A Congressional effort into the origins of COVID-19 may be getting started.
U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee Republican Leader Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wa., Subcommittee on Health Republican Leader Brett Guthrie, R-Ky., and Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Republican Leader Morgan Griffith, R-Va., have announced the launch of a webpage for whistleblowers to contact them with information pertaining to a probe into the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic.
"We need to know how this pandemic started in order to stop it from ever happening again. We owe it to every American who lost a loved one to COVID-19, every frontline worker who worked night and day, and every child who has faced a mental health emergency, to find the answers," they said in a statement.
"We want the truth wherever the facts lead. We encourage whistleblowers who can inform a complete, scientific, and objective investigation into the origins of COVID-19 to contact the Committee."
The investigators are seeking information related to the following matters:
- Scientific experiments related to the Origins of SARS-CoV-2
- U.S. research policy/procedural concerns related to the origins of SARS-CoV-2
- Laboratory safety Concerns at the Wuhan Institute of Virology
- Genomic sequence data/databases related to the origins of SARS-CoV-2
- EcoHealth Alliance research, including research proposals (funded or unfunded);
- Information related to early Wuhan COVID-19 patient cases
- People’s Liberation Army research at Wuhan Institute of Virology laboratories (BSL2, 3 or 4)
- Documents related to the origins of SARS-CoV-2 investigation: e-mails, contracts, photographs, research
According to the Council on Foreign Relations, "many scientists believe that SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, spread from animals to humans — known as zoonotic transmission — in late 2019."
Some researchers have said the virus originated in bats, like similar coronaviruses. But there are several possibilities: a naturally emerging virus that infected people outside of a laboratory; a naturally emerging virus that was studied inside a lab and leaked; or a virus that was produced as a result of experimentation in a lab.
There is no definitive evidence yet for any of these hypotheses.
"If there is any consensus, it’s that this is a very complicated issue," says CFR’s Yanzhong Huang. "There needs to be further work done to find a conclusive answer."
President Joe Biden in August released a statement accusing China of withholding critical information related to the origins of the novel coronavirus.
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., told Newsmax in November that for months he has been calling for a bipartisan investigation into the origins of COVID-19. The Senator has said that the NIH under Dr. Anthony Facui has supported Gain of Function research into bat viruses at the Wuhan Laboratory. Dr. Fauci denied this.
"I've been calling for an investigation for months now," Paul told, "Spicer & Co."
"We should have a bipartisan investigation into the origins of the virus to try to make sure this never happens again."
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