Sens. Marshall and Gillibrand Hold Bipartisan COVID Origins Briefing

(Washington, D.C., August 3, 2021) – Today, U.S. Senators Roger Marshall, M.D. and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) held the first joint bipartisan Senate briefing on the origins of COVID-19. The senators brought together healthcare, national security, medical, and academic experts including Jamie Metzl, Matt Pottinger, Dr. David Relman, and Dr. Jesse Bloom. During the one hour briefing, the group walked through the pandemic’s timeline, discussed what we know about the origins of COVID and what we have yet to discover, what an international response should look like, and what comes next.

The briefing comes on the heels of Senators Marshall and Gillibrand passing their resolution calling for a transparent investigation into the COVID-19 outbreak mandated by the World Health Assembly as a stand-alone bill. The bipartisan resolution also demands a full, transparent investigation to include the U.S. and our allies and partners around the world if China continues on its path of cover-up and obfuscation. Following the briefing the Senators issued these statements:

“Getting to the bottom of the origins of COVID-19 is neither a Democrat nor a Republican issue – it’s an American issue, which is why I will continue to reach across the aisle in this effort. It is only with bipartisanship that we will help deliver the message that the Chinese must show us the data and be transparent with the world – and if they don’t, we will fight to get to the bottom of this outbreak,” said Senator Marshall. “It would be utterly irresponsible to suffer through the worst pandemic in a century and not have the origins fully investigated.”

“There must be a thorough and transparent investigation into the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic. I am grateful that Senator Marshall and I were able to work together to hold a bipartisan briefing that heard testimony from health care and public health experts, and national security professionals. We owe it to the American people to do everything we can to prevent future pandemics,” said Senator Gillibrand.

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