I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4048 
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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 22, 2021 
Mr. GALLAGHER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committees on the Ju-
diciary, and Science, Space, and Technology, for a period to be subse-
quently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 
provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
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. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘COVID–19 Origins 
Accountability Act of 2021’’. 
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SEC. 2. MEASURES IN RESPONSE TO FAILURE OF THE GOV-
ERNMENT OF THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF 
CHINA TO ALLOW AN INVESTIGATION OF SUS-
PECT LABORATORIES IN WUHAN. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—If, by not later than the date that 
is 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, 
the President is unable to certify that the Government of 
the People’s Republic of China has allowed a transparent 
international forensic investigation of suspect laboratories 
in Wuhan to commence, including of the Wuhan Institute 
of Virology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (in this 
section referred to as ‘‘CAS’’), the President shall— 
(1) impose the sanctions described in subsection 
(c) with respect to individuals employed by or pro-
fessionally affiliated with the state-run CAS, includ-
ing its more than 100 affiliated institutes and lab-
oratories, 13 local branches, 2 universities, and more 
than 430 science and technology enterprises based in 
the People’s Republic of China across 11 industries 
that were created by CAS or founded with CAS in-
vestment; 
(2) prohibit Federal funding for any joint re-
search or other collaborative projects between United 
States-based researchers and CAS researchers 
across all academic fields; and 
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(3) prohibit United States-based researchers 
and institutions that receive Federal funding from 
engaging in collaborative projects involving gain-of- 
function research on viruses with individuals or in-
stitutions based in the People’s Republic of China. 
(b) TERMINATION.—The requirements of subsection 
(a) shall terminate on the date on which the Government 
of the People’s Republic of China allows the transparent 
international forensic investigation described in that sub-
section to be conducted and concluded without— 
(1) imposition of restrictions on the scope or 
subject matter of the investigation; or 
(2) limitations on the access of investigators to 
physical sites, persons of interest, or relevant epide-
miological, serological, and virological data. 
(c) SANCTIONS DESCRIBED.—The sanctions to be 
imposed under subsection (a)(1) are the following: 
(1) ASSET BLOCKING.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—The President shall ex-
ercise all of the powers granted to the President 
under the International Emergency Economic 
Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) to the ex-
tent necessary to block and prohibit all trans-
actions in property and interests in property de-
scribed in subparagraph (B) if such property 
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and interests in property are in the United 
States, come within the United States, or are or 
come within the possession or control of a 
United States person. 
(B) PROPERTY AND INTERESTS IN PROP-
ERTY DESCRIBED.—The property and interests 
in property described in this subparagraph are 
property or interests in property of— 
(i) an individual described in sub-
section (a)(1); or 
(ii) any family member or associate 
acting for or on behalf of an individual de-
scribed in subsection (a)(1) and to whom 
that individual transfers such property or 
interests in property after the date on 
which the President designates the indi-
vidual for the imposition of sanctions 
under that subsection. 
(2) INELIGIBILITY FOR VISAS, ADMISSION, OR 
PAROLE.— 
(A) VISAS, ADMISSION, OR PAROLE.—An 
alien described in subsection (a)(1) is— 
(i) inadmissible to the United States; 
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(ii) ineligible to receive a visa or other 
documentation to enter the United States; 
and 
(iii) otherwise ineligible to be admitted 
or paroled into the United States or to re-
ceive any other benefit under the Immigra-
tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et 
seq.). 
(B) CURRENT VISAS REVOKED.— 
(i) IN GENERAL.—An alien described 
in subsection (a)(1) is subject to revocation 
of any visa or other entry documentation 
regardless of when the visa or other entry 
documentation is or was issued. 
(ii) IMMEDIATE
EFFECT.—A revoca-
tion under clause (i) shall— 
(I) take effect immediately; and 
(II) automatically cancel any 
other valid visa or entry documenta-
tion that is in the alien’s possession. 
(d) IMPLEMENTATION; PENALTIES.— 
(1) IMPLEMENTATION.—The President may ex-
ercise the authorities provided to the President 
under sections 203 and 205 of the International 
Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1702 
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and 1704) to the extent necessary to carry out this 
section. 
(2) PENALTIES.—A person that violates, at-
tempts to violate, conspires to violate, or causes a 
violation of subsection (c)(1) or any regulation, li-
cense, or order issued to carry out that subsection 
shall be subject to the penalties set forth in sub-
sections (b) and (c) of section 206 of the Inter-
national Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 
U.S.C. 1705) to the same extent as a person that 
commits an unlawful act described in subsection (a) 
of that section. 
