The House Appropriations Committee has approved a ban on sending funding to the Wuhan Institute of Virology, the Chinese lab at the heart of controversy over the origin of the virus that sparked the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a June 30 voice vote, members of the Committee adopted a fiscal 2023 budget amendment (pdf) that explicitly precludes any funding to the Wuhan lab, which some U.S. lawmakers argue is where the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, the pathogen that causes COVID-19, originated.
“None of the funds made available by this Act may be made available to the Wuhan Institute of Virology, or any other laboratory located in a country determined by the Secretary of State to be a foreign adversary, including China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran,” reads the amendment, which was proposed by Appropriations Committee Chair Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.)….