Released by U.S. Congressman Brian Mast’s Office …
U.S. Congressman Brian Mast (FL-18) today introduced legislation to hold China accountable for its coronavirus deception. The resolution would empower the United States to withhold payments on debts owed to China equal to the costs incurred by the United States in response to COVID-19, including several trillion dollars in spending authorized by Congress in response to the pandemic.
“China’s total lack of transparency and mishandling of the coronavirus outbreak has cost tens of thousands of lives, millions of jobs and left untold economic destruction,” Rep. Mast said. “Congress must hold China accountable for their cover-up and force them to pay back the taxpayer dollars that have been spent as a result.”
Outbreak Timeline:
- November 17, 2019 – First confirmed case of COVID-19
- December 8, 2019 – First human-to-human transmission of the disease recorded by doctors in Wuhan, China
- December 31, 2019 – Wuhan Municipal Health Commission informs the World Health Organization (WHO) of the outbreak after weeks of delay
- January 3, 2020 – China’s National Health Commission (NHC) ordered institutions ‘‘not to publish any information related to the unknown disease’’ and ordered labs to ‘‘transfer any samples they had to designated testing institutions or to destroy them’’
- January 23, 2020 – Chinese authorities begin taking steps to lockdown the city of Wuhan more than two months after the first reported case of Coronavirus
H. RES. ll
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the People’s
Republic of China should be held accountable for its handling of COVID-19.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Mr. MAST submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the
Committee on lllllllllllllll
RESOLUTION
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that
the People’s Republic of China should be held accountable
for its handling of COVID-19.
Whereas the first reported case of Coronavirus Disease 2019
(commonly referred to as ‘‘COVID-19’’) was reported as
early as November 17, 2019;
Whereas the first human-to-human transmission of the disease
was recorded by doctors in Wuhan, China on December
8, 2019;
Whereas the Wuhan Municipal Health Commission did not
inform the World Health Organization (WHO) of the
outbreak until December 31, 2019;
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Whereas Chinese social media censors curbed alerts of the
outbreak to the public, including by blocking a comprehensive
list of coronavirus-related terms from online
discussion;
Whereas Dr. Li Wenliang, a physician at Wuhan Central hospital
who warned his colleagues of the possible outbreak
of COVID-19 in December 2019, was summoned and admonished
by Wuhan police for ‘‘making false comments
on the Internet’’, and later died of the virus;
Whereas on January 3, 2020, China’s National Health Commission
(NHC) ordered institutions ‘‘not to publish any
information related to the unknown disease’’ and ordered
labs to ‘‘transfer any samples they had to designated
testing institutions or to destroy them’’;
Whereas the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, Dr. Robert Redfield, was not notified by his
Chinese colleagues of COVID-19 until January 3, 2020,
47 days after the first reported case of the virus;
Whereas nearly six weeks after doctors in Wuhan raised the
possibility of human-to-human transmission of the virus,
Chinese officials continued to deny any recorded cases of
such transmissions;
Whereas Chinese authorities did not begin taking steps toward
locking down the city of Wuhan until January 23,
2020, over two months after the first reported case of
COVID-19;
Whereas critics of China’s slow response to the outbreak, including
Chinese businessman Ren Zhiqiang, were reported
to have disappeared; and
Whereas a growing consensus of United States officials now
believe that COVID-19 originated at the Wuhan Institute
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of Virology as part of efforts to study and combat viruses:
Now, therefore, be it
1 Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Rep2
resentatives that—
3 (1) the global outbreak of Coronavirus Disease
4 2019 (commonly referred to as ‘‘COVID-19’’) is a
5 direct result of the People’s Republic of China’s long
6 and appalling record of human rights abuses, includ7
ing its suppression of the freedom of expression, as
8 well as its aggressive domestic and global propa9
ganda campaign;
10 (2) the People’s Republic of China should be
11 held accountable for its handling of the COVID-19;
12 and
13 (3) the United States and other countries
14 should permanently withhold payments on debts
15 owed to the People’s Republic of China in amounts
16 equal to the public costs incurred by such countries
17 relating to COVID-19.
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April 21,