Senators Josh Hawley (R-MO) and Mike Braun (R-IN) introduced the COVID-19 Origin Act of 2021 on Thursday to require President Joe Biden’s administration to declassify information relating to the origins of the coronavirus.
In specific, it will require the administration to declassify intelligence on the connections between the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) and the origins of the Covid pandemic.
Hawley said in a statement:
For over a year, anyone asking questions about the Wuhan Institute of Virology has been branded as a conspiracy theorist. The world needs to know if this pandemic was the product of negligence at the Wuhan lab but the CCP has done everything it can to block a credible investigation.
“The Biden administration must declassify what it knows about the Wuhan lab and Beijing’s attempts to cover up the origin of the pandemic,” Hawley added. Braun said regarding the matter:
Identifying the origin of the COVID-19 pandemic is vital for preventing future pandemics, and as investigations and research into the origins of the virus continue, the Biden administration should declassify intelligence related to any potential links between biological research laboratories in Wuhan, China and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, investigations into the origins of the coronavirus have ensued, leading many researchers to believe that it all can be traced back to the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
During an interview with CNN, former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Robert Redfield stated he believes COVID-19 “escaped” from the WIV.
Last month, following the release of the World Health Organization’s findings of COVID-19 origins, the United States, the European Union, and 13 other countries called on the U.N. health body to conduct a second probe, citing China’s lack of cooperation.
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