The House Oversight and Ethics Chair Representative Eliot Engel has started an investigation into Donald Trump. It questions the ethics of the president deciding to withdraw all funds meant for the World Health Organization (WHO). Trump’s surprise move was stunning but only a moment in the chaos circus surrounding this POTUS.
Perhaps, he meant to draw people’s attention from the COVID-19 pandemic and the crushing fall on Wall Street. Congress has been operating in spite of all the activity around this president. The U.S. has contributed between $100 and $400 million to WHO per year over the past 10 years.
Trump said he was cutting WHO’s funding, claiming WHO was “China-centric.” Then, he complained that the organization was responsible for not being willing to “address China’s responsibility “in the spread of coronavirus” from the capital of one of China’s provinces, Wuhan:
‘President Trump’s decision to halt funding for the World Health Organization (WHO) in the midst of a global pandemic is counterproductive and puts lives at risk. Attacking the WHO, rather than the COVID-19 outbreak, will only worsen an already dire situation by undermining one of our key tools to fight the spreading disease.’
Engel released this statement earlier on the House’s H.R.1 passing writing that a “culture of corruption” had to be rooted out:
‘Following our victory last November, Democrats knew one of the first things we had to do in the House was restore the public faith. Under the GOP, our Constitutional duties were abdicated, outside interests ran roughshod, voting rights were under constant attack, and policy was seemingly passed to better corporations, not people. In order to preserve and strengthen our democracy, this culture of corruption had to quickly be rooted out. Thus we introduced H.R. 1, the For the People Act, an historic reform package aimed at restoring power to the people. I was proud to be an original cosponsor of this bill, and its passage today will hopefully serve as a watershed moment for our country.’
He added that “too many [Americans] view themselves as shutout of the process:”
‘Clearly, our political system is not meeting the needs of the American people. Too many view themselves as shutout of the process, or have been discouraged by the millions of dollars of corporate interest money flooding our system. Far too many people still face barriers to participation, especially in the wake of the Shelby v. Holder Supreme Court case.’
The new legislation’s purpose is to create a “new, more transparent era:”
‘H.R. 1 will help usher our democracy into a new, more transparent era. Several years ago, I introduced a Constitutional Amendment to reform our electoral system, get big money out of politics, and expand voting rights for every American. Many of the concepts in my Amendment were included in H.R. 1.’
He continued:
‘This legislation heightens disclosure requirements for big money contributors and special interest, combats institutional barriers to voting, creates nationwide automatic voter registration, prohibits voter roll purges, and ends partisan gerrymandering. It also strengthens our ethics laws, ends taxpayer-settled harassment lawsuits in Congress, and requires sitting Presidents and Vice Presidents, as well as candidates for President and Vice President, to make their tax returns public.’
The committee chair wrote in his statement that the Democrats were committed to working for the people:
‘House Democrats are committed to working for the people and advancing H.R. 1 is a strong demonstration of that commitment. I’m grateful for the opportunity to help protect our democracy today by voting to pass this legislation.’
Engel added that no one was falling for “China’s propaganda:”
‘No one believes China’s propaganda about the origins of the virus. No one doubts that the WHO—with a vital global mandate, total dependence on Member states, and a budget about the size of a single American hospital—has performed imperfectly. And the Foreign Affairs Committee will probe those issues among a host of others.’
Then, Engel condemned Donald Trump’s choice “to drag his feet and hide the truth.” The representative continued, noting there “never was a hoax or a conspiracy:”
‘But when this pandemic reached our shores, the President chose to drag his feet and hide the truth. This was never a hoax or a conspiracy. It was a dire threat to this country that the President ignored. That’s the reason the United States is now the epicenter of this crisis. Blaming the WHO will accomplish nothing and cutting off resources will only make things worse.’
Featured image was a screenshot via YouTube.
The Mueller Report Adventures: In Bite-Sizes on this Facebook page. These quick, two-minute reads interpret the report in normal English for busy people. Mueller Bite-Sizes uncovers what is essentially a compelling spy mystery. Interestingly enough, Mueller Bite-Sizes can be read in any order.
