Matt Rosendale: “My amendment No. 133 would prohibit funds made available by this act from conducting or supporting any gain-of-function…”

“My amendment No. 133 would prohibit funds made available by this act from conducting or supporting any gain-of-function research involving a potential pandemic pathogen by the Rocky Mountain Laboratories. We have heard a lot of conversations and debate about gain-of- function research as we went through the pandemic, and we are going to hear a little bit more about it this evening. I am pleased that the base text of this legislation has a provision that prevents dangerous gain-of-function research in any country determined to be a foreign adversary. However, gain-of-function research can potentially be dangerous no matter where the research is conducted. My amendment would ensure that this dangerous research does not take place at the laboratory located in Hamilton, Montana. Evidence points out that the COVID-19 pandemic was likely caused by gain-of-function research that took place at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. During his tenure as the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Anthony Fauci expanded Rocky Mountain Laboratories to include a biosafety level 4 laboratory for research and experiments on deadly pathogens with pandemic potential. The laboratory spent millions to infect bats with a coronavirus obtained directly from the Wuhan lab 1 year before COVID. Specifically, under Dr. Fauci's tenure, Rocky Mountain Laboratories infected Egyptian fruit bats with coronavirus obtained from China's Wuhan Institute of Virology.…”