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Sen. Marshall Legislation Holds CCP Accountable for Restricting COVID-19 Information

(Washington, D.C., October 5, 2021) – Today, U.S. Senator Roger Marshall, M.D. introduced the Chinese Communist Party Accountability Act to place sanctions on the top two Chinese health officials with early ties to the COVID-19 outbreak who obfuscated actionable information. The sanctions would remain in place until they allow an independent, unimpeded investigation into the Wuhan Institute of Virology as a potential origin for the COVID-19 virus. This legislation also holds the Chinese Communist Party accountable for the disappearance of whistleblowers and citizen journalists, as well as limiting freedom of speech and information relating to the COVID-19 pandemic in the People’s Republic of China. Similar language was recently introduced in the House by U.S. Representatives Elise Stefanik and Rob Wittman.

“China’s role in suppressing information surrounding the origins of COVID-19 resulted in an economic and humanitarian crisis around the globe, including the deaths of more than 700,000 Americans,” said Senator Marshall. “The Chinese Communist Party must be held accountable for their extreme measures to bury the truth surrounding the origins of COVID-19. This legislation prevents the Chinese government from being let off the hook, while pushing for a full investigation into the origins of COVID-19 so we can understand the truth behind this global tragedy.”

Background:

This legislation follows reports as early as April 2020, shedding light on government efforts to limit information, stating, “The Chinese government, meanwhile, has put a total lockdown on information related to the virus origins. Beijing has yet to provide U.S. experts with samples of the novel coronavirus collected from the earliest cases. The Shanghai lab that published the novel coronavirus genome on January 11 was quickly shut down by authorities for “rectification.” Several of the doctors and journalists who reported on the spread early on have disappeared.”

Senator Marshall has been leading the fight in the Senate to get to the bottom of the origins of COVID-19. In fact, recently, he partnered with Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) to hold the first joint bipartisan Senate briefing on the origins of COVID-19 following the passage of their bipartisan resolution that calls for a transparent investigation into the outbreak of the virus. The bipartisan resolution also demands a full, transparent investigation to include the U.S. and its allies and partners around the world if China continues on its path of cover-up and obfuscation.

Senator Marshall joined Senators Chuck Grassley and Marsha Blackburn in sending a follow-up letter to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) demanding answers to questions that may shed light on data relating to the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic and NIH’s COVID-19 data retention policies. This push for answers comes amid reports that Chinese researchers requested some data be deleted from NIH-controlled databases. In part, the senators wrote “[o]n June 28, 2021, we wrote to you requesting answers to seven questions pertaining to the NIH’s role and responsibility with respect to the Sequence Read Archive (SRA) relating to COVID-19 data. On September 8, 2021, your office provided a response that failed to fully and completely answer all seven questions and failed to provide the requested records.”

Senator Marshall released a multi-step path forward on getting to the bottom of the origins of COVID-19 and holding China accountable for its actions surrounding the earliest days of the outbreak. While Senator Marshall’s 8-point path forward is below, you may click HERE for a more detailed version.

  1. President Biden and Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines Must Release all Classified Information Going Back to at Least September 2019.
  2. Investigate the Viral DNA Sequencing Map, including the release of the China WIV data stored at the NIH National library of Medicine as well as all genomes used by the NIH-funded Ecohealth Alliance
  3. Hold all Nominees for Agencies and Departments that have failed to Provide Grant Application Information for Funds Given to EcoHealth Alliance.
  4. Enhance Congressional Oversight and Bipartisan Investigations
  5. Immediate Moratorium of Gain-of-Function and Other Potentially Pandemic Pathogens Research
  6. Impose Sanctions and Immigration Restraints on China
  7. Fully Integrate National Security Agencies and the Department of Health and Human Services
  8. Pursue a New Global Health Treaty

In August, Senator Marshall released a video walking viewers through a 3D timeline of the origins of COVID-19. You may click HERE or on the image below to watch the video.

You may click HERE or on the image below to view Senator Marshall’s COVID-19 origins timeline as an image.

In June, Senator Marshall wrote to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) demanding answers on possible COVID-19 infections of U.S. Army troops who participated in the 2019 World Military Games that took place in Wuhan, China from October 18-28, 2019. Following completion of the games, athletes from numerous participating countries reported experiencing symptoms similar to those associated with COVID-19.

Senator Marshall has penned several op-eds on COVID origins. You may click on the links below to view them:

In January 2020, then Congressman Marshall was the first member of Congress to sound the alarm on the House floor about the spread of COVID-19. As a physician, he would later go on to serve on the frontlines as a volunteer treating patients in Wyandotte County and Seward County.

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