S. 619 (ENR) - COVID–19 Origin Act of 2023

[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 619 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]

        S.619

                     One Hundred Eighteenth Congress

                                 of the

                        United States of America


                          AT THE FIRST SESSION

          Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday,
         the third day of January, two thousand and twenty three


                                 An Act


 
     To require the Director of National Intelligence to declassify 
 information relating to the origin of COVID-19, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
    This Act may be cited as the ``COVID-19 Origin Act of 2023''.
SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS.
    It is the sense of Congress that--
        (1) identifying the origin of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-
    19) is critical for preventing a similar pandemic from occurring in 
    the future;
        (2) there is reason to believe the COVID-19 pandemic may have 
    originated at the Wuhan Institute of Virology; and
        (3) the Director of National Intelligence should declassify and 
    make available to the public as much information as possible about 
    the origin of COVID-19 so the United States and like-minded 
    countries can--
            (A) identify the origin of COVID-19 as expeditiously as 
        possible, and
            (B) use that information to take all appropriate measures 
        to prevent a similar pandemic from occurring again.
SEC. 3. DECLASSIFICATION OF INFORMATION RELATED TO THE ORIGIN OF COVID-
19.
    Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, 
the Director of National Intelligence shall--
        (1) declassify any and all information relating to potential 
    links between the Wuhan Institute of Virology and the origin of the 
    Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), including--
            (A) activities performed by the Wuhan Institute of Virology 
        with or on behalf of the People's Liberation Army;
            (B) coronavirus research or other related activities 
        performed at the Wuhan Institute of Virology prior to the 
        outbreak of COVID-19; and
            (C) researchers at the Wuhan Institute of Virology who fell 
        ill in autumn 2019, including for any such researcher--
                (i) the researcher's name;
                (ii) the researcher's symptoms;
                (iii) the date of the onset of the researcher's 
            symptoms;
                (iv) the researcher's role at the Wuhan Institute of 
            Virology;
                (v) whether the researcher was involved with or exposed 
            to coronavirus research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology;
                (vi) whether the researcher visited a hospital while 
            they were ill; and
                (vii) a description of any other actions taken by the 
            researcher that may suggest they were experiencing a 
            serious illness at the time; and
        (2) submit to Congress an unclassified report that contains--
            (A) all of the information described under paragraph (1); 
        and
            (B) only such redactions as the Director determines 
        necessary to protect sources and methods.

                               Speaker of the House of Representatives.

                            Vice President of the United States and    
                                               President of the Senate.