On Friday, the House of Representatives voted unanimously in favor of a bill that would require the declassification of U.S. intelligence information about the origins of COVID-19. The bill was proposed by Senator Josh Hawley and had already been approved by the Senate. If signed into law, the measure would require the declassification of “any and all information relating to potential links between the Wuhan Institute of Virology and the origin of the Coronavirus Disease” within 90 days.
Rep. Michael Turner, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said the American public deserves answers as to how the virus was created and if it was a natural occurrence or the result of a lab-related event. The order to declassify focuses on intelligence related to China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology, citing “potential links” between the research done there and the outbreak of COVID-19.
Experts say the true origin of the pandemic may not be known for many years – if ever. Debate on the legislation was brief and to the point, allowing for a rare moment of bipartisanship despite the often heated rhetoric about the origins of the coronavirus and the questions about the response to the virus by U.S. health officials.