IV 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. RES. 922 

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that all nations should 

permanently close live wildlife markets and that the People’s Republic 

of China should cease spreading disinformation regarding the origins 

of coronavirus. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 14, 2020 

Mr. CHABOT (for himself, Mr. RESCHENTHALER, Mr. WILSON of South Carolina, Mr. GUEST, and Mr. YOHO) submitted the following resolution; 

which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition 

to the Committees on Natural Resources, Agriculture, and Energy and 

Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, 

in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that 

all nations should permanently close live wildlife markets 

and that the People’s Republic of China should cease 

spreading disinformation regarding the origins of 

coronavirus. 

Whereas zoonotic diseases, diseases spread from animals to 

humans, present a well-known threat for emerging infectious diseases; 

Whereas zoonotic spillovers at the wildlife-human interface 

are not infrequent events, including diseases in the 


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•HRES 922 IH 

United States such as rabies, West Nile virus, plague, 

salmonellosis, hantavirus, or Lyme disease; 

Whereas the wildlife trade poses a significant risk of disease 

transmission to people, livestock, and wildlife in countries 

of transit and import, independent of their origin in the 

wild or in breeding facilities; 

Whereas zoonotic disease and subsequent pandemic threats 

from commercial trade for human consumption is generally independent of whether an animal is designated as 

threatened under domestic or international law, whether 

an animal was removed from the wild or born in captivity, or whether the trade is legal or illegal; 

Whereas severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) transferred from a bat to a masked palm civet and then to humans in the context of a live wildlife market in China, 

causing an outbreak in humans in 2002; 

Whereas Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), highly 

pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI H5N1), and Ebola all 

transferred from animals to humans, highlighting the 

threat posed to human health by zoonotic diseases and 

wildlife consumption; 

Whereas live wildlife markets, a type of wet market, sell both 

live and dead wild animals for human consumption, 

sometimes including animals such as rats, bats, turtles, 

snakes, foxes, civets, pangolins, and monkeys as well as 

cats and dogs; 

Whereas at live wildlife markets, animals often are kept in 

cramped cages and other inhumane conditions, as well as 

in close proximity to animals with which they would not 

come into contact in the wild; 


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•HRES 922 IH 

Whereas many live wildlife markets sell, kill, and store animals often in unhygienic conditions, in which tables, 

stalls, and floors are often contaminated with feces, bodily fluids, and blood which are known to be vectors for 

disease transmission; 

Whereas it is widely believed that SARS–CoV–2 originated in 

an infected bat and may have spread to humans through 

a second animal and spread within the Huanan Seafood 

Wholesale Market, a live wildlife market in Wuhan, 

China; 

Whereas SARS–CoV–2 which causes COVID–19 has come to 

be commonly called by the generic name of ‘‘novel 

coronavirus’’ or simply ‘‘coronavirus’’; 

Whereas, on April 3, 2020, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the Director 

of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said, ‘‘I think we should shut down those things 

right away . . . it boggles my mind how when we have 

so many diseases that emanate out of that unusual 

human-animal interface, that we don’t just shut it down. 

I don’t know what else has to happen to get us to appreciate that’’, and continued ‘‘I think there are certain 

countries in which this is very commonplace. I would like 

to see the rest of the world really lean with a lot of pressure on these countries that have that, because what we 

are going through right now is a direct result of that.’’; 

Whereas there have been widespread calls for the permanent 

closure of live wildlife markets from members of Congress, public health experts, wildlife and animal health 

experts, and animal welfare and conservation organizations; 


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•HRES 922 IH 

Whereas the Prime Minister of Vietnam and the Government 

of Vietnam promptly drafted a directive to prohibit wildlife trade and consumption by April 1, 2020; 

Whereas, in December 2019 and early 2020, Chinese Communist Party officials initially sought to cover up the outbreak and have not been sufficiently transparent with the 

global community regarding the emergence and initial 

spread of SARS–CoV–2; 

Whereas Chinese Communist Party officials have spread 

disinformation to cast doubt on the facts surrounding the 

emergence and initial spread of SARS–CoV–2; 

Whereas Chinese Communist Party officials have suggested, 

without evidence and in opposition to the widespread 

views of the medical community, that the United States 

Army brought SARS–CoV–2 to China; 

Whereas in response to SARS–CoV–2, the People’s Republic 

of China has taken steps to curtail the wildlife trade, and 

the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market has been closed; 

Whereas these steps have allowed for the continued exploitation of wildlife for several nonfood purposes; 

Whereas there have been reports that wet markets for livestock have been allowed to reopen in China; and 

Whereas the People’s Republic of China ordered the closure 

of live wildlife markets following the SARS outbreak, but 

allowed their reopening as it subsided, leading to another 

outbreak of SARS later that year: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) affirms that animals are subject to inhu3 mane treatment in unsanitary conditions at live 

4 wildlife markets as well as through the exotic pet 


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•HRES 922 IH 

1 trade and other wildlife trafficking, including in the 

2 United States; 

3 (2) affirms the unanimous consensus of the 

4 medical community that SARS–CoV–2 emerged in 

5 Wuhan, China, and spread through the nexus of the 

6 Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in that city; 

7 (3) is encouraged by the People’s Republic of 

8 China’s decision to permanently ban the sale of wild 

9 animals for human consumption and calls on it to 

10 sustain and strengthen these policies; 

11 (4) calls on all governments to permanently 

12 close live wildlife markets; 

13 (5) calls on the World Health Organization to 

14 advise member states to close live wildlife markets 

15 around the world; 

16 (6) calls on the Chinese Communist Party offi17 cials and the propaganda organs of the Chinese 

18 Communist Party to cease spreading disinformation 

19 on the origins of, and initial response to, SARS– 

20 CoV–2; and 

21 (7) affirms the importance of the link between 

22 animal and human health and affirms the impor23 tance of continued research regarding zoonotic dis24 ease threats to humans. 

Æ 


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