Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that China is responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic and must be held financially liable for $16,000,000,000,000.

IV 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. RES. 9 Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that China is respon- sible for the COVID–19 pandemic and must be held financially liable for $16,000,000,000,000. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 9, 2023 Mr. NEHLS submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs RESOLUTION Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that China is responsible for the COVID–19 pandemic and must be held financially liable for $16,000,000,000,000. Whereas the SARS–CoV–2, hereinafter referred to as ‘‘COVID–19’’, was first detected in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China, in December 2019; Whereas the Chinese Communist Party covered up the exist- ence and downplayed the seriousness of COVID–19, in- cluding ordering the destruction of laboratory samples and research regarding COVID–19 in January 2020, and silencing journalists, researchers, and others who at- tempted to share information about China’s involvement in the origins of COVID–19; VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:44 Jan 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR9.IH HR9 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HRES 9 IH Whereas the Chinese Communist Party’s calculated coverup, including reporting inaccurate numbers of infections and deaths, enabled COVID–19 to go global; Whereas the coverup of COVID–19 by the Chinese Com- munist Party has caused significant economic harm around the world and has cost the United States econ- omy $16,000,000,000,000; Whereas the global median gross domestic product dropped by 3.9 percent from 2019 to 2020, making it the worst downturn since the Great Depression; Whereas, on June 8, 2020, the National Bureau of Economic Research officially declared a recession, noting that the United States economy had fallen into contraction start- ing in February 2020; Whereas at least half of households in the 4 largest cities in the United States, New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Houston, reported serious financial problems as a re- sult of COVID–19, including depleted savings, trouble paying bills, or affording medical care; Whereas a quarter of adults in the United States said they or someone in their household have been laid off or lost a job because of COVID–19; Whereas the COVID–19 pandemic increased extreme poverty between 88,000,000 and 93,000,000 in 2020; and Whereas over 1,000,000 Americans have died as a result of COVID–19: Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Rep- 1 resentatives that— 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:44 Jan 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR9.IH HR9 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HRES 9 IH (1) China is responsible for the COVID–19 1 pandemic and should be held financially responsible 2 for the pandemic’s cost; and 3 (2) the United States should be reimbursed 4 $16,000,000,000,000 by China for the economic 5 harm caused by the COVID–19 pandemic. 6 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:44 Jan 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\HR9.IH HR9 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB