House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff (D-CA) unveiled a bill on Friday to create a commission to review the Trump administration’s response to the Chinese coronavirus pandemic.
In a statement, Schiff compared the commission’s aim to the one established to study the September 11, 2001, terror attacks and the United States’ subsequent military response.
“After Pearl Harbor, September 11, and other momentous events in American history, independent, bipartisan commissions have been established to provide a complete accounting of what happened, what we did right and wrong, and what we can do to better protect the country in the future,” said Schiff. “It is clear that a comprehensive and authoritative review will be required, not as a political exercise to cast blame, but to learn from our mistakes to prevent history from tragically repeating itself.”
Schiff said the commission would be comprised of five Democrats and five Republicans, who are presently out of government, and be appointed by President Trump and Congress.
The development comes after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) announced a new select committee to oversee how the Trump administration manages the $2 trillion relief aid to combat the outbreak.
The bipartisan Select Committee on the Coronavirus Crisis will be chaired by House Majority Whip James Clyburn of South Carolina, she said.
Comparing the new panel to one chaired by then-Sen. Harry Truman during World War II to oversee war spending, Pelosi said the new oversight panel will similarly prevent “waste, fraud and abuse” in a time of national emergency.
“What made sense then makes even more sense now,” she said, adding that its bi-partisan members will “protect against price-gouging, profiteering and political favoritism.”
The UPI contributed to this report.
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