Washington, D.C. — Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Chair Morgan Griffith (R-VA) delivered the following opening statement at the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic hearing titled “A Hearing with the President of EcoHealth Alliance, Dr. Peter Daszak.” Given ongoing coordinated efforts, Committee Leaders from the House Energy and Commerce Committee were permitted to participate in the hearing. 

Prepared remarks below: 

“I want to thank Chairmans Comer and Wenstrup, Ranking Members Raskin and Ruiz for having this hearing today and inviting relevant E&C Chairs and Ranking Members to it. 

“For over a year now, we have been working together, to investigate the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic and the role that National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), headed by Dr. Fauci, and EcoHealth, headed by Dr. Daszak, may have played in it by funding research and facilitating the transfer of technologies to the Wuhan Institute of Virology, henceforth known as ‘Wuhan.’ 

“It is critical that we understand what went wrong at NIAID and EcoHealth’s relationship with Wuhan. 

“Frankly, it’s been alarming to discover that NIAID’s approval and oversight of risky experiments involving potential pandemic pathogens is so lax. 

“My hope is that, when we are finished, we have a package of legislative proposals and other recommendations on biosafety and biosecurity. 

“I increasingly think that means taking final approval authority for these experiments away from NIAID and other funding in favor of an independent entity. 

“With so many lives lost and disrupted by what I believe was a research related accident. We need transparent, effective oversight and tight regulation of gain-of-function research of concern. 

“We certainly do not have that now. 

“I participated in Dr. Daszak’s transcribed interview. 

“It’s clear to me that neither NIAID nor EcoHealth have a complete picture of what Wuhan was up to with its coronavirus collection, or with their gain-of-function research trajectory. 

“But what we do know from EcoHealth’s NIAID grant, the DEFUSE proposal, and the private musing of virologists who collaborated with Wuhan is not comforting. 

“We don’t have this critical information in large part because NIAID’s review and oversight was a farce. 

“NIAID and EcoHealth were completely asleep at switch. 

“In my opinion, they were grossly negligent. 

“I find it incomprehensible that NIAID continues to fund EcoHealth’s collaboration with Wuhan to this very day. 

“EcoHealth’s grant was reinstated so that they could process virus samples and sequences that had been previously collected. 

“It turns out many of those viruses and sequences are held by Wuhan.  

“NIAID didn’t even think to ask them where the samples were stored before restarting funding. 

“Even after COVID-19, it’s just business as usual. It's absurd and it’s got to change, or we risk having—perhaps—yet another high consequence accident. 

“We have to put some adults in place to independently review proposed gain of function research of concern that NIAID and other agencies want to fund. 

“Thank you, again, Mr. Chairman. 

“I look forward to continuing to work together and I yield back.”