{"id":1955432,"date":"2023-06-23T15:18:01","date_gmt":"2023-06-23T19:18:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/senate-takes-critical-step-towards-permanently-defunding-group-blamed-for-covid-19-origins\/"},"modified":"2023-06-23T15:18:43","modified_gmt":"2023-06-23T19:18:43","slug":"senate-takes-critical-step-towards-permanently-defunding-group-blamed-for-covid-19-origins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/senate-takes-critical-step-towards-permanently-defunding-group-blamed-for-covid-19-origins\/","title":{"rendered":"Senate moves closer to permanently defunding group accused of COVID-19 origins."},"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\">22<\/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%2Fsenate-takes-critical-step-towards-permanently-defunding-group-blamed-for-covid-19-origins%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=1955432&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>\n<h2>The Fight to Defund EcoHealth Alliance<\/h2>\n<blockquote>\n<p>The group that was conducting risky experiments on bat coronaviruses in Wuhan, China, that are widely believed to have caused the global COVID-19 pandemic may soon lose its largest source of federal funding.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/winred.tomcotton.com\/tom-cotton\/defend-scotus-ads-beacon?utm_source=rc&#038;utm_medium=beaconads&#038;utm_campaign=2023maybeaconscotus\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/winred.tomcotton.com\/tom-cotton\/defend-scotus-ads-beacon?utm_source=rc&#038;utm_medium=beaconads&#038;utm_campaign=2023maybeaconscotus\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><\/a><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<h3>Amendments to Cut Funding<\/h3>\n<p>Three amendments that Sen. Joni Ernst (R., Iowa) successfully added to the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act on Thursday would bar the Department of Defense from funding EcoHealth Alliance, which conducted research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in the lead-up to the outbreak of COVID-19.<\/p>\n<p>The legislative measures would have a devastating impact on EcoHealth Alliance\u2019s bottom line. The Department of Defense has <a href=\"https:\/\/streaklinks.com\/Bjl-O9VpKaJOTTl3lQ8-1hL9\/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.usaspending.gov%2Frecipient%2F12d878d7-3cbe-c819-e51e-7891f98ae955-C%2Fall\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/streaklinks.com\/Bjl-O9VpKaJOTTl3lQ8-1hL9\/https%253A%252F%252Fwww.usaspending.gov%252Frecipient%252F12d878d7-3cbe-c819-e51e-7891f98ae955-C%252Fall&#038;source=gmail&#038;ust=1687625529494000&#038;usg=AOvVaw3Vf-BbJ37xq7J-LHi1hHnG\">doled<\/a> out $46 million to the group since 2008 to conduct studies on bat diseases in Asia.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;To prevent a repeat of what happened in Wuhan somewhere else in the world, we are pulling the plug on Pentagon funding for EcoHealth, which has proven it can\u2019t be trusted\u2014with taxpayer dollars or dangerous diseases,&#8221; Ernst said in a statement Friday. &#8220;The tax dollars of hardworking Americans must never again be <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/senate-takes-critical-step-towards-permanently-defunding-group-blamed-for-covid-19-origins\/\" title=\"Senate moves closer to permanently defunding group accused of COVID-19 origins.\">misspent underwriting risky research<\/a> or subsidizing communist China\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/5-dem-senators-will-sink-bidens-radically-left-comptroller-nominee-report\/\" title=\"5 Dem Senators Will Sink Biden\u2019s Radically Left Comptroller Nominee: Report\">state-run institutions<\/a>. Our defense dollars should make the world a safer, not more dangerous, place.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h3>Close Ties to COVID-19 Outbreak<\/h3>\n<p>EcoHealth Alliance worked closely with the first known Chinese citizens that were infected with COVID-19 in November 2019, all of whom were researchers at the lab. One of those researchers, Ben Hu, specialized in modifying coronaviruses so they could bind to human cells, the <em>Wall Street Journal<\/em> <a href=\"https:\/\/streaklinks.com\/Bjl-O9dYGLMnOyrypAkPuRkr\/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.wsj.com%2Farticles%2Fu-s-funded-scientist-among-three-chinese-researchers-who-fell-ill-amid-early-covid-19-outbreak-3f919567\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/streaklinks.com\/Bjl-O9dYGLMnOyrypAkPuRkr\/https%253A%252F%252Fwww.wsj.com%252Farticles%252Fu-s-funded-scientist-among-three-chinese-researchers-who-fell-ill-amid-early-covid-19-outbreak-3f919567&#038;source=gmail&#038;ust=1687625529494000&#038;usg=AOvVaw1g5kjpyhZwbLFI_v3-JRoJ\">reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Ernst