Cathy McMorris Rodgers - the Chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee | Official U.S. House headshot
Cathy McMorris Rodgers - the Chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee | Official U.S. House headshot
House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) expressed concerns about the Oversight of Dual Use Research of Concern and Pathogens with Enhanced Pandemic Potential. She criticized the White House Office of Science and Technology's new guidance, stating, "Regardless of the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic, our investigations have revealed the federal government's deeply inadequate oversight of biomedical research involving risky gain-of-function experiments."
Rodgers added, "The Biden administration had an opportunity to strengthen controls of these potentially dangerous projects and failed. This new guidance only makes modest changes that would still leave individuals—like EcoHealth Alliance's Peter Daszak and entities like the Wuhan Institution of Virology—responsible for self-evaluating and policing whether the risks posed by their own research is acceptable."
She emphasized the Energy and Commerce Committee's commitment to establishing guardrails that ensure transparency, independent oversight, and accountability in research involving potentially dangerous pathogens. Rodgers highlighted the importance of rebuilding the public's trust in government health agencies.
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