Title: A resolution establishing a Select Committee on the Outbreak of the Coronavirus in China.
Policy area: Congress

Summary:
This resolution establishes the Select Committee on the Outbreak of the Coronavirus in China to investigate the outbreak of COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019) in or around Wuhan, China.
The committee must conduct a study and submit a final report that includes (1) an identification of the source of COVID-19 and the route of human-to-human transmission beginning in or around Wuhan, China; (2) research and possible leaks from the Wuhan Center for Disease Control; (3) the origination of claims that the pandemic spread from a seafood market in Wuhan, China; and (4) the impact of not shutting down travel in and out of Wuhan, China, the Hubei province, and greater China.

[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 204 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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117th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 204

 Establishing a Select Committee on the Outbreak of the Coronavirus in 
                                 China.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 11, 2021

Mr. Marshall submitted the following resolution; which was referred to 
               the Committee on Rules and Administration

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
 Establishing a Select Committee on the Outbreak of the Coronavirus in 
                                 China.

    Resolved,

SECTION 1. ESTABLISHMENT OF SELECT COMMITTEE ON THE OUTBREAK OF THE 
              CORONAVIRUS IN CHINA.

    There is established a select investigative committee of the 
Senate, to be known as the Select Committee on the Outbreak of the 
Coronavirus in China (referred to in this resolution as the ``select 
committee''), to investigate the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus in or 
around Wuhan, China.

SEC. 2. MEMBERSHIP.

    (a) Composition.--The select committee shall be composed of not 
more than 12 Senators, of whom 6 shall be appointed by the Majority 
Leader and 6 shall be appointed by the Minority Leader.
    (b) Chairperson; Vice-Chairperson.--The Majority Leader shall 
designate 1 member of the select committee as the chairperson of the 
select committee, and the Minority Leader shall designate 1 member of 
the select committee as the vice-chairperson of the select committee.
    (c) Exemption.--For purposes of paragraph 4 of rule XXV of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate, service of a Senator as a member or 
chairperson of the select committee shall not be taken into account.
    (d) Vacancies.--Any vacancy in the select committee shall be filled 
in the same manner as the original appointment.

SEC. 3. INVESTIGATION AND REPORT.

    (a) Investigation.--The select committee shall conduct a full and 
complete investigation and study regarding--
            (1) identification of the source of the COVID-19 virus and 
        the route of human-to-human transmission beginning in or around 
        Wuhan, China;
            (2) secret research and gain-of-function zoonic research at 
        the Wuhan Institute of Virology (referred to in this section as 
        ``WIV'');
            (3) training operations and safety standards at the WIV;
            (4) cases of researchers at the WIV laboratory becoming 
        sick or demonstrating COVID-19-like symptoms in 2019 or 2020;
            (5) cables and other communications from 2017 to 2021 from 
        employees of the Department of State, the Central Intelligence 
        Agency, and the Department of Health and Human Services 
        regarding activities and research at the WIV;
            (6) response from officials of the Department of State and 
        National Security Council in Washington, DC to the cables and 
        other communications described in paragraph (5);
            (7) funding distributed to the WIV by the National 
        Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the National 
        Institutes of Health, and institutions of higher education of 
        the United States;
            (8) funding of gain-of-function research by the National 
        Institutes of Health and the National Institute of Allergy and 
        Infectious Diseases during the 2014-2017 moratorium on such 
        research;
            (9) research and possible leaks from the Wuhan Center for 
        Disease Control;
            (10) information regarding efforts by the Chinese Communist 
        Party to silence journalists and doctors, destroy samples of 
        the COVID-19 virus, and block United States and other foreign 
        investigators, including investigations surrounding the Chinese 
        Communist Party's misinformation campaign through social media, 
        traditional news outlets, and other propaganda outlets;
            (11) the origination of claims that the pandemic spread 
        from a seafood market in Wuhan, China and the closure and 
        sanitation of the market;
            (12) actions taken by the World Health Organization, 
        including actions taken by Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom 
        Ghebreyesus and other World Health Organization officials, to 
        spread Chinese misinformation and the failure of the World 
        Health Organization to meet the Organization's charter to 
        prevent the international spread of disease; and
            (13) the impact of failing to shut down travel in and out 
        of Wuhan, China, the Hubei province, and greater China.
    (b) Reports.--The select committee--
            (1) shall issue a final report to the Senate of its 
        findings from the investigation and study described in 
        subsection (a) by not later than 1 year after the date of 
        adoption of this resolution; and
            (2) may issue to the Senate such interim reports as the 
        select committee determines necessary.

SEC. 4. AUTHORITIES AND POWERS.

    (a) In General.--For the purposes of this resolution, the select 
committee is authorized in its discretion--
            (1) to make investigations into any matter within its 
        jurisdiction;
            (2) to make expenditures from the contingent fund of the 
        Senate;
            (3) to employ personnel;
            (4) to hold hearings;
            (5) to sit and act at any time or place during the 
        sessions, recesses, and adjourned periods of the Senate;
            (6) to require, by subpoena or otherwise, the attendance of 
        witnesses and the production of correspondence, books, papers, 
        and documents;
            (7) to take depositions and other testimony;
            (8) to procure the services of individual consultants, or 
        organizations thereof, in accordance with section 202(i) of the 
        Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 (2 U.S.C. 4301(i)); and
            (9) with the prior consent of the government department or 
        agency concerned and the Committee on Rules and Administration, 
        to use on a reimbursable basis the services of personnel of any 
        such department or agency.
    (b) Oaths.--The chairperson of the select committee or any member 
thereof may administer oaths to witnesses.
    (c) Subpoenas.--A subpoena authorized by the select committee--
            (1) may be issued under the signature of the chairperson, 
        the vice-chairperson, or any member of the select committee 
        designated by the chairperson; and
            (2) may be served by any person designated by the 
        chairperson, the vice-chairperson, or other member signing the 
        subpoena.
    (d) Committee Rules.--The select committee shall adopt rules (not 
inconsistent with the rules of the Senate and in accordance with rule 
XXVI of the Standing Rules of the Senate) governing the procedure of 
the select committee, which shall include addressing how often the 
select committee shall meet, meeting times and location, type of 
notifications, notices of hearings, duration of the select committee, 
and records of the select committee after committee activities are 
complete.

SEC. 5. TERMINATION.

    The select committee shall terminate on the day after the date the 
report required under section 3(b)(1) is submitted.
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