Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander: Trump's WHO withdrawal could interfere with vaccine development
WASHINGTON – A top Senate Republican sharply criticized President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw from the World Health Organization, saying it could jeopardize the development of a COVID-19 vaccine and impair efforts to stop the global pandemic.
"Withdrawing U.S. membership could, among other things, interfere with clinical trials that are essential to the development of vaccines, which citizens of the United States as well as others in the world need," Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., chairman of the Senate health committee, said in a statement Tuesday after the White House formally notified Congress it had begun the WHO withdrawal process.
Alexander also said withdrawing from the organization could make it harder for the United States to work with other countries to stop the spread of coronavirus and other diseases before they hit the U.S.
"If the administration has specific recommendations for reforms of the WHO, it should submit those recommendations to Congress, and we can work together to make those happen,” he said.
Alexander said he agrees the WHO may have made mistakes in its handling of the pandemic, but the time to examine its performance "is after the crisis has been dealt with, not in the middle of it."
The White House officially triggered the withdrawal process on Tuesday, notifying Congress and the United Nations that the United States would end its ties with the organization.
The White House said the withdrawal would take effect on July 6, 2021. The formal notification came even as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to grip the globe and infections spike in many states across the U.S.
Trump and his advisers have blasted the WHO as a tool of China, saying its leaders failed to press China for full transparency about the scope and severity of the novel coronavirus.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Wednesday that the WHO failed "to perform its basic core mission of preventing a global pandemic spread."
Pompeo declined to say whether the Trump administration would fulfill its obligation to pay WHO membership dues through this year or to disclose how much U.S. owes the international health body.
"We will work with Congress with respect to the appropriated funds. We’ll get it right," he told reporters at a news conference. "But the president has made very clear we are not going to underwrite an organization that has historically been incompetent and not performed its fundamental function."
More: Trump has officially begun to withdraw the US from the World Health Organization as pandemic spikes
Democrats and global health experts have condemned Trump's decision, saying it will give China more influence at the WHO, not less, and will hurt Americans.
"This won't protect American lives or interests – it leaves Americans sick & America alone," New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, tweeted Tuesday after receiving the White House's notification.
Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, said he would rejoin the WHO immediately if he wins the presidential race in November.
"Americans are safer when America is engaged in strengthening global health. On my first day as President, I will rejoin the @WHO and restore our leadership on the world stage," the former vice president tweeted.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Republican Lamar Alexander: Trump's WHO move could hurt vaccine trials
