Congressional Republicans are divided over how to use data from a new COVID-19 lab leak report to investigate China and President Joe Biden.
The new Energy Department report concluded that the virus originated naturally but leaked from a lab in Wuhan, China, a theory long debated since the pandemic began and now dividing Congress over how to handle the reports.
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Some Republican lawmakers are taking a China-centric approach, hoping the new report will bring to life the law that failed to gain traction last year. Plans included setting up a nonpartisan committee on the origin of the coronavirus, declassifying pandemic data and restricting Chinese scientists, via Politico.
The Energy Department report said that 4 other COVID-19 agencies are stemming from herbal transmission, while two agencies, in addition to the CIA, failed to reach a complete conclusion. The Department of Energy and the FBI reached similar conclusions about the origin of the pandemic. .
“The FBI has been assessing for some time that the origins of the pandemic are likely a possible laboratory incident in Wuhan,” director Christopher Wray told Fox News host Bret Baier on Tuesday. “Here we are talking about a possible leak from a Chinese government-controlled laboratory that killed millions of Americans. “
Sen. Mike Braun (R-IN) told Politico that the Energy Department’s report may be just a “breakthrough” for its law to declassify data on the origin of the virus.
“I will be the straw that breaks the camel’s back on this issue,” Braun said. “It’s going to cascade. “
On the other hand, some Republicans see the lab leak report as a way to further investigate the White House, a promise Republican House lawmakers made after winning a majority in the 2022 midterm elections. Some hope to get classified information about what they knew. about the origins of the virus and when, as well as what led to the agency’s most recent assessment.
The new data on COVID-19 lab leaks “reinforces the vigilance we’re going to have to have with China on almost every front,” Sen. Todd Young (R-IN) told Politico. a little time to gain momentum, but you’ll see a lot of new anti-China policies in this Congress. “
However, congressional Republicans warn that they are opposed to focusing too much on the origin of COVID-19 and less on existing threats, such as the recent presence of an alleged Chinese surveillance balloon entering US airspace. U. S. Beijing officials said the balloon was not yet part of their intelligence program. intended to collect meteorological data.
“Certainly, we can have more hearings, but I think there are other priorities right now,” said Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD). “We have a war in Europe right now. Lately we have a new competitor in China. That’s developing faster than we are in terms of Army capabilities. We have demanding situations in our own country in terms of massive debt that we have to deal with.
“So when we look at the pandemic and talk about attributing blame, most of us have already attributed it,” he continued.
In the long term, Republicans hope to expand a China-COVID-19 strategy that will lead to discovering what happened in the afterlife and creating new policies to counter long-term threats.
Rep. Michael Burgess (R-TX), a member of the Energy and Commerce Committee’s oversight subcommittee, said Tuesday that he had requested a classified briefing from the Department of Energy and had yet to get a response.
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“I don’t think I’ve been given a transparent story,” he said. “So obviously, when they made this observation, I looked for more information. “
More than a dozen hearings and legislative marks were held Tuesday under the aegis of the Biden administration’s failure to respond well to China’s competitive behavior. Members of the House Committee on China held their first hearing on Tuesday, highlighting all the multifaceted threats Beijing poses to the United States. States, ranging from human rights and industry to the military and geopolitical machinations.