,i  #aafth ,,congress  #b;d ,session    
,h4 ,r4 #fiae  ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of  
,,representatives  ,may #ae1 #bjbj,mr4  
,smith of ,new ,jersey 7for himself and 
,mr4 ,cuellar7 introduced the following 
bill2 which was referred to the         
,committee on ,foreign ,affairs1 and in 
addition to the ,committee on the       
,budget1 for a period to be subsequently
 determined by the ,speaker1 in each    
case for consideration of such          
provisions as fall within the           
jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
,a ,,bill  ,to facilitate greater       
effectiveness1 coordination1            
transparency1 and accountability of     
international global health             
organizations1 such as the ,world       
,health ,organization1 in responding to 
global pandemics and transnational      
health emergencies4  #a4 ,short title   
,this ,act may be cited as the ,global  
,,covid-#ai ,truth1 ,transparency1 and  
,accountability ,act4  #b4 ,statement of
 policy ,it is the policy of the ,united

 ,states to promote effectiveness1      
coordination1 transparency1 and         
accountability of international global  
health organizations1 such as the ,world
 ,health ,organization 7,,who71 so that 
they will be more effective in          
catalyzing global and country actions to
 address health crises1 especially with 
a view toward preparing for1 and        
responding to1 global pandemics and     
transnational health emergencies4  #c4  
,findings ,congress finds the following3
 7#a7 ,there is a compelling role for an
 international organization to help     
mitigate infectious diseases that       
respect no national borders4  7#b7 ,the 
,world ,health ,organization 7,,who7 has
 played a critical role in addressing   
and mitigating infectious diseases1 such
 as coordinating the ,smallpox          
,eradication ,program 7,,sep7 from #aiff
 through #aihj4  7#c7 ,the #bjag        
,national ,security ,strategy states    
that ,naturally emerging outbreaks of   
viruses such as ,ebola1 ,h#a,n#a1       

,,mers-,co,v1 the #bjjc ,,sars-,co,v-#a 
outbreak1 as well as the deliberate     
#bjja anthrax attacks in the ,united    
,states1 demonstrated the impact of     
biological threats on national security 
by taking lives1 generating economic    
losses1 and contributing to a loss of   
confidence in government institutions44 
7#d7 ,the ,united ,states depends on an 
effective ,,who to make good1           
well-informed public health decisions to
 contain infectious diseases4  7#e7 ,the
 ,,sars-,co,v-#b or ,coronavirus        
,disease #bjai 7commonly known as       
,,covid-#ai7 pandemic appears to have   
originated in late #bjai in ,wuhan1     
,china4  7#f7 ,chinese officials        
initially reported to the ,,who in      
,january #bjbj that there was no        
evidence that the ,,covid-#ai pandemic  
was spread by human to human contact4   
7#g7 ,the advent of the ,,covid-#ai     
pandemic coincided with the annual      
celebration of the ,chinese ,new ,year1 
which is the largest annual human       

migration in the world4  7#h7 ,the      
,government of ,taiwan1 based on its own
 research1 communicated to the ,,who in 
,december #bjai that ,,covid-#ai        
pandemic was spread by human to human   
contact4  7#i7 ,the ,,who disregarded   
the more accurate information from the  
,government of ,taiwan because of       
anti-,taiwan animus driven by malign    
influence of the ,government of the     
,people's ,republic of ,china4  7#aj7   
,the ,government of the ,people's       
,republic of ,china had actively        
campaigned for ,tedros ,adhanom         
,ghebreyesus to be selected as          
,director-,general of the ,,who1 and    
exerts influence on him4  7#aa7 ,with   
the onset of the ,,covid-#ai pandemic1  
the ,government of the ,people's        
,republic of ,china provided factually  
inaccurate information to the ,,who and 
,director-,general ,ghebreyesus1        
resulting in the spread of              
disinformation globally about the       
pandemic4  7#ab7 ,initial               

