House votes to declassify info about origins of COVID-19

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: ABC News

WASHINGTON -- The House voted unanimously Friday to declassify U.S. intelligence information about the origins of COVID-19, a sweeping show of bipartisan support near the third anniversary of the start of the deadly pandemic.

The 419-0 vote was final congressional approval of the bill, sending it to President Joe Biden’s desk. It's unclear whether the president will sign the measure into law, and the White House said the matter was under review. “I haven't made that decision yet,” Biden said late Friday when asked whether he would sign the bill. Debate in the House was brief and to the point: Americans have questions about how the deadly virus started and what can be done to prevent future outbreaks.

“The American public deserves answers to every aspect of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Rep. Michael Turner, R-Ohio, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee. That includes, he said, “how this virus was created and, specifically, whether it was a natural occurrence or was the result of a lab-related event.”

The order to declassify focused on intelligence related to China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology, citing “potential links” between the research that was done there and the outbreak of COVID-19, which the World Health Organization declared a pandemic on March 11, 2020. U.S. intelligence agencies are divided over whether a lab leak or a spillover from animals is the likely source of the deadly virus. Experts say the true origin of the coronavirus pandemic, which has killed more than 1 million Americans, may not be known for many years — if ever.

Read more: https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/house-votes-declassify-info-origins-covid-19-97770035

[louis-t]

1. "what can be done to prevent future outbreaks".

Well, certainly not defunding the CDC as some repugs want to do.

[AZLD4Candidate]

9. Who care about that? The Republicans have a narrative to build through confirmation bias.

[Igel]

27. Because the origin matters.

1. Was it zoonotic transmission?

That's your focus.

2. Was it a lab leak of samples not genetically edited? There you go. That's your regulation.

3. Was it the result of gain-of-function reseach, where the virus was edited? Ah, that's a third regulation.

If it's 1 and not 2 or 3 and you impose onerous regulations on 1, 2, 3, you're fighting liberty. The Constitution preserves *liberty*, that's the goal, with constraints on "liberty". The preferred process is democracy, but the founders knew that democracy could be oppressive and anti-liberty (if every member of the Athenian senate were a Socrates, it would still have been a mob--paraphrase, the exact quote eludes me, and note that "mob" can have "lynch" in front of it with no diminution of meaning ... mobs is mobs).

The official narrative is that the virus is purely zoonotic in origin.

Arguments that the "available data" say one thing argues ex silencio. We lack a lot of confirmed data, and there are rather harsh assumptions that come into play with that limitation. What about unconfirmed data? Political restraints on data provision?

This is transparency. As long as it doesn't endanger means and methods, it's a plus. By early 2020 DU norms.

[SuperCoder]

31. Scientists have already shown that the virus originated through mutated animal transmission.

There is no further debate.

https://publichealth.jhu.edu/2022/origins-of-sars-cov-2

[madville]

46. What if both origins are true?

It was mutated animal transmission that was purposely done in a lab for research? Everyone would be both right and wrong at the same time.

[AZLD4Candidate]

34. Someone missed the sarcasm.

[agingdem]

17. Or not dismantling the Obama pandemic

protocols Obama handed Trump before he left office..and then there’s Trump’s callous disregard for human life (the exception being his own putrid sub-human existence)

[Aussie105]

2. Why go over this again?

"Experts say the true origin of the coronavirus pandemic, which has killed more than 1 million Americans, may not be known for many years — if ever."

Says it all. Bioweapon or natural occurrence? We will never know.
But if the flu virus and the Ebola virus, amongst many others are a hint, my money is on it being a natural occurrence.

Who is motivated to be bringing this up again?

The virus killed millions around the world, including China. It's not just about America.

The response to Covid 19 by different countries in the early days needs looking at closely, to be able to respond better the next time some virus crops up, not the source.

[MichMan]

3. Well, it passed the House 419-0.....

[intrepidity]

25. Why? Because the first time around was heavily tainted by numerous factors

While some info will never surface, ir is worth revisiting periodically until *actual* informed concensus emerges.

