Joco Today

U.S. Senator Roger Marshall, M.D., has reiterated his call for transparency and accountability from the federal government regarding its actions related to COVID-19. During a Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Senate Committee hearing on the origins of COVID-19, Senator Marshall highlighted the involvement of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and military presence at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, which he suggested as the likely origin of the virus.

Senator Marshall stated, "First of all, it’s important to remember why we’re here today. We’re here today because we don’t want to have another pandemic like this. I think it’s important that we recognize that a million Americans have lost a loved one, and they’re still looking for closure. We have 15 million Americans with long Covid."

Addressing Dr. Quay on the likelihood of COVID-19 occurring naturally, Senator Marshall referred to a grant by EcoHealth that was denied but laid out a framework for developing COVID-19. Dr. Quay responded by detailing specific steps outlined in the grant proposal that were found in SARS-CoV-2, concluding that "it’s 1 in 1.2 billion" for such an occurrence to happen naturally.

The discussion also touched upon gain-of-function research for bioweapons development. Senator Marshall questioned Dr. Quay about ORF-8, a synthetic link sequence never found in nature, suggesting it could serve dual purposes including use as a bioweapon. Dr. Ebright commented on gain-of-function research: "That research has no civilian practical application... researchers undertake this research because it’s easy, they get the money and they can get the papers."

Senator Marshall also criticized the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) for not complying with legislation to declassify information related to COVID-19 origins: "Leaving ODNI in charge ensures total monitoring control of the information – misinformation – that’s why we have to move this investigation outside of ODNI."

The hearing further examined CCP's involvement at WIV. Dr. Quay described how laboratory meetings at WIV start with recitations from Communist Party members before discussing research: "They start with a recitation of what the Communist Party’s missions are...and these are by Communist Party members who are part of every lab meeting."

Regarding funding foreign adversaries' gain-of-function research, Senator Marshall asked Dr. Ebright if he felt comfortable funding such research with entities hostile towards America like CCP. Dr. Ebright replied: "There is a line that never should be crossed...research on discovery and enhancement of bioweapons agents...most surely is an example of such research."