House of Representatives Unanimously Votes to Declassify U.S. Intelligence Information on Origins of COVID-19

On Friday, the House of Representatives voted unanimously to declassify U.S. intelligence information about the origins of COVID-19. The bill, which already passed the Senate, was sent to President Joe Biden’s desk to be signed into law.

The bill requires Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines to declassify any information about links between the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Wuhan Institute of Virology, the controversial viral research laboratory in the city where the SARS-CoV-2 virus first emerged.

Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Michael Turner, said “The American public deserves answers to every aspect of the COVID-19 pandemic,” including “how this virus was created and, specifically, whether it was a natural occurrence or was the result of a lab-related event.”

A report in 2021 reflecting the findings of intelligence community was inconclusive, and determined two theories were “plausible” to explain how the virus emerged. The first theory is that the virus was transmitted from an animal to a human, and the second is that the virus was accidentally released from a laboratory.

The intelligence community has not definitively agreed on the origins of the pandemic, and the declassification of information is expected to provide more clarity on the issue. The bill is expected to be signed into law by President Biden in the coming days.