How did the COVID-19 pandemic start?

 

The origins of the COVID-19 pandemic is the greatest public health question of our time. Why? Because we need answers on how this pandemic started for every person who has lost a loved one to the virus, every nurse and doctor who worked overtime, every child who was kept out of school for over a year, and every small business owner who lost their dream.

Leader Rodgers and members of the Energy and Commerce Committee are pushing for a complete, scientific, and independent investigation.

• Don’t miss her interview on FOX NEWS
• Read Josh Rogin’s latest Washington Post column
• Check out the latest on The Covid-19 Origins Investigation

KEY: The Energy and Commerce Committee will continue to urge the Biden administration and the U.S. government to lead, hold China accountable, and get information in the public domain for answers.

As Leader Rodgers said, “We’re not going to leave any stone unturned until we get answers.”

Check out the coverage below. ↓

LEADER RODGERS ON FOX NEWS

Thanks @AmericaRpts for having me on today. @HouseCommerce will continue to urge the Biden Admin and U.S. government to lead, hold China accountable, & get more information in the public domain for answers on the origins of COVID-19. pic.twitter.com/KPE7iN135g

— CathyMcMorrisRodgers (@cathymcmorris) May 25, 2021

THE ENERGY AND COMMERCE COMMITTEE’S INVESTIGATION

“The Energy and Commerce Committee launched our investigation in March, and what we are seeking is a comprehensive inquiry to the NIH to join the Energy and Commerce Committee so that we can get a complete, a scientific, an independent investigation into the origins of COVID-19. That is what we need. This is a matter of public health. It’s also a matter of biosecurity. So right now we are tracking two plausible scenarios. One is that it originated with a laboratory accident. The other is that it was some kind of a natural origin. That is what we are seeking right now. We need the NIH to cooperate with us.”

THE POSSIBILITY OF A LAB LEAK

“There is a lot of circumstantial clues that point to a laboratory accident. As a part of our investigation, we are pushing for more information from NIH, the State Department, the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, the Department of Homeland Security, and EcoHealth Alliance. EcoHealth Alliance is the entity that received the funding from NIH. We want to know what that was used for.

“EcoHealth Alliance is the one that was involved in funding this bat–coronavirus research with the Wuhan lab. So again, this is a matter of public health, it’s a matter of biosecurity, and we’re not going to leave any stone unturned until we get some answers.”

JOSH ROGIN: BIDEN IS PASSING THE BUCK ON THE COVID ORIGIN INVESTIGATION

If the administration doesn’t want to press China or start its own investigation, the least it can do is cooperate with congressional requests… But several U.S. government agencies are ignoring or resisting congressional attempts to seek answers.https://t.co/THiJ2Af38D

— Josh Rogin (@joshrogin) May 26, 2021

Key excerpts:

“If the administration doesn’t want to press China directly or start its own international investigation, the least it can do is cooperate with congressional requests for relevant information that’s in the possession of the U.S. government.

“But several U.S. government agencies are ignoring or resisting congressional attempts to seek answers. Last week, the National Institutes of Health finally responded to a letter sent in March by Republican leaders of the House Energy and Commerce Committee that requested all of NIH’s records on all its work with the Wuhan labs, including projects involving the contractor EcoHealth Alliance. The two-page response from NIH didn’t answer any of the questions posed by lawmakers.

[…]

“The GOP House lawmakers also wrote in March to EcoHealth Alliance, and this month to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, to ask for their records related to work with the WIV. Neither has responded.  

“The NIH funding is just one part of the puzzle. EcoHealth Alliance received grants from several U.S. government agencies, including the Defense Department, USAID, the Department of Homeland Security and many more. All of those records could be relevant to the investigation. “This is a matter of public health, it’s a matter of biosecurity, and we’re not going to leave any stone unturned until we get some answers,” Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) said Tuesday on Fox News.

[…]  

“If you are now willing to admit the lab-leak theory is worthy of investigation, no matter what you thought before or how you got here, you ought to also recognize that an investigation into this theory must begin immediately and can’t be palmed off onto the WHO. There is no problem more urgently in need of thorough and critical scrutiny. The longer the Biden administration ducks the issue, the harder it will be to solve.”

CLICK HERE to read the full column.