{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=413337", "Smith cosponsor of important bill to protect U.S. sovereignty House passes legislation to prevent the Biden-Harris Administration from approving the WHO pandemic treaty without Senate ratification", "2024-09-11", "2024", "2024-09", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Christopher H. Smith", "S000522", "chrissmith.house.gov", "chrissmith", "https://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentquery.aspx", "scraper", "With the strong support and vote of Rep. Chris Smith (R-Manchester), the House today passed (219-199) legislation that would prevent the Biden-Harris Administration from signing the World Health Organization (WHO) pandemic treaty without prior Senate ratification.\n\n\u201cThe World Health Organization\u2019s pandemic treaty\u2014which has been drafted through backroom negotiations with no transparency\u2014is an absolute power grab by a troubled U.N. agency that is in the pocket of China\u2019s Communist dictator Xi Jinping,\u201d said Smith, a cosponsor of the No WHO Pandemic Preparedness Treaty Without Senate Approval Act (HR 1425).\n\n\u201cFrom the very start, we have been pressing the Biden-Harris Administration to ensure that our U.S. sovereignty is protected from the unelected bureaucrats at the WHO, but so far, our demands have not been heeded,\u201d said Smith.\n\n\u201cThis important legislation will help ensure that there is extensive and rigorous review by the American people\u2014who would be forced to foot the bill for any treaty commitments\u2014and sufficient public debate by members of the Senate before any agreement can be made by the Biden-Harris Administration,\u201d Smith said.\n\nSpecifically, HR 1425 would ensure that any international instrument on pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response agreed to by the World Health Assembly is deemed a treaty and thereby sent to the Senate for advice and consent.\n\nSmith, who has been leading the charge in Congress raising a slew of questions and significant issues surrounding the proposed treaty, also hosted a news conference on Capitol Hill in February featuring a panel of experts from a wide-range of backgrounds.\n\n\u201cUnder no circumstances should our critical health authorities be handed over to WHO bureaucrats,\u201d said Smith. \u201cThey cannot be empowered to dictate policies to U.S. medical professionals and U.S. taxpayers when it comes to vaccines, therapeutics and the like.\u201d\n\n\u201cUsing potential pandemics as a pretext to violate the principles of good governance only serves to erode trust and further undermines international cooperation,\u201d Smith said.\n\n\u201cAnd we most certainly won\u2019t be signing a blank check,\u201d added Smith, who noted that the current WHO proposal that the Biden Administration is working on includes undetermined financial commitments. \u201cThe American taxpayer should not be fleeced like this.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-07T21:43:57Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=413337"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.66340172290802, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}