Bronx, NY—Representative Eliot L. Engel, Chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, today made the following statement regarding the Trump Administration’s formal withdrawal from the World Health Organization (WHO):

“It would be bad policy to pull out of the world’s leading body coordinating global health efforts under any circumstances, but to do so during a global pandemic is utterly baffling, especially against the backdrop of 130,000 American lives lost. Remaining in the WHO and exerting American leadership would boost international efforts to develop a vaccine and strengthen other countries’ health systems to better address future outbreaks. Deflecting blame onto the WHO won’t reverse the administration’s mistakes or undo the suffering our country has endured. The President needs to get serious about stopping this pandemic’s lethal spread by restoring our membership in the WHO, ramping up testing, and encouraging everyone to practice social distancing and wear masks.”

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