[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 94 (Friday, May 28, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Page S3934]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




SENATE RESOLUTION 256--EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF THE SENATE REGARDING THE 
NEED TO CONDUCT A COMPREHENSIVE INVESTIGATION TO DETERMINE THE ORIGINS 
                              OF COVID-19

  Mr. MARSHALL (for himself and Mrs. Gillibrand) submitted the 
following resolution; which was considered and agreed to:

                              S. Res. 256

       Whereas COVID-19 has taken the lives of nearly 3,500,000 
     individuals around the world;
       Whereas understanding the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic 
     is essential to addressing our vulnerabilities and preventing 
     future crises;
       Whereas, in May 2020, the World Health Assembly did not 
     authorize a comprehensive investigation into the origins of 
     COVID-19, and instead passed a significantly limited 
     compromise resolution, with Chinese government support, which 
     did not explicitly include in its scope the possibility of a 
     research-related accident;
       Whereas the 2020 World Health Assembly resolution and its 
     terms of reference, which were negotiated privately between 
     the World Health Organization (in this preamble referred to 
     as ``WHO'') and Chinese authorities, handed the Chinese 
     government control over the joint-study process by giving the 
     Chinese government veto power over which international 
     experts were allowed to participate in the joint study and by 
     agreeing that most primary research would be carried out by 
     Chinese teams without ensuring broad access to primary data 
     by international experts;
       Whereas, as a result of these terms, the significant 
     structural, procedural, and analytical shortcomings of the 
     joint study, and the severe restrictions imposed by Chinese 
     authorities, the WHO-convened joint study into the origins of 
     COVID-19 was prevented from providing a balanced 
     consideration of the multiple theories of the origin of 
     COVID-19;
       Whereas only 4 of the 313 pages of the joint-study team 
     report and its annexes addressed the possibility of a 
     laboratory accident, and no thorough examination of the lab 
     incident hypothesis was carried out by the joint-study team;
       Whereas some of the international experts on the joint-
     study team stated that they lacked the means and resources to 
     properly investigate the research-related accident 
     hypothesis, and they were neither able nor meant to do such a 
     full investigation but instead were acting as a ``study 
     review group'';
       Whereas WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus 
     commented on March 30, 2021, the day the joint-study report 
     was released, ``I do not believe that [the joint-study 
     team's] assessment [of a possible lab incident] was extensive 
     enough. Further data and studies will be needed to reach more 
     robust conclusions . . . potentially with additional missions 
     involving specialist experts, which I am ready to deploy.'';
       Whereas the WHO Director-General further commented, ``As 
     far as WHO is concerned all hypotheses remain on the table . 
     . . We have not yet found the source of the virus, and we 
     must continue to follow the science and leave no stone 
     unturned as we do . . . It is clear that we need more 
     research across a range of areas, which will entail further 
     field visits.'';
       Whereas the March 30, 2021 Joint Statement on the WHO-
     convened COVID-19 Origins Study by the United States and 13 
     other countries recognized the severe shortcomings of the 
     joint-study process and called for ``a transparent and 
     independent analysis and evaluation, free from interference 
     and undue influence.'';
       Whereas, in spite of the devastation the COVID-19 pandemic 
     has caused in the United States and around the world, no 
     process currently exists to ensure a comprehensive 
     investigation into the source of COVID-19;
       Whereas such an investigation is essential for ensuring 
     this type of crisis never happens again for the benefit of 
     all people, all nations, and future generations: Now, 
     therefore, be it
       Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that--
       (1) a comprehensive investigation to determine the origins 
     of COVID-19 must be conducted by the World Health 
     Organization immediately, with access to all relevant 
     records, samples, and personnel in China, and that such 
     investigation must fully explore all possible sources of the 
     COVID-19 pandemic, including exclusively ``natural'' zoonosis 
     in the wild, human contamination in an animal farm, and a 
     research-related accident;
       (2) the United States delegation to the World Health 
     Assembly should, in concert with allies and partners around 
     the world, work to ensure that an international scientific 
     investigation into the origins of COVID-19, with full access 
     to all relevant records, samples, and personnel in China, 
     will be authorized by the World Health Assembly and 
     implemented with extreme urgency; and
       (3) should such a full investigation not be authorized by 
     the 2021 World Health Assembly, then the United States 
     Government should immediately begin planning a comprehensive 
     and data-driven investigation into the COVID-19 pandemic 
     origins, in concert with willing partner governments and 
     experts around the world.

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