[womanofthehills]

48. It needs to be brought up because there are thousands of bio labs around the world

Including many in US. Something like 55 Bio 4 Labs and 3000 Bio 3 labs world wide. The world needs to unite to put regulations on these labs like we try to do with nuclear weapons. Problem is - also - there are most likely hidden bio labs that no one even know exhist. It’s very scary.

Our own Fort Detrick lab closed for months in 2019 for some severe mistakes. Obama stopped gain of function research in the US in 2014 but Trump brought it back and so it’s going on now.

[OAITW r.2.0]

4. Sure make it public....but what is the conclusion?

A lab virus or a meat market? I don't think we really know and it would be stupid to say, without conclusive evidence, which is correct.

[Mr.Bill]

8. There will be people on the internet that will

use the information to "prove" all kinds of different conclusions.

[Igel]

28. They'll be diverse conclusions, in other words.

A civil society would let people discuss this. They'd argue, disagree.

And form a democratically-arrived-at consensus.

Might be right, might be wrong.

[womanofthehills]

49. Hopefully, the FBI will release their information about it

The FBI believes it might be from a lab (medium confidence)

[AllaN01Bear]

5. yet another waste of tax payer monies with nonsense.

[DENVERPOPS]

10. AND

another worthless diversion to keep them from attacking the REAL problems we face in the near future.

In general, politicians love getting bogged down with minutiae, and petty bullshit to avoid having to deal with any or all the serious shit.......

THEY ARE WALKING DOWN THE JUNGLE PATH, SWATTING AT THE MOSQUITOES, AND IGNORING THE HERD OF CHARGING ELEPHANTS.

In my mind, there is nothing to be gained, expending time, energy and resources about WHERE and HOW the virus evolved at this point.
Leave that to the trained Virologists, if it is important. I seriously think that most in the House, (and Senate for that matter), would even begin to understand anything beyond Junior High School science, if they even can remember that after decades have passed......

The Republicans want to divert ALL attention away from Trump and his band of merry Republicans in the House and Senate, and how they failed to react, and in fact, intentionally delayed our response, allowing countless deaths in the U.S. As with everything, they would love to pretend that that never happened, and most of all, disclosing their massive involvement in making the deaths happen.....

They would also like to cover up how Trump, Ingrid, and Jared successfully grifted hundreds of millions of dollars during the nightmare PPE shortage debacle.......among many other things they were doing in the shadows......

[womanofthehills]

36. It's not a waste of tax payers money because some kind of control

needs to be placed on these labs. There are estimated to be 55 bio 4 labs and 3000 bio 3 labs (unregulated) around the world and there have been accidents. We don’t even know the locations of all the labs. Our own Fort Detrick Lab was closed for months in 2019 for severe safety violations - so, how secure does it make you feel about hundreds of labs in poor countries?

[RobinA]

47. Yeah, I'm Betting

this turns out to be a whole lot of nothing.

[hay rick]

6. This looks suspiciously like adult behavior.

Talk me down off the ledge.

[oldsoftie]

7. I know; 419-0? How the hell did THAT happen

[harun]

21. As fishy as it gets.

There is more to this than just a lab leak or not a lab leak. Big pharma could have also been involved creating all sorts of hybrid franko virus's in attempts to make vaccines ahead of time for different variants of SARS type virus's. This is highly controversial and big pharma admits they do it. In hearings when big pharma representatives were asked how they had certain anti-bodies ready to go so quickly they refused to answer.

419-0 means Congress is covering their own culpability in this ordeal if you ask my opinion.

[oldsoftie]

24. Maybe they had the anti bodies because they work against more than 1 Coronavirus ?

[harun]

39. Perhaps, but why not just say that?

[Igel]

29. The vote was hacked.

Russians.

Just kidding.

(It was really the Chinese.)

(Kidding again. It was the Maldivians. -)

(Really, do I need to continue this ...? This is, per me, a no-brainer.)

