Ernst Works to Permanently Defund Wuhan Lab

WASHINGTON – Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) is leading the charge to permanently end U.S. taxpayer funding for animal experiments conducted by our foreign adversaries, including at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. Congresswoman Lisa McClain (R-Mich.) and Congressman Don Davis (D-N.C.) are leading the bipartisan effort in the House.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently announced it suspended federal funding to and proposed the debarment of the Wuhan Institute of Virology – but has not made this permanent. Additionally, 27 institutions located in China are still eligible to receive U.S. taxpayer dollars to conduct animal experiments by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The Accountability in Foreign Animal Research (AFAR) Act would put an end to this.

“We successfully pulled the plug on U.S. taxpayer funding to China’s Wuhan Institute and Russia’s labs—for now. The AFAR Act will guarantee not another penny will be spent subsidizing crazy and dangerous experiments, like putting cats on a treadmill or enhancing bat coronaviruses in Russia and China ever again. I applaud Reps. Lisa McClain and Don Davis as well as the White Coat Waste Project for their efforts exposing and putting an end to this whacky Washington waste,” said Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa).

“No American tax dollars should ever go to funding research on animals in foreign countries, especially adversarial countries”said Congresswoman Lisa McClain. “We know what happened when we funded research labs in Wuhan, and it’s time we stop thisdangerous funding once and for all. I am proud to introduce the AFAR Act with my colleagues Rep. Davis and Sen. Ernst.”

“Shipping taxpayer dollars to animal testing labs run by our foreign adversaries is a recipe for disaster. We’ve exposed and defunded gain-of-function experiments in Wuhan and all animal labs in Russia, including Putin’s cat tests, but dozens of other animal labs in China are still eligible to get more of our money. Over 70 percent of taxpayers—Republicans and Democrats alike—oppose this reckless spending, and we commend Reps. Lisa McClain. Rep. Don Davis and Sen. Joni Ernst for introducing the commonsense AFAR Act to permanently stop our money from flowing to foreign adversaries’ animal labs,” said Justin Goodman, Senior Vice President of Advocacy and Public Policy at government watchdog group White Coat Waste Project.

Specifically, the AFAR Act would prevent the Secretary of HHS, acting through the Director of NIH, from conducting or supporting research on animals in foreign countries that the federal government has labeled “foreign adversaries,” including China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Cuba, and the Maduro regime of Venezuela.

Ernst has led the charge to permanently debar the Wuhan Institute from receiving U.S. taxpayer dollars. An Ernst-requested investigation exposed how Ecohealth Alliance sent over $2 million U.S. taxpayer dollars to the Wuhan lab for risky experiments on bat coronaviruses. She also revealed over 1.3 billion in taxpayer dollars that have funded experiments and other projects in Russia and China.

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