Political Quotes

“Mr. President, for years prior to the COVID pandemic, U.S. taxpayer dollars were being funneled into Communist China's state-run Wuhan Institute of Virology. After COVID appeared in the vicinity of the Wuhan Institute, instead of cooperating with efforts to discover the source of the outbreak, Chinese officials instead ordered the destruction of some of the coronavirus samples and blocked access to the lab. China continues to obstruct international efforts to discover the origins of COVID, refusing to allow independent scientists to review the database of coronaviruses that were being studied in the Wuhan Institute. Providing additional U.S. funds to subsidize any state-run lab in China, especially the Wuhan Institute of Virology, goes against the very purpose of the underlying bill, which is to support more research in the United States to better compete with China. My amendment would assure that not another dime of taxpayer dollars goes to subsidizing Communist China. With that, I yield. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Washington. VCote on Amendment No. 1507”