The House of Representatives today unanimously passed a bill requiring Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Avril Haynes to declassify information about the origin of coronavirus causing Covid-19, increasing pressure on the president’s government Joe Biden to allow their release.
The bill passed with 419 votes in favor to none against. The Senate had approved it, also unanimously, on March 1, meaning it is now up to Biden ratify or veto it.
The White House did not immediately respond to a question about what Biden intends to do.
At USA a highly polarized public debate about the origin of SARS-CoV-2 has been going on almost since the first human cases were reported in the Chinese city of Wuhan, in late 2019. Democrats and Republicans alike have been pushing for a tougher stance on China.
This debate was re-heated last month, when the Wall Street Journal wrote that the Department of Energy concluded that the pandemic probably started due to a leak of the virus from a laboratory, which Beijing categorically denies. In its confidential report, however, the ministry writes that it is not absolutely sure of the correctness of its conclusion. Another four US agencies still think Covid-19 was likely the result of natural transmission of the virus while two are undecided.
Biden administration officials say that iso that the origin of the pandemic will never be known. China says claims it was caused by a leak in a laboratory are not credible.
Democratic Rep. Jim Himes called the bill an “important first step.” “I hope it clears up some of the speculation, some of the rumors that are out there.”commented.
Source: News Beast
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