Lawmaker: Force White House to disclose US-funded studies in China

Sen. Joni Ernst, of Iowa, speaks to reporters after a closed-door meeting with fellow Republicans at the Capitol in Washington on Tuesday. J. Scott Applewhite/AP

Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst is introducing a bill that would require the White House to issue reports on any U.S.-funded biomedical research in China.

The Chinese Laboratory Accountability and Watchful Spending Act, or CLAWS, would require the Office of Management and Budget to submit annual reports on whether the research is supported by or associated with the Chinese military or “intelligence.”

Ernst’s bill would also require OMB to disclose why the U.S. is funding the studies, as well as the purposes, start and end dates, and locations of them. In a press release Wednesday, Ernst accused President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris of prioritizing U.S. adversaries at the expense of American veterans.

The senator sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee and previously served in the U.S. Army.

The Department of Health and Human Services funded research conducted by EcoHealth Alliance into the risk posed by the emergence of bat-carried coronaviruses beginning in 2014. HHS has since cut off that funding to the organization.

A government watchdog reported in July that the State Department could not show it complied with counterterrorism vetting requirements on nearly $300 million in awards to programs in Afghanistan.