Congress is taking action to stop the Pentagon from using taxpayer money to fund risky animal coronavirus research in Wuhan, China.
A provision in the fiscal year 2024 defense authorization bill passed by the House and Senate this week bars the Pentagon from funding experiments at the Wuhan Institute of Virology — which is at the center of the COVID-19 lab leak theory.
Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, who included the measure in the NDAA, told in an exclusive interview this week that U.S. dollars “have been diverted to institutions in Communist China in the past.”
She is working to trace the money and ensure that future tax dollars are not spent on “experiments that are objectionable to the American public.”
The law also requires the Defense Department to conduct a 10-year audit to examine all funds specifically donated to the EcoHealth Alliance – the charity that funded coronavirus research at the Wuhan lab accused of being the cause of the outbreak.
previously reported federal data showing the Pentagon gave millions to Dr. Peter Daszak's EcoHealth Alliance has donated, and Ernst says the total since 2008 is up to $47 million.
Virologist Shi Zheng-li (left) works with her colleague in the P4 laboratory at the Wuhan Institute of Virology
A report released last December by Republican lawmakers on the House Intelligence Committee found that there was “indications” that there had been a laboratory incident at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) related to China's biological weapons program that led to “transmission “ led by COVID-19. to the general public
Exactly how much of this money went into research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology is unknown.
“We know that the Department of Defense is one of the largest funders of EcoHealth. And we shouldn’t do that,” Ernst continued.
EcoHealth continues to “defy Congress,” she accused, saying the organization is still not providing requested information about the types of studies it is conducting.
The NDAA prohibits the Pentagon from donating money to EcoHealth's China research in fiscal year 2024.
The organization has denied any wrongdoing and said it “does not support gain-of-function research” at the Wuhan lab.
“Any claims to the contrary are based on either a misinterpretation or a deliberate misrepresentation of the actual research conducted,” the organization previously said.
A spokesperson for EcoHealth Alliance told Fridau that the organization “does not currently operate in China.”
The government watchdog group White Coat Waste Project celebrated the passage of the provision within the NDAA, but accused the Pentagon of “still wasting millions of taxpayer dollars on EcoHealth.”
“Taxpayers have a right to know how the Department of Defense spends their money, and we are grateful to Senator Ernst for demanding transparency and fighting this reckless government spending on animal testing that endangers public health,” said Senior Vice President Justin Goodman in an opinion opinion.
In September, the Biden administration officially banned the transfer of taxpayer money to the Wuhan laboratory.
An official statement from the Department of Health and Human Services said the Wuhan Institute of Virology had failed to prove the safety of its experiments.
The federal audit examined three taxpayer-funded research grants awarded to EcoHealth Alliance between 2014 and 2021.
The EcoHealth Alliance received $8 million from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) between 2014 and 2021 for subcontracting to research institutions such as the WIV, which received approximately $3.7 million.
HHS said the Wuhan researchers violated the conditions for receiving federal grants because poor biosafety protocols at the lab “may have resulted or may result in health problems or other unacceptable results.”
Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, who included the measure in the NDAA, told in an exclusive interview this week that U.S. dollars “have been diverted to institutions in Communist China in the past.”
The ban on federal funding of the WIV will last a decade, seven years longer than the average suspension, although it is unlikely that the move will shield the agency from criticism over its funding of the experiments in the first place.
According to the Federal Health Office, researchers in Wuhan had carried out experiments with coronaviruses that went beyond the funding conditions. It was also alleged that the WIV maintained poor biosafety standards, potentially putting people at risk.
A report released last year by Republican lawmakers on the House Intelligence Committee found that there was “indication” that there was a laboratory incident at the Wuhan Institute of Virology related to China's biological weapons program that led to COVID-19 “spill over” to the general became public.