II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2148 

To impose sanctions and other measures in response to the failure of the 

Government of the People’s Republic of China to allow an investigation 

into the origins of COVID–19 at suspect laboratories in Wuhan. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 21, 2021 

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

to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

To impose sanctions and other measures in response to the 

failure of the Government of the People’s Republic of 

China to allow an investigation into the origins of 

COVID–19 at suspect laboratories in Wuhan. 

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 ‘‘Coronavirus Origin 

5 Validation, Investigation, and Determination Act of 2021’’ 

6 or the ‘‘COVID Act of 2021’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. MEASURES IN RESPONSE TO FAILURE OF THE GOV2 ERNMENT OF THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF 

3 CHINA TO ALLOW AN INVESTIGATION OF SUS4 PECT LABORATORIES IN WUHAN. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—If, by not later than the date that 

6 is 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, 

7 the President is unable to certify that the Government of 

8 the People’s Republic of China has allowed a transparent 

9 international forensic investigation of suspect laboratories 

10 in Wuhan to commence, including the Wuhan Institute of 

11 Virology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (in this sec12 tion referred to as ‘‘CAS’’), the President shall— 

13 (1) impose the sanctions described in subsection 

14 (c) with respect to individuals who hold positions of 

15 leadership in the state-run CAS, including its more 

16 than 100 affiliated institutes and laboratories, 13 

17 local branches, and 2 universities; 

18 (2) prohibit Federal funding for any joint re19 search or other collaborative projects between United 

20 States-based researchers and CAS researchers 

21 across all academic fields, including those employed 

22 by any of the more than 100 affiliated institutes and 

23 laboratories of CAS, its 13 local branches or 2 uni24 versities, or the more than 430 science and tech25 nology enterprises based in the People’s Republic of 


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1 China across 11 industries that were created by 

2 CAS or founded with CAS investment; and 

3 (3) prohibit United States-based researchers 

4 and institutions that receive Federal funding from 

5 engaging in collaborative projects involving gain-of6 function research on viruses with individuals or in7 stitutions based in the People’s Republic of China. 

8 (b) TERMINATION.—The requirements of subsection 

9 (a) shall terminate on the date on which the Government 

10 of the People’s Republic of China allows the transparent 

11 international forensic investigation described in that sub12 section to be conducted and concluded without— 

13 (1) imposition of restrictions on the scope or 

14 subject matter of the investigation; or 

15 (2) limitations on the access of investigators to 

16 physical sites, persons of interest, or relevant epide17 miological, serological, and virological data. 

18 (c) SANCTIONS DESCRIBED.—The sanctions to be 

19 imposed under subsection (a)(1) are the following: 

20 (1) ASSET BLOCKING.— 

21 (A) IN GENERAL.—The President shall ex22 ercise all of the powers granted to the President 

23 under the International Emergency Economic 

24 Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) to the ex25 tent necessary to block and prohibit all transVerDate Sep 11 2014 16:39 Jun 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2148.IS S2148

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1 actions in property and interests in property de2 scribed in subparagraph (B) if such property 

3 and interests in property are in the United 

4 States, come within the United States, or are or 

5 come within the possession or control of a 

6 United States person. 

7 (B) PROPERTY AND INTERESTS IN PROP8 ERTY DESCRIBED.—The property and interests 

9 in property described in this subparagraph are 

10 property or interests in property of— 

11 (i) an individual described in sub12 section (a)(1); or 

13 (ii) any family member or associate 

14 acting for or on behalf of an individual de15 scribed in subsection (a)(1) and to whom 

16 that individual transfers such property or 

17 interests in property after the date on 

18 which the President designates the indi19 vidual for the imposition of sanctions 

20 under that subsection. 

21 (2) INELIGIBILITY FOR VISAS, ADMISSION, OR

22 PAROLE.— 

23 (A) VISAS, ADMISSION, OR PAROLE.—An 

24 alien described in subsection (a)(1) is— 

25 (i) inadmissible to the United States; 


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1 (ii) ineligible to receive a visa or other 

2 documentation to enter the United States; 

3 and 

4 (iii) otherwise ineligible to be admitted 

5 or paroled into the United States or to re6 ceive any other benefit under the Immigra7 tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et 

8 seq.). 

9 (B) CURRENT VISAS REVOKED.— 

10 (i) IN GENERAL.—An alien described 

11 in subsection (a)(1) is subject to revocation 

12 of any visa or other entry documentation 

13 regardless of when the visa or other entry 

14 documentation is or was issued. 

