I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1376 

To require the Director of National Intelligence to declassify information 

relating to the origin of COVID–19, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 3, 2023 

Mr. TURNER (for himself, Mr. WENSTRUP, Mr. STEWART, Mr. CRAWFORD, 

Ms. STEFANIK, Mr. KELLY of Mississippi, Mr. LAHOOD, Mr. 

FITZPATRICK, Mr. GALLAGHER, Mr. AUSTIN SCOTT of Georgia, Mr. 

HILL, Mr. CRENSHAW, Mr. WALTZ, and Mr. MIKE GARCIA of California) 

introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Permanent Select 

Committee on Intelligence, and in addition to the Committee on Energy 

and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To require the Director of National Intelligence to declassify 

information relating to the origin of COVID–19, and 

for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘COVID–19 Origin Act 

5 of 2023’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

2 It is the sense of Congress that— 

3 (1) identifying the origin of Coronavirus Dis4 ease 2019 (COVID–19) is critical for preventing a 

5 similar pandemic from occurring in the future; 

6 (2) there is reason to believe the COVID–19 

7 pandemic may have originated at the Wuhan Insti8 tute of Virology; and 

9 (3) the Director of National Intelligence should 

10 declassify and make available to the public as much 

11 information as possible about the origin of COVID– 

12 19 so the United States and like-minded countries 

13 can— 

14 (A) identify the origin of COVID–19 as ex15 peditiously as possible; and 

16 (B) use that information to take all appro17 priate measures to prevent a similar pandemic 

18 from occurring again. 

19 SEC. 3. DECLASSIFICATION OF INFORMATION RELATED TO 

20 THE ORIGIN OF COVID–19. 

21 Not later than 90 days after the date of the enact22 ment of this Act, the Director of National Intelligence 

23 shall— 

24 (1) declassify any and all information relating 

25 to potential links between the Wuhan Institute of ViVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:58 Mar 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1376.IH H1376

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•HR 1376 IH

1 rology and the origin of the Coronavirus Disease 

2 2019 (COVID–19), including— 

3 (A) activities performed by the Wuhan In4 stitute of Virology with or on behalf of the Peo5 ple’s Liberation Army; 

6 (B) coronavirus research or other related 

7 activities performed at the Wuhan Institute of 

8 Virology prior to the outbreak of COVID–19; 

9 and 

10 (C) researchers at the Wuhan Institute of 

11 Virology who fell ill in autumn 2019, including 

12 for any such researcher— 

13 (i) the researcher’s name; 

14 (ii) the researcher’s symptoms; 

15 (iii) the date of the onset of the re16 searcher’s symptoms; 

17 (iv) the researcher’s role at the 

18 Wuhan Institute of Virology; 

19 (v) whether the researcher was in20 volved with or exposed to coronavirus re21 search at the Wuhan Institute of Virology; 

22 (vi) whether the researcher visited a 

23 hospital while they were ill; and 

24 (vii) a description of any other actions 

25 taken by the researcher that may suggest 


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1 they were experiencing a serious illness at 

2 the time; and 

3 (2) submit to Congress an unclassified report 

4 that contains— 

5 (A) all of the information described under 

6 paragraph (1); and 

7 (B) only such redactions as the Director 

8 determines necessary to protect sources and 

9 methods. 

Æ 


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