHO declared COVID-19 a global pandemic after 114 countries had reported a total of 118,000 cases and 4,291 deaths.
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