House Votes Passes Bill to Defund EcoHealth & Wuhan Lab

According to the watchdog group White Coat Waste Project, as part of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that was passed on Friday, the House of Representatives decided to cut funds to the Wuhan Institute of Virology and partner organization EcoHealth Alliance.

According to White Coat Waste Project, the amendment prevents the Department of Defense (DOD) from sponsoring EcoHealth Alliance, a non-profit research organization that has earned $26 million in DOD funds since 2020.According to White Coat Waste Project, EcoHealth Alliance had previously assisted in funding an animal experimenter at the Wuhan Institute of Virology who some believe may be “patient zero” for the COVID-19 pandemic.

The amendment, drafted by Republican Michigan Rep. Lisa McClain, will ensure that “none of the funds authorized to be appropriated” will be awarded to EcoHealth or the Wuhan Institute of Virology. The NDAA passed the House 219-210.

“Our blockbuster investigations prove that the disgraced EcoHealth Alliance secretively shipped US taxpayer dollars to COVID’s likely Patient Zero at the Wuhan lab for dangerous gain-of-function experiments on humanized mice that violated federal policy and that the FBI and other experts believe caused COVID,” Justin Goodman, senior vice president of White Coat Waste Project, said in a statement.

According to White Coat Waste Project, the $26 million that the DOD gave to EcoHealth came from the Pentagon’s “Combating Weapons of Mass Destruction” account. According to the watchdog, EcoHealth has apparently received over $46 million in public funds since the COVID pandemic began, including from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

According to White Coat Waste Project, EcoHealth used a large portion of their cash to conduct “risky and cruel” studies on animals like mice and bats as well as gain-of-function research on coronaviruses with the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

“Enough is enough. Taxpayers shouldn’t be forced to fund the reckless white coats who caused COVID or other dangerous virus experiments on animals at home and abroad,” Goodman said. “We’re proud to work with Congress to curtail wasteful government spending on animal experiments that can prompt pandemics.”

“The solution is simple: Stop the money. Stop the madness,” Goodman said.

Other provisions in the NDAA, including as prohibitions on supported sex-change therapies and racial preference in entrance to military schools, are directed at the Pentagon’s diversity, equity, and inclusion as well as abortion agendas.