[House Prints 118-CP]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
118th Congress }
2nd Session } COMMITTEE PRINT
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BUSINESS MEETING
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OF THE
SELECT SUBCOMMITTEE ON THE CORONAVIRUS
PANDEMIC
OF THE
COMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND
ACCOUNTABILITY
U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION
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DECEMBER 4, 2024
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Serial No. CP:118-15
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Printed for the use of the Committee on Oversight and Accountability
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Available on: govinfo.gov,
oversight.house.gov or
docs.house.gov
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U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
57-717 PDF WASHINGTON : 2025
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COMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND ACCOUNTABILITY
JAMES COMER, Kentucky, Chairman
Jim Jordan, Ohio Jamie Raskin, Maryland, Ranking
Mike Turner, Ohio Minority Member
Paul Gosar, Arizona Eleanor Holmes Norton, District of
Virginia Foxx, North Carolina Columbia
Glenn Grothman, Wisconsin Stephen F. Lynch, Massachusetts
Michael Cloud, Texas Gerald E. Connolly, Virginia
Gary Palmer, Alabama Raja Krishnamoorthi, Illinois
Clay Higgins, Louisiana Ro Khanna, California
Pete Sessions, Texas Kweisi Mfume, Maryland
Andy Biggs, Arizona Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, New York
Nancy Mace, South Carolina Katie Porter, California
Jake LaTurner, Kansas Cori Bush, Missouri
Pat Fallon, Texas Shontel Brown, Ohio
Byron Donalds, Florida Melanie Stansbury, New Mexico
Scott Perry, Pennsylvania Robert Garcia, California
William Timmons, South Carolina Maxwell Frost, Florida
Tim Burchett, Tennessee Summer Lee, Pennsylvania
Marjorie Taylor Greene, Georgia Greg Casar, Texas
Lisa McClain, Michigan Jasmine Crockett, Texas
Lauren Boebert, Colorado Dan Goldman, New York
Russell Fry, South Carolina Jared Moskowitz, Florida
Anna Paulina Luna, Florida Rashida Tlaib, Michigan
Nick Langworthy, New York Ayanna Pressley, Massachusetts
Eric Burlison, Missouri
Mike Waltz, Florida
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Mark Marin, Staff Director
Mitchell Benzine, Subcommittee Staff Director
Marie Policastro, Clerk
Contact Number: 202-225-5074
Miles Lichtman, Minority Staff Director
Contact Number: 202-225-5051
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Select Subcommittee On The Coronavirus Pandemic
Brad Wenstrup, Ohio, Chairman
Nicole Malliotakis, New York Raul Ruiz, California, Ranking
Mariannette Miller-Meeks, Iowa Minority Member
Debbie Lesko, Arizona Debbie Dingell, Michigan
Michael Cloud, Texas Kweisi Mfume, Maryland
John Joyce, Pennsylvania Deborah Ross, North Carolina
Marjorie Taylor Greene, Georgia Robert Garcia, California
Ronny Jackson, Texas Ami Bera, California
Rich Mccormick, Georgia Jill Tokuda, Hawaii
C O N T E N T S
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Index of Documents
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* Statement, U.S. State Department, ``Adherence to and
Compliance with Arms Control, Nonproliferation and Disarmament
Agreements and Commitments''; submitted by Rep. Wenstrup.
* Article, Washington Post, ``A flu virus risk worth taking'';
submitted by Rep. Wenstrup.
* Article, Nature Medicine, ``A SARS-like cluster of
circulating bat coronaviruses''; submitted by Rep. Wenstrup.
* Article, PLOS.org, ``Discovery of the rich gene pool of bat
SARS-related coronaviruses''; submitted by Rep. Wenstrup.
* Article, Fauci, ``Research on Highly Pathogenic H5N1
Influenza Virus''; submitted by Rep. Wenstrup.
* Statement, ``After Action Review of the Covid-19 Pandemic:
Recommendations''; submitted by Rep. Wenstrup.
* Letter, December 3, 2024, from Arnold & Porter to the Select
Subcommittee; submitted by Rep. Ruiz.
* Letter, Correspondence with Mitchell Benzine re: Draft Report
Dated 12-1-2024; submitted by Rep. Ruiz.
* Letter, December 3, 2024, from Counsel for the American
Federation of Teachers to the Select Subcommittee; submitted by
Rep. Ruiz.
* Statement, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Responses to Draft SSCP Report Dated November 29, 2024;
submitted by Rep. Ruiz.
Documents are available at: docs.house.gov.
BUSINESS MEETING
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Wednesday, December 4, 2024
U.S. House of Representatives
Committee on Oversight and Accountability
Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic
Washington, D.C.
The Subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:29 a.m., in
room 2247, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Brad Wenstrup
(Chairman of the Subcommittee) presiding.
Present: Wenstrup, Malliotakis, Miller-Meeks, Lesko, Cloud,
Joyce, Greene, Jackson, McCormick, Ruiz, Dingell, Bera, and
Tokuda.
