2024-05-08 WHO Letter Final

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May 8, 2024

President Joseph R. Biden Jr.


The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20500

Re World Health Organization’s International Health Regulations (IHR)


and new Pandemic Treaty.

Dear Mr. President:

As the chief legal officers of our States, we oppose two instruments under ne-
gotiation that could give the World Health Organization (WHO) unprecedented and
unconstitutional powers over the United States and her people. Justice Neil Gorsuch
remarked that the COVID-19 pandemic may have been “the greatest intrusions on
civil liberties in the peacetime history of this country.” 1 Meanwhile, the WHO failed
to hold the Chinese Communist Party accountable for its lies and deceptions during
the pandemic. 2 Rather than learning from these failures, some inexplicably want to
relinquish more power to unelected and unaccountable institutions.

These proposed accords could radically transform the WHO’s existing Interna-
tional Health Regulations (IHRs) and institute a new “Pandemic Agreement”
(Treaty). 3 The current draft of the Pandemic Agreement purportedly serves as “ne-
gotiating text” for international consideration. Although the latest iteration is far
better than prior versions, it’s still highly problematic. The fluid and opaque nature
of these proceedings, moreover, could allow the most egregious provisions from past
versions to return. Meanwhile, the IHR amendment process has largely occurred
behind closed doors as the working group considers hundreds of proposals. To vary-
ing degrees, these measures would threaten national sovereignty, undermine states’
authority, and imperil constitutionally guaranteed freedoms. Ultimately, the goal of
these instruments isn’t to protect public health. It’s to cede authority to the WHO—

1 Arizona v. Mayorkas, 143 S. Ct. 1312, 1314 (2023) (Gorsuch, J., concurring).
2 See The Origins of the Global Pandemic, Including the Roles of the CCP & WHO, Committee on
Foreign Affairs, U.S. House of Representatives (Sept. 2020),
3 Revised draft of the negotiating text of the WHO Pandemic Agreement, World Health Organization

(March 2024), https://apps.who.int/gb/inb/pdf_files/inb9/A_inb9_3-en.pdf.

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
215 North Sanders (406) 444-2026
PO Box 201401 Contactdoj@mt.gov
Helena, MT 59620-1401 mtdoj.gov
President Joe Biden
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May 8, 2024

specifically its Director-General—to restrict our citizens’ rights to freedom of speech,


privacy, movement (especially travel across borders) and informed consent.

We therefore oppose such accords for several important reasons. First, the two
proposed instruments would transform the WHO from an advisory, charitable organ-
ization into the world’s governor of public health. The WHO currently lacks author-
ity to enforce its recommendations. Under proposed IHR amendments and the Pan-
demic Treaty, however, the WHO’s Director-General would achieve the power to uni-
laterally declare a “public health emergency of international concern” (PHEIC) in one
or more member nations. Such declarations can include perceived or potential emer-
gencies other than pandemics, including climate change, immigration, gun violence,
or even “emergencies” involving plants, animals, or ecosystems. The more egregious
versions of the proposals would authorize the Director-General to dictate what must
be done in response to a declared PHEIC. In other words, America’s elected repre-
sentatives would no longer set the nation’s public health policies. Even watered
down, these proposals would inappropriately cede American sovereignty to the WHO.

Second, the federal government cannot delegate public health decisions to an


international body. The U.S. Constitution doesn’t vest responsibility for public health
policy with the federal government. It reserves those powers for the States. Even if
the federal government had such power, Article II, Section 2 requires approval by the
United States Senate.

Third, the proposed IHR amendments and the Pandemic Treaty would lay the
groundwork for a global surveillance infrastructure, ostensibly in the interest of pub-
lic health, but with the inherent opportunity for control (as with Communist China’s
“social credit system”). The current draft instructs signatories to “cooperate, in ac-
cordance with national law, in preventing misinformation and disinformation.” This
is particularly dangerous given that your administration pressured and encouraged
social-media companies to suppress free speech during COVID-19.4

The COVID-19 pandemic exposed fundamental flaws with the WHO and other
public health institutions. These entities breached public trust and are unquestion-
ably in need of reform. The proposed measures, however, would only exacerbate the
WHO’s underlying problems and enable more civil liberties violations during future
“emergencies.” Accordingly, we will resist any attempt to enable the WHO to directly
or indirectly set public policy for our citizens.

4 See Missouri v. Biden, No. 3:22-CV-01213, 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 114585 (W.D. La. July 4, 2023).
President Joe Biden
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May 8, 2024

Respectfully,

Austin Knudsen
Attorney General of Montana

Steve Marshall Tim Griffin


Attorney General of Alabama Attorney General of Arkansas

Ashley Moody Christopher M. Carr


Attorney General of Florida Attorney General of Georgia

Raúl Labrador Todd Rokita


Attorney General of Idaho Attorney General of Indiana

Brenna Bird Kris Kobach


Attorney General of Iowa Attorney General of Kansas

Russell Coleman Liz Murrill


Attorney General of Kentucky Attorney General of Louisiana
President Joe Biden
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May 8, 2024

Lynn Fitch Andrew Bailey


Attorney General of Mississippi Attorney General to Missouri

Mike Hilgers Dave Yost


Attorney General of Nebraska Attorney General of Ohio

Gentner Drummond Alan Wilson


Attorney General of Oklahoma Attorney General of South Carolina

Jonathan Skrmetti Ken Paxton


Attorney General of Tennessee Attorney General of Texas

Sean Reyes Jason Miyares


Attorney General of Utah Attorney General of Virginia

Patrick Morrisey
Attorney General of West Virginia

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