COVID Act of 2021
Bill: S.2148 | Sponsor: Sen. Rubio, Marco (R-FL)
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
Coronavirus Origin Validation, Investigation, and Determination Act of 2021 or the COVID Act of 2021
This bill requires the President to impose sanctions and take other actions related to COVID-19 if certain conditions are not met.
Specifically, if the President is unable to certify within 90 days of this bill's enactment that China's government has allowed a transparent international forensic investigation into the origins of COVID-19 and certain laboratories in the city of Wuhan, the President must (1) impose visa- and property-blocking sanctions against individuals with leadership positions in the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), (2) prohibit federal funding for collaborative projects between U.S.-based researchers and CAS researchers in any academic field, and (3) prohibit U.S.-based researchers and institutions that receive federal funding from engaging in certain research on viruses with individuals or institutions based in China.

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 Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Coronavirus Origin Validation, 
Investigation, and Determination Act of 2021'' or the ``COVID Act of 
2021''.

SEC. 2. MEASURES IN RESPONSE TO FAILURE OF THE GOVERNMENT OF THE 
              PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA TO ALLOW AN INVESTIGATION OF 
              SUSPECT 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 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 who hold positions of leadership in the 
        state-run CAS, including its more than 100 affiliated 
        institutes and laboratories, 13 local branches, and 2 
        universities;
            (2) prohibit Federal funding for any joint research or 
        other collaborative projects between United States-based 
        researchers and CAS researchers across all academic fields, 
        including those employed by any of the more than 100 affiliated 
        institutes and laboratories of CAS, its 13 local branches or 2 
        universities, or the 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 
        investment; and
            (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 institutions 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 subsection 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 epidemiological, 
        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 exercise all 
                of the powers granted to the President under the 
                International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 
                1701 et seq.) to the extent necessary to block and 
                prohibit all transactions in property and interests in 
                property described in subparagraph (B) if such property 
                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 property described.--
                The property and interests in property described in 
                this subparagraph are property or interests in property 
                of--
                            (i) an individual described in subsection 
                        (a)(1); or
                            (ii) any family member or associate acting 
                        for or on behalf of an individual described 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 individual 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;
                            (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 receive 
                        any other benefit under the Immigration 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 revocation under 
                        clause (i) shall--
                                    (I) take effect immediately; and
                                    (II) automatically cancel any other 
                                valid visa or entry documentation that 
                                is in the alien's possession.
    (d) Implementation; Penalties.--
            (1) Implementation.--The President may exercise the 
        authorities provided to the President under sections 203 and 
        205 of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 
        U.S.C. 1702 and 1704) to the extent necessary to carry out this 
        section.
            (2) Penalties.--A person that violates, attempts to 
        violate, conspires to violate, or causes a violation of 
        subsection (c)(1) or any regulation, license, or order issued 
        to carry out that subsection shall be subject to the penalties 
        set forth in subsections (b) and (c) of section 206 of the 
        International 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 activities.--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 
        intelligence activities of the United States.
            (2) Exception to comply with international obligations and 
        for law enforcement activities.--Sanctions under subsection 
        (c)(2) shall not apply with respect to an alien if admitting or 
        paroling the alien into the United States is necessary--
                    (A) to permit the United States to comply with the 
                Agreement regarding the Headquarters of the United 
                Nations, signed at Lake Success June 26, 1947, and 
                entered into force November 21, 1947, between the 
                United Nations 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 requirements 
                to impose sanctions authorized under this section shall 
                not include the authority 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 manufactured 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 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 increase 
                the transmissibility, virulence, immunogenicity, or 
                host tropism of a virus by selectively applying 
                pressure to a culture to artificially induce its 
                mutation or RNA recombination with one or more viruses.
