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EXCERPT:
PAUL: “Dr. Fauci, I don’t expect you today to admit that you approved the NIH funding for gain of function research in Wuhan but your repeated denials have worn thin and a majority of Americans frankly don’t believe you. Even the NIH now admits that EcoHealth Alliance did perform experiments in Wuhan that created viruses not found in nature that actually did gain in lethality. The facts are clear, the NIH did fund gain of function research in Wuhan despite your protestations. You can deny it all you want but even the Chinese authors of the paper in their paper admit that viruses not found in nature were created and yes, they gained in infectivity. Your persistent denials though are not simply a stain on your reputation but are clear and present danger to the country and to the world. As Professor Kevin Esvelt of MIT has written, 'Gain of function research looks like a gamble that civilization can’t afford to risk.' And yet here we are again with you steadfast in your denials. Why does it matter? Because gain of function research with laboratory-created viruses not found in nature could cause a pandemic even worse the next time. We’re suffering today from one that has a mortality of approximately 1 percent. They’re experimenting with viruses that have mortalities between 15 and 50 percent. Yes, our civilization could be at risk from one of these viruses. Experiments that combine unknown viruses with known pandemic causing viruses are incredibly risky. Experiments that combine unknown viruses with coronaviruses that have as much as 50 percent mortality could endanger civilization as we know it. And here you sit, unwilling to accept any responsibility for the current pandemic and unwilling to take any steps to prevent gain of function research from possibly unleashing an even more deadly virus. You mislead the public by saying that the published viruses could not be Covid. Well, exactly no one is alleging that. No one is alleging that the published viruses by the Chinese are Covid. What we are saying is that this was risky type of research, gain of function research, it was risky to share this with the Chinese and that Covid may have been created from a not yet revealed virus. We don’t anticipate the Chinese are going to reveal the virus if it came from their lab. You know that but you continue to mislead. You continue to support NIH money going to Wuhan. You continue to say you trust the Chinese scientists. You appear to have learned nothing from this pandemic.”