World Deserves To Know Act
Bill: H.R.3922 | Sponsor: Rep. Wittman, Robert J. (R-VA)
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
World Deserves To Know Act
This bill requires sanctions on certain members of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and officials of Chinese health agencies. It also addresses related issues.
The President must impose visa- and property-blocking sanctions on any foreign person who is a CCP official and who is knowingly responsible for or complicit in (1) the disappearances of whistleblowers and citizen journalists in China relating to COVID-19, or (2) limiting free speech and academic freedom in China relating to COVID-19.
The President must also impose such sanctions on specified individuals who have leadership positions in China's Center for Disease Control and Prevention and China's National Health Commission (NHC).
The authority to impose such sanctions shall end when the President certifies to Congress that an independent and unimpeded investigation into the potential origin of COVID-19 from the Wuhan Institute of Virology has taken place.
The bill also bars federal funds and certain federal student assistance from going to institutions of higher education that enter into a contract with any element or China-based affiliate of the NHC.
Federal funding to the National Academy of Sciences may not be used to enter into a contract with any element or China-based affiliate of the NHC.
The Government Accountability Office must report to Congress a review of all funds that the National Institutes of Health have made available to the NHC since FY2010. This report must also be publicly available.

To impose sanctions with respect to members of the Chinese Communist 
  Party and heads of Chinese health agencies relating to the COVID-19 
                   pandemic, and for other purposes.

    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 ``World Deserves To Know Act''.

SEC. 2. IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS WITH RESPECT TO CERTAIN MEMBERS OF THE 
              CHINESE COMMUNIST PARTY AND HEADS OF CHINESE HEALTH 
              AGENCIES RELATING TO THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC.

    (a) Chinese Communist Party Members.--
            (1) In general.--The President shall impose the sanctions 
        described in section 1263 of the Global Magnitsky Human Rights 
        Accountability Act (22 U.S.C. 2656 note) with respect to any 
        foreign person who is an official of the Chinese Communist 
        Party that the President determines is knowingly responsible 
        for, complicit in, or has directly or indirectly engaged in--
                    (A) the disappearances of whistleblowers and 
                citizen journalists in the People's Republic of China 
                relating to the COVID-19 pandemic; or
                    (B) the establishment of limits on freedom of 
                speech and academic freedom in the People's Republic of 
                China relating to the COVID-19 pandemic.
            (2) Coordination.--The President shall coordinate with the 
        intelligence community for purposes of identifying foreign 
        persons under this subsection.
    (b) Chinese Health Agencies Heads.--The President shall impose the 
sanctions described in subsection (c) with respect to the following 
foreign persons:
            (1) Gao Fu, also known as George Fu Gao, the Director of 
        the Center for Disease Control and Prevention of the People's 
        Republic of China.
            (2) Ma Xiaowei, Minister of the National Health Commission 
        of the People's Republic of China.
    (c) Sanctions Described.--The sanctions described in this 
subsection with respect to a foreign person are the following:
            (1) Blocking of property.--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.) (except 
        that the requirements of section 202 of such Act (50 U.S.C. 
        1701) shall not apply) to the extent necessary to block and 
        prohibit all transactions in property and interests in property 
        of the person if such property and interests in property are in 
        the United States, come within the United States, or come 
        within the possession or control of a United States person.
            (2) Inadmissibility to the united states and revocation of 
        visa or other documentation.--
                    (A) Ineligibility for visa, admission, or parole.--
                The foreign person 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 visa revoked.--The visa or other entry 
                documentation of the foreign person shall be revoked, 
                regardless of when such visa or other entry 
                documentation is or was issued. A revocation under this 
                subparagraph shall take effect immediately and 
                automatically cancel any other valid visa or entry 
                documentation that is in the person's possession.
    (d) Exceptions.--
            (1) To comply with united nations headquarters agreement.--
        Sanctions under subsection (c)(2) shall not apply with respect 
        to a foreign person described in subsection (b) if admitting or 
        paroling the foreign person into the United States is necessary 
        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.
            (2) To carry out or assist law enforcement activities.--
        Sanctions under this section shall not apply to a foreign 
        person, if admitting or paroling the foreign person into the 
        United States is necessary to carry out or assist law 
        enforcement activity in the United States.
    (e) Implementation; Penalties.--
            (1) Implementation.--The President may exercise all 
        authorities provided under sections 203 and 205 of the 
        International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1702 and 
        1704) to carry out this section and shall issue such 
        regulations, licenses, and orders as are necessary to carry out 
        this section.
            (2) Penalties.--Any person that violates, attempts to 
        violate, conspires to violate, or causes a violation of this 
        section or any regulation, license, or order issued to carry 
        out paragraph (1) shall be subject to the penalties provided 
        for 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.
    (f) Waiver.--The President may waive the application of sanctions 
imposed with respect to a foreign person under this section if the 
President--
            (1) determines that a waiver is in the national interest of 
        the United States; and
            (2) not later than the date on which such waiver will take 
        effect, submits to the appropriate congressional committees a 
        notice of and justification for such waiver.
    (g) Termination of Sanctions With Respect to a Foreign Person.--
            (1) In general.--The President may terminate the 
        application of sanctions imposed with respect to a foreign 
        person under this section if the President makes a 
        determination that--
                    (A) credible information exists that the person did 
                not engage in the activity for which the sanctions were 
                imposed; and
                    (B) the person has--
                            (i) credibly demonstrated a significant 
                        change in behavior; and
                            (ii) been subject to an appropriate 
                        consequence for the activity for which the 
                        sanctions were imposed.
            (2) Notification.--Not later than 15 days before the date 
        on which the application of sanctions imposed with respect to a 
        foreign person is terminated under paragraph (1), the Secretary 
        of State shall submit to the appropriate congressional 
        committees a report that--
                    (A) describes the evidence and justification for 
                the necessity of the termination; and
                    (B) explains how the termination of the application 
                of sanctions is in the national security interests of 
                the United States.
    (h) Termination of Authority To Impose Sanctions.--The authority to 
impose sanctions under this section with respect to a foreign person 
described in subsection (b) shall terminate on the date on which the 
President certifies to the appropriate congressional committees that an 
independent, unimpeded investigation into the potential origin of 
COVID-19 from the Wuhan Institute of Virology has taken place.
    (i) Exception Relating to Importation of Goods.--
            (1) In general.--The authorities and requirements to impose 
        sanctions under this section shall not include the authority or 
        requirement to impose sanctions on the importation of goods.
            (2) Good defined.--In this subsection, the term ``good'' 
        means any article, natural or man-made substance, material, 
        supply or manufactured product, including inspection and test 
        equipment, and excluding technical data.

SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON NEW CONTRACTS.

    (a) Institutions of Higher Education.--
            (1) In general.--No Federal funds may be made available to 
        an institution of higher education (as defined in section 102 
        of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002)) that 
        enters into a contract with--
                    (A) any element or department of the National 
                Health Commission of the People's Republic of China;
                    (B) any agency or office that reports to the 
                National Health Commission of the People's Republic of 
                China; or
                    (C) any Chinese-based entity affiliated with the 
                National Health Commission of the People's Republic of 
                China.
            (2) Program participation agreements under the higher 
        education act of 1965.--Section 487(a) of the Higher Education 
        Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1094(a)) is amended by adding at the end 
        the following:
            ``(30) The institution will not enter into a contract 
        with--
                    ``(A) any element or department of the National 
                Health Commission of the People's Republic of China;
                    ``(B) any agency or office that reports to the 
                National Health Commission of the People's Republic of 
                China; or
                    ``(C) any Chinese-based entity affiliated with the 
                National Health Commission of the People's Republic of 
                China.''.
    (b) National Academy of Sciences.--No Federal funds made available 
to the National Academy of Sciences may be used to enter into a 
contract with--
            (1) any element or department of the National Health 
        Commission of the People's Republic of China;
            (2) any agency or office that reports to the National 
        Health Commission of the People's Republic of China; or
            (3) any Chinese-based entity affiliated with the National 
        Health Commission of the People's Republic of China.

SEC. 4. REVIEW OF NIH FUNDING.

    Not later than 6 months after the date of enactment of this Act, 
the Comptroller General of the United States, in consultation with the 
Director of National Intelligence, shall--
            (1) conduct a full review of all funds made available by 
        the National Institutes of Health, directly or indirectly, 
        during or after fiscal year 2010, to--
                    (A) the National Health Commission of the People's 
                Republic of China;
                    (B) any agency or office that reports to the 
                National Health Commission of the People's Republic of 
                China; or
                    (C) any Chinese-based entity that is affiliated 
                with the National Health Commission of the People's 
                Republic of China;
            (2) make publicly available, and submit to the Congress, a 
        report on the results of such review; and
            (3) in such report, clearly identify any funds described in 
        paragraph (1) that were used for gain of function research.

SEC. 5. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    It is the sense of Congress that given Taiwan's early alerting to 
the global health community on the dangers of COVID-19 while senior 
officials in the Chinese Communist Party downplayed COVID-19 Taiwan 
should be granted observer status in the World Health Assembly (WHA).

SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Admitted; alien.--The terms ``admitted'' and ``alien'' 
        have the meanings given those terms in section 101 of the 
        Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1001).
            (2) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term 
        ``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
                    (A) the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Committee 
                on Appropriations, and the Committee on Financial 
                Services of the House of Representatives; and
                    (B) the Committee on Foreign Relations, the 
                Committee on Appropriations, and the Committee on 
                Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate.
            (3) Foreign person.--The term ``foreign person'' means a 
        person that is not a United States person.
            (4) Intelligence community.--The term ``intelligence 
        community'' has the meaning given that term in section 3(4) of 
        the National Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3003(4)).
            (5) Knowingly.--The term ``knowingly'' means, with respect 
        to conduct, a circumstance, or a result, that a person has 
        actual knowledge, or should have known, of the conduct, the 
        circumstance, or the result.
            (6) Person.--The term ``person'' means an individual or 
        entity.
            (7) United states person.--The term ``United States 
        person'' means--
                    (A) a United States citizen, an alien lawfully 
                admitted for permanent residence to the United States, 
                or any other individual subject to the jurisdiction of 
                the United States;
                    (B) an entity organized under the laws of the 
                United States or of any jurisdiction within the United 
                States, including a foreign branch of such entity; or
                    (C) any person in the United States.
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