{"id":1032088,"date":"2021-11-19T13:13:32","date_gmt":"2021-11-19T18:13:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1032088"},"modified":"2021-11-19T13:13:35","modified_gmt":"2021-11-19T18:13:35","slug":"exclusive-rep-comer-sen-marshall-conduct-oversight-into-wsu-further-research-into-laboratory-leak","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/exclusive-rep-comer-sen-marshall-conduct-oversight-into-wsu-further-research-into-laboratory-leak\/","title":{"rendered":"EXCLUSIVE: Rep. Comer, Sen. Marshall Conduct Oversight Into WSU, Further Research Into Laboratory Leak"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">28<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fexclusive-rep-comer-sen-marshall-conduct-oversight-into-wsu-further-research-into-laboratory-leak%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1032088&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><\/div>\n<p>Republican Kentucky Rep. James Comer, the ranking member of the House Oversight Committee, and Kansas Sen. Roger Marshall sent a Friday letter to United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator Samantha Power over the agreement between USAID and Washington State University (WSU).<\/p>\n<p>USAID\u2019s agreement with WSU is <a href=\"https:\/\/news.wsu.edu\/press-release\/2021\/10\/05\/wsu-to-lead-125-million-usaid-project-to-detect-emerging-viruses\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">worth around<\/a> $125 million over a five-year period and involves as many as 12 targeted countries. The agreement requires the university to conduct research on emerging pathogens and how to prevent pandemics.<\/p>\n<p>The Daily Caller first obtained the letter, in which the lawmakers share their concern about the agreement, saying they need to understand what measures are in place to prevent researchers from potentially artificially creating another pandemic.<\/p>\n<p>The lawmakers also share concerns with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), saying they have failed to be transparent with the American people regarding dangerous research conducted on the taxpayer dime and the possibility of a laboratory leak or research accident leading to the COVID-19 pandemic. The lawmakers note their issue with American taxpayers helping fund potentially dangerous viral research under the agreement with USAID and WSU.<\/p>\n<p>The lab leak theory&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/04\/09\/lab-leak-theory-evidence-criticism-world-health-organization\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">posits<\/a> that COVID-19 could have escaped from the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), where scientists <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/01\/12\/china-wuhan-covid-19-coronavirus-gain-of-function-research-lab-leak-nih\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">conducted<\/a>&nbsp;gain-of-function&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/01\/04\/did-coronavirus-come-from-a-lab-covid-19-wuhan-china-report\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">research<\/a>&nbsp;on bat-based coronaviruses.<\/p>\n<p>White House chief medical adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci has <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/05\/11\/fauci-denies-funding-gain-of-function-wuhan-lab\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">repeatedly<\/a>&nbsp;testified to&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/07\/20\/rand-paul-clashes-fauci-tense-capitol-hill-hearing\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Congress<\/a> that the U.S. government has not funded gain-of-function research at the WIV. The <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/04\/04\/nih-gain-of-function-anthony-fauci-review-board-wuhan-lab\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">institute received thousands<\/a> of U.S. taxpayer dollars via a NIAID sub-grant to EcoHealth Alliance, a medical non-profit, which outside virologists claim is gain-of-function research.<\/p>\n<p>A Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) review board that was tasked with evaluating and recommending to reject gain-of-function funding did not do so for those grants. NIH and NIAID are allowed to determine in-house whether or not the grants fund gain-of-function research, without any oversight. Therefore, the agencies are only subject to oversight when they allow themselves to be.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe know U.S. taxpayer funds were used to conduct dangerous gain-of-function research at the Wuhan lab. For months, Dr. Fauci and Dr. Collins refused to be transparent with the American people about this risky research and the possibility of a lab leak leading to the COVID-19 pandemic. Through USAID\u2019s new research agreement, Americans are once again funding dangerous viral research abroad, potentially in China,\u201d Comer told the Daily Caller. <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/05\/28\/republicans-lab-leak-theory-tom-cotton-rand-paul-conspiracy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">(RELATED: As Lab Leak Theory Leaves The Realm Of Fringe Conspiracy, Republicans Consider Next Steps)<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>READ THE LETTER HERE:&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a title=\"View (DAILY CALLER OBTAINED) -- FINAL.letter to USAID Re. WSU Research Agreement[1][1] on Scribd\" href=\"https:\/\/www.scribd.com\/document\/540935812\/DAILY-CALLER-OBTAINED-FINAL-letter-to-USAID-Re-WSU-Research-Agreement-1-1#from_embed\">(DAILY CALLER OBTAINED) \u2014 \u2026<\/a> by <a title=\"View Henry Rodgers&#039;s profile on Scribd\" href=\"https:\/\/www.scribd.com\/user\/527927298\/Henry-Rodgers#from_embed\">Henry Rodgers<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cCongress must ensure these funds are allocated appropriately. It\u2019s critical for us to fully understand this agreement between USAID and WSU and that researchers guarantee safeguards are in place to prevent another potentially manufactured virus from wreaking global havoc,\u201d Comer added. <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/07\/29\/exclusive-top-republicans-answers-government-funded-gain-function-research\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">(RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: Top Republicans Demand Answers On Government-Funded Gain-Of-Function Research)<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The lawmakers called for a staff-level briefing no later than Nov. 29.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Republican Kentucky Rep. James Comer, the ranking member of the House Oversight Committee, and Kansas Sen. Roger Marshall sent a Friday letter to United States Agency for International Development (USAID) &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":163,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1032088","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1032088","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/163"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1032088"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1032088\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1032088"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1032088"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1032088"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}