Joco Today

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Roger Marshall, M.D., called for immediate consideration of his legislation, the Viral Gain-of-Function Research Moratorium Act, which seeks to prohibit federal funding of viral gain-of-function research. His efforts were blocked by Democrats.

"I rise today to discuss a very serious topic, viral gain-of-function research. And I’m calling on this body to place a pause on all viral gain-of-function research, just like President Obama did in 2014," said Senator Marshall.

Marshall emphasized the potential dangers of such research by comparing it to nuclear research conducted with foreign adversaries. "Could you imagine the United States participating in nuclear research and sending our scientists sending our money to foreign adversaries... but people can’t see what viral gain-of-function is."

He linked the COVID-19 pandemic to gain-of-function research: "Viral gain-of-function research, through Covid, has killed over a million Americans, and then worldwide, it’s at least ten times that, maybe 20 times that... we continue to fund... viral gain-of-function research."

Marshall expressed concerns about lab leaks regardless of biosecurity levels: "There’s human error, there’s mechanical error... We’ve seen it over and over again." He highlighted the catastrophic consequences witnessed during the COVID-19 pandemic and warned of other potential risks: "Just like the Chinese developed a Covid virus to attack human lungs... they could help develop new viruses that could attack our beef cattle, our pigs, our dairy..."

Marshall argued for transparency and an honest conversation about the benefits and risks associated with this type of research. "Our bill will prohibit federal funding of this research allowing time for an honest conversation about the pros and cons... setting up guardrails and ensuring a system of checks and balances."

He concluded by urging his colleagues to support his legislation: "Getting transparency for the American people for what happened during the pandemic shouldn’t be controversial... The federal government should not provide another diamond funding for viral gain-of-function research in the deceptive name of global health and national security."

"For these reasons," he stated, "I’m proud to be back here on the Senate floor to sound the alarm again and call for the immediate passage of our bill."