Dr. Wenstrup. The Select Subcommittee will please come to
order. A quorum is present.
Without objection, the Chair is authorized to declare a
recess at any time.
Pursuant to House Rule XI, Clause 2, the Chair may postpone
further proceedings today on the question of approving any
measure or matter or adopting an amendment on which a recorded
vote or the ayes and nays may be ordered.
The Subcommittee will use the electronic system for
recorded votes on amendments in passage of the report. Of
course, should any technical issues arise, which I do not
anticipate, we will immediately transition to traditional roll-
call votes. Any procedural or motion-related votes during
today's markup will be dispensed with by a traditional roll-
call vote.
Now, pursuant to notice, I call up a report titled, ``After
Action Review of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Lessons Learned and a
Path Forward.''
The clerk will report the report, which has been
distributed in advance.
The Clerk. A report titled, ``After Action Review of the
COVID-19 Pandemic: Lessons Learned and Path Forward.''
Dr. Wenstrup. I ask unanimous consent that the report be
considered as read and open for amendment at any point.
Without objection, so ordered.
Dr. Wenstrup. The Chair recognizes himself to offer an
amendment in the nature of a substitute, and the clerk will
report the amendment.
The Clerk. An amendment in the nature of a substitute to
the report, offered by Dr. Wenstrup.
Dr. Wenstrup. Without objection, the amendment is
considered read, and the substitute will be considered as
original text for the purposes of further amendment.
Dr. Wenstrup. I now recognize myself for 5 minutes for a
statement on the report.
And before I get started, I would like to introduce some
articles for the record that are exemplary of the Select
Subcommittee's finding that a lab leak is the most likely
origin scenario, that the Chinese Communist Party was
conducting dangerous research, and this type of dangerous
research was notionally supported by the NIH.
I ask unanimous consent for a 2005 statement from the State
Department that says China has a bioweapons program.
Without objection, so ordered.
Dr. Wenstrup. I ask unanimous consent for a 2015 article by
Dr. Ralph Baric and Dr. Zhengli Shi of China, where they
created a chimera of two bat-borne coronaviruses that gained
function.
Without objection, so ordered.
Dr. Wenstrup. I ask unanimous consent for a 2017 article by
the Wuhan Institute of Virology researcher Dr. Ben Hu, where he
created multiple chimeras of coronaviruses under a BSL-2
condition at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
Without objection, so ordered.
Dr. Wenstrup. I ask unanimous consent for a 2011 article by
Dr. Fauci and Dr. Collins that stated important information and
insights can come from generating a potentially dangerous virus
in the laboratory.
Without objection, so ordered.
Dr. Wenstrup. I ask unanimous consent for a 2012 paper
written by Dr. Fauci that stated that the benefits of gain-of-
function research outweigh the risks.
Without objection, so ordered.
Dr. Wenstrup. But I want to thank all of those that
voluntarily presented to the Committee to give honest and
forthright testimony. The report is the culmination of years of
work and dedication. The Select Subcommittee held bad actors
accountable, drove actual change in our public health agencies,
and provided a roadmap for what to do and what not to do. I
could go on and on about the findings of this report, but I
think we will let the 500 pages and 2,000 footnotes speak for
themselves.
Today, we are also releasing all previously unreleased
interview transcripts and supplementary materials. We as a
Subcommittee are also grateful to whistleblowers that
courageously came forward, and through long hours and
dedication, provided important evidence that we may not have
found. Also, I want to thank the hard work of the professional
staffers on this Subcommittee, and I feel that that is a must.
Our staff was an extraordinary group of hardworking patriots
seeking to fight for--and this is my favorite Superman motto--
truth, justice, and the American way.
I want to thank my staff: Staff Director, Mitch Benzine;
Chief Counsel, Eric Osterhues; Senior Counsel, Jack Emmer,
Counsel, Madeline Brewer; Professional Staff Member, Peter
Spectre; Professional Staff Member, Anna Blake Langley;
Communications Director, Liz Lyons; Press Secretary, Olivia
Coleman; and Director of Operations and Member Services, Marie
Policastro.
In one scenario, years from now, people perhaps will have
long forgotten what we did here, but if our work leads to a
trustable system that is able to complete our goals of
predicting, preparing, protecting us, and preventing the next
pandemic, to me, that is reward enough. May God be with us and
our future generations of Americans.
I now recognize the Ranking Member for a 5-minute statement
on the amendment.
Dr. Ruiz. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. First, I would like to
begin by entering into the record a number of letters and
materials the Select Subcommittee has received in recent days
from parties to investigations this Congress, including from
Dr. Anthony Fauci, Dr. Francis Collins, the Department of
Health and Human Services, and the American Federation of
Teachers. These submissions memorialize substantive objections
these parties have to the representations made in the
majority's report, and I believe it is important that the
record reflect their perspectives as well.
Dr. Wenstrup. Without objection.
