Republicans have criticized President Joe Biden for his soft approach to China on the coronavirus pandemic.
Now, members of his own party appear to be joining in.
A key bloc of Democratic lawmakers is calling for a 9/11-style commission to investigate the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The purpose of the commission would not be to point fingers or assign blame, but rather to make the United States stronger and more resilient if we face another pandemic,” the Blue Dog Coalition — a bloc of centrist Democrats – wrote in a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.
They want a commission to feature 10 “well-respected individuals,” with five of the members appointed by Democrats, and the other five by Republicans, making it a perfectly bipartisan panel.
In an effort not to offend China, many have bought into the Communist Party’s statements insisting that this was a freak event – that the virus mutated in animals, and leapt to humans when it began spreading in Wuhan, China at the end of 2019, kicking off a global pandemic that has killed millions.
But many on the right, including former President Donald Trump, have noted with more than a little suspicion that Wuhan is also home to a lab that studies some of the world’s deadliest pathogens – and more specifically, it studies coronaviruses.
Now, Democrats are thinking Trump may have been onto something.
Earlier this year, the Wall Street Journal reported that several workers at the lab were treated with symptoms that match those of the coronavirus in Nov. 2019, or about a month before the first known cases among the public.
And in May, Dr. Anthony Fauci said he was “not convinced” the virus developed naturally.
“I think we should continue to investigate what went on in China until we continue to find out to the best of our ability what happened,” he said during an interview.
That finally seemed to have pushed Biden’s hand: He directed U.S. intelligence agencies to investigate the origins of the virus and deliver a report within 90 days.
But that may not be enough for members of his own party, as the Democratic lawmakers write in their letter that Americans need more specific information.
“The commission would examine how COVID-19 emerged and spread in the United States; evaluate the United States’ preparedness for and response to the pandemic; and issue a report providing Congress, the President, and the American people with a full accounting of what occurred and recommending concrete steps the U.S. public and private sector can take to prevent, prepare for, respond to, and mitigate the harmful impact of future pandemics,” the Blue Dog leaders wrote.
That won’t come from China.
As NPR noted last month, Communist leaders “stage-managed” the World Health Organization’s attempt to investigate the situation in Wuhan earlier this year – so the team left with more questions than answers.
The Blue Dog lawmakers took a direct shot at Beijing in their letter.
“The Chinese government will predictably object to this effort to learn the truth,” they wrote. “Its objections should be noted and then disregarded.”
However, as The Hill points out, Pelosi hasn’t been very eager about looking into the origins of the virus and has resisted calls for committees and investigations.
And that means Americans might be waiting a long time when it comes to answers on how the pandemic began – and who’s really responsible for it.
— Walter W. Murray is a reporter for The Horn News. He is an outspoken conservative and a survival expert.