Sen. Paul’s op-ed claims Democrats for more Chinese bio-lab research.
QUICK FACTS:
- Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) is calling for an end to taxpayer funding for gain-of-function research in Chinese bio-labs.
- The senator unanimously adopted an amendment to legislation that would prevent federal funding for gain-of-function research in China, according to an Op-Ed published by Newsmax Online.
- The adoption, which took place in 2021, was nullified last week when the Senat rushed to pass its CHIPS-Plus legislation.
- The newer version of the legislation spends $50 billion on taxpayer-funded bailouts for the semiconductor industry, but left off some of the previous provisions, including Paul’s.
- “So, despite unanimously passing my amendment a year ago, Senate Democrats objected to my efforts to add my amendment back in, and now this latest act of corporate welfare does not contain the prohibition on funding gain-of-function research in China,” Paul said.
PAUL’S COMMENTS IN PART:
- “Even outside the science community, many have begun to question gain of function research, why U.S. taxpayers would be funding such dangerous research in communist China, and the potential it caused the COVID-19 pandemic,” Paul said in his article. “However, government bureaucrats in the U.S., including Dr. Anthony Fauci, unequivocally deny that COVID-19 could have escaped a lab, and continue to ignore that taxpayers funded gain-of-function research in China through NIH grants to EcoHealth Alliance.”
- “Despite Dr. Fauci’s denials — and there are many — there is ample evidence that the NIH and the NIAID, under his direction, funded gain-of-function research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology,” the Kentucky Democrat went on. “Even to this day, Dr. Fauci continues to support funding for EcoHealth. Despite the possibility of a lab leak in Wuhan, in 2020 the NIH rewarded EcoHealth with a new grant, this time in the amount of $1.5 million per year for five years.”
- “Giving more taxpayer money to EcoHeath, an organization that has been less than forthcoming about what happened in Wuhan, is malpractice.”
- “My amendment would have ensured that this never happens in the future. No taxpayer money should ever be used to fund gain-of-function research in China, and because of Dr. Fauci’s allies in the Democratic party, Congress will continue to send your money to fund this reckless research.”
BACKGROUND:
- As American Faith previously reported, the National Institute of Health is still funding China-based labs, some of which are connected to the Chinese military.
- Dr. Anthony Fauci’s National Institutes of Health (NIH) has given hundreds of thousands of dollars to Chinese research facilities with close ties to the government’s military.
- This includes establishments that have collaborated with the Wuhan Institute of Virology on bat coronavirus research.
- One of the grants went to the China Medical University, which is controlled by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
