Hawley’s bill to declassify information about COVID origins clears Congress, heads to Biden

The U.S. House on Friday unanimously passed a bill that would require the Biden administration to declassify intelligence information about the origins of COVID-19.

It now heads to President Joe Biden’s desk after previously passing the Senate.

The bill, sponsored by Sen. Josh Hawley, a Missouri Republican, came after the Department of Energy said with “low confidence” it believed the virus leaked from a lab in Wuhan, China, contradicting early findings that the virus came about naturally through transmission from an animal.

Hawley said he believed the evidence the Department of Energy used to come to their conclusion should be declassified so Americans can see the information for themselves.

“Let’s stop all of this third hand, fourth hand speaking in code,” Hawley said last week, when his bill unanimously passed the Senate. “Just declassify what we have. Let the American people see. I mean, if there’s contrary opinions, let them read it, let them see it.”

The original assessment on the origin of the virus was that it came from a bat and potentially one more animal before moving to humans. Some intelligence agencies and independent researchers still hold this view.

The renewed attention on COVID-19’s origins come as both Democrats and Republicans appear to accept that the virus may have leaked from a virology lab but partisan rhetoric over those origins may make it difficult to uncover conclusive evidence on how the virus originated.

Republicans have tied their belief that the virus originated in a lab with theories about a controversial form of scientific research called “gain of function,” where scientists make adaptations to a virus in order to develop ways to prevent it.

Still, Democrats have agreed that it is important to understand the origin of the virus to be better prepared for future pandemics.

“Clearly, it’s important,” said White House press secretary Karine Jean Pierre. “We believe, he believes it’s important to get to the bottom of this, especially as we look ahead to the future and trying to prevent any future pandemics.”

But efforts to get a better understanding of the virus origins have been met with resistance from the Chinese government, who has said the U.S. is trying to pin the blame for the pandemic on their country.

Hawley’s office said it received a letter from the Chinese Embassy earlier this week, criticizing him for his bill. Hawley responded to the letter Friday, referencing the House vote.

“I know you are keenly interested in this bill—your own Communist officials have written to my office demanding we renounce it, in their usual lecturing, idiotic style,” Hawley wrote. “But the bill will soon be law—unless you can convince President Biden to veto it. Time is up. Come clean about your role in spreading COVID to the world.”