Rand Paul: “Over 6 million people died worldwide from COVID; over a million Americans died from COVID. Last year, we passed…”

“Over 6 million people died worldwide from COVID; over a million Americans died from COVID. Last year, we passed unanimously an amendment I had to ban any U.S. tax dollars from going to Wuhan, China, to the lab. There was a great deal of evidence that this pandemic arose out of the lab. Gain-of-function research enhances the severity of transmissibility of existing viruses that may infect humans. The dangers are so acute that, from 2014 to 2017, the National Institutes of Health suspended funding for all gain-of-function projects. The emergence of COVID serves as a reminder that this dangerous research, conducted in a secretive and totalitarian country, is simply too risky to fund. I, therefore, ask my colleagues to restore this crucial provision that would prohibit the funding of gain-of-function research in China. I ask unanimous consent that it be in order to call up my amendment No. 5159. I further ask that there be 30 minutes of debate, equally divided between the two leaders or their designees; and, finally, that upon the use or yielding back of that time, the Senate vote on adoption of my amendment with no intervening action or debate. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection? The Senator from Washington.”