            (3) Transparent international forensic investigation.--The 
        term ``transparent international forensic investigation'', with 
        respect to investigating the origin of SARS-CoV-2, means an 
        inquiry that is objective, data-driven, inclusive of broad 
        expertise, subject to independent oversight, 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 investigative team unfettered access 
                to any and all facilities and other sites of interest, 
                and to any and all forms of epidemiological or 
                virological data of interest, including serological 
                records pertaining to the earliest confirmed or 
                suspected cases of COVID-19, or cases of similar 
                illnesses that may have been misdiagnosed, which 
                appeared in and around Wuhan in the fall and winter of 
                2019. Investigators document the veracity and source of 
                the data upon which their analysis is based in a manner 
                that allows independent 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 that the team might identify as warranting 
                examination. The team is allowed to review the 
                biosafety level under which bat coronavirus research 
                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 investigation. All laboratory logs and notebooks 
                kept by Shi Zhengli and other researchers at the Wuhan 
                Institute of Virology who have conducted 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 
                sequences, 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 between 2007 and the date 
                of the enactment of this Act. Such access must include 
                the opportunity to examine the Wuhan Institute of 
                Virology's database of approximately 22,000 samples and 
                virus sequences, including 15,000 taken from bats, 
                which was previously available to the public but taken 
                offline in September 2019. The team is further allowed 
                to examine in full all training procedures in effect at 
                the laboratory prior to the pandemic, including those 
                pertaining to recordkeeping and safety procedures and 
                strategies to prevent the accidental escape of 
                potential pathogens.
                    (C) The investigative team analyzes in detail all 
                research related to the 293 bat coronaviruses 
                reportedly isolated by Shi Zhengli and her team at the 
                Wuhan Institute of Virology between 2012 and 2015, 
                particularly RaTG13 and RaBtCoV/4991, including all 
                virus isolates and cultures. The Wuhan Institute of 
                Virology discloses the content of all classified and 
                unpublished studies that the Institute reportedly 
                conducted with the People's Liberation Army if such 
                studies involved gain-of-function research. The team is 
                able to test all laboratory personnel for antibodies 
                and other serological indicators of past infection of 
                COVID-19. The team is given access to all other records 
                kept by the Wuhan Institute of Virology, including 
                security logs, surveillance video footage, audio 
                recordings, and electronic logs of employees entering 
                and leaving the facility. The investigative team is 
                permitted to take samples and conduct testing of the 
                physical facilities where gain-of-function research has 
                been conducted, including, if necessary, sewer samples. 
                Unfettered access is also granted to the abandoned 
                copper mine in Mojiang Hani Autonomous County in Yunnan 
                province, where Wuhan Institute of Virology researchers 
                are known to have collected bat virus specimens, 
                including of RaTG13, during the decade preceding the 
                date of the enactment of this Act.
                    (D) The international team is comprised of members 
                chosen by the governments of the United States, Canada, 
                the United Kingdom, France, the Netherlands, Germany, 
                Australia, Japan, and India. The team includes 
                molecular biologists, virologists, epidemiologists, and 
                experts in biosafety and biosecurity. Individuals who 
                have previously ruled out the possibility of either 
                zoonotic transmission or a laboratory leak are 
                disqualified from participation. The Government of the 
                People's Republic of China may appoint Chinese experts 
                to accompany and advise the team as it conducts its 
                work in the People's Republic of China, but the 
                Government of the People's Republic of China has no 
                authority to dictate the selection of team members and 
                cannot obstruct the participation of any individual 
                selected by the individual's government for the team. 
                The central, provincial, and municipal authorities of 
                the People's Republic of China facilitate the work of 
                the investigative team and refrain from imposing any 
                restrictions on the scope, scale, and duration of the 
                investigation.
            (4) United states person.--The term ``United States 
        person'' means--
                    (A) an individual who is a United States citizen or 
                an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence to 
                the United States;
                    (B) an entity organized under the laws of the 
                United States or any jurisdiction within the United 
                States, including a foreign branch of such an entity; 
                or
                    (C) any person in the United States.
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