Reschenthaler: No federal funding of Chinese virology lab

As part of a larger bill, the U.S. House Appropriations Committee on July 1 approved an amendment offered by U.S. Rep. Guy Reschenthaler (R-PA) that would prohibit any federal funding going to the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) in China, where it is suspected the COVID-19 pandemic originated.

“I thank my colleagues for including my amendment to end the flow of federal dollars to the WIV,” Rep. Reschenthaler said. “We must ensure Americans’ hard-earned money never again funds risky experiments in labs operated by our adversaries.”

House Appropriations Committee members voted 32-25 to approve the $62.24 billion fiscal year 2022 State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Bill, which contains Rep. Reschenthaler’s amendment. 

“It is deeply disturbing that American taxpayers footed the bill for over $1 million to support dangerous and potentially deadly research at the WIV, a laboratory run by the Chinese Communist Party and tied to military biological research,” said Rep. Reschenthaler. 

The congressman on Jan. 28 also introduced the Defund EcoHealth Alliance Act, H.R. 591, which would prohibit federal funding to the EcoHealth Alliance, a New York-based organization that sent American taxpayer dollars to the WIV.

If enacted, H.R. 591 would also require the U.S. Government Accountability Office to study and report on the amount of federal grant funding provided to the WIV, the Chinese Communist Party, and the People’s Republic of China through EcoHealth Alliance. The bill currently has 16 Republican cosponsors.