Ernst’s FAUCI Act Bans US Funding for “Gain-of-Function” Research in Communist China

WASHINGTON – With revelations continuing to surface about the U.S. government’s involvement in and support for dangerous scientific experiments overseas under Dr. Anthony Fauci—including “gain of function” research in China—U.S. Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) is calling for a full accounting of how and where U.S. tax dollars are being spent, a complete ban on funding of “gain-of-function” research in Communist China, and restrictions on government officials who intentionally mislead Congress.

 

Ernst is introducing the FAUCI Act – or the Fairness and Accountability in Underwriting Chinese Institutions Act – which, in addition to banning U.S. funding for “gain-of-function” research in China, ensures that any National Institutes of Health (NIH) employee, official, or grantee that intentionally misleads Congress, or the Inspector General, will be ineligible for current or future federal grants and employment. The bill also calls for a full accounting of U.S. involvement in “gain-of-function” research, particularly in China.

 

“For years, American tax dollars were funneled into Communist China, funding dangerous experiments on coronaviruses at the Wuhan Lab, while the head of the division funding those activities, Dr. Fauci, failed to tell the truth to Congress,” said Senator Joni Ernst. “We need a full accounting of how and where our tax dollars are being spent—enough is enough. The FAUCI Act will put an end to U.S. funding of gain-of-function research in Communist China, go after government officials who intentionally mislead Congress, and bring about badly needed transparency and accountability.”

 

Justin Goodman, Vice President of the government watchdog White Coat Waste Project, said , “Shipping U.S. tax dollars to a notorious Chinese Communist Party-run bioagent lab in Wuhan for treacherous gain-of-function animal experiments was a recipe for disaster. We applaud Senator Ernst for introducing the FAUCI Act to protect taxpayers and public health from dangerous and wasteful spending in China and to hold NIH officials and grantees accountable for not being forthright with Congress.”

 

For more than a year, Senator Ernst has pushed to get answers from the NIH about U.S. funding for dangerous experiments in China. In June, Ernst put forward legislation to cut off funding to EcoHealth Alliance, a taxpayer-supported nonprofit that’s conducted coronavirus experiments in China but has refused to provide information to the public, in violation of federal law. In May, Ernst successfully banned any additional future U.S. funding from going to China’s state-run Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV).