Ami Bera: “I thank the gentleman for yielding. This should be an easy vote because this is just about science. It is about…”

“I thank the gentleman for yielding. This should be an easy vote because this is just about science. It is about understanding the origins of this virus that created this pandemic that took at a minimum 7 million lives-- probably many more than that. It is just about science. We are not debating the geography of where this virus originated. We know that. We are debating how this novel virus evolved. This is a brand-new virus, and that should go without question. I hope this is a strong ``yes'' vote by both Democrats and Republicans. I think about this as a doctor and a scientist, someone who has spent a lot of my time in Congress looking at global health security, looking at pandemic preparedness. I am proud to serve on the select committee that is looking at coronavirus and the impact of this pandemic. My colleague, another physician, Dr. Wenstrup, is the chairman of that committee, and the ranking member is Dr. Raul Ruiz. Again, I think if we can take the politics out of this, we can actually understand what happened over these past 3 years, the impact it had not just on the United States but on the entire world. We can work together as Democrats and Republicans and hopefully the global scientific community to prevent the next pandemic. That is what this is about. {time} 0930 I don't know if we will ever find those origins if the Chinese Communist Party doesn't work with us. It is in their interests as well because they have suffered greatly.…”