Republican members on the House Oversight and Reform Committee wrote a letter to Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) demanding for hearings and briefings to held on the World Health Organization's relationship with the Communist Party of China (CCP) and its poor response to the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic.
Signers of the letter include GOP Reps. Jody Hice (GA), James Comer (KY), Glenn Grothman (WI), Michael Cloud (TX), and Chip Roy (TX). The congressmen pointed to how Maloney had written about "the WHO has shortcomings that must be corrected," hearings must be held to find the true nature of the massive organization.
The letter defends President Trump's decision to put a hold on funding to the WHO as an investigation takes place into their dealings with China:
"In light of such an admission, coupled with multiple media reports of WHO’s failures, we request immediate briefings, and hearings next month, on the WHO’s relationship with the Communist Party of China (CCP) and its widely criticized response to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. The potential misuse of taxpayer dollars is at the heart of the Committee’s jurisdiction, and we owe it to the American people to evaluate how the WHO has been spending their hard-earned money. The American taxpayer is the single largest contributor to the WHO, providing approximately $900 million every two years, ten times greater than China’s contribution.
"Notwithstanding this drastic imbalance in funding, the United States should not support organizations that promulgate communist propaganda instead of the facts. Our republic is not obligated to hand money to an entity that espouses ideals of international cooperation while furthering the Chinese’s government’s machinations. Instead of addressing China’s misrepresentations about COVID-19 and the WHO’s reliance on this Chinese disinformation or focusing on finding bipartisan solutions, you have continued to use the Committee’s powerful oversight and investigative tools for purely political purposes.
"Since the first U.S. case of COVID-19 on January 19, 2020, you and your subcommittee chairs have sent letters to companies on a variety of issues including e-cigarettes, children’s booster seats, Talc powder, bottling of groundwater, and infant recliners. The one common theme among the recipients is that each is currently being targeted by the plaintiffs’ bar in class action lawsuits.12 These letters request proprietary information that, if shared, would give those trial lawyers an edge in ongoing cases. This is an abuse of the Committee’s Rule X powers."
"When it comes to oversight, where there’s smoke, there’s usually fire. Serious flags have been raised regarding potential misconduct, incompetence, and bias at the World Health Organization; particularly with the institution’s relationship with Communist China," Ranking Member Hice said. "The American taxpayer is the single largest contributor of funding to the W.H.O., and this Committee, therefore, has a clear duty to investigate their role in mismanaging the Coronavirus pandemic. I hope that my Democratic colleagues will join us in a bipartisan effort to get to the truth."
As Townhall previously reported, an internal GOP Oversight and Reform Committee report stated how the State Department confirmed to staff members that the state-run media in China, Russia, and Iran are working in together to blame the COVID-19 pandemic on the United States. The report further criticized the WHO's early response to the pandemic.
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