A GOP bill to declassify all evidence that links a Chinese lab to the origins of the novel coronavirus breezed through Congress without a peep of dissent from Democrats, a stunning show of bipartisanship and a major step forward in the long-delayed quest to understand how the pandemic started.
The legislation by Sen. Josh Hawley, Missouri Republican, forces Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines to declassify and report to Congress within 90 days on possible ties between the virus and the Wuhan Institute of Virology. It got through the Senate by unanimous consent this month before it cruised through the House, 419 votes to 0, on Friday.
Reps. Chris Smith, New Jersey Republican, and Michael Burgess, Texas Republican, filed a bill last week that would allow Americans to sue the Chinese Communist Party. The legislation is modeled on the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorist Act legislation bill that allowed the relatives of the victims on Sept. 11, 2001, to seek redress from Saudi Arabia over the terror attacks.
Rep. Michael Turner, Ohio Republican, said Americans deserve answers after the virus killed over 1 million people in the U.S., caused lingering symptoms in some known as “long COVID” and prompted schools to lock children out of the classroom for an extended period. Floor debate devolved at times into partisan finger-pointing over the role of Dr. Anthony Fauci, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and a key face of the pandemic response. Republicans criticized Dr. Fauci for supporting the natural-evolution theory early on, prompting Democrats to accuse the GOP of impugning the doctor.
“We will continue to use every tool to find out what happened here while also protecting classified information,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Friday. “We’re going to take a look at the bill. I just don’t have any information to share at this time.”
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