COVID-19 Origin Act of 2023
PL 118-2 (S.619), enacted 03/20/2023

[118th Congress Public Law 2]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



[[Page 137 STAT. 4]]

Public Law 118-2
118th Congress

                                 An Act


 
     To require the Director of National Intelligence to declassify 
     information relating to the origin of COVID-19, and for other 
             purposes. <<NOTE: Mar. 20, 2023 -  [S. 619]>> 

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled, <<NOTE: COVID-19 Origin 
Act of 2023. 50 USC 3161 note.>> 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``COVID-19 Origin Act of 2023''.
SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    It is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) identifying the origin of Coronavirus Disease 2019 
        (COVID-19) is critical for preventing a similar pandemic from 
        occurring in the future;
            (2) there is reason to believe the COVID-19 pandemic may 
        have originated at the Wuhan Institute of Virology; and
            (3) the Director of National Intelligence should declassify 
        and make available to the public as much information as possible 
        about the origin of COVID-19 so the United States and like-
        minded countries can--
                    (A) identify the origin of COVID-19 as expeditiously 
                as possible, and
                    (B) use that information to take all appropriate 
                measures to prevent a similar pandemic from occurring 
                again.
SEC. 3. DECLASSIFICATION OF INFORMATION RELATED TO THE ORIGIN OF 
                    COVID-19.

     <<NOTE: Deadline.>> Not later than 90 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Director of National Intelligence shall--
            (1) declassify any and all information relating to potential 
        links between the Wuhan Institute of Virology and the origin of 
        the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), including--
                    (A) activities performed by the Wuhan Institute of 
                Virology with or on behalf of the People's Liberation 
                Army;
                    (B) coronavirus research or other related activities 
                performed at the Wuhan Institute of Virology prior to 
                the outbreak of COVID-19; and
                    (C) researchers at the Wuhan Institute of Virology 
                who fell ill in autumn 2019, including for any such 
                researcher--
                          (i) the researcher's name;
                          (ii) the researcher's symptoms;
                          (iii) the date of the onset of the 
                      researcher's symptoms;

[[Page 137 STAT. 5]]

                          (iv) the researcher's role at the Wuhan 
                      Institute of Virology;
                          (v) whether the researcher was involved with 
                      or exposed to coronavirus research at the Wuhan 
                      Institute of Virology;
                          (vi) whether the researcher visited a hospital 
                      while they were ill; and
                          (vii) a description of any other actions taken 
                      by the researcher that may suggest they were 
                      experiencing a serious illness at the time; and
            (2) <<NOTE: Reports.>>  submit to Congress an unclassified 
        report that contains--
                    (A) all of the information described under paragraph 
                (1); and
                    (B) only such redactions as the Director determines 
                necessary to protect sources and methods.

    Approved March 20, 2023.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY--S. 619:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 169 (2023):
            Mar. 1, considered and passed Senate.
            Mar. 10, considered and passed House.
DAILY COMPILATION OF PRESIDENTIAL DOCUMENTS (2023):
            Mar. 20, Presidential statement.

                                  <all>