Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi Leads Bipartisan Letter In Support Of Robust Global Vaccination Funding To End The Pandemic And Strengthen U.S. International Leadership

WASHINGTON – Today, Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi (IL-08) led a bipartisan letter in support of increased global vaccination funding to key leaders of the House Appropriations Committee with Reps. Tom Malinowski (NJ-07), Jason Crow (CO-06), María Elvira Salazar (FL-27), Peter Meijer (MI-03), Brian Fitzpatrick (PA-01), Brad R. Wenstrup (OH-02), Ami Bera, M.D. (CA-07), Dina Titus (NV-01), and Jim Himes (CT-04). The letter, addressed to the Chairs and Ranking Members of the House Committee on Appropriations and the House Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs, called for robust additional funding for U.S. global vaccination programs through the FY22 appropriations process in order to end the pandemic, restore American global moral leadership, strengthen bilateral relationships across the world, and counter the influence of the People's Republic of China.

"As members of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, and the House Committee on Armed Services, we are keenly aware of the importance of foreign aid in undergirding American global leadership, and we are deeply concerned that an inadequate American response to the global COVID-19 pandemic will have significant negative consequences for both global health and American strategic objectives," the Members wrote. "In order to restore American moral leadership on the world stage and strengthen bilateral relationships between the United States and our allies in Africa, Asia and Latin America, we strongly support a comprehensive US-led global COVID-19 response, and we are prepared to support additional robust funding through the FY22 appropriations process to achieve this goal."

The Members also noted the efforts of the People's Republic of China to leverage its own vaccine export program to pursue a nefarious diplomatic agenda, including weakening international condemnation of its gross human rights abuses in the Xinjiang region.

"According to the Department of State, the United States has now shipped almost 430 million donated doses abroad, surpassing the vaccine donations of any other country," the letter continued." However, billions of people across the developing world remain unvaccinated, and while the United States currently leads the world in donated doses, China is by far the world's largest exporter of vaccines. The Chinese government has already delivered almost 1.4 billion doses to countries around the world. This is all the more concerning in light of reports that China is not just selling vaccines; they are extracting concessions from countries in exchange for vaccines. Paraguay has been pressured to cut ties with Taiwan in exchange for Chinese vaccines, while Ukraine was coerced into withdrawing support for a Human Rights Council statement criticizing China's human rights abuses in the Xinjiang region."

The letter itself is available here.