Ernst Applauds Trump’s Ban of Wuhan-Style Gain-of-Function Research
Order comes after Ernst fought for years to end batty experiments of pandemic potential.
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) released the following statement after President Donald Trump signed an executive order to ban all federal funding of risky gain-of-function research in China, Iran, and other countries and blocking all federal funding for foreign research that could cause another pandemic.
“I have been fighting for years to end the insane practice of sending tax dollars to China for sketchy pseudoscience,” said Ernst. “Thankfully, President Trump is ending the batty experiments, like those conducted in Wuhan, that are dangerous and wasteful. This is a great win for the American people and common sense. I will continue working to expose and halt all taxpayer-funded risky research of pandemic potential in malign foreign countries!”
Background:
Ernst has led the charge in Washington to stop tax dollars from being sent for risky research overseas.
An Ernst-requested investigation exposed how EcoHealth sent over $1 million U.S. tax dollars to the Wuhan Institute of Virology for risky experiments on bat coronaviruses. She also secured an audit by the Department of Defense’s Inspector General of risky research in China paid for by the Pentagon and hidden from the public by Biden’s Pentagon.
She fought to permanently debar the Wuhan Institute of Virology and defund EcoHealth Alliance from receiving U.S. tax dollars.
Ernst efforts also led to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) defunding EcoHealth and promising to cut off any taxpayer dollars used for research of pandemic potential.
In her $2 trillion blueprint to slash waste in Washington, Ernst pointed to the millions being sent to China for secretive risky research.
Last month, she introduced the AFAR Act to end the insane practice of funding sketchy animal experiments in China with American tax dollars. Ernst also introduced the TRACKS Act to require every penny sent to foreign adversaries or entities of particular concern, such as terrorist groups including the Taliban, to be accounted for and disclosed to the public for scrutiny.
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