[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 81 (Tuesday, May 11, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2457-S2458]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS

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SENATE RESOLUTION 204--ESTABLISHING A SELECT COMMITTEE ON THE OUTBREAK 
                      OF THE CORONAVIRUS IN CHINA

  Mr. MARSHALL submitted the following resolution; which was referred 
to the Committee on Rules and Administration:

                              S. Res. 204

       Resolved,

     SECTION 1. ESTABLISHMENT OF SELECT COMMITTEE ON THE OUTBREAK 
                   OF THE CORONAVIRUS IN CHINA.

       There is established a select investigative committee of 
     the Senate, to be known as the Select Committee on the 
     Outbreak of the Coronavirus in China (referred to in this 
     resolution as the ``select committee''), to investigate the 
     outbreak of the COVID-19 virus in or around Wuhan, China.

     SEC. 2. MEMBERSHIP.

       (a) Composition.--The select committee shall be composed of 
     not more than 12 Senators, of whom 6 shall be appointed by 
     the

[[Page S2458]]

     Majority Leader and 6 shall be appointed by the Minority 
     Leader.
       (b) Chairperson; Vice-chairperson.--The Majority Leader 
     shall designate 1 member of the select committee as the 
     chairperson of the select committee, and the Minority Leader 
     shall designate 1 member of the select committee as the vice-
     chairperson of the select committee.
       (c) Exemption.--For purposes of paragraph 4 of rule XXV of 
     the Standing Rules of the Senate, service of a Senator as a 
     member or chairperson of the select committee shall not be 
     taken into account.
       (d) Vacancies.--Any vacancy in the select committee shall 
     be filled in the same manner as the original appointment.

     SEC. 3. INVESTIGATION AND REPORT.

       (a) Investigation.--The select committee shall conduct a 
     full and complete investigation and study regarding--
       (1) identification of the source of the COVID-19 virus and 
     the route of human-to-human transmission beginning in or 
     around Wuhan, China;
       (2) secret research and gain-of-function zoonic research at 
     the Wuhan Institute of Virology (referred to in this section 
     as ``WIV'');
       (3) training operations and safety standards at the WIV;
       (4) cases of researchers at the WIV laboratory becoming 
     sick or demonstrating COVID-19-like symptoms in 2019 or 2020;
       (5) cables and other communications from 2017 to 2021 from 
     employees of the Department of State, the Central 
     Intelligence Agency, and the Department of Health and Human 
     Services regarding activities and research at the WIV;
       (6) response from officials of the Department of State and 
     National Security Council in Washington, DC to the cables and 
     other communications described in paragraph (5);
       (7) funding distributed to the WIV by the National 
     Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the National 
     Institutes of Health, and institutions of higher education of 
     the United States;
       (8) funding of gain-of-function research by the National 
     Institutes of Health and the National Institute of Allergy 
     and Infectious Diseases during the 2014-2017 moratorium on 
     such research;
       (9) research and possible leaks from the Wuhan Center for 
     Disease Control;
       (10) information regarding efforts by the Chinese Communist 
     Party to silence journalists and doctors, destroy samples of 
     the COVID-19 virus, and block United States and other foreign 
     investigators, including investigations surrounding the 
     Chinese Communist Party's misinformation campaign through 
     social media, traditional news outlets, and other propaganda 
     outlets;
       (11) the origination of claims that the pandemic spread 
     from a seafood market in Wuhan, China and the closure and 
     sanitation of the market;
       (12) actions taken by the World Health Organization, 
     including actions taken by Director-General Dr. Tedros 
     Adhanom Ghebreyesus and other World Health Organization 
     officials, to spread Chinese misinformation and the failure 
     of the World Health Organization to meet the Organization's 
     charter to prevent the international spread of disease; and
       (13) the impact of failing to shut down travel in and out 
     of Wuhan, China, the Hubei province, and greater China.
       (b) Reports.--The select committee--
       (1) shall issue a final report to the Senate of its 
     findings from the investigation and study described in 
     subsection (a) by not later than 1 year after the date of 
     adoption of this resolution; and
       (2) may issue to the Senate such interim reports as the 
     select committee determines necessary.

     SEC. 4. AUTHORITIES AND POWERS.

       (a) In General.--For the purposes of this resolution, the 
     select committee is authorized in its discretion--
       (1) to make investigations into any matter within its 
     jurisdiction;
       (2) to make expenditures from the contingent fund of the 
     Senate;
       (3) to employ personnel;
       (4) to hold hearings;
       (5) to sit and act at any time or place during the 
     sessions, recesses, and adjourned periods of the Senate;
       (6) to require, by subpoena or otherwise, the attendance of 
     witnesses and the production of correspondence, books, 
     papers, and documents;
       (7) to take depositions and other testimony;
       (8) to procure the services of individual consultants, or 
     organizations thereof, in accordance with section 202(i) of 
     the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 (2 U.S.C. 
     4301(i)); and
       (9) with the prior consent of the government department or 
     agency concerned and the Committee on Rules and 
     Administration, to use on a reimbursable basis the services 
     of personnel of any such department or agency.
       (b) Oaths.--The chairperson of the select committee or any 
     member thereof may administer oaths to witnesses.
       (c) Subpoenas.--A subpoena authorized by the select 
     committee--
       (1) may be issued under the signature of the chairperson, 
     the vice-chairperson, or any member of the select committee 
     designated by the chairperson; and
       (2) may be served by any person designated by the 
     chairperson, the vice-chairperson, or other member signing 
     the subpoena.
       (d) Committee Rules.--The select committee shall adopt 
     rules (not inconsistent with the rules of the Senate and in 
     accordance with rule XXVI of the Standing Rules of the 
     Senate) governing the procedure of the select committee, 
     which shall include addressing how often the select committee 
     shall meet, meeting times and location, type of 
     notifications, notices of hearings, duration of the select 
     committee, and records of the select committee after 
     committee activities are complete.

     SEC. 5. TERMINATION.

       The select committee shall terminate on the day after the 
     date the report required under section 3(b)(1) is submitted.

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