Federal

COVID–19 Origin Act of 2023

Source: Congress.gov · 892 words in original text

What This Bill Does

This bill requires the Director of National Intelligence (the official in charge of intelligence agencies) to release classified information about COVID-19's origins within 90 days. Congress believes it is critical to identify where COVID-19 started so the United States can prevent similar pandemics in the future.

Who It Affects

The Director of National Intelligence must carry out this bill's requirements. Congress and the public will receive the declassified information.

Key Provisions

• The Director of National Intelligence must declassify all information about possible connections between the Wuhan Institute of Virology and COVID-19's origin, including activities the institute performed with or for the People's Liberation Army (Sec. 3) • The Director must release information about coronavirus research performed at the Wuhan Institute of Virology before COVID-19 broke out (Sec. 3) • The Director must declassify names, symptoms, symptom onset dates, job roles and hospital visits of researchers at the Wuhan Institute of Virology who became ill in autumn 2019 (Sec. 3) • The Director must submit an unclassified report to Congress containing all declassified information, with redactions only to protect intelligence sources and methods (Sec. 3)

What Changes

The Director of National Intelligence will be required by law to make publicly available classified information related to COVID-19's origins that was previously kept secret.

Important Definitions

None defined in the bill text.

Effective Date

The Director must complete declassification and submit the report within 90 days after the bill becomes law. The exact date when the bill becomes law is not specified in the bill text.

IB Union Calendar No. 20 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1376 [Report No. 118–32, Part I] To require the Director of National Intelligence to declassify information relating to the origin of COVID–19, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 3, 2023 Mr. TURNER (for himself, Mr. WENSTRUP, Mr. STEWART, Mr. CRAWFORD, Ms. STEFANIK, Mr. KELLY of Mississippi, Mr. LAHOOD, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mr. GALLAGHER, Mr. AUSTIN SCOTT of Georgia, Mr. HILL, Mr. CRENSHAW, Mr. WALTZ, and Mr. MIKE GARCIA of California) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speak- er, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the ju- risdiction of the committee concerned MARCH 30, 2023 Reported from the Committee on Intelligence MARCH 30, 2023 Committee on Energy and Commerce discharged; committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:02 Mar 31, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H1376.RH H1376 DMWilson on DSKJM0X7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1376 RH A BILL To require the Director of National Intelligence to declassify information relating to the origin of COVID–19, and for other purposes. VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:02 Mar 31, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H1376.RH H1376 DMWilson on DSKJM0X7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1376 RH Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘COVID–19 Origin Act 4 of 2023’’. 5 SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 6 It is the sense of Congress that— 7 (1) identifying the origin of Coronavirus Dis- 8 ease 2019 (COVID–19) is critical for preventing a 9 similar pandemic from occurring in the future; 10 (2) there is reason to believe the COVID–19 11 pandemic may have originated at the Wuhan Insti- 12 tute of Virology; and 13 (3) the Director of National Intelligence should 14 declassify and make available to the public as much 15 information as possible about the origin of COVID– 16 19 so the United States and like-minded countries 17 can— 18 (A) identify the origin of COVID–19 as ex- 19 peditiously as possible; and 20 (B) use that information to take all appro- 21 priate measures to prevent a similar pandemic 22 from occurring again. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:02 Mar 31, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1376.RH H1376 DMWilson on DSKJM0X7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1376 RH SEC. 3. DECLASSIFICATION OF INFORMATION RELATED TO 1 THE ORIGIN OF COVID–19. 2 Not later than 90 days after the date of the enact- 3 ment of this Act, the Director of National Intelligence 4 shall— 5 (1) declassify any and all information relating 6 to potential links between the Wuhan Institute of Vi- 7 rology and the origin of the Coronavirus Disease 8 2019 (COVID–19), including— 9 (A) activities performed by the Wuhan In- 10 stitute of Virology with or on behalf of the Peo- 11 ple’s Liberation Army; 12 (B) coronavirus research or other related 13 activities performed at the Wuhan Institute of 14 Virology prior to the outbreak of COVID–19; 15 and 16 (C) researchers at the Wuhan Institute of 17 Virology who fell ill in autumn 2019, including 18 for any such researcher— 19 (i) the researcher’s name; 20 (ii) the researcher’s symptoms; 21 (iii) the date of the onset of the re- 22 searcher’s symptoms; 23 (iv) the researcher’s role at the 24 Wuhan Institute of Virology; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:02 Mar 31, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1376.RH H1376 DMWilson on DSKJM0X7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 1376 RH (v) whether the researcher was in- 1 volved with or exposed to coronavirus re- 2 search at the Wuhan Institute of Virology; 3 (vi) whether the researcher visited a 4 hospital while they were ill; and 5 (vii) a description of any other actions 6 taken by the researcher that may suggest 7 they were experiencing a serious illness at 8 the time; and 9 (2) submit to Congress an unclassified report 10 that contains— 11 (A) all of the information described under 12 paragraph (1); and 13 (B) only such redactions as the Director 14 determines necessary to protect sources and 15 methods. 16 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:02 Mar 31, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1376.RH H1376 DMWilson on DSKJM0X7X2PROD with BILLS Union Calendar No. 20 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1376 [Report No. 118–32, Part I] A BILL To require the Director of National Intelligence to declassify information relating to the origin of COVID–19, and for other purposes. MARCH 30, 2023 Reported from the Committee on Intelligence MARCH 30, 2023 Committee on Energy and Commerce discharged; com- mitted to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:02 Mar 31, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6651 Sfmt 6651 E:\BILLS\H1376.RH H1376 DMWilson on DSKJM0X7X2PROD with BILLS

Important: This plain English summary was generated by AI and is provided for informational purposes only. It is not legal advice. Always consult the official bill text on Congress.gov or a qualified attorney for legal matters.