recommendations by the ,,who at the     
onset of the ,,covid-#ai pandemic in    
late #bjai and early #bjbj advising     
countries against carrying out travel   
restrictions to and from the affected   
areas resulted in a much wider spread of
 the disease1 and severely limited the  
ability of the international community  
to contain the virus4  7#ac7 ,during the
 onset of the ,,covid-#ai pandemic1 the 
,,who's effectiveness was diminished    
because its leadership appears to have  
put political considerations over its   
public health mandate1 and the ,,who    
transmitted inaccurate and misleading   
information regarding the               
communicability of the novel coronavirus
 to member states4  7#ad7 ,,who member  
states relied on inaccurate and         
misleading information regarding        
transmission of ,,covid-#ai supplied by 
the ,,who and used this information to  
formulate their responses1 resulting in 
a significantly higher number of        
infected people and loss of life4  7#ae7

 ,the ,united ,states and other         
countries have a compelling humanitarian
 interest in comprehensively and        
objectively investigating and reporting 
on the ,,who's ,,covid-#ai pandemic     
record1 including any failures4 ,the    
,united ,states has a broad interest in 
promoting transparency and              
accountability in ,united ,nations      
agencies and other international        
organizations1 including regional arms  
of the ,,who such as the ,pan ,american 
,health ,organization4  7#af7 ,the      
,united ,states needs to investigate the
 causes of this failure at the ,,who1   
and promote transparency and            
accountability1 in order to improve the 
capacity of the ,,who to address future 
pandemics4  #d4 ,review and assessment  
of effectiveness of multilateral        
responses to global pandemics  7a7 ,in  
general ,the ,secretary of ,state1 in   
consultation with the panel of experts  
established under subsection 7b71       
shall-- 7#a7 review the effectiveness1  

coordination1 transparency1 and         
accountability of the ,world ,health    
,organization 7,,who7 in responding to  
the ,,covid-#ai pandemic1 including an  
assessment of information that was      
conveyed to or withheld from the ,,who  
by the ,government of the ,people's     
,republic of ,china2  7#b7 review the   
effectiveness1 coordination1            
transparency1 and accountability of     
international global health             
organizations1 such as the ,,who and its
 regional organizations1 in responding  
to global pandemics and transnational   
health emergencies generally2 and  7#c7 
assess whether the ,,who's              
,international ,health ,regulations     
7#bjje7 should be updated and whether   
new international mechanisms or         
institutions are needed to-- 7,a7       
prevent or mitigate the spread of global
 pandemics2  7,b7 develop expedited     
effective testing capacities for global 
pandemics that are accessible and       
affordable2  7,c7 develop expedited safe

 and effective prophylactics and        
therapeutics that are accessible and    
affordable2  7,d7 coordinate the        
communication of timely and accurate    
information to ,,who member states      
during global pandemics2 and  7,e7      
ensure effectiveness1 coordination1     
transparency1 and accountability of     
international global health             
organizations4  7b7 ,panel of experts on
 global pandemics  7#a7 ,in general ,the
 ,secretary of ,state1 in consultation  
with the ,secretary of ,health and      
,human ,services and the ,administrator 
of the ,united ,states ,agency for      
,international ,development1 shall      
establish a panel of experts on global  
pandemics 7in this ,act referred to as  
the panel of experts7 to assist in      
carrying out the review and assessment  
required by subsection 7a7 and to       
develop the recommendations required by 
paragraph 7#c74  7#b7 ,membership ,the  
membership of the panel of experts shall
 consist of the following3 7,a7 ,at     

least #b representatives of             
nongovernmental organizations with      
expertise in1 and dedication to         
providing1 international medical care1  
to be appointed by the ,secretary of    
,state4  7,b7 ,at least #b              
representatives from academia or civil  
society with expertise in ,united       
,nations reform1 to be appointed by the 
,secretary of ,state4  7,c7 ,the        
,director of the ,centers for ,disease  
,control and ,prevention4  7,d7 ,the    
,director of the ,national ,institutes  
of ,health4  7,e7 ,the ,assistant       
,secretary of ,state for ,international 
,organization ,affairs4  7,f7 ,the      
,u4,s4 ,special ,representative for     
,global ,health ,diplomacy4  7,g7 ,the  
,assistant ,administrator for the       
,united ,states ,agency for             
,international ,development's ,bureau   
for ,global ,health4  7,h7 ,four        
individuals with expertise in infectious
 disease pandemics1 the ,,who1 and the  
,,who's ,international ,health          

