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MCCARTHY PUSHES FOR MORE COVID INVESTIGATION. House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy is sending his GOP colleagues a roadmap for what he calls “transparency and justice” in the drive to hold China accountable for the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Evidence continues to indicate that the CCP [Chinese Communist Party] intentionally hid information and lied about what it knew to be true about the virus,” McCarthy writes in a new letter to Republican lawmakers. “Additionally, World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom knowingly and willfully downplayed or outright denied the Chinese government’s malfeasance, and instead chose to cower to the CCP rather than stand up for the international community.”
Chinese transparency about the virus as it was spreading could have saved countless lives, McCarthy says. “They and their conspirators must be held accountable.”
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But how to do that? McCarthy notes that Republicans and Democrats differ on what to do. President Joe Biden has “failed to utilize any of his broad powers to hold China accountable” and has “willingly given up valuable leverage to force constructive change at the WHO.” Therefore, McCarthy says, Republicans in Congress should take the lead.
Already, GOP lawmakers have demanded that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi approve a new investigation into Covid-19’s origins. They have introduced a bill to sanction Chinese officials in the way the U.S. sanctioned Russian officials for attempting to interfere in U.S. elections. They want to allow Americans to seek damages against China.
Now, McCarthy proposes what he calls “eight pillars” of the COVID effort. The first is declassification of Covid-19-related intelligence. McCarthy says Republicans will introduce a bill to “require declassification” of all information the U.S. government has on the origins of Covid-19. That includes whatever intelligence might result from Biden’s order that the Intelligence Community “redouble their efforts” to find the origins of the virus.
The second move McCarthy will propose is to ensure that the United States no longer funds so-called “gain of function” research that is “conducted in or with China, or any individual with known ties to the CCP.” That kind of research can make viruses more contagious.
The third McCarthy proposal is the prohibition of National Institutes of Health funding to China, Russia, Iran, North Korea and other “malevolent foreign governments.” The fourth is reform of the WHO and an FBI investigation “into the U.S. medical research establishment to determine the extent to which the governments of China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea have infiltrated critical U.S. organizations.”
The fifth move McCarthy proposes is a continuation of current investigations into the origins of Covid-19. The sixth is new sanctions against those in China and the WHO “who knowingly and willfully participated in the Covid-19 coverup.”
Move number seven is waiving Chinese sovereign immunity to allow U.S. families to file suit against the Chinese government “for damages incurred as a result of the reckless conduct of the CCP.” The eighth and final move is taking the 2022 Winter Olympic Games away from Beijing. McCarthy says he and fellow Republicans will begin introducing legislation on the “eight pillars” this week.
Despite the seriousness of the Covid-19 pandemic — there could hardly be a more serious topic than a disease that has killed 600,000 Americans — Democrats on Capitol Hill have shown a lack of energy and passion in investigating the disease’s origins. Biden has given the Intelligence Community 90 days to go back over its earlier look at the origins. Pelosi has made perfunctory moves for an investigation that will probably, in true Democratic fashion, focus more on former President Donald Trump than the beginnings of Covid-19. In general, Democrats have shown far less vigor in investigating the origins of a disease that has killed 600,000 Americans than they did in devoting years to investigating never-proven allegations of Trump-Russia “collusion” in the 2016 election.
Now McCarthy wants to change that. It’s probably a smart political move. But more importantly, it’s the right thing to do.
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