WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY), Ranking Member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, sent a letter to Department of Defense (DoD) Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III requesting additional information on the DoD’s failure to track the usage of taxpayer funding for risky virus research in China and other foreign countries.
Dr. Paul’s letter references the recent report by the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General (OIG) titled “Management Advisory: Review of DoD Funds Provided to the People’s Republic of China and Associated Affiliates for Research Activities or Any Foreign Countries for the Enhancement of Pathogens of Pandemic Potential,” which was requested by Congress to better understand how DoD spent American taxpayer dollars for risky virus research in foreign countries. The OIG’s report determined the DoD did not track funding in sufficient detail and could not effectively search award systems to determine if funds went to Chinese research laboratories or other foreign countries for pandemic pathogen enhancement.
As a result of this significant lack of oversight, Dr. Paul requested the DoD provide unredacted copies of all documents and records related to the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs awards, subawards, or fee-for service agreements referenced in the OIG report involved pathogen enhancement.
You can read the full letter HERE or below:
Dear Secretary Austin:
I write to request additional information regarding the recently released Department of Defense (DoD) Office of Inspector General (OIG) report titled “Management Advisory: Review of DoD Funds Provided to the People’s Republic of China and Associated Affiliates for Research Activities or Any Foreign Countries for the Enhancement of Pathogens of Pandemic Potential.” Congress directed OIG to issue this report in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024 in order to better understand how DoD spent American taxpayer dollars for risky virus research in China and other foreign countries.
According to the report, OIG was unable to fully assess the use of DoD funds for pathogen research because DoD components were unable to produce a complete population of pathogen research grants and subawards. OIG found that “DoD did not track funding at the level of detail necessary to determine whether the DoD provided funding to Chinese research laboratories or other foreign countries for research related to enhancement of pathogens of pandemic potential.” Additionally, OIG determined “DoD organizations could not effectively search award systems to identify all contracts, subcontracts, grants, and subgrants that may have been related to pathogen research performed by China and other foreign countries.”
I am deeply concerned by the OIG’s findings. It is unacceptable that DoD cannot account for the full extent of taxpayer funding it has spent on pandemic pathogen research at Chinese research laboratories. This lack of oversight represents a significant gap in our national security and undermines public trust in the DoD.
For this reason, I respectfully request you provide my office the following information no later than 5:00PM on July 16, 2024:
1. Unredacted copies of all documents related to the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP) awards, subawards, or fee-for service agreements referenced in the OIG report as involving pathogen enhancement including, but not limited to, preproposal narratives, pre-applications, and full applications.
2. Unredacted copies of all documents related CDMRP awards, subawards, or fee-for-service agreements referenced in the OIG report as not involving pathogen enhancement including, but not limited to, preproposal narratives, pre-applications, and full applications.
3. Unredacted copies of all records related to the OIG Questionnaire titled, “DOD Funding to China and Affiliates for Pathogen Research Questionnaire” including, but not limited to, email communications.
I appreciate your attention to this important matter.
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