The Biden Administration renewed a taxpayer grant to EcoHealth Alliance to research bat coronaviruses over the course of the next four years; on the condition there is no gain of function activity, The Daily Mail reported.The funding was initially blocked after it was revealed that zoologist Peter Daszak enabled the funneling of the money to the Wuhan Institute of Virology, where research into making the virus more deadly is carried out.
Rep. Morgan Griffith, R-Va., who sits on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, called the move “reckless.”
“It’s absolutely reckless that the NIH has renewed a grant for EcoHealth Alliance given their negligence and the breach of their contract with the NIH on the coronavirus research done at the Wuhan Institute of Virology,” Griffith said.
Griffith also accused the EcoHealth Alliance of not being “contrite” about the Wuhan lab connection.EcoHealth has also refused to cooperate with Congressional investigations.
“Until they can demonstrate a willingness to work with Congress to resolve outstanding questions and fulfill all of the terms of their federal contracts, paid for with American taxpayer dollars, all funding should remain suspended, and no new contracts should be awarded,” Griffith urged.
GOP Senator Joni Ernst of Iowa said the renewal of the NIH grant “doesn’t pass the COVID smell test.”
Ernst added that “Ecohealth has already betrayed the trust of American taxpayers by funneling funds to China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology for risky experiments on bat coronaviruses that may have unleashed the COVID-19 pandemic on the world.”
“Americans deserve accountability, which is why it’s past time to defund EcoHealth,” she added.
Ken
