Chris Stewart: “Again, I thank the chairman and the minority leader for their support on this. In April 2020, just months into the…”

“Again, I thank the chairman and the minority leader for their support on this. In April 2020, just months into the pandemic, we had a briefing from various agencies to the Intel Committee about the origins of the pandemic. At that point, one of the agencies said to us that they knew this did not come from the Wuhan lab, and many of us were angry at that. We said to them, how could you possibly know that? The truth is, they didn't know that. The American people deserve to know the truth. Throughout the pandemic, Dr. Anthony Fauci has consistently said anyone who would even propose this idea that it came from the lab or some other source that was manufactured in China was nothing but a conspiracy theorist. He belittled anyone who suggested that. They tried to silence anyone who suggested that. He advocated among his fellow scientists to do the same thing. Again, the American people deserve to know the truth, and I would defy anyone to give me any possible explanation why they would oppose this bill. This isn't like the movies--``You can't handle the truth.'' The American people, of course, can handle the truth. They deserve to know the truth. This final thought: Even now, the NIH is still listing the Wuhan Institute of Virology for eligibility to receive our Federal tax dollars. That makes no sense at all. It is absolute nonsense. We can't do that until, once again, we know the truth. Madam Speaker, I encourage support for this bill.”