House Unanimously Passes Bill to Declassify COVID Origins Intel, Heads to Biden’s Desk

The GOP-controlled House of Representatives passed unanimously a March 10 bill that would require the Director of National Intelligence, to declassify information regarding the origin of COVID-19.

The final score was 419-0.

The BillThe Democrat-controlled Senate unanimously approved the.

The president may not enact the measure. This is known publicly. The position of the administration on the measure has not yet been announced.

‘Really Important First Step’

The bill would give the director of National Intelligence up to 90 days to respond to the bill. “declassify any and all information relating to potential links between the Wuhan Institute of Virology and the origin of” COVID-19.

Before the vote, Rep. Mike Turner (R. Ohio), chairman of the House Intelligence Committee stated that a laboratory leak was the reason for the vote. “likely” The pandemic. He said that intelligence agencies can release information on the origins of the pandemic, without compromising sources or methods.

Before the vote, Rep. Jim Himes, R-Conn., also expressed support for the measure and called it “Turn”. “a really important first step.”

The Wall Street Journal reported On Feb. 26, the Energy Department sent a classified report to the White House, stating that it believed there had been a leak at the lab.

However, it is possible. “low confidence” in the conclusion—intelligence officials told WSJ and CNN—and that means the assessment cannot be said with absolute certainty.

John Kirby, National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications, and Karine Jean Pierre, White House Press Secretary asserted that there is “no consensus” In the U.S. government, the origin or origins COVID-19.

Staying ahead of the curve with conclusions

“If we have something that we believe can be reported to Congress and to the American people that we’re confident in, then we will absolutely do that,” Kirby.

“We really do want to know what happened here. The president wants to make sure that we’re postured to prevent any future pandemics or, if not, prevent them to be able to get farther along ahead of them,” He concluded.

“So we’re working very hard to understand this as best we can. Again, there’s just no consensus across the government. The work continues. And I’m not gonna get ahead of conclusions that have not been arrived at yet.”

Jean-Pierre echoed Jake Sullivan, National Security Adviser, when he said that Biden wanted to reach a conclusion on how COVID-19 began.

Sullivan stated that on CNN, February 26, 2016, Sullivan said “there is a variety of views in the intelligence community. Some elements of the intelligence community have reached conclusions on one side, some on the other. A number of them have said they just don’t have enough information to be sure.

“Here’s what I have to say. President Biden directed every member of the intelligence community to work hard to answer this question.

“And one of the things in that Wall Street Journal report—which I can’t confirm or deny—but I will say the reference to the Department of Energy, President Biden specifically requested that the National Labs, which are part of the Department of Energy, be brought into this assessment because he wants to put every tool at use to be able to figure out what happened here.

“If we have any further information or insights, we will share that with Congress as well as the American people. However, the intelligence community is still unable to provide a definitive answer.”