[onenote]

41. You'd be surprised at how often the House passes something with an overwhelming bipartisan vote

Since January 30, eight measures have passed with over 400 aye votes and another four have passed with between 350 and 400 votes.

[chiffondior]

12. Cool......

Now let's vote to unredact the entire Mueller Report.

[Skittles]

42. AGREE!

welcome to DU

[markodochartaigh]

13. While I'm very sure

that the virus was not developed as a bioweapon, I'm absolutely certain why the virus has been so deadly in the US. And I would imagine that future tyrants who would release a bioweapon have learned important lessons from the way that the US mishandled the pandemic under Trump.

[Turbineguy]

33. That's why Trump wants another go

To mishandle another outbreak. What ever the source.

[oldsoftie]

40. Why do U mean? The US death rate was equal to Canada. We're about #10 worldwide.

And we'll NEVER know the real numbers from China

[markodochartaigh]

43. US deaths/million...3,431. Canada deaths/million...1,340. nt

[oldsoftie]

44. According to this chart, we're tied per 100k pop.

https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/data/mortality

[markodochartaigh]

45. You are looking at the "observed case fatality ratio",

not the deaths/100k population".

[Initech]

14. What are the conspiracy theorists trying to prove?

I mean what if the lab leak was really proven to be true? What would they gain out of that? What is their end game in all of this? They won't get to live out their lock them all up and execute them bloodlust revenge fantasies. I just don't get it.

[former9thward]

15. The Democrats in the House are CTers?

I don't think so.

[oldsoftie]

18. It would be more proof, like we NEED any more, that you can never trust China.

Not that our own govt always tells the truth, but we are JV compared to their NFL level

[johnnyfins]

22. They want to be able to say

That the left engineered the pandemic to get pisshair out of office. Dems know this is bs, that's why they all voted to release it. Repubs think it will prove their CT/Q fantasies, that's why they all voted to release it.

[Initech]

23. Of course, it's all about power with these scumbags.

The right wing are a bloodthirsty cult out for absolute power and they don't care who they stomp on to get it.

[Igel]

30. In a self-referential moment, see post #27.

Dang, I think that's my first such post. in 18 1/2 or so years.

Wait. What? 18 1/2 years?

No expletive suffices. < silence!!!! >

[TheProle]

16. Excellent. Let's see it.

[cstanleytech]

19. No problem with that considering we already know that they do not know

for certain if it was a virus that was under investigation by the Chinese or if it was an actual natural mutation of an existing virus.

[Igel]

32. Yes.

But if all the info is released then the number of CTE folk will be reduced.

Even if it's by 10 out of the US CTE community population.

Many will still say, "Ah, but not *all* the info was released."

A small win is a win.

[PortTack]

20. Another frucker carlson big lie coming to a fux channel near you...vomit!

[intrepidity]

26. Why would Biden *not* sign?

How often does *any* vote come out unanimous?

[truthisfreedom]

35. Somehow it reminds me of the end of this movie

[Martin68]

37. Is there classified information about the origins of Covid-19? My understanding is that US agencies

do not have a definitive answer to the question, and disagree about the probability of the origin being a lab leak. Isn't this just grandstanding?

[BumRushDaShow]

38. Apparently there is a "classified version" of the DNI report

From here - https://www.dni.gov/index.php/newsroom/press-releases/press-releases-2021/item/2262-odni-releases-declassified-assessment-on-covid-19-origins

Friday, 29 October 2021 12:32

ODNI Releases Declassified Assessment on COVID-19 Origins



FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ODNI News Release No. 38-21

October 29, 2021


ODNI Releases Declassified Assessment on COVID-19 Origins



WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) today issued its declassified assessment on the origins of COVID-19. The classified version of this report was previously provided to the President and policymakers at the conclusion of the Intelligence Community’s 90-day review on the origins of the virus. On August 27, ODNI released the declassified key takeaways of the assessment.



The assessment is available here.

###

Direct link to "declassified" version (PDF) - https://www.dni.gov/files/ODNI/documents/assessments/Declassified-Assessment-on-COVID-19-Origins.pdf