BALTIMORE – U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.), a senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, released the following statement in response to the Trump administration’s official notification that the United States would withdraw from the World Health Organization (WHO).

“With COVID-19 cases surging across the U.S., the President’s decision to officially begin withdrawing the United States from the WHO in the midst of a global pandemic is irrational, reckless, and simply the wrong thing to do. Just last week, 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 harm the international response to COVID-19, it risks prolonging the outbreak and puts U.S. lives at risk. A successful U.S. domestic response is dependent on continued international collaboration. As I have said, it would be unrealistic to say the WHO is undeserving of criticism. But this is exactly why the United States should be working with the WHO to advance our priorities. If we are to be successful in the fight against COVID-19, the U.S. cannot isolate itself and its response to the virus from the rest of the world.”   

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