said the amendments were an important first step in completely severing EcoHealth Alliance from the taxpayer spigot. While her measures would not bar other federal agencies such as the Department of Health and Human Services from <a href=\"https:\/\/streaklinks.com\/Bjl-O9VJST7Z0Mp-9QywBzgR\/https%3A%2F%2Ffreebeacon.com%2Fnational-security%2Fernst-wuhan-affiliated-group-broke-federal-law-moments-after-biden-admin-resumed-federal-funding%2F\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/streaklinks.com\/Bjl-O9VJST7Z0Mp-9QywBzgR\/https%253A%252F%252Ffreebeacon.com%252Fnational-security%252Fernst-wuhan-affiliated-group-broke-federal-law-moments-after-biden-admin-resumed-federal-funding%252F&#038;source=gmail&#038;ust=1687625529494000&#038;usg=AOvVaw0jxT7s6a386jBFvfZEJtgZ\">funding<\/a> EcoHealth Alliance, Ernst said the tide had turned against the group in Congress. She told the <em>Washington Free Beacon<\/em> her amendments to the NDAA were fully supported by her Democratic colleagues on the Senate Armed Services Committee.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Democrats agreed with me that we needed those answers,&#8221; Ernst said. &#8220;Those three scientists that we think were the first ones that got COVID, we need to know when they knew this and why they didn\u2019t share this information.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This is the first bite of the apple,&#8221; Ernst said. &#8220;There will be more to follow on the other funding that\u2019s been released to EcoHealth.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Ernst\u2019s amendments would also direct the Pentagon to investigate if EcoHealth Alliance diverted any of its funds to Chinese labs or to conduct risky gain-of-function experiments on deadly viruses.<\/p>\n<p>The Senate\u2019s move to ban the Defense Department from funding EcoHealth Alliance comes as President Joe Biden missed a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-dhs-withholds-afghan-refugee-report\/\" title=\"Biden DHS Withholds Afghan Refugee Report\">congressionally mandated deadline<\/a> to declassify documents related to the origins of COVID-19. In March, the president signed a bill requiring the White House to release the documents by June 18.<\/p>\n<div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/winred.tomcotton.com\/tom-cotton\/defend-scotus-ads-beacon?utm_source=rc&#038;utm_medium=beaconads&#038;utm_campaign=2023maybeaconscotus\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/winred.tomcotton.com\/tom-cotton\/defend-scotus-ads-beacon?utm_source=rc&#038;utm_medium=beaconads&#038;utm_campaign=2023maybeaconscotus\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><\/a><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Ernst pledged to do everything in her power to pressure the Biden administration to release its records on the pandemic\u2019s origins.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We don\u2019t want to see anything like this again,&#8221; Ernst said. &#8220;In order to prevent it, we need to know what happened.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Wuhan group, blamed for risky bat coronavirus experiments linked to the global COVID-19 outbreak, faces potential loss of major federal funding. Sen. Joni Ernst (R., Iowa) added three amendments to the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act, aiming to prohibit funding for the group.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":108,"featured_media":1955433,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[544],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1955432","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-free-beacon"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1955432","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\/108"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1955432"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1955432\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1955433"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1955432"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1955432"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1955432"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}