Washington, D.C. – House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy (CA-23) spoke at a press conference today with Republican Whip Steve Scalise (LA-01), Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik (NY-21), Lead Republican of House Foreign Affairs Michael McCaul (TX-10), Ranking Member James Comer (KY-01), Congressman Brett Guthrie (KY-02), and Congressman Dan Crenshaw (TX-02) about House Republicans’ roadmap to hold China accountable for their coverup of COVID-19 and deliver transparency and justice to the American people.

“Over the past year, the American people have suffered. More than 600,000 Americans have died from the virus, and over 3.8 million [people have died] across the world.

“This pandemic [was not invited], but we have [utilized] the ingenuity of America to defeat it.

“[China] must be held accountable for their lies.

“Yet, the President of the United States has refused to take any action. The Democrat majority in this House has refused to take any action.

“What’s even worse is this administration sent more than $200 million to the World Health Organization, not asking for reform, not asking why they lied, and not asking why they allowed China to influence them. Then in their budget [they] proposed more than $100 million more…

“And Democrats in this Congress spent the last year allowing China to lie.

“As many of you know, in the last Congress I spent more than 8 months working with the Democrat majority trying to create a bipartisan China Task Force [with an] equal number of Republicans and Democrats, long before we even had heard of [COVID-19]…

“When the day came, the Democrats said no. I do not know what the Chinese have on this Democrat majority, but it must be very powerful. Why would they not participate in a task force [designed to] make sure the next century is ours?

“We can no longer wait for this Democrat majority to get to the bottom of where this virus came from. That’s why we have proposed eight pillars that will deliver the transparency and justice all Americans [deserve]…

On Transparency:

We need to declassify intelligence;
Stop funding gain of function with China;
Prohibit NIH funding to bad governments like China, Russia, Iran, North Korea;
And we need an overhaul at the World Health Organization, including demanding their leadership be replaced.
On Justice:

The United States needs to utilize every authority to continue to investigate;
We need to restrict visas and impose sanctions;
We need to provide the American people an avenue to directly hold the Chinese government accountable for the loved ones they lost because of [China’s] deception;
And we need to work with the international community to relocate the 24th Winter Olympic games.
“This comprehensive plan will ensure Americans get the accountability and transparency they deserve. We cannot afford to let China’s wrongdoing go [unchecked].”