WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY), Ranking Member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, highlighted the critical need to establish independent oversight of risky gain-of-function research funded by the federal government. The bipartisan hearing, entitled “Risky Research: Oversight of U.S. Taxpayer Funded High-Risk Virus Research,” was the second hearing conducted as part of the Committee’s joint investigation into threats posed by high-risk life science research and biodefense in the U.S. and abroad.
During the hearing, Dr. Paul expressed concerns about evidence that the U.S. government was funding risky gain-of-function research overseas with little to no oversight. The research conducted at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) failed to undergo review by any safety committee, likely causing a lab leak, which assessments by the Department of Energy (DOE) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) conclude led to the origins of COVID-19. Despite these findings, the U.S. government has failed to take any significant action to monitor potentially dangerous life sciences research, allowing American taxpayer dollars to be spent without appropriate oversight.
To address the lack of oversight, Dr. Paul highlighted his new legislation, the Risky Research Review Act (S.4667), a first-of-its-kind proposal to establish a Life Sciences Research Security Board. The independent board will be responsible for thoroughly evaluating gain-of-function research and other studies involving the collection, surveillance, genetic modification, or synthetic creation of potential pandemic pathogens.
One of the witnesses at the hearing, Dr. Robert Redfield, the former Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), echoed Dr. Paul’s concerns about the government’s passive approach to oversight and emphasized his belief that biosecurity is the nation’s greatest national security threat.
Throughout the hearing, Dr. Paul also drew attention to the significant challenges posed by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) obstructing his efforts to obtain crucial information regarding the discussions and debate surrounding the government’s deliberations on gain-of-function research.
Both Dr. Redfield and another witness, Dr. Kevin M. Esvelt, an Associate Professor at the MIT Media Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, criticized NIH’s refusal to be transparent and highlighted the resulting damage to overall trust in public health institutions. As was discussed by several members and witnesses in the hearing, the federal government’s continued refusal to share unclassified materials with the public only fuels the mistrust that important information is being concealed, and that mistrust was certainly compounded when federal bureaucrats like Dr. Anthony Fauci and Dr. Francis Collins instructed their employees to take down dissenting opinions that contradicted their own.
As the Committee’s investigation continues, Dr. Paul remains steadfast in his initiative to uncover the truth, implement necessary safeguards, and ultimately learn from COVID-19 in order to prevent future pandemics.
You can learn more about Dr. Paul’s Risky Research Review Act here and his letter to the Department of Defense requesting information on their failure to track funding for risky research here.
View the Ranking Member’s opening statement here, part one of his questioning here and part two here.
Opening remarks as prepared below:
Since 2020, American families, communities, and businesses have borne the devastating consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. Lives were unnecessarily lost. Civil liberties were unilaterally stripped away by government bureaucrats. Taxpayers will carry the burden of the trillions of dollars spent by the government for decades and generations to come.
From the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Fauci and others within our government orchestrated a concerted effort to stifle any debate over the virus’s origins. They coordinated the now debunked Proximal Origins paper despite acknowledging privately that the virus looked engineered. The purpose of this vast cover-up, it now seems, was to conceal the dangerous biological research NIH and other government agencies were funding both abroad and here at home.
Over the last four years, compelling evidence has emerged supporting the lab origin of the pandemic and unraveling a web of deception, the vast COVID coverup. We learned that NIH funneled federal funds through EcoHealth Alliance to support gain of function research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, research that may have caused the pandemic. We learned that multiple federal agencies sent taxpayer funds to China’s Academy of Military Medical Sciences supporting PLA research. Most recently, the Department of Defense Inspector General found that the DoD is unable to fully account for the money it has sent to labs in China because the DOD does not track funding it sends abroad for pathogen research.
So, what has been done since uncovering that our own government was funding dangerous virus research overseas, with little to no oversight? The answer is stark and chilling: nothing.
Some prefer this inaction, finding comfort in the shadows of bureaucracy and secrecy. They want Congress to remain passive, to accept their reassurances without question. But we cannot stand idly by. We must demand accountability, strive for transparency, and ensure the safety of our citizens is never again compromised by negligence or deceit.
You don’t need to be convinced that the COVID-19 virus originated from a lab leak to recognize the imminent need for oversight mechanisms – the mere possibility that the virus could have emerged from such risky research should be more than enough to prompt decisive action.
How can we trust in a system that so blatantly ignores its own safeguards? How can we believe in leadership that permits such dangerous research without conducting stringent oversight, risking global health for the sake of dubious scientific advancement? This is not merely a failure; it is a betrayal of public trust.
We sit here today at a critical juncture, facing what many believe is the nuclear threat of our modern time. Gain of function research, manipulating viruses to make them more lethal, poses a danger akin to that of an atomic bomb.
In this dystopian reality we find ourselves in, it is our duty to challenge the status quo, to shine a light on the darkest corners of government operations, and to protect the freedoms and lives of the people we serve. The era of complacency must end, and change must begin with us. We must demand accountability for the grave oversights that were revealed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The safety of our Nation and the trust in its institutions depend on it.
That is why, yesterday, I introduced the Risky Research Review Act to codify independent oversight of dangerous scientific research funded by the federal government. My bill would establish an independent Board within the Executive Branch to oversee federal funding for high-risk life sciences research, ensuring the protection of public health, safety, and national security. The Board would be comprised of non-government scientific and national security experts who would have the responsibility of reviewing and approving high-risk life sciences research proposals prior to the release of federal funds. The bill would also implement mechanisms to ensure accountability from agencies and applicants applying for federal funds to conduct high-risk research.
My bill not only strengthens transparency but also ensures that public health decisions are made in the best interest of the American people, free from financial motives and prioritizing national security.
The Risky Research Review Act is endorsed by stakeholder groups and distinguished scientists, including the former Director of the Centers for Disease Control, Dr. Robert Redfield. According to Dr. Redfield, if the Risky Research Review Act had been in place, it might have prevented the COVID-19 pandemic.
I urge the Chairman and other members of this committee to support the legislation which will begin to restore trust in science, our scientific community, and faith in our government institutions.
Together, we can prioritize the national security of Americans, ensuring that we never again face such preventable devastation.
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