WASHINGTON, D.C. (NEXSTAR) – House Republicans rolled out a brand new task force to investigate China on a number of issues, including the origins of the coronavirus.
“One thing has become very clear, China’s cover-up directly led to this crisis,” Representative Kevin McCarthy, R-California, said.
House Republicans say they intend to hold China accountable for its role in the spread of coronavirus.
“I’m announcing the Republican led China Task Force,” McCarthy said.
Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy says the new task force will investigate the origins of the coronavirus in China and accusations that the Chinese government lied to the rest of the world about its severity.
“While they denied flights from Wuhan into Beijing, they allowed the international flights from Wuhan to go around the world for the virus to continue to spread,” McCarthy said.
But he says the task force will go beyond the virus to investigate China’s widespread impact on the US.
“Including influence operations targeting our universities, think tanks and media outlets. Economic threats to our government and our allies,” McCarthy said.
McCarthy says the task force will be “Republican-led” because Democrats backed out of it but House Democrats say they were focused on China well before the virus.
“What Kevin McCarthy has in mind is something political that can be used during a presidential campaign,” Representative Adam Schiff, D-California, said.
Democratic Congressman Adam Schiff chairs the House Intelligence Committee.
“Actually Democrats have taken the lead on this. We’ve been doing, for a year and a half, a deep dive on China. We’ve written a report on China,” Schiff said.
McCarthy has appointed his task force members, all Republicans, but says he hopes Democrats will join his effort to hold China accountable.
