The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has shown the world repeatedly that it cannot be trusted as a global partner. And given its deceptive actions taken at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic when COVID-19 first emerged in China, the CCP has also shown it cannot be trusted as a health partner as well.
Although some have dismissed the idea of a lab leak causing the outbreak of COVID-19 as a conspiracy theory, it has increasingly become a more feasible scenario as more evidence emerges. In fact, last week the Department of Energy and the FBI assessed the most likely scenario for the origins of COVID-19 is a laboratory leak from the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) in China where research was being performed on coronaviruses.
Even the former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and expert virologist Dr. Robert Redfield has said repeatedly he believes the most likely origin of the COVID-19 virus was the result of a lab leak. He believes the human-to-human spread of the virus contradicted the behavior of other deadly coronaviruses with similar profiles, such as SARS and MERS, which first reached humans through animal contact but spread at a much slower pace. In addition, the origins of those viruses were found rather quickly. Now, three years since the initial worldwide spread of COVID-19, there are still no clear answers.
Although we still do not know for certain the origins of COVID-19, we do know that CCP officials concealed the initial outbreak and spread of the disease, withheld information from the public, failed to take precautions and delayed notifying global health partners. This included failing to adhere to treaty agreements on global health requirements that the rest of the world complies with. Moreover, the CCP worked to permit only a select group of scientists to investigate the outbreak, which American scientists were not invited to provide expert support.
Before the spread of this virus was made public to the rest of the world, the Chinese government continued to cover up evidence. Specifically, the revelation that three researchers at the WIV sought hospital treatment for symptoms consistent with COVID-19 in late 2019 has caused many to call into question the likelihood of a lab leak. While it is certainly possible that their symptoms were caused by other illnesses, this discovery sparks serious questions about what the lab was working on and where the virus originated.
Every nation around the world is unfortunately still picking up the pieces from the disastrous effects of the coronavirus pandemic that has resulted in nearly 7 million deaths. If the global spread of COVID-19 came from the malpractices of the CCP, then the American people and the entire world deserve to know. Because of this, last week I was proud to support the House passage of the COVID-19 Origin Act of 2023 to require the Director of National Intelligence to declassify and make public information relating to the origins of COVID-19.
As evidence continues to come to light, I look forward to working with my colleagues to find answers and hold those responsible for this global catastrophe accountable.
