HHS COVID–19 Origin Transparency Act of 2023

Bill: 118-hr-5379
Sponsor: full_name: Rep. Roy, Chip [R-TX-21]
Introduced: 2023-09-08
Policy area: Health
Subjects: Asia

Cardiovascular and respiratory health

Chemical and biological weapons

China

Congressional oversight

Federal officials

Government employee pay, benefits, personnel management

Government ethics and transparency, public corruption

Government information and archives

Immunology and vaccination

Infectious and parasitic diseases

Intellectual property

Medical research

Personnel records

Research administration and funding
Latest action: action_date: 2023-09-15
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.

Summaries:
action_date: 2023-09-08
action_desc: Introduced in House
text: <p><strong>HHS COVID-19 Origin Transparency Act of 2023</strong></p><p>This bill requires the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to publish all its information about the COVID-19 outbreak and related research, including previously unreleased information. HHS must report to Congress on any relevant information that it withholds from publication due to security concerns.&nbsp;</p><p>The bill provides for the rescission of $1 million from HHS for each day it fails to comply with the bill's requirements.</p>

tv_txt: I 118th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 5379 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES September 8, 2023 Mr. Roy (for himself, Mr. Gosar , Mr. Brecheen , Mr. Biggs , and Mr. Moore of Alabama ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to publish all information in the possession of the Department of Health and Human Services relating to the origin of COVID–19, and for other purposes.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the HHS COVID–19 Origin Transparency Act of 2023 . 2. Publication of HHS information related to the origin of COVID–19 (a) In general Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Health and Human Services (in this section referred to as the Secretary ) shall— (1) except as provided in subsection (d), publish all information described in subsection (b); and (2) submit a report to the Congress containing a summary of each item of information that is described in subsection (b) but withheld from such publication pursuant to subsection (d). (b) Information described The information described in this subsection is any and all information in the possession of the Department of Health and Human Services (including any agency, office, operating or staffing division, and any other component of the Department, including the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration, the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response, the Health Resources and Service Administration, the Office of National Security, the Office of Inspector General, and any person under contract to the Department) relating to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID–19) outbreak, coronavirus research including vaccine development, or the concealment of information about the COVID–19 outbreak, including any such information that consists of— (1) unpublished and unreleased records including— (A) the report titled One Health Zoonotic Disease Prioritization workshop in China (prepared by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2019) and related records; (B) all records pending authorization or other approval from any organization of the People’s Republic of China; (C) coronavirus research genetic sequence records in the Sequence Read Archive of the National Institutes of Health and all requests from higher educational institutions, research institutions, or other persons or entities in China to withdraw or delay sequence data publication; (D) all research applications submitted to an agency of the Public Health Service seeking funding to undertake coronavirus-related research that were not funded by the relevant agency; (E) all coronavirus records; (F) all coronavirus research records, including— (i) grant applications, grant research project annual progress reports, and final reports; and (ii) records of compensation for each researcher— (I) who was an employee or contractor of the Government of the People’s Republic of China or any entity (including any public university) controlled by such Government; and (II) whose compensation was funded in part, directly or indirectly, by the Department of Health and Human Services; and (G) all records related to the suspension, denial, termination, or other risk mitigation actions related to coronavirus research projects; (H) all records of the Office of Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services that include— (i) hotline records, including all referrals from the operating divisions of the Department of Health and Human Services, including the National Institutes of Health; (ii) communications related to potential misconduct by employees of the Department of Health and Human Services, including Anthony Fauci and Francis Collins; (iii) communications related to potential monetary fraud or research misconduct involving grants of the National Institutes of Health, including any such grants awarded to EcoHealth Alliance; and (iv) all EcoHealth Alliance audit records; (I) all records involving EcoHealth Alliance research projects and personnel including— (i) all names, salaries, levels of effort, and Department of State clearances; (ii) all peer review records; and (iii) all financial records; (J) all outbreak-related communication records including observations, reports, memoranda, and requests, except individually identifiable patient health information, from— (i) all personnel of the Department of Health and Human Services stationed in China; (ii) all foreign nationals from China on visas sponsored directly or indirectly by the Department of Health and Human Services, including— (I) personnel located in the United States; and (II) personnel teleworking from China; (K) all memoranda of understanding, data sharing agreements, and intellectual property transfer commitments between the Department of Health and Human Services and academic or public health institutions in the People’s Republic of China, including— (i) the Memorandum of Understanding for the Collaborative Program on Emerging and Re-emerging Infectious Diseases; (ii) all material transfer agreements and intellectual property transfer records related to coronavirus research and vaccine development; and (iii) all agreements between Department of Health and Human Services-sponsored principal investigators and any organization involving the transfer of coronavirus research data to academic or public health institutions in the People’s Republic of China; and (L) analysis of the first 6,000 patients hospitalized in Wuhan, China, of whom 1,100 had severe COVID–19 disease; (2) a record pertaining to sick researchers in Wuhan, China, during the fall of 2019, including for any such researcher— (A) the researcher’s name, laboratory name, laboratory role, symptoms, and date of symptom onset; (B) whether the researcher was involved with or exposed to coronavirus research in Wuhan research laboratories; (C) whether the researcher visited a hospital or medical clinic while they were ill; and (D) a description of any other actions taken by the researcher that may suggest they were experiencing a serious illness at the time; (3) a record pertaining to coronavirus research conducted in cooperation with any Chinese national public research university affiliated with and funded by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China, including Beihang University, Beijing Institute of Technology, Harbin Engineering University, Harbin Institute of Technology, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Northwestern Polytechnical University, PLA Naval University of Engineering, PLA National Defence University, PLA Information Engineering University, and the PLA Academy of Military Science; and (4) a record pertaining to concerns of bioweapon programs in China, including all records related to the evaluation and analysis of the SARS–CoV–2 virus as a potential bioweapon, including records from the Integrated Research Facility at Fort Detrick. (c) Identification of information supplied to intelligence community In publishing information pursuant to subsection (a), the Secretary shall identify any such information that was supplied by the Department of Health and Human Services to any agency of the intelligence community in support of the intelligence community’s COVID–19 origins assessments from the onset of the outbreak of COVID–19 through the date of enactment of this Act. (d) Withholding of certain information Except as inconsistent with subsection (b), the Secretary may, in accordance with other applicable law, withhold or redact from publication under subsection (a)(1) any information that— (1) is classified and for which the Department of Health and Human Services was not the original classification authority; (2) is individually identifiable information; or (3) is national security, confidential commercial, or proprietary information. (e) Declassification The Secretary shall— (1) to the extent necessary to publish pursuant to subsection (a)(1) all information described in subsection (b), declassify any such information for which the Department of Health and Human Services was the original classification authority; or (2) certify in the publication that no such classified information exists. (f) Failure To publish Beginning on the day that is 91 calendar days after the date of enactment of this Act— (1) of the unobligated amounts appropriated or otherwise made available to the immediate Office of the Secretary of Health and Human Services— (A) there is rescinded an amount equal to $1,000,000 for each calendar day on which the Secretary of Health and Human Services fails— (i) to make the publication required by subsection (a)(1); or (ii) to submit the report required by subsection (a)(2); and (B) the amount so rescinded shall be deposited into the general fund of the Treasury for the sole purpose of reducing the national debt; and (2) the Secretary may not reprogram or use any other funds to replace any funds that are rescinded under paragraph (1).