Sen. Durbin offers resolution to spur US involvement on COVID-19 response

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) is seeking unanimous consent on a resolution that encourages U.S. engagement with the international community on the COVID-19 response.

The resolution is in response to the Trump Administration’s failure to participate in global summits related to the research and development of vaccines and therapeutics. Speaking on the Senate floor, Durbin cited the international effort to eradicate smallpox as an example of why concerted global collaboration and coordination is needed for the COVID-19 pandemic.

“In the midst of a global pandemic causing so much suffering and so many deaths, it would seem that asking the United States to join other countries of the world in searching for therapies and vaccines is just common sense,” Durbin said. “President Trump has decided now is the moment in history for the United States to pull out of the World Health Organization, the same body that’s heading a global pandemic response.”

In late May, President Donald Trump announced he would move to terminate the United States’ relationship with the World Health Organization (WHO) amid the COVID-19 global health pandemic.

“This resolution calls on the United States to join in a global effort to find a safe and effective vaccine, something that we have done consistently throughout our history until this President took office. Ultimately, let’s remember this is a pandemic that affects the world, and any solution has to be a worldwide solution as well,” Durbin concluded.