GOP Rep. Miller-Meeks: If We’re Going to Ban SPR Exports to China, We Need to Look at Banning Research Funding Too

On Friday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends First,” Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA) said that in light of the House voting to prevent oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve from being sold to China, Congress should also examine restrictions on funding research in China.

Co-host Todd Piro asked, [relevant exchange begins around 2:50] “Broader question, Congresswoman, why are we still funding our main adversary in this world, China?”

Miller-Meeks answered, “Well, that brings up a very larger question, we’ve already passed a bill to prevent research from — excuse me, to prevent oil from being released from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to be sold to China and I think…this is another area that we can look at. But the international community has a vested interest in finding out where the origins of COVID-19 came from for exactly that reason. Is there gain of function or unethical research being conducted and what’s the international community’s response? Are their lab breaks? Is the appropriate kind of research being done at the appropriate biosafety lab, so you’re not having biosafety lab four research conducted in an inappropriate facility which could lead to a leak and a virus and another pandemic? So, these things are very important that the international community has an understanding on, and then disclosure, there needs to be immediate disclosure. And, as we know, probably in the fall of 2019, they knew that they had a virus that had leaked, but yet, that was not disclosed and they denied human-to-human transmission.”

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