ATLANTA, GA – U.S. Senator Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.) today urged Congressional leadership to ensure that no taxpayer dollars are going to the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), a state-run laboratory in China. Specifically, Loeffler is seeking assurances that the Chinese lab receives no National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding or COVID-19 stimulus funds.
Reports indicate that State Department officials who visited WIV expressed concerns about safety issues and warned of the possible risk of a pandemic specifically related to the lab’s coronavirus research. Loeffler and several Congressional colleagues wrote to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Cali.), Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Cali.), and Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.).
“We are writing to urge you to ensure that no stimulus funding is sent—directly or indirectly—to China’s controversial bio-agent laboratory the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV),” the members write. “We were troubled by recent media reports that the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has been funding secretive and dangerous laboratory research at the WIV for many years.
“We’re sure you agree that taxpayers’ money should not be sent to a dangerous Chinese state-run bio-agent laboratory that lacks any meaningful oversight from U.S. authorities and is run by adversaries with a history of lab leaks, including SARS, and deception about the causes and extent of deadly disease outbreaks, including COVID-19.”
Loeffler was joined in sending the letter by Senators Martha McSally (R-Ariz.), Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), and James Lankford (R-Okla.).
The full letter is available here.
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