Barr’s resolution creates committee to investigate China’s handling of coronavirus

U.S. Rep. Andy Barr (R-KY) last week sponsored a resolution to establish the bicameral, bipartisan congressional Joint Select Committee on the Events and Activities Surrounding China’s Handling of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus.

“Over one year and 600,000 tragic American deaths later, we still don’t know the origins of the COVID-19 virus,” said Rep. Barr, who serves on the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee. “That is why Congress needs to establish a bicameral, bipartisan investigation that will gain the trust and confidence of the American people to deliver the truth about COVID-19. No more delays and no more partisan inquiries.”

Rep. Barr reintroduced House Concurrent Resolution (H.Con.Res.) 36 to create the Joint Select Committee (JSC), which would be comprised of 20 members of Congress, 10 from the U.S. House of Representatives and 10 from the U.S. Senate. The JSC would be led by two co-chairs from each chamber.

The congressman in April 2020 sponsored the same measure, but it stalled in the U.S. House Rules Committee, despite having 82 Republican cosponsors. 

The newly reintroduced H.Con.Res. 36 would call for the JSC to have subpoena power, access to legislative staff, experts and consultants, and be able to use documents from other relevant committees to conduct a full and complete investigation, according to the text of the resolution. 

Additionally, the JSC would report on issues such as the origins and causes of COVID-19, including evidence the virus originated in the Wuhan Institute of Virology lab, as well as the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) response to the outbreak, suppression of information and perpetuation of misinformation and conspiracy theories regarding COVID-19, among other information, according to Rep. Barr’s office.

The JSC would terminate after its final report is issued.