II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 619 

To require the Director of National Intelligence to declassify information 

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

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 1, 2023 

Mr. HAWLEY (for himself, Mr. BRAUN, Mr. MARSHALL, Mr. LEE, and Mr. 

SCOTT of Florida) introduced the following bill; which was read twice, 

considered, read the third time, and passed 

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’’. 

6 SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

7 It is the sense of Congress that— 


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•S 619 CPS

1 (1) identifying the origin of Coronavirus Dis2 ease 2019 (COVID–19) is critical for preventing a 

3 similar pandemic from occurring in the future; 

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

5 pandemic may have originated at the Wuhan Insti6 tute of Virology; and 

7 (3) the Director of National Intelligence should 

8 declassify and make available to the public as much 

9 information as possible about the origin of COVID– 

10 19 so the United States and like-minded countries 

11 can— 

12 (A) identify the origin of COVID–19 as ex13 peditiously as possible, and 

14 (B) use that information to take all appro15 priate measures to prevent a similar pandemic 

16 from occurring again. 

17 SEC. 3. DECLASSIFICATION OF INFORMATION RELATED TO 

18 THE ORIGIN OF COVID–19. 

19 Not later than 90 days after the date of the enact20 ment of this Act, the Director of National Intelligence 

21 shall— 

22 (1) declassify any and all information relating 

23 to potential links between the Wuhan Institute of Vi24 rology and the origin of the Coronavirus Disease 

25 2019 (COVID–19), including— 


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•S 619 CPS

1 (A) activities performed by the Wuhan In2 stitute of Virology with or on behalf of the Peo3 ple’s Liberation Army; 

4 (B) coronavirus research or other related 

5 activities performed at the Wuhan Institute of 

6 Virology prior to the outbreak of COVID–19; 

7 and 

8 (C) researchers at the Wuhan Institute of 

9 Virology who fell ill in autumn 2019, including 

10 for any such researcher— 

11 (i) the researcher’s name; 

12 (ii) the researcher’s symptoms; 

13 (iii) the date of the onset of the re14 searcher’s symptoms; 

15 (iv) the researcher’s role at the 

16 Wuhan Institute of Virology; 

17 (v) whether the researcher was in18 volved with or exposed to coronavirus re19 search at the Wuhan Institute of Virology; 

20 (vi) whether the researcher visited a 

21 hospital while they were ill; and 

22 (vii) a description of any other actions 

23 taken by the researcher that may suggest 

24 they were experiencing a serious illness at 

25 the time; and 


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1 (2) submit to Congress an unclassified report 

2 that contains— 

3 (A) all of the information described under 

4 paragraph (1); and 

5 (B) only such redactions as the Director 

6 determines necessary to protect sources and 

7 methods. 

Æ 


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