15 (ii) IMMEDIATE EFFECT.—A revoca16 tion under clause (i) shall— 

17 (I) take effect immediately; and 

18 (II) automatically cancel any 

19 other valid visa or entry documenta20 tion that is in the alien’s possession. 

21 (d) IMPLEMENTATION; PENALTIES.— 

22 (1) IMPLEMENTATION.—The President may ex23 ercise the authorities provided to the President 

24 under sections 203 and 205 of the International 

25 Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1702 


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1 and 1704) to the extent necessary to carry out this 

2 section. 

3 (2) PENALTIES.—A person that violates, at4 tempts to violate, conspires to violate, or causes a 

5 violation of subsection (c)(1) or any regulation, li6 cense, or order issued to carry out that subsection 

7 shall be subject to the penalties set forth in sub8 sections (b) and (c) of section 206 of the Inter9 national Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 

10 U.S.C. 1705) to the same extent as a person that 

11 commits an unlawful act described in subsection (a) 

12 of that section. 

13 (e) EXCEPTIONS.— 

14 (1) EXCEPTION FOR INTELLIGENCE ACTIVI15 TIES.—Sanctions under this section shall not apply 

16 to any activity subject to the reporting requirements 

17 under title V of the National Security Act of 1947 

18 (50 U.S.C. 3091 et seq.) or any authorized intel19 ligence activities of the United States. 

20 (2) EXCEPTION TO COMPLY WITH INTER21 NATIONAL OBLIGATIONS AND FOR LAW ENFORCE22 MENT ACTIVITIES.—Sanctions under subsection 

23 (c)(2) shall not apply with respect to an alien if ad24 mitting or paroling the alien into the United States 

25 is necessary— 


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1 (A) to permit the United States to comply 

2 with the Agreement regarding the Head3 quarters of the United Nations, signed at Lake 

4 Success June 26, 1947, and entered into force 

5 November 21, 1947, between the United Na6 tions and the United States, or other applicable 

7 international obligations; or 

8 (B) to carry out or assist law enforcement 

9 activity in the United States. 

10 (3) EXCEPTION RELATING TO IMPORTATION OF

11 GOODS.— 

12 (A) IN GENERAL.—The authorities and re13 quirements to impose sanctions authorized 

14 under this section shall not include the author15 ity or a requirement to impose sanctions on the 

16 importation of goods. 

17 (B) GOOD DEFINED.—In this paragraph, 

18 the term ‘‘good’’ means any article, natural or 

19 manmade substance, material, supply, or manu20 factured product, including inspection and test 

21 equipment, and excluding technical data. 

22 (f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

23 (1) ADMISSION; ADMITTED; ALIEN.—The terms 

24 ‘‘admission’’, ‘‘admitted’’, and ‘‘alien’’ have the 


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1 meanings given those terms in section 101 of the 

2 Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101). 

3 (2) GAIN-OF-FUNCTION.—The term ‘‘gain-of4 function’’, with respect to the study of viruses, 

5 means— 

6 (A) the use of gene editing to increase the 

7 transmissibility, virulence, immunogenicity, or 

8 host tropism of a virus by artificially inserting 

9 genomic components from one virus into the 

10 backbone of another virus, which results in the 

11 creation of a new chimeric virus, particularly 

12 when the resultant chimeric virus is pathogenic 

13 to humans; or 

14 (B) serial passaging in a cell culture to in15 crease the transmissibility, virulence, immuno16 genicity, or host tropism of a virus by selec17 tively applying pressure to a culture to artifi18 cially induce its mutation or RNA recombina19 tion with one or more viruses. 

20 (3) TRANSPARENT INTERNATIONAL FORENSIC

21 INVESTIGATION.—The term ‘‘transparent inter22 national forensic investigation’’, with respect to in23 vestigating the origin of SARS–CoV–2, means an in24 quiry that is objective, data-driven, inclusive of 

25 broad expertise, subject to independent oversight, 


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1 and properly managed to exclude individuals with 

2 conflicts of interest and under which the following 

3 takes place: 

4 (A) Relevant research laboratories and 

5 hospitals open their records to examination by 

6 the investigative team and grant the investiga7 tive team unfettered access to any and all facili8 ties and other sites of interest, and to any and 

9 all forms of epidemiological or virological data 

10 of interest, including serological records per11 taining to the earliest confirmed or suspected 

12 cases of COVID–19, or cases of similar illnesses 

13 that may have been misdiagnosed, which ap14 peared in and around Wuhan in the fall and 

15 winter of 2019. Investigators document the ve16 racity and source of the data upon which their 

17 analysis is based in a manner that allows inde18 pendent experts to reproduce their analysis and 

19 validate any conclusions they may draw. 

20 (B) The international team is allowed to 

21 perform a full forensic investigation of the 

22 Wuhan Institute of Virology, and if necessary, 

23 the Wuhan Center for Disease Prevention and 

24 Control and the Wuhan Institute of Biological 

25 Products, and all other laboratories in Wuhan 


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1 that the team might identify as warranting ex2 amination. The team is allowed to review the 

3 biosafety level under which bat coronavirus re4 search was conducted, and to interview any and 

5 all personnel currently or previously employed 

6 at those laboratories, or related experts who 

7 may have information pertinent to the inves8 tigation. All laboratory logs and notebooks kept 

9 by Shi Zhengli and other researchers at the 

10 Wuhan Institute of Virology who have con11 ducted gain-of-function experiments between 

12 2007 and the date of the enactment of this Act, 

13 as well as their published and unpublished work 

14 in Chinese and English, are presented in a full 

15 and unaltered condition for examination by the 

16 team. The team is given unlimited access to the 

17 full range of virus cultures, isolates, genetic se18 quences, databases, and patient specimens 

19 stored at these facilities as well as all chimeric 

20 synthetic viruses grown in vitro by cell culture 

21 passaging or engineered by genomic editing be22 tween 2007 and the date of the enactment of 

23 this Act. Such access must include the oppor24 tunity to examine the Wuhan Institute of 

25 Virology’s database of approximately 22,000 


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1 samples and virus sequences, including 15,000 

2 taken from bats, which was previously available 

3 to the public but taken offline in September 

4 2019. The team is further allowed to examine 

5 in full all training procedures in effect at the 

6 laboratory prior to the pandemic, including 

7 those pertaining to recordkeeping and safety 

8 procedures and strategies to prevent the acci9 dental escape of potential pathogens. 

10 (C) The investigative team analyzes in de11 tail all research related to the 293 bat 

12 coronaviruses reportedly isolated by Shi Zhengli 

13 and her team at the Wuhan Institute of Virol14 ogy between 2012 and 2015, particularly 

15 RaTG13 and RaBtCoV/4991, including all 

16 virus isolates and cultures. The Wuhan Insti17 tute of Virology discloses the content of all clas18 sified and unpublished studies that the Institute 

19 reportedly conducted with the People’s Libera20 tion Army if such studies involved gain-of-func21 tion research. The team is able to test all lab22 oratory personnel for antibodies and other sero23 logical indicators of past infection of COVID– 

24 19. The team is given access to all other 

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1 ogy, including security logs, surveillance video 

2 footage, audio recordings, and electronic logs of 

3 employees entering and leaving the facility. The 

4 investigative team is permitted to take samples 

5 and conduct testing of the physical facilities 

6 where gain-of-function research has been con7 ducted, including, if necessary, sewer samples. 

8 Unfettered access is also granted to the aban9 doned copper mine in Mojiang Hani Autono10 mous County in Yunnan province, where 

11 Wuhan Institute of Virology researchers are 

12 known to have collected bat virus specimens, in13 cluding of RaTG13, during the decade pre14 ceding the date of the enactment of this Act. 

15 (D) The international team is comprised of 

16 members chosen by the governments of the 

17 United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, 

18 France, the Netherlands, Germany, Australia, 

19 Japan, and India. The team includes molecular 

20 biologists, virologists, epidemiologists, and ex21 perts in biosafety and biosecurity. Individuals 

22 who have previously ruled out the possibility of 

23 either zoonotic transmission or a laboratory 

24 leak are disqualified from participation. The 

25 Government of the People’s Republic of China 


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1 may appoint Chinese experts to accompany and 

2 advise the team as it conducts its work in the 

3 People’s Republic of China, but the Government 

4 of the People’s Republic of China has no au5 thority to dictate the selection of team members 

6 and cannot obstruct the participation of any in7 dividual selected by the individual’s government 

8 for the team. The central, provincial, and mu9 nicipal authorities of the People’s Republic of 

10 China facilitate the work of the investigative 

11 team and refrain from imposing any restrictions 

12 on the scope, scale, and duration of the inves13 tigation. 

14 (4) UNITED STATES PERSON.—The term 

15 ‘‘United States person’’ means— 

16 (A) an individual who is a United States 

17 citizen or an alien lawfully admitted for perma18 nent residence to the United States; 

19 (B) an entity organized under the laws of 

20 the United States or any jurisdiction within the 

21 United States, including a foreign branch of 

22 such an entity; or 

23 (C) any person in the United States. 

Æ 


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