On the recordJuly 21, 2020
we are in unprecedented times. Modem transportation and communication technology make our world more interconnected than it has ever been. These advancements, especially international travel, create risks, as we have seen through the devastating spread of the novel coronavirus all over the globe. But close global connections also strengthen our capacity to work collaboratively to tackle threats facing our communities. The COVID-19 pandemic is one such threat--it is a challenge that we will only be able to overcome together. United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres put it best when he said, ``We are only as strong as the weakest health systems.'' President Trump's decision on July 6th to begin formally withdrawing the United States from the World Health Organization, or the WHO, is irrational, reckless, and simply the wrong thing to do. While the WHO is not perfect, its technical capacities and relationship with nearly every country in the world make it the best organization to manage the response to a global pandemic like COVID-19. A few weeks ago, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee heard from a panel of public health experts who all spoke with one voice--leaving the WHO in the middle of a global pandemic will not only compromise the international response to COVID-19, it will put Americans' lives at risk. Today, I am introducing a resolution with 28 co-sponsors that expresses the sense of the Senate that withdrawing from the WHO undermines U.S.…