Dr. Ruiz. Thank you. Look, it goes without saying that both
sides of the aisle have not always seen eye-to-eye in the
Select Subcommittee this Congress, and it is clear from our two
final reports, that as the Select Subcommittee concludes, we
are leaving with different impressions of what we did or did
not find. At various points, we have debated these issues, and
I think the record is clear on where we all stand. So, as we
wrap up these 2 years, I want to say a few final things.
First, I want to acknowledge the devastating loss of life
that COVID-19 pandemic inflicted on families and communities
across this country. More than 1 million Americans lost their
lives too soon, and while we have overcome the darkest days of
the COVID-19 pandemic, I recognize that as a Nation, we may
never fully overcome this grief that all of us share,
regardless of political party. It is always important to put
humanity front and center and to reflect on the human loss and
the human struggle that went through all of this pandemic. And
oftentimes in politics and partisan war, there is a sense of
forgetfulness of what people have faced and what truly is
important for them.
Second, I want to thank the hundreds of thousands of
doctors, nurses, first responders, healthcare workers,
essential workers, scientists, business leaders, policymakers,
moms and dads, and people who came together to mount America's
response to the most significant public health crisis we have
faced in a generation. Often, at great personal expense and
sacrifice, millions of Americans put their neighbors before
themselves to help ensure that we could make it through this
challenging period. It is this selflessness that represents the
best of what America has to offer, and it is this selflessness
that gives me hope that despite our differences, we can find a
path forward to safeguarding and strengthening our Nation's
public health.
Now, I won't pretend that this process won't be messy at
times, but it is my sincere belief that we can come together as
true professionals to work through the noise of politics and
partisanship to do the real work of preventing and preparing
for future pandemics, closing pathways for novel viruses to
emerge, be they in nature or in a lab, strengthening our
schools so that they can be better prepared to maintain safe
in-person learning during future pandemics, fortifying
infection prevention and control in nursing homes to keep our
seniors safe, exploring how we can lay the groundwork for the
rapid development of future vaccines and therapeutics for novel
viruses when they inevitably emerge, and more. And in my
opinion, we didn't do enough of that this Congress, and I
consider that a missed opportunity. But as I said at our final
hearing last month, just because we haven't yet come together
to tackle these serious challenges doesn't mean we can't. And
as I have said since the outset of the Congress, I am willing
to work with anyone, Republican or Democrat, to move this work
forward.
So, as we conclude the Select Subcommittee today, it is my
hope that we can set aside the politics and commit to the
forward-looking mission of meaningfully getting ahead of future
viruses, because even after 2 years, I still believe that it is
not too late to come together and do the work of saving future
lives. And I truly appreciate all the Members being in the
arena and debating and having good conversations of what we
believe through practical scientific principles, or whether it
is philosophical or ideological ways. All of those were valid
concerns, and we came out better for it as individuals.
I want to thank the Members in the Democratic Committee who
showed up consistently and gave it their all and were very well
prepared for all of these meetings. I want to thank our
wonderful staff under the leadership of Miles Lichtman, Joseph
Romero, Dani Walker, and Alicia Yass, who have done excellent
jobs while being here. And I also want to personally thank the
Chairman, Chairman Wenstrup, for your service in the military,
for your service in Congress, and for carrying this messy
process forward to the best of your ability. I respect that. I
respect you, and I thank you for your years of friendship and
of service, and I congratulate you on your retirement and wish
you nothing but the best for you and your family. And with
that, I yield back. Thank you.
Dr. Wenstrup. The question is now on the amendment in the
nature of a substitute to the report.
All those in favor, signify by saying aye.
All those opposed, signify by saying nay.
In the opinion of the Chair, the ayes have it. The
amendment in the nature of a substitute to the report is agreed
to.
The question is now on favorably reporting the report, as
amended.
All those in favor, signify by saying aye.
All those opposed, signify by saying nay.
In the opinion of the Chair, the ayes have it.
Pursuant to the vote, the Select Subcommittee hereby adopts
this report titled, ``After Action Review of the COVID-19
Pandemic: The Lessons Learned and a Path Forward.''
Without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the
table.
Finally, I want to ask unanimous consent for the
recommendations that accompanied the report to be entered into
the record.
Without objection, so ordered.
Dr. Wenstrup. Thank you all. Pursuant to House Rule XI,
Clause 2, Select Subcommittee Members shall have the right to
file with the clerk of the Select Subcommittee supplemental
additional minority and dissenting views within 2 days.
Without objection, so ordered.
Additionally, the staff is authorized to make necessary
technical and conforming changes to the report reported today,
subject to the approval of the minority.
Without objection, so ordered.
There has been a lot of hard work from both sides of the
aisle through this whole process. I am grateful to everyone for
their efforts, and I am pleased that we have come to this day
and be able to put something forward for the American people to
digest and move from.
If there is no further business for the Select
Subcommittee, without objection and for the final time, the
Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic stands
adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 10:42 a.m., the Subcommittee was adjourned.]
[all]