[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 50 (Wednesday, March 17, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1587-S1588]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                             Sunshine Week

  Ms. ERNST. Mr. President, it has been a year now since the outbreak 
of a novel coronavirus in Wuhan, China. It put the world into an 
unprecedented global lockdown, and we are still in the dark about how 
the pandemic even began.
  Folks, this isn't entirely an accident. The virus emerged in one of 
the world's most closed societies, ruled by a ruthless authoritarian 
regime with no tolerance for truth or transparency. And, even today, 
after 2\1/2\ million people around the world have died, the Communist 
Party of China refuses to fully cooperate with efforts to learn how 
COVID-19 made the cross-species jump from bats to humans. Finding the 
source isn't about assigning blame; it is about understanding the cause 
and preventing a similar occurrence from happening again.

[[Page S1588]]

  Here is what we do know: COVID appeared in the vicinity of the Wuhan 
Institute of Virology, a laboratory where studies were being conducted 
on bat coronaviruses. After the outbreak began, Chinese officials 
ordered the destruction of coronavirus samples. In the months just 
prior to the first case of the new pathogen being publicly identified, 
researchers at this state-run lab reportedly became sick with COVID-
like symptoms.
  Years ago, U.S. officials who visited the institute sent warnings 
back to the State Department that studies were being conducted on 
dangerous coronaviruses from bats that could be transmitted to humans 
in a lab which had ``serious'' safety problems.
  Some of that research was even being subsidized by U.S. taxpayer 
dollars, including a study published less than 2 years before the 
pandemic that found the first evidence that humans could be infected 
with coronaviruses from bats. You heard that correctly, folks. Your tax 
dollars were paying for dangerous studies on coronaviruses in a lab in 
China that our own government officials had warned was unsafe.
  This all raises many questions, the first being, How much were we 
actually paying for this endeavor? And that should be relatively easy 
for anyone to discover since a law renewed by Congress every single 
year requires all projects supported by the Department of Health and 
Human Services to include a pricetag disclosing the cost paid by 
taxpayers. But noticeably absent on the study from the Wuhan Institute: 
the cost.
  A review of numerous other projects supported by HHS found that cost 
information was missing from all of them--all of them. Covering up 
information that the public has a right to know about might be how 
things work in Communist China, but it isn't how it should work here in 
America.
  This isn't China, folks. Our laws aren't optional, especially for 
those who are supposed to be enforcing them.
  Maybe we can't force China to be forthcoming, but we should be able 
to expect our own government to be open and transparent. That is why I 
am asking the HHS Office of Inspector General to launch an 
investigation to compel the Department to comply with the law.
  I am also introducing legislation to require every project funded 
with your taxpayer dollars to disclose the cost paid by you. This is 
just one of the bright ideas to shine some light on how your money is 
being spent that I will be unveiling this week to commemorate Sunshine 
Week, the annual celebration of open government.
  A transparent government is one of the most fundamental principles 
that make our government--of the people, by the people, for the 
people--work. Decisions are made every day in Washington that impact 
families and communities in Iowa and across the country.
  We all benefit when we bring this information to light, especially 
when it involves how our tax dollars are being spent. That is why I am 
also working to create an alert system to notify the public whenever a 
project goes $1 billion or more over budget or falls 5 years behind 
schedule.
  Some good news: My bipartisan bill was just reported out of committee 
this morning, so boondoggles, you better beware.
  Another bill I will be supporting will require hospitals and insurers 
to reveal rates to patients before they receive their medical care. 
This commonsense effort would allow patients to know the costs 
associated with their healthcare in advance so that they can make 
informed decisions for themselves and their families.
  Finally, I am calling for more transparency from the Department of 
Education when it comes to COVID spending. Taxpayers should be able to 
see clearly how well States and school districts are doing at spending 
tax dollars provided to help schools safely reopen.
  Knowledge is the power that allows every citizen to hold those 
entrusted to make our decisions accountable. After all, the only reason 
to keep taxpayers in the dark about any of these decisions is because 
they can't withstand the scrutiny that results when all of the facts 
come to light.
  With the Sun now setting an hour later as a result of daylight saving 
time, we are all reminded just how much a difference can be made with a 
little extra sunlight. After all, sunshine is the best disinfectant 
because to stop waste, we first need to be able to spot it.
  With that, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms. Rosen). The Senator from Indiana