Lawmakers in US propose bipartisan probe of origins of coronavirus

A proposal is being circulated by the two senior members of the US Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions to create a 12-member commission of private citizens with broad authority to investigate the origins of the COVID-19 and how the US governments have responded to it. The initiative appears to have broad support among members of both parties, reported local media.

The two lawmakers, Health Committee Chair Patty Murray, a Democrat from Washington, and the committee's senior Republican, Richard Burr of North Carolina, have modelled the effort on the commission that was created to investigate the origins of the 9/11 terrorist attacks of 2001. That body won bipartisan praise for its exhaustive analysis of the events leading up to the attacks, reported Voice of America (VOA).

The proposal is a part of a wider piece of legislation called "Prepare for and Respond to Existing Viruses, Emerging New Threats, and Pandemics Act," or the "PREVENT Pandemics Act".

The bill also aims to widen the public health agencies' capacity to respond to disease outbreaks, boost research and development, and strengthen the supply chain for medical products.

The bill proposes a panel named the "National Task Force on the Response of the United States to the COVID-19 Pandemic."

The panel would have the authority to issue subpoenas to compel testimony and the disclosure of records as necessary for the investigation, according to VOA.

"Marked by COVID has been calling for a commission or a task force for well over a year," said Kristin Urquiza, one of the co-founders of an advocacy group for families affected by the pandemic known as Marked by COVID.

Urquiza conveyed that the panel is on their priority to let families know about the origin of the disease.

"It is a top priority for our families to really ensure that we have an accurate record of what happened and why. Not only so we can have answers as to why our loved ones were lost, but so we can pass on learnings to ourselves and future generations for any mistakes that were made, and so that we can do better next time that there's a public health crisis," VOA quoted Urquiza as saying.

( With inputs from ANI )