Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
IOF storm Al-Ahli Hospital, vicinity of Al-Mizan Hospital, and Mohammed Ali Al-Muhtaseb Hospital in al-Khalil.
Iraqi sources told Al Mayadeen that reports that Barrack conveyed warnings to Iraq about an Israeli strike if any Iraqi party supports Hezbollah are false.
Pope Leo XIV: Peacemakers do not flee, but dare to stay even if it costs them some sacrifice.
The Pope to the Lebanese: You are a diverse country and a community made up of communities united by one language, the language of hope, which has allowed you to start anew.
Pope Leo XIV to the Lebanese: You are a people who do not give up, but a people who persevere in the face of difficulties and know how to be reborn.
Al Mayadeen's correspondent in South Lebanon: Israeli occupation targets bulldozer working to remove rubble of destroyed home in Shebaa.
IRGC sources tell Al Mayadeen that reports of Iranian missile strikes on northern Iraq are false, calling them rumors spread by enemy-linked media.
Trump: Venezuela airspace should be considered 'closed in its entirety'
AFP: Ukraine behind attack on Russian 'shadow fleet' tankers in Black Sea
Sheikh Qassem: We, our allies, the honorable in our nation, our people, and our army will never accept being subservient to the US or 'Israel'

Despite Congress unanimous approval, Biden undecided about COVID bill

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: Agencies
  • 11 Mar 2023 13:18
4 Min Read

The US President says he hasn't decided if he will sign a bill that requires the DNI to declassify materials related to the origin of COVID-19.

  • x
  • Covid-19
    US President Joe Biden delivers remarks after touring the General Motors Factory ZERO electric vehicle assembly plant in Detroit, Michigan, Nov. 17, 2021 (Reuters)

US President Joe Biden pointed out that he has not made a decision on whether to sign the bill that requires the US government to declassify all the information regarding the origins of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which is responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic.

"I haven't made that decision yet," Biden told reporters on Friday.

Earlier in the day, the US House of Representatives passed legislation requiring the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) to declassify materials related to the origin of the novel coronavirus.

The bill requires DNI to declassify information on potential links between the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China and the origin of COVID-19 no later than 90 days after the enactment of the legislation.

Ohio Republican Rep. Mike Turner, chair of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, said during a floor debate that American citizens deserve "answers to every aspect of the COVID-19 pandemic, including how this virus was created."

"The COVID-19 pandemic wreaked havoc across the country with almost every household feeling its effects," Turner expressed, highlighting that "the United States death toll from this virus has surpassed 1 million people."

In a fast-track process, the Senate passed the bill earlier this month, and the House’s passage now sends the bill to Biden’s desk for final approval.

Health officials and the US intelligence community remain divided over whether it was spread to humans from an infected animal or escaped from the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

The US Energy Department concluded with "low confidence" that the virus probably escaped via a lab accident, agreeing with the assessment of the FBI but contradicting the conclusions of several other agencies.

Robert Redfield, a former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Protection, argued for the lab leak theory before senators on Wednesday, while the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the National Institutes of Health identified an infected animal as the likely culprit.

"Basically there's a broad consensus in the intelligence community that the outbreak is not the result of a bioweapon or genetic engineering. What there isn't a consensus on is whether or not it's a lab leak," Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines indicated.

When the Senate version of the bill was introduced in February, its co-author Josh Hawley said anyone asking whether COVID-19 had originated in a lab was "silenced and branded as a conspiracy theorist."

In the same context, House Republicans reintroduced legislation Friday allowing US citizens the right to sue China -- which rejects the lab leak theory -- over its "large-scale misrepresentation campaign" during the outbreak.

In March 2021, the World Health Organization (WHO) published a report of the first fact-finding mission of its experts to China's Wuhan, where the world's first COVID-19 outbreak occurred. Experts concluded that the leakage of the virus from a state-run laboratory in Wuhan was "extremely unlikely". They also said that there was a high possibility that the virus was transmitted to humans from bats through another animal.

Last week, the WHO indicated that the US did not give the organization access to reports or data that accuse a Chinese laboratory of causing Covid-19.

Read more: US continues to ignore questions on COVID origins: Global Times

  • United States
  • Congress
  • COVID-19
  • US
  • Joe Biden

Most Read

13 elite Israeli troops were wounded in a confrontations in Beit Jinn, Syria.

13 elite Israeli troops wounded in confrontations in southern Syria

  • West Asia
  • 28 Nov 2025
Russia and China are not part of the Resistance Front, but they are playing an important role in building structures to bypass US power and thus facilitate a multipolar and freer world. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Zeinab el-Hajj)

The Resistance Front and BRICS

  • Opinion
  • 29 Nov 2025
Four killed, ten wounded in targeted California shooting in Stockton

Four killed, 10 wounded in 'targeted' California shooting

  • US & Canada
  • 30 Nov 2025
Point-blank killings: 'Israel' executes 2 Palestinian youths in Jenin

Graphic footage: IOF execute 2 Palestinians from point blank in Jenin

  • Politics
  • 27 Nov 2025

Coverage

All
In Five

Read Next

All
US Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack speaks during the Concordia Annual Summit in New York, Wednesday, September 24, 2025 (AP)
Politics

Iraqi sources deny US warning of Israeli attack on Lebanon: Exclusive

People walk through a street in the old city of Homs, Syria, Friday, November 21, 2025 (AP)
Politics

US cautions Israeli occupation against escalation in Syria

Members of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) arrive at the site where Hamas militants are searching for the remains of captives in Jabalia, northern Gaza Strip, Monday, December 1, 2025 (AP)
Politics

Gaza death toll surpasses 70,000 as victims remain under rubble

Pope Leo XIV meets the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch John X Yazigi, left, and spiritual leader of Lebanon's Druze community Sheikh Sami Abi al-Mona in the Martyrs' Square, in Beirut, Monday, December 1, 2025 (AP)
Politics

Pope Leo XIV calls for unity, coexistence during Lebanon visit

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS