II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2180 

To amend title 28, United States Code, to provide a civil action against 

a foreign state for deliberate concealment or distortion of information 

with respect to an international public health emergency, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 22, 2021 

Mr. COTTON introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend title 28, United States Code, to provide a civil 

action against a foreign state for deliberate concealment 

or distortion of information with respect to an international public health emergency, 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 ‘‘Holding the Chinese 

5 Communist Party Accountable for Infecting Americans 

6 Act of 2021’’. 

7 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

8 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) The Chinese Communist Party covered up 

2 the existence and downplayed the seriousness of 

3 SARS–CoV–2 (referred to in this Act as ‘‘COVID– 

4 19’’) at least as early as December 2019. 

5 (2) Chinese Government officials engaged in a 

6 campaign to silence and delegitimize doctors, includ7 ing Dr. Li Wenliang, who were warning their col8 leagues and others about COVID–19. 

9 (3) Chinese Government officials ordered the 

10 destruction of laboratory samples and research re11 garding COVID–19 in January 2020. 

12 (4) Chinese Government officials have detained 

13 or otherwise silenced researchers, journalists, and 

14 citizens who attempted to share information that 

15 could have proven unflattering to the response of the 

16 Chinese Government to the COVID–19 outbreak. 

17 (5) Chinese Government officials have expelled 

18 United States journalists who were covering the 

19 COVID–19 outbreak in China. 

20 (6) Chinese Government officials have at21 tempted to censor or destroy academic research into 

22 COVID–19 and its origins that might disagree with 

23 the official positions of the Chinese Government. 

24 (7) Chinese Government officials have inten25 tionally underreported or altered official numbers of 


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1 COVID–19 infections and deaths in China, leading 

2 world health experts to make flawed analyses that 

3 severely underestimated the nature and seriousness 

4 of COVID–19. 

5 (8) Academic studies have shown that, had ap6 propriate interventions occurred to stop the spread 

7 of COVID–19 even just weeks earlier, the spread of 

8 COVID–19 would have been severely curtailed. 

9 (9) The cover-up of COVID–19 by the Chinese 

10 Government has caused significant economic harm 

11 in the United States and around the world. 

12 (10) The cover-up of COVID–19 by the Chinese 

13 Government has caused significant death and injury 

14 in the United States and around the world. 

15 (11) The cover-up of COVID–19 by the Chinese 

16 Government is, at minimum, grossly negligent be17 havior causing significant injury. 

18 SEC. 3. PURPOSE. 

19 The purpose of this Act is to provide civil litigants 

20 with the broadest possible basis, consistent with the Con21 stitution of the United States, to seek relief against per22 sons, entities, and foreign countries, wherever acting and 

23 wherever they may be found, that are responsible for, or 

24 complicit in ordering, controlling, or otherwise directing 

25 acts intended to deliberately conceal or distort the existVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:36 Jun 30, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2180.IS S2180

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1 ence or nature of COVID–19, if such acts are found to 

2 have likely contributed to the global COVID–19 pandemic. 

3 SEC. 4. RESPONSIBILITY OF FOREIGN STATES FOR DELIB4 ERATE CONCEALMENT OR DISTORTING IN5 FORMATION ABOUT INTERNATIONAL PUBLIC 

6 HEALTH EMERGENCIES. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 97 of title 28, United 

8 States Code, is amended by inserting after section 1605B 

9 the following new section: 

10 ‘‘§ 1605C. Responsibility of foreign states for delib11 erate concealment or distorting informa12 tion about international public health 

13 emergencies of international concern 

14 ‘‘(a) RESPONSIBILITY OF FOREIGN STATE.—A for15 eign state shall not be immune from the jurisdiction of 

16 the courts of the United States in any case in which money 

17 damages are sought against a foreign state for physical 

18 injury or death, or injury to property or economic inter19 ests, occurring in the United States and caused by— 

20 ‘‘(1) the spread of COVID–19; and 

21 ‘‘(2) a tortious act or acts, including acts in22 tended to deliberately conceal or distort the existence 

23 or nature of COVID–19, of the foreign state, or of 

24 any official, employee, or agent of that foreign state 

25 while acting within the scope of his or her office, 


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1 employment, or agency, regardless where the 

2 tortious act or acts of the foreign state occurred. 

3 ‘‘(b) EXCLUSIVE JURISDICTION.— 

4 ‘‘(1) ORIGINAL JURISDICTION.—The United 

5 States District Court for the Southern District of 

6 New York, the United States District Court for the 

7 Northern District of California, the United States 

8 District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, 

9 and the United States District Court for the South10 ern District of Texas shall have original and exclu11 sive jurisdiction over all actions in which a foreign 

12 state is subject to the jurisdiction of a court of the 

13 United States under this section. 

14 ‘‘(2) APPELLATE JURISDICTION.—The United 

15 States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit shall 

16 have exclusive jurisdiction of an appeal from a final 

17 decision of an action under this section. 

18 ‘‘(c) STAY OF ACTIONS PENDING FOREIGN STATE

19 NEGOTIATIONS.— 

20 ‘‘(1) INTERVENTION.—The Attorney General 

21 may intervene in any action in which a foreign state 

22 is subject to the jurisdiction of a court of the United 

23 States under this section for the purpose of seeking 

24 a stay of the civil action, in whole or in part. 

25 ‘‘(2) STAY.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A court of the United 

2 States shall stay a proceeding under this sec3 tion against a foreign state or any official, em4 ployee, or agent of the foreign state, if the Sec5 retary of State certifies that the United States 

6 is engaged in good faith discussions with the 

7 foreign state defendant, or any other defendant, 

8 with respect to the resolution of a claim against 

9 such a defendant. 

10 ‘‘(B) DURATION.— 

11 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—A stay under this 

12 section may be granted for not more than 

13 180 days. 

14 ‘‘(ii) EXTENSION.— 

15 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney 

16 General may petition the court for an 

17 extension of the stay for additional 

18 180-day periods. 

19 ‘‘(II) RECERTIFICATION.—A 

20 court may grant an extension under 

21 subclause (I) if the Secretary of State 

22 recertifies that the United States re23 mains engaged in good faith discus24 sions with the foreign state defendant 

25 or any other defendant concerning the 


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1 resolution of a claim against the for2 eign state or any official, employee, or 

3 agent of the foreign state, as to whom 

4 a stay of claims is sought. 

5 ‘‘(d) DISMISSAL OF ACTIONS FOLLOWING FOREIGN

6 STATE AGREEMENT.— 

7 ‘‘(1) INTERVENTION.—The Attorney General 

8 may intervene in any action in which a foreign state 

9 is subject to the jurisdiction of a court of the United 

10 States under this section for the purpose of seeking 

11 the dismissal of the case. 

12 ‘‘(2) DISMISSAL WITH PREJUDICE.—A court of 

13 the United States may dismiss with prejudice a pro14 ceeding under this section against a foreign state or 

15 any official, employee, or agent of the foreign state 

16 if the Secretary of State certifies that the United 

17 States and the foreign state have entered into an 

18 agreement with respect to the resolution of a claim 

19 against such a defendant, regardless of whether the 

20 plaintiff is a party to such agreement or consents to 

21 the dismissal. 

22 ‘‘(e) SEVERABILITY.—If any provision of this section 

23 or the application of a provision to any person or cir24 cumstance, is held to be invalid, the remainder of this sec25 tion and the application of the provisions to any other perVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:36 Jun 30, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2180.IS S2180

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1 son not similarly situated or to other circumstances, shall 

2 not be affected by the holding. 

3 ‘‘(f) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—A foreign state shall 

4 not be subject to the jurisdiction of the courts of the 

5 United States under this section on the basis of a tortious 

6 act or acts that constitute mere negligence. 

7 ‘‘(g) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term 

8 ‘COVID–19’ means the 2019 Novel Coronavirus or 2019– 

9 nCoV.’’. 

10 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

11 (1) TABLE OF SECTIONS.—The table of sections 

12 for chapter 97 of title 28, United States Code, is 

13 amended by inserting after the item relating to sec14 tion 1605B the following: 

‘‘1605C. Responsibility of foreign states for deliberate concealment or distorting 

information about international public health emergencies of 

international concern.’’. 

15 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 

16 1605(g)(1)(A) of title 28, United States Code, is 

17 amended by striking ‘‘or section 1605B’’ and insert18 ing ‘‘, section 1605B, or section 1605C’’. 

19 (c) APPLICABILITY.—The amendments made by this 

20 Act shall apply to a civil action— 

21 (1) pending on, or commenced on or after, the 

22 date of enactment of this Act; and 

23 (2)(A) arising out of an injury to a person from 

24 COVID–19 on or after January 1, 2020; or 


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1 (B) arising out of an injury to property or busi2 ness during the national emergency declared by the 

3 President under the National Emergencies Act (50 

4 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) with respect to the coronavirus 

5 disease 2019 (COVID–19). 

Æ 


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