Biden signs bill to declassify information on origins of COVID-19

US President Joe Biden on Monday signed a bill requiring Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines to declassify information related to the origins of COVID-19, the White House said.

Biden said he shared the intent of Congress to release information about the origins of COVID-19. However, he said his government would keep national security in mind when deciding what to launch.

“In implementing this legislation, my administration will disclose and share much of this information, consistent with my constitutional authority to protect against disclosure of information that would harm national security,” Biden said in a statement.

The bill was approved in the Senate and the House of Representatives before being sent to the White House.

Washington has been waging a highly politicized debate over the origins of the coronavirus pandemic almost since the first human case was reported in the city of Wuhan in late 2019, amid calls from fellow Democrats and Republicans Biden to push back harder against a rising China. .

WATCH | FBI director says lab leak may have started pandemic:

FBI director comments on origins of COVID debate

Comments by the FBI director that leaks from Chinese labs could have contributed to the COVID-19 pandemic have reignited the debate. But scientists point out that there is still no conclusive evidence of how the pandemic started.

The debate was reignited last month, when the Wall Street Journal reported that the US Department of Energy had assessed with certainty that the pandemic originated from a leak in a Chinese laboratory, an assessment Beijing rejected.

The department made the decision with “low confidence” in the classified intelligence report. The FBI has also determined that the pandemic originated from a laboratory leak. Four other US agencies are still judging whether COVID-19 is likely the result of natural transmission, while two have not yet decided.

Many US officials say the origin of the pandemic will never be known. China says the lab leak could have caused the pandemic to lose credibility.

Biden noted that he has directed intelligence agencies to investigate the origins of COVID-19 in 2021, that work is ongoing and that his administration will continue to review all classified information, including potential links to the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

“We need to understand the origins of COVID-19 to help us prevent future pandemics,” he said.