IV 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. CON. RES. 36 

Establishing the Joint Select Committee on the Events and Activities 

Surrounding China’s Handling of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 28, 2021 

Mr. BARR submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred 

to the Committee on Rules 

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 

Establishing the Joint Select Committee on the Events and 

Activities Surrounding China’s Handling of the 2019 

Novel Coronavirus. 

1 Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 

2 concurring), 

3 SECTION 1. ESTABLISHMENT. 

4 There is hereby established in the Senate and the 

5 House of Representatives a joint select committee to be 

6 known as the ‘‘Joint Select Committee on the Events and 

7 Activities Surrounding China’s Handling of the 2019 

8 Novel Coronavirus’’ (hereafter referred to as the ‘‘Joint 

9 Select Committee’’). 


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1 SEC. 2. MEMBERSHIP. 

2 (a) SELECTION AND APPOINTMENT.— 

3 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Joint Select Committee 

4 shall be composed of 20 Members of the House of 

5 Representatives and Senate, of whom— 

6 (A) 10 shall be Members of the House of 

7 Representatives, of whom 5 shall be appointed 

8 by the Speaker of the House of Representatives 

9 and 5 shall be appointed by the minority leader 

10 of the House of Representatives; and 

11 (B) 10 shall be Senators, of whom 5 shall 

12 be appointed by the majority leader of the Sen13 ate and 5 shall be appointed by the minority 

14 leader of the Senate. 

15 (2) TREATMENT OF DELEGATE AND RESIDENT

16 COMMISSIONER.—For purposes of this section, a 

17 ‘‘Member’’ of the House of Representatives includes 

18 a Delegate or Resident Commissioner to the Con19 gress. 

20 (b) CO-CHAIRS.—Two of the members of the Joint 

21 Select Committee shall serve as co-chairs of the Joint Se22 lect Committee, and shall be appointed as follows: 

23 (1) One shall be a Member of the House of 

24 Representatives, who shall be appointed as co-chair 

25 by the Speaker of the House of Representatives in 

26 consultation with the majority leader of the Senate. 


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1 (2) One shall be a Senator, who shall be ap2 pointed as co-chair by the minority leader of the 

3 Senate in consultation with the minority leader of 

4 the House of Representatives. 

5 (c) VACANCIES.—A vacancy in the membership of the 

6 Joint Select Committee (including a vacancy resulting be7 cause a member ceases to be a Member of the House of 

8 Representatives or a Senator) shall not affect its powers, 

9 and shall be filled not later than 14 calendar days after 

10 the date on which the vacancy occurs in the same manner 

11 as the original appointment was made. 

12 (d) DEADLINES.—Members of the Joint Select Com13 mittee and the co-chairs of the Joint Select Committee 

14 shall be appointed not later than 14 calendar days after 

15 the date of the adoption of this concurrent resolution. 

16 SEC. 3. INVESTIGATION AND REPORT ON THE EVENTS SUR17 ROUNDING CHINA’S HANDLING OF THE 2019 

18 NOVEL CORONAVIRUS. 

19 (a) INVESTIGATION AND REPORT.—The Joint Select 

20 Committee is authorized and directed to conduct a full and 

21 complete investigation of, and to issue a final report to 

22 the House of Representatives and Senate regarding, the 

23 following: 

24 (1) The origins and causes of the 2019 novel 

25 coronavirus. 


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1 (2) All policies, decisions, and activities by 

2 China regarding the origins and causes of such 

3 coronavirus. 

4 (3) All policies, decisions, and activities by 

5 China in response to the initial outbreak and spread 

6 of such coronavirus. 

7 (4) All policies, decisions, and activities by 

8 China to suppress facts and information regarding 

9 the spread, origins, causes, and transmission of such 

10 coronavirus, including efforts to silence those mak11 ing early warnings, punish whistleblowers, and re12 strict freedom of information about such corona13 virus. 

14 (5) All policies, decisions, and activities by 

15 China to spread misinformation regarding the ori16 gins and causes of such coronavirus, including accu17 sations and misinformation that the coronavirus was 

18 brought to the city of Wuhan by the United States 

19 military. 

20 (6) All policies, decisions, and activities by 

21 China to sideline, deny, and suppress charitable 

22 service organizations, institutions of civil society, 

23 secular and faith-based non-governmental organiza24 tions, international humanitarian organizations, and 

25 foreign governments offering to provide information, 


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1 expertise, resources, and assistance to China and the 

2 Chinese people to combat such coronavirus. 

3 (7) Accountability for policies, decisions and ac4 tivities related to influencing the World Health Or5 ganization’s response to the outbreak of such 

6 coronavirus, including individuals and entities re7 sponsible for those policies, decisions, and activities. 

8 (8) All policies, decisions, and activities by 

9 China to manufacture, produce, procure, possess, or 

10 hoard personal protective equipment and critical 

11 pharmaceutical components to manipulate or 

12 weaponize the supply chain against the international 

13 community, including the United States. 

14 (9) Vulnerabilities in the United States domes15 tic and global supply chain to combat a global pan16 demic due to reliance on Chinese manufacturing and 

17 recommendations for decreasing dependence on Chi18 nese manufacturing by improving and securing a do19 mestic supply chain for antibiotics, viral drugs, crit20 ical pharmaceutical components, masks, and other 

21 personal protective equipment. 

22 (10) Information related to lessons learned 

23 from China’s handling of such coronavirus. 

24 (11) Any other relevant issues relating to Chi25 na’s actions that led to further spread of such 


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1 coronavirus, China’s response to such coronavirus, 

2 or the investigation by the Joint Select Committee 

3 into China regarding such coronavirus. 

4 (12) Any recommendations to Congress and the 

5 executive branch regarding actions the United States 

6 government should take in response to China’s han7 dling of such coronavirus. 

8 (b) TRANSFER OF RECORDS.—At the request of the 

9 co-chairs of the Joint Select Committee, any standing 

10 committee of the Senate or House of Representatives hav11 ing custody of records in any form relating to the matters 

12 described in subsection (a) shall transfer such records to 

13 the Joint Select Committee. 

14 (c) INTERIM REPORTS.—In addition to the final re15 port issued under subsection (a), the Joint Select Com16 mittee may issue such interim reports as it considers nec17 essary. 

18 (d) CLASSIFIED ANNEX.—The Joint Select Com19 mittee may include a classified annex in any report issued 

20 under this section. 

21 (e) DEFINITIONS.— 

22 (1) CHINA.—In this section, the term ‘‘China’’ 

23 means the Government of the People’s Republic of 

24 China and any of the following: 


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1 (A) An official of the Chinese Communist 

2 Party. 

3 (B) An official of the Government of the 

4 People’s Republic of China. 

5 (C) An agent or instrumentality of the 

6 Government of the People’s Republic of China. 

7 (D) Any other person owned or controlled 

8 by or acting on behalf of any person described 

9 in subparagraphs (A) through (C). 

10 (2) 2019 NOVEL CORONAVIRUS.—In this sub11 section, the term ‘‘2019 novel coronavirus’’ means 

12 the coronavirus disease (COVID–19) and severe 

13 acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS– 

14 CoV–2). 

15 SEC. 4. POWERS. 

16 (a) HEARINGS AND OTHER ACTIVITIES.—For the 

17 purpose of carrying out its duties, the Joint Select Com18 mittee may hold such hearings and undertake such other 

19 activities as the Joint Select Committee determines to be 

20 necessary to carry out its duties, whether the Congress 

21 is in session, has recessed, or has adjourned. 

22 (b) AUTHORITY TO USE SUBPOENAS.—The Joint Se23 lect Committee may require by subpoena the attendance 

24 of such witnesses and the production of such books, pa25 pers, and documents, as it considers appropriate. 


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1 (c) ACCESS TO LEGISLATIVE BRANCH SERVICES.— 

2 The Joint Select Committee shall have access to the serv3 ices of the Government Accountability Office, the Congres4 sional Budget Office, and the Congressional Research 

5 Service in the same manner and under the same terms 

6 and conditions as any standing committee of the House 

7 of Representatives or Senate. 

8 (d) ADOPTION OF RULES.—Not later than 7 days 

9 after all of its members have been appointed, the Joint 

10 Select Committee shall adopt rules governing its oper11 ations, including rules governing the issuance of sub12 poenas and rules governing the use of official funds for 

13 travel by members and staff, and shall submit such rules 

14 to the Clerk of the House of Representatives and Sec15 retary of the Senate for publication in the Congressional 

16 Record. 

17 SEC. 5. STAFF; FUNDING. 

18 (a) STAFF.— 

19 (1) USE OF EXISTING STAFF.—To the greatest 

20 extent practicable, the Joint Select Committee shall 

21 utilize the services of staff of employing offices of 

22 the Senate and House of Representatives. 

23 (2) AUTHORITY TO APPOINT STAFF.— 

24 (A) IN GENERAL.—Each of the co-chairs 

25 of the Joint Select Committee may appoint, 


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1 prescribe the duties and responsibilities of, and 

2 fix the pay of such staff as the co-chair con3 siders appropriate to assist the Joint Select 

4 Committee in carrying out its duties, so long as 

5 the number of staff appointed by one of the co6 chairs does not exceed the number of staff ap7 pointed by the other co-chair. 

8 (B) DETAIL OF CONGRESSIONAL EMPLOY9 EES.—Upon the joint request of the co-chairs, 

10 the head of an employing office of the House of 

11 Representatives or Senate (including a joint 

12 committee of the Congress) is authorized to de13 tail, without reimbursement, any of the staff of 

14 the office to the Joint Select Committee to as15 sist the Joint Select Committee in carrying out 

16 its duties. 

17 (3) EXPERTS AND CONSULTANTS.—Section 

18 202(i) of the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 

19 (2 U.S.C. 4301(i)) shall apply with respect to the 

20 Joint Select Committee in the same manner as such 

21 section applies with respect to a standing committee 

22 of the Senate, except that any consultant whose 

23 services are procured by the Joint Select Committee 

24 shall be selected jointly by the co-chairs of the Joint 

25 Select Committee. 


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1 (b) FUNDING.— 

2 (1) VOUCHERS.—Payments for expenses of the 

3 Joint Select Committee shall be made using vouch4 ers authorized by the Joint Select Committee, signed 

5 by co-chairs of the Joint Select Committee, and ap6 proved in a manner directed by the Committee on 

7 Rules and Administration of the Senate and the 

8 Committee on House Administration of the House of 

9 Representatives. 

10 (2) SOURCE OF FUNDS.—There are authorized 

11 to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary 

12 for the operation of the Joint Select Committee, of 

13 which— 

14 (A) 50 percent shall be derived from the 

15 applicable accounts of the House of Representa16 tives; and 

17 (B) 50 percent shall be derived from the 

18 contingent fund of the Senate. 

19 SEC. 6. TERMINATION. 

20 (a) TERMINATION DATE.—The Joint Select Com21 mittee shall terminate 30 days after filing the final report 

22 required under section 3. 

23 (b) TRANSFER OF RECORDS.—Upon termination of 

24 the Joint Select Committee, the records of the Joint Select 

25 Committee shall be transferred to— 


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1 (1) such committee or committees of the House 

2 of Representatives as may be designated by the 

3 Speaker of the House of Representatives; and 

4 (2) such committee or committees of the Senate 

5 as my be designated by the President pro tempore 

6 of the Senate. 

Æ 


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