Letter to Hon. Gary Peters, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs, and Hon. Rob Portman, Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs - Dr. Rand Paul Again Requests Committee Hearings After NIH Admits to Funding Risky Virus Enhancing Research

Letter

Dear Chairman Peters and Ranking Member Portman:

On June 3, I wrote to request that the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hold a hearing or
series of hearings on the public health and security risks posed by gain-of-function research. I write today to
renew that request in light of the recent admission by the National Institute of Health that it had indeed funded
gain-of-function research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, despite Administration testimony to Congress to the
contrary.

Gain-of-function research aims to predict future naturally-occurring pandemics by enhancing the severity or
transmissibility of viruses that may infect humans. In an October 6 op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, Dr. Kevin
Esvelt of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology bluntly stated, "[t]o discover many dangerous viruses, or
learn to enhance weaker ones, is to share the blueprints for an arsenal of plagues." He went on to say that "such
research looks like a gamble that civilization can't afford to risk." I could not agree more.

The dangers posed by this kind of research are so acute that under President Obama, the National Institutes of
Health suspended funding for all gain-of-function projects for three years. The Senate recognized these risks in
May when it passed my amendment #2003 to S. 1260, the United States Innovation and Competition Act, by a
voice vote. Your assistance was crucial in crafting that amendment, which sought to restrict the use of U.S.
federal funds for gain-of-function research.

I renew my request that the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee promptly schedule a
hearing or series of hearings on gain-of-function research. I look forward to your timely response to this request.

Sincerely,

Rand Paul, M.D.
United States Senator

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