U.S. Sens. Martha McSally (R-AZ), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), and Thom Tillis (R-NC) this week introduced legislation that would allow Americans to sue China in federal court over the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Americans who have been victimized by the lies and deceit of the Chinese Communist Party [CCP] — to include those who lost loved ones, suffered business losses, or were personally harmed due to COVID-19 — deserve the opportunity to hold China accountable and to demand just compensation,” Sen. McSally said. “Our bill will empower Americans to do just that by providing them with the legal tools necessary to sue the Chinese government in federal court for creating and worsening the COVID-19 pandemic.”
The Civil Justice for Victims of COVID Act, S. 4212, sponsored by Sen. McSally, would strip foreign sovereign immunity of certain foreign states to secure justice for victims of novel coronavirus in the United States, according to the text of the bill. Sens. Blackburn and Tillis were among the original cosponsors of the bill.
If enacted, S. 4212 also would give U.S. federal courts authority to hear claims that China caused or substantially contributed to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a bill summary provided by the lawmakers, and would authorize federal courts to freeze Chinese assets.
“As the death toll and financial losses of COVID-19 mount, China should be forced to pay the costs of these damages to the American people,” said Sen. McSally.
Sen. Blackburn said that the CCP must face consequences for concealing and profiting off the COVID-19 pandemic it enabled. “The costs are devastating: trillions of dollars in economic damage, millions of American jobs lost, and over a half million deaths worldwide and counting,” she said.
American business owners and families who have lost loved ones deserve justice, added Sen. Blackburn, who said that S. 4212 will give them “the opportunity to bring a lawsuit against China in U.S. court and recover compensation for the harm caused to our country.”
Sen. Tillis also noted that the CCP “lied to the world about COVID-19,” allowing it to become a pandemic. “The American people deserve the right to hold the Chinese government accountable for its malicious actions,” he said, “and I’m proud to join my colleagues in introducing this commonsense bill.”
The legislation also incorporates previous efforts to hold the CCP accountable, including the Stop China-Originated Viral Infectious Diseases (COVID) Act of 2020, S. 3592, introduced in May by Sens. Blackburn and McSally.