A resolution establishing a Select Committee on the Outbreak of the Coronavirus in China.

III 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. RES. 204 Establishing a Select Committee on the Outbreak of the Coronavirus in China. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 11, 2021 Mr. MARSHALL submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration RESOLUTION Establishing a Select Committee on the Outbreak of the Coronavirus in China. Resolved, 1 SECTION 1. ESTABLISHMENT OF SELECT COMMITTEE ON 2 THE OUTBREAK OF THE CORONAVIRUS IN 3 CHINA. 4 There is established a select investigative committee 5 of the Senate, to be known as the Select Committee on 6 the Outbreak of the Coronavirus in China (referred to in 7 this resolution as the ‘‘select committee’’), to investigate 8 the outbreak of the COVID–19 virus in or around Wuhan, 9 China. 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:00 May 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR204.IS SR204 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •SRES 204 IS SEC. 2. MEMBERSHIP. 1 (a) COMPOSITION.—The select committee shall be 2 composed of not more than 12 Senators, of whom 6 shall 3 be appointed by the Majority Leader and 6 shall be ap- 4 pointed by the Minority Leader. 5 (b) CHAIRPERSON; VICE-CHAIRPERSON.—The Ma- 6 jority Leader shall designate 1 member of the select com- 7 mittee as the chairperson of the select committee, and the 8 Minority Leader shall designate 1 member of the select 9 committee as the vice-chairperson of the select committee. 10 (c) EXEMPTION.—For purposes of paragraph 4 of 11 rule XXV of the Standing Rules of the Senate, service of 12 a Senator as a member or chairperson of the select com- 13 mittee shall not be taken into account. 14 (d) VACANCIES.—Any vacancy in the select com- 15 mittee shall be filled in the same manner as the original 16 appointment. 17 SEC. 3. INVESTIGATION AND REPORT. 18 (a) INVESTIGATION.—The select committee shall con- 19 duct a full and complete investigation and study regard- 20 ing— 21 (1) identification of the source of the COVID– 22 19 virus and the route of human-to-human trans- 23 mission beginning in or around Wuhan, China; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:00 May 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR204.IS SR204 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •SRES 204 IS (2) secret research and gain-of-function zoonic 1 research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (re- 2 ferred to in this section as ‘‘WIV’’); 3 (3) training operations and safety standards at 4 the WIV; 5 (4) cases of researchers at the WIV laboratory 6 becoming sick or demonstrating COVID–19-like 7 symptoms in 2019 or 2020; 8 (5) cables and other communications from 2017 9 to 2021 from employees of the Department of State, 10 the Central Intelligence Agency, and the Department 11 of Health and Human Services regarding activities 12 and research at the WIV; 13 (6) response from officials of the Department of 14 State and National Security Council in Washington, 15 DC to the cables and other communications de- 16 scribed in paragraph (5); 17 (7) funding distributed to the WIV by the Na- 18 tional Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, 19 the National Institutes of Health, and institutions of 20 higher education of the United States; 21 (8) funding of gain-of-function research by the 22 National Institutes of Health and the National Insti- 23 tute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases during the 24 2014–2017 moratorium on such research; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:00 May 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR204.IS SR204 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •SRES 204 IS (9) research and possible leaks from the Wuhan 1 Center for Disease Control; 2 (10) information regarding efforts by the Chi- 3 nese Communist Party to silence journalists and 4 doctors, destroy samples of the COVID–19 virus, 5 and block United States and other foreign investiga- 6 tors, including investigations surrounding the Chi- 7 nese Communist Party’s misinformation campaign 8 through social media, traditional news outlets, and 9 other propaganda outlets; 10 (11) the origination of claims that the pandemic 11 spread from a seafood market in Wuhan, China and 12 the closure and sanitation of the market; 13 (12) actions taken by the World Health Organi- 14 zation, including actions taken by Director-General 15 Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and other World 16 Health Organization officials, to spread Chinese mis- 17 information and the failure of the World Health Or- 18 ganization to meet the Organization’s charter to pre- 19 vent the international spread of disease; and 20 (13) the impact of failing to shut down travel 21 in and out of Wuhan, China, the Hubei province, 22 and greater China. 23 (b) REPORTS.—The select committee— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:00 May 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR204.IS SR204 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •SRES 204 IS (1) shall issue a final report to the Senate of 1 its findings from the investigation and study de- 2 scribed in subsection (a) by not later than 1 year 3 after the date of adoption of this resolution; and 4 (2) may issue to the Senate such interim re- 5 ports as the select committee determines necessary. 6 SEC. 4. AUTHORITIES AND POWERS. 7 (a) IN GENERAL.—For the purposes of this resolu- 8 tion, the select committee is authorized in its discretion— 9 (1) to make investigations into any matter with- 10 in its jurisdiction; 11 (2) to make expenditures from the contingent 12 fund of the Senate; 13 (3) to employ personnel; 14 (4) to hold hearings; 15 (5) to sit and act at any time or place during 16 the sessions, recesses, and adjourned periods of the 17 Senate; 18 (6) to require, by subpoena or otherwise, the at- 19 tendance of witnesses and the production of cor- 20 respondence, books, papers, and documents; 21 (7) to take depositions and other testimony; 22 (8) to procure the services of individual consult- 23 ants, or organizations thereof, in accordance with 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:00 May 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR204.IS SR204 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •SRES 204 IS section 202(i) of the Legislative Reorganization Act 1 of 1946 (2 U.S.C. 4301(i)); and 2 (9) with the prior consent of the government 3 department or agency concerned and the Committee 4 on Rules and Administration, to use on a reimburs- 5 able basis the services of personnel of any such de- 6 partment or agency. 7 (b) OATHS.—The chairperson of the select committee 8 or any member thereof may administer oaths to witnesses. 9 (c) SUBPOENAS.—A subpoena authorized by the se- 10 lect committee— 11 (1) may be issued under the signature of the 12 chairperson, the vice-chairperson, or any member of 13 the select committee designated by the chairperson; 14 and 15 (2) may be served by any person designated by 16 the chairperson, the vice-chairperson, or other mem- 17 ber signing the subpoena. 18 (d) COMMITTEE RULES.—The select committee shall 19 adopt rules (not inconsistent with the rules of the Senate 20 and in accordance with rule XXVI of the Standing Rules 21 of the Senate) governing the procedure of the select com- 22 mittee, which shall include addressing how often the select 23 committee shall meet, meeting times and location, type of 24 notifications, notices of hearings, duration of the select 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:00 May 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR204.IS SR204 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •SRES 204 IS committee, and records of the select committee after com- 1 mittee activities are complete. 2 SEC. 5. TERMINATION. 3 The select committee shall terminate on the day after 4 the date the report required under section 3(b)(1) is sub- 5 mitted. 6 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:00 May 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\SR204.IS SR204 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS