III 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. RES. 718 

Expressing the sense of the Senate that the United States Government 

should immediately place a moratorium on all federally funded gainof-function research given the increased safety concerns. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 4, 2024 

Mr. MARSHALL (for himself, Mr. BRAUN, and Mr. LEE) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing the sense of the Senate that the United States 

Government should immediately place a moratorium on 

all federally funded gain-of-function research given the 

increased safety concerns. 

Whereas the Obama Administration defined gain-of-function 

studies as research that aims to increase the ability of infectious agents to cause disease by enhancing its pathogenicity or by increasing its transmissibility; 

Whereas the Obama Administration, on October 17, 2014, 

mandated a Federal Government pause on new gain-offunction research, citing recent concerns regarding biosafety and biosecurity; 


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Whereas the Obama Administration, on October 17, 2014, 

stated that new Federal funding will not be released for 

gain-of-function research projects that may be reasonably 

anticipated to confer attributes to the influenza, Middle 

East respiratory syndrome (referred to in this preamble 

as ‘‘MERS’’), or severe acute respiratory syndrome (referred to in this preamble as ‘‘SARS’’) viruses such that 

such a virus would have enhanced pathogenicity or transmissibility in mammals via the respiratory route; 

Whereas in the lead up to the Obama Administration pausing 

new gain-of-function research, the Centers for Disease 

Control and Prevention noted an increase in accidents involving leaks, spills, or other releases of infectious material inside the laboratories receiving Federal funding; 

Whereas the Cambridge Working Group, a consortium of 

some of the leading international researchers and scientists, released a 2014 open letter stating ‘‘experiments 

involving the creation of potential pandemic pathogens 

should be curtailed until there has been a quantitative, 

objective and credible assessment of the risks, potential 

benefits, and opportunities for risk mitigation, as well as 

comparison against safer experimental approaches.’’; 

Whereas in 2014, after the Obama Administration mandated 

a pause on gain-of-function research, the National Institutes of Health (referred to in this preamble as ‘‘NIH’’), 

led by Francis Collins, including the National Institute of 

Allergy and Infectious Diseases (referred to in this preamble as ‘‘NIAID’’), led by Anthony Fauci, continued to 

authorize grants and research awards to organizations 

that study the spread of viruses from animals to humans; 

Whereas some such awards went to EcoHealth Alliance and 

its President, Peter Daszak, who then disbursed research 


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money to the Wuhan Institute of Virology (referred to in 

this preamble as the ‘‘WIV’’) and East China Normal 

University; 

Whereas experiments advanced by EcoHealth Alliance during 

the pause included, among other projects, combining genetic material from a ‘‘parent’’ coronavirus, known as 

WIV1, with other viruses; 

Whereas the results of such experiments demonstrated varying pathogenicity of SARS–CoV–2 with different spike 

proteins in humanized mice; 

Whereas a majority of scientists and researchers, including 

Dr. Lawrence Tabak and Dr. Ralph Baric, an EcoHealth 

Alliance collaborator and top coronavirus expert, when 

made aware of such experiment, admitted that EcoHealth 

Alliance’s coronavirus research appeared to meet the 

standard criteria for gain-of-function research; 

Whereas NIH and NIAID continued to support EcoHealth 

Alliance and other organizations conducting gain-of-function research, according to the Obama Administration’s 

definition, through 2017, even though the pause remained in effect; 

Whereas on July 7, 2016, NIAID identified possible gain-offunction research concerns in an experiment proposed by 

EcoHealth and conducted by the WIV; 

Whereas in May 2021, Anthony Fauci conceded that during 

the period between 2014 and 2017 that ‘‘it is impossible 

to guarantee that researchers at the Wuhan Institute of 

Virology did not use American funds to perform gain-offunction research on coronaviruses.’’; 


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Whereas Anthony Fauci and NIAID did not alert senior 

White House officials before lifting a ban on gain-offunction research in 2017; 

Whereas in November 2019, 3 researchers from the WIV became sick enough to receive hospital care, and according 

to United States officials, those sick researchers were involved in coronavirus research; 

Whereas the Chinese government deliberately delayed notifying the World Health organization that it had detected 

SARS-like infections from an unknown, novel pathogen 

well before it sent official notification in December 2019; 

Whereas on April 24, 2020, NIH instructed EcoHealth to 

terminate all funding to the WIV, and NIH terminated 

the WIV’s entire sub-grant award; 

Whereas in July 2020, NIH, having procedurally erred in its 

April 2020 termination of EcoHealth’s grant, reinstated 

and then immediately suspended EcoHealth’s grant while 

requiring EcoHealth to meet certain conditions, such as 

obtaining a sample of the SARS–CoV–2 virus that the 

Wuhan lab used to determine its genetic sequence and 

arranging for an independent team to examine the 

Wuhan lab and determine whether it had possession of 

the SARS–CoV–2 virus prior to December 2019; 

Whereas Peter Daszak reacted to those conditions by calling 

them ‘‘preposterous’’; 

Whereas based on tips from the scientific community that 

suspected EcoHealth’s science research at the WIV may 

have caused the COVID–19 pandemic outbreak, NIH investigated EcoHealth’s compliance with its grant agreement terms, including the gain-of-function provisions in 


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June 2016 and again from April 2020 to April 2023 and 

concluded that EcoHealth was noncompliant; 

Whereas in October 2021, NIH acknowledged to Congress 

that EcoHealth Alliance did not have access to laboratory 

notebooks or other records supporting its research, even 

though keeping such records was a requirement of the 

NIH grant; 

Whereas although EcoHealth’s Year 5 Research Performance 

Progress Report for its research activities was due to 

NIH in September 2019, EcoHealth did not submit the 

report until August 3, 2021; 

Whereas on October 20, 2021, it was revealed than an experiment in EcoHealth’s Year 5 Progress Report (for research between June 2018 and May 2019) exhibited 

virus growth greater than one log, thus constituting gainof-function research, which should have triggered immediate suspension and reporting to NIAID according to 

contract agreements; 

Whereas instead of EcoHealth taking either action, 

EcoHealth used language in its report that obfuscated 

the severity and timing of the gain-of-function experiments, which contradicted the Obama-era pause on gainof-function research and the additional terms of agreement NIH added to EcoHealth’s grant in June 2016; 

Whereas in October 2021, NIH updated the definition of 

gain-of-function research to focus more on enhanced pandemic potential pathogens (referred to in this preamble 

as ‘‘ePPP’’), which meant that because the majority of 

gain-of-function research does not include ePPPs, once 

considered gain-of-function research now fell outside the 

scope of the stricter oversight required for ePPP studies; 


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Whereas NIH determined that no evidence existed to support 

the testimony Peter Daszak gave to Congress on November 14, 2023, that EcoHealth was prevented from submitting its Year 5 Research Performance Progress Report to NIH due to a technical problem in NIH’s system; 

Whereas in April 2023, when NIH reinstated EcoHealth’s 

suspended grant and imposed new conditions, NIH stated 

that it was executing a corrective action plan to 

EcoHealth that satisfied NIH’s compliance efforts regarding gain-of-function research; 

Whereas as part of the April 2023 reinstatement, EcoHealth 

pledged it would not perform work in, or with, Chineseaffiliated institutions; 

Whereas the prime reasoning for EcoHealth’s reinstatement 

was EcoHealth’s representation to NIAID that 

EcoHealth had access to sequences and samples that 

were required to be supplied to the Federal Government 

as a condition of receiving Federal grants, which still 

needed analysis; 

Whereas EcoHealth was not forthcoming and failed to disclose to NIAID that those samples were stored in China 

at the WIV, which was EcoHealth’s subcontractor that 

conducted the coronavirus gain-of-function research that 

could have caused the COVID–19 pandemic; 

Whereas as of new guidance issued in May 2024, the Biden 

Administration removed avian influenza and current 

forms of SARS–CoV–2, the virus that causes Covid–19, 

from the category of pathogens of pandemic potential, 

thus excluding them from updated rules governing gainof-function research; 


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Whereas effective May 14, 2024, the Department of Health 

and Human Services (referred to in this preamble as 

‘‘HHS’’) announced it would commence official debarment proceedings against EcoHealth Alliance and implement a government-wide suspension of United States taxpayer funds to include a hold on all active grants; 

Whereas on May 21, 2024, HHS, in an effort to protect public interest, suspended and recommended debarment of 

Peter Daszak’s individual ability to receive any Federal 

funds; 

Whereas both the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the 

Department of Energy have assessed that the COVID– 

19 pandemic was a result of a lab leak from the WIV; 

Whereas the majority members of the Select Subcommittee 

on the Coronavirus Pandemic of the Committee on Oversight and Accountability of the House of Representatives 

(referred to in this preamble as the ‘‘Subcommittee’’) reported that EcoHealth’s actions were often enabled by 

NIH and NIAID and the failures of NIH and NIAID to 

properly oversee EcoHealth’s research projects; 

Whereas the majority members of the Subcommittee found 

that EcoHealth’s actions were often enabled by the lack 

of grant management and oversight by NIH and NIAID; 

and 

Whereas the majority members of the Subcommittee believe 

that such NIH and NIAID grant management oversight 

failures necessitate both Congressional and Executive action to increase transparency and grantee oversight: Now, 

therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that Con2 gress should immediately consider the Viral Gain-of-FuncVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:01 Jun 05, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR718.IS SR718

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1 tion Research Moratorium Act (S. 81, 118th Congress, as 

2 introduced on January 25, 2023), which would— 

3 (1) define gain-of-function research as any re4 search that— 

5 (A) could confer attributes to the influ6 enza, Middle East respiratory syndrome, or se7 vere acute respiratory syndrome viruses such 

8 that such a virus would have enhanced pathoge9 nicity or transmissibility in any organism; or 

10 (B) involves methods that could enhance 

11 potential pandemic pathogens or related risky 

12 research with potentially dangerous pathogens; 

13 and 

14 (2) prohibit, notwithstanding any other provi15 sion of law, research grants supported by Federal 

16 funds from being awarded to institutions of higher 

17 education, or other research organizations, that are 

18 conducting gain-of-function research. 

Æ 


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