Rep. Kevin Kiley, R-Calif., told Newsmax on Thursday that the facts surrounding an illegal bio lab discovered in a Las Vegas home are "really alarming," likening the case to something ripped from the pages of an international thriller novel.
On "American Agenda," the lawmaker said the discovery raises urgent questions about how many similar operations may be operating undetected across the United States.
Kiley argued that the circumstances surrounding the lab, allegedly tied to a Chinese national, point to a far more serious threat than authorities have publicly acknowledged.
"When you look at the facts behind this thing, it is really alarming," Kiley said. "It reads like a Tom Clancy novel."
He said the Las Vegas lab mirrors an earlier case in Reedley, California, where an illicit bio lab linked to Chinese nationals was discovered a few years ago, prompting him to call for an immediate investigation.
Kiley said the business explanations offered in Reedley never made sense and appeared to be a cover story.
"Whatever the sort of pretext for the existence of these labs was, it was clearly just a pretext," he said.
In the California case, Kiley said, the operators claimed they were selling COVID-19 test kits, but "they just got counterfeit ones from China and sold them."
He questioned why anyone would need to stockpile dangerous biological materials for such a purpose.
"So, why do they need to have these vials with all these dangerous pathogens, with HIV, with Ebola, with tuberculosis, and so forth?" Kiley asked.
Kiley said those discoveries led him to sound the alarm in Congress, warning that federal authorities have no idea how many similar labs might exist.
"We don't know how many other such labs are out there," he said.
He said a report from the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party later reached the same conclusion, finding that the scope of the problem remains unknown.
According to Kiley, the Las Vegas lab underscores that concern, as it was allegedly linked to the same network of people with ties to the Chinese government connected to the Reedley operation.
Kiley also pointed to legislation he has introduced to address those gaps, saying Congress has failed to act despite the initial bio lab discovery in California.
"Why hasn't this bill been passed in the last couple of years after we learned about this lab?" he asked.
The bipartisan bill, cowritten with Rep. Jim Costa, D-Calif., would establish new requirements for pathogen distributors and strengthen oversight mechanisms to help authorities identify and shut down illegal operations.
Kiley questioned how many more discoveries it will take before lawmakers move forward.
"How many more do we have to discover until we take serious systemic action to identify and shut down any other such labs that might exist?" he asked.
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Nicole Weatherholtz ✉
Nicole Weatherholtz, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.
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