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Washington D.C.- Last week, the World Health Assembly elected Belarus and Syria to the WHO’s Executive Board. As a member of the General Committee, the United States had the ability to challenge any appointment to this board by calling for a vote, yet the Biden Administration let the election go by consensus, only speaking out afterwards. House Foreign Affairs Committee Lead Republican Michael McCaul has released the following statement.

“It is unconscionable the Biden Administration tacitly approved Belarus and Syria’s election to the World Health Organization’s Executive Board by not formally calling for a vote and objecting to their candidacy. Assad has killed and tortured tens of thousands of Syrians, including using chemical weapons against them. Lukashenko’s illegitimate regime murders its people in the streets and recently scrambled a MiG to divert a commercial airliner to Minsk in order to arrest a journalist. These despots do not belong anywhere near leadership positions in any United Nations body – especially the agency tasked with protecting the world’s health.”

The United Nations has said the Assad regime has used chemical weapons against the people of Syria.

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