Washington, D.C. — House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) issued the following statement regarding new guidance issued by the White House Office of Science and Technology regarding Oversight of Dual Use Research of Concern and Pathogens with Enhanced Pandemic Potential: 

“Regardless of the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic, our investigations have revealed the federal government’s deeply inadequate oversight of biomedical research involving risky gain-of-function experiments.

“The Biden administration had an opportunity to strengthen controls of these potentially dangerous projects and failed. This new guidance only makes modest changes that would still leave individuals—like EcoHealth Alliance’s Peter Daszak and entities like the Wuhan Institution of Virology—responsible for self-evaluating and policing whether the risks posed by their own research is acceptable. 

"The Energy and Commerce Committee will continue working to examine and develop guardrails that provide transparency, independent oversight, and accountability to taxpayers for research involving potentially dangerous pathogens. Rebuilding the public’s trust in government health agencies depends on it.”