WASHINGTON, D.C. — Representative Alex X. Mooney (WV-02), along with Representative Matt Gaetz (FL-01), Senator Martha McSally (R-AZ) and a bicameral coalition of over 50 other lawmakers sent a letter to House and Senate leadership requesting that no COVID-19 relief funds be given to China’s state-run bio-agent laboratory, the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV).
“After the damage the coronavirus has inflicted upon the world, U.S. taxpayer dollars should no longer be sent to labs we know conduct sloppy research and dangerous experiments. I commend President Trump’s response to this invisible enemy and his determination to hold China accountable for its actions,” said Congressman Mooney.
Reports indicate that for years WIV has received taxpayer dollars from the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) for secretive and dangerous laboratory research on coronavirus-infected bats. U.S. State Department officials have even warned that these experiments posed a coronavirus pandemic risk.
President Donald Trump also announced his intention to end any NIH grants currently funding WIV. Representative Mooney’s letter builds on this development and seeks to ensure that no tax dollars from any agency end up at WIV through COVID-19 stimulus bills.
Representative Mooney’s letter to Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) reads, in part:
We’re sure you agree that taxpayers’ money should not be sent to a dangerous Chinese state-run bio-agent laboratory that lacks any meaningful oversight from U.S. authorities and is run by adversaries with a history of lab leaks, including SARS, and deception about the causes and extent of deadly disease outbreaks, including COVID-19. Although President Trump has stated that his administration “will end that grant quickly,” we hope to ensure that WIV will not receive federal funds in any future spending packages.
“We applaud Representative Mooney for his outstanding leadership to ensure that American taxpayers are not forced to pay for wasteful and treacherous coronavirus animal experiments at China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology,” said Justin Goodman, Vice President of Advocacy and Public Policy at 2-million-member taxpayer watchdog group White Coat Waste Project.