,regulations1 of which-- 7i7 one        
individual shall be appointed by the    
,speaker of the ,house of               
,representatives2  7ii7 one individual  
shall be appointed by the majority      
leader of the ,senate2  7iii7 one       
individual shall be appointed by the    
minority leader of the ,house of        
,representatives2 and  7iv7 one         
individual shall be appointed by the    
minority leader of the ,senate4  7#c7   
,recommendations ,the panel of experts  
shall1 on an annual basis1 develop      
recommendations to address-- 7,a7 the   
effect of ,,who member states failing to
 share timely information or suppressing
 information concerning emerging global 
pandemics or transnational health       
emergencies1 including1 in the initial  
set of recommendations1 such effect with
 respect to the ,,covid-#ai pandemic2   
7,b7 the extent of influence of some    
states on the selection of ,,who        
leadership2  7,c7 reforms with respect  
to the ,,who and the ,,who's            

,international ,health ,regulations     
regarding preparedness for global       
pandemics2 and  7,d7 decisions to       
mitigate abuse by some ,,who member     
states of the ,,who and other           
international organizations for         
political ends4  7c7 ,report  7#a7 ,in  
general ,not later than #ahj days after 
the date on which the panel of experts  
is established under subsection 7b71 and
 annually thereafter1 the panel of      
experts shall submit to the ,secretary  
of ,state a report on-- 7,a7 the        
recommendations required by subsection  
7b77#c72 and  7,b7 proposals for        
administrative and legislative actions  
that the panel determines to be         
appropriate to carry out the            
recommendations4  7#b7 ,reference ,the  
report required by paragraph 7#a7 may be
 referred to as the ,global ,pandemic   
,report4  7d7 ,authorization of         
appropriations ,of the amounts          
authorized to be appropriated for       
,global ,health ,programs for each of   

the #e fiscal years beginning after the 
date of the enactment of this ,act1     
there are authorized to be appropriated 
for each such fiscal year #gej1jjj to   
carry out this section4  #e4 ,report    
,not later than #cj days after the date 
on which the report required by section 
#d7;c7 is submitted to the ,secretary of
 ,state1 and annually thereafter1 the   
,secretary shall submit to ,congress a  
report on-- 7#a7 the review and         
assessment required by section #d7;a72  
and  7#b7 the report required by section
 #d7;c74  #f4 ,presidential             
determination on funding ,the ,president
 shall include in the materials         
submitted in support of the budget of   
the ,president 7submitted to ,congress  
pursuant to section #aaje of title #ca1 
,united ,states ,code7 for each of the  
#e fiscal years beginning after the date
 of the enactment of this ,act-- 7#a7 a 
determination of whether-- 7,a7         
institutional reforms instituted at the 
,world ,health ,organization 7,,who7 are

 sufficient to ensure accountability and
 to identify and address global         
pandemics2 and  7,b7 there are          
sufficient international protocols in   
place to ensure transparency and the    
independence of the ,,who in detecting  
and responding to such pandemics2  7#b7 
a recommendation of whether any ,united 
,states contributions to the ,,who or   
other ,united ,nations funds1 programs1 
or other entities with a primary focus  
on international health should be       
withheld as a result of any lack of     
implementation of such reforms2 and     
7#c7 a recommendation of whether1 if    
such reforms are not implemented1       
withheld funds should be made available 
to the ,united ,states ,agency for      
,international ,development or          
international organizations such as the 
,global ,fund to ,fight ,,aids1         
,tuberculosis and ,malaria and ,,gavi1  
the ,vaccine ,alliance4  #g4 ,rule of   
construction ,nothing in this ,act may  
be construed to increase authorizations 

of appropriations for the ,department of
 ,state or the ,department of ,health   
and ,human ,services4