On the recordJune 4, 2024
I rise today to discuss a very serious problem: viral gain-of-function research. I am calling on this body to place a pause on all viral gain-of-function research, just like President Obama did in 2014. Maybe I will start with an analogy. Could you imagine the United States participating in nuclear research and sending our scientists, sending our money to foreign adversaries to help them with their nuclear weapons research right now--say, a country like Iran or a country like North Korea? Of course, no one in this body would suggest that is a smart thing to do. But people can't see what viral gain-of- function is, so they are not afraid of it, but they should be. Think about this: Nuclear bombs have killed 2-, 3-, maybe 400,000 people at the max--2-, 3-, maybe 400,000 people--but viral gain-of- function research, through COVID, has killed over 1 million Americans, and worldwide, it is at least 10 times that, maybe 20 times that. And we still have 15 million long COVID sufferers, but we continue to fund and we continue to participate in viral gain-of-function research. I would stop and ask this body, what do we have to show for it? Thirty years of viral gain-of-function research and what are the benefits? What have we benefited from this? Just like in January of 2020 when I was the first Member of Congress to sound the alarm on the COVID virus and the consequences and the pandemic that was coming, I am here once again to sound this alarm.…
