Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN) called on the State Department and Attorney General Bill Barr on Wednesday to bring a case against China in the International Court of Justice for failing to contain the coronavirus.

Banks, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, said in a statement:

If China’s leaders hadn’t become embarrassed by the outbreak and tried to cover up its spread, the world may have had a better chance to prepare for this or even contain it in Wuhan or China. Instead, we have a pandemic. China shoulders most of that blame. Rather than succumb to the propaganda and spin of Chinese officials, the world must hold them accountable for mishandling this outbreak. If the United Nations cannot even do that, it has completely lost its purpose.

The Hoosier congressman said that he will circulate a letter around Congress to show congressional support for bringing a case against China.

If China does not submit itself to the International Court of Justice, then it is possible that China could be removed from international organizations such as the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Banks has served as one of the leading lawmakers to make China pay for its failure to contain the coronavirus. He was one of the first lawmakers to call on China to pay reparations for their refusal to reveal the dangers of the coronavirus and also proposed to have China cancel America’s debt.

Other lawmakers, such as Rep. Lance Gooden (R-TX), have called for proposed legislation that would allow for the United States to press charges against China.

Banks told Breitbart News Saturday, “If China had been honest from day one, if they had talked about how serious this was, then the flight bans would have started much sooner, and the response could have started much sooner, and the world could have prepared for this. Now, we are suffering and losing American lives.”

Sean Moran is a congressional reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter @SeanMoran3.