(e) EXCEPTIONS.— 
(1) EXCEPTION
FOR
INTELLIGENCE
ACTIVI-
TIES.—Sanctions under this section shall not apply 
to any activity subject to the reporting requirements 
under title V of the National Security Act of 1947 
(50 U.S.C. 3091 et seq.) or any authorized intel-
ligence activities of the United States. 
(2) EXCEPTION
TO
COMPLY
WITH
INTER-
NATIONAL OBLIGATIONS AND FOR LAW ENFORCE-
MENT
ACTIVITIES.—Sanctions 
under 
subsection 
(c)(2) shall not apply with respect to an alien if ad-
mitting or paroling the alien into the United States 
is necessary— 
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(A) to permit the United States to comply 
with the Agreement regarding the Head-
quarters of the United Nations, signed at Lake 
Success June 26, 1947, and entered into force 
November 21, 1947, between the United Na-
tions and the United States, or other applicable 
international obligations; or 
(B) to carry out or assist law enforcement 
activity in the United States. 
(3) EXCEPTION RELATING TO IMPORTATION OF 
GOODS.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—The authorities and re-
quirements to impose sanctions authorized 
under this section shall not include the author-
ity or a requirement to impose sanctions on the 
importation of goods. 
(B) GOOD DEFINED.—In this paragraph, 
the term ‘‘good’’ means any article, natural or 
manmade substance, material, supply, or manu-
factured product, including inspection and test 
equipment, and excluding technical data. 
(f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
(1) ADMISSION; ADMITTED; ALIEN.—The terms 
‘‘admission’’, ‘‘admitted’’, and ‘‘alien’’ have the 
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meanings given those terms in section 101 of the 
Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101). 
(2) GAIN-OF-FUNCTION.—The term ‘‘gain-of- 
function’’, with respect to the study of viruses, 
means— 
(A) the use of gene editing to increase the 
transmissibility, virulence, immunogenicity, or 
host tropism of a virus by artificially inserting 
genomic components from one virus into the 
backbone of another virus, which results in the 
creation of a new chimeric virus, particularly 
when the resultant chimeric virus is pathogenic 
to humans; or 
(B) serial passaging in a cell culture to in-
crease the transmissibility, virulence, immuno-
genicity, or host tropism of a virus by selec-
tively applying pressure to a culture to artifi-
cially induce its mutation or RNA recombina-
tion with one or more viruses. 
(3) TRANSPARENT
INTERNATIONAL
FORENSIC 
INVESTIGATION.—The 
term 
‘‘transparent 
inter-
national forensic investigation’’, with respect to in-
vestigating the origin of SARS–CoV–2, means an in-
quiry that is objective, data-driven, inclusive of 
broad expertise, subject to independent oversight, 
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and properly managed to exclude individuals with 
conflicts of interest and under which the following 
takes place: 
(A) Relevant research laboratories and 
hospitals open their records to examination by 
the investigative team and grant the investiga-
tive team unfettered access to any and all facili-
ties and other sites of interest, and to any and 
all forms of epidemiological or virological data 
of interest, including serological records per-
taining to the earliest confirmed or suspected 
cases of COVID–19, or cases of similar illnesses 
that may have been misdiagnosed, which ap-
peared in and around Wuhan in the fall and 
winter of 2019. Investigators document the ve-
racity and source of the data upon which their 
analysis is based in a manner that allows inde-
pendent experts to reproduce their analysis and 
validate any conclusions they may draw. 
(B) The international team is allowed to 
perform a full forensic investigation of the 
Wuhan Institute of Virology, and if necessary, 
the Wuhan Center for Disease Prevention and 
Control and the Wuhan Institute of Biological 
Products, and all other laboratories in Wuhan 
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that the team might identify as warranting ex-
amination. The team is allowed to review the 
biosafety level under which bat coronavirus re-
search was conducted, and to interview any and 
all personnel currently or previously employed 
at those laboratories, or related experts who 
may have information pertinent to the inves-
tigation. All laboratory logs and notebooks kept 
by Shi Zhengli and other researchers at the 
Wuhan Institute of Virology who have con-
ducted gain-of-function experiments between 
2007 and the date of the enactment of this Act, 
as well as their published and unpublished work 
in Chinese and English, are presented in a full 
and unaltered condition for examination by the 
team. The team is given unlimited access to the 
full range of virus cultures, isolates, genetic se-
quences, databases, and patient specimens 
stored at these facilities as well as all chimeric 
synthetic viruses grown in vitro by cell culture 
passaging or engineered by genomic editing be-
tween 2007 and the date of the enactment of 
this Act. Such access must include the oppor-
tunity to examine the Wuhan Institute of 
Virology’s database of approximately 22,000 
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