To say a lot has changed since the very beginning of the pandemic when reports of a mystery virus started affecting people in Wuhan, China began would be an understatement of epic proportion. The Coronavirus shut down nearly the entire world and caused billions of people to live in fear of a virus we knew very little about. And while the world struggled to handle this virus that has since claimed 3.8 million lives, China continued to mislead other countries about the severity and reality of the situation. Who knows how many lives could have been saved had they been open and honest about COVID-19? But instead of acting in the best interest of mankind, they did everything in their power to conceal the origins and spread of the virus. The Chinese government led propaganda campaigns to try and blame the virus on other countries, ours included. They expelled American journalists who were looking for answers from their country. They silenced whistleblowers, researchers and physicians. One of the first Chinese scientists to speak openly about the virus was jailed and later died. China must be held accountable for its deceit, recklessness, and disregard for the entire world, and many of my colleagues and I are calling for action.
In some ways it seems like a decade ago when President Trump restricted travel from China followed by his decision to withdraw from the World Health Organization (WHO). At the time, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was down playing the threat and very few cases had come to the U.S. The WHO refused to adequately investigate and enabled China’s cover-up as a virus – that more and more evidence suggests leaked from a lab in their country – spread across the world taking millions of innocent lives. The decision to stop sending U.S. taxpayer dollars to the organization that was no longer serving our country, or the world for that matter, and helped the CCP keep the origins of the virus a secret was a no-brainer. Why pay someone millions to undermine us? Unfortunately, despite the fact that the WHO continues to pander to the CCP, President Biden immediately rejoined the WHO once he took office as part of his commitment to undo as many Trump Administration actions he could, regardless of the consequences.
A year ago, suggestions that the virus came from anything other than a bat were scoffed at and suggestions of Chinese accountability were deemed racist. Last year, as a member of the Select Committee on the Coronavirus crisis last year I made repeated requests for the committee to investigate the origin of the virus and call China to account. The Chairman of the Committee actually said that was not within our jurisdiction. Seriously, the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus refused to investigate the origins of the Coronavirus. Shortly after that, the committee held a hearing voting by mail…
Now, report after report are forcing even the most reluctant among us to pay attention. American intelligence sources have recently reported that three researchers in the Wuhan Institute of Virology were hospitalized in November 2019, an entire month before the Chinese government publicly reported the existence of COVID-19. Millions of families across the world lost loved ones, the economies of nearly every country were brought to a standstill, countless children are now a year behind in their education, and we still have not received any viable explanations from the CCP on the virus’s origin. China’s complete lack of transparency is nothing new, but this time it has affected the entire world. Last month, House Republicans sent a letter to Speaker Pelosi urging her to join us in our calls for an investigation into the CCP’s handling of the COVID-19 crisis and to bring this matter before the appropriate committees in Congress. The evidence continues to mount against the wet market theory, but the WHO is maintaining what appears to be its “China First” policy. This is a great opportunity for all members of Congress and the Administration to join an effort that only helps America. As the people elected to represent the American people – and only the American people – agreement of fact-finding and Chinese accountability should be effortless. Many of my colleagues and I are ready to work with intelligence officials to finally get some concrete facts and force China to answer for their actions. All we need are willing partners in the Speaker’s chair and the White House.
CONTACT US: As always, for those of you with Internet access, I encourage you to visit my official website. For those without access to the Internet, I encourage you to call my offices in Jefferson City (573-635-7232) Washington, Mo. (636-239-2276), or Wentzville (636-327-7055) with your questions and concerns. If you want even greater access to what I am working on, please visit my YouTube site, Facebook page, and keep up-to-date with Twitter and Instagram.