{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.cruz.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/icymi-sen-cruz-demands-transparency-on-tim-walzs-ties-to-the-wuhan-institute-of-virology", "ICYMI: Sen. Cruz Demands Transparency on Tim Walz\u2019s Ties to the Wuhan Institute of Virology", "2024-10-08", "2024", "2024-10", "Republican", "Senate", "TX", "Ted Cruz", "C001098", "www.cruz.senate.gov", "cruz", "https://www.cruz.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 In case you missed it, last week, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) sent a letter to the Hormel Institute regarding its partnership with the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) and financial resources secured for the Hormel Institute by Governor Tim Walz. The WIV has been credibly implicated as the point of origin of COVID-19 and conducts its activities under the auspices of the Chinese Communist Party.\n\nIn the letter, Sen. Cruz wrote, \u201cFor over a decade, Governor Tim Walz has acted as one of the Institute\u2019s most ardent supporters, securing millions of taxpayer dollars to fund its operations, including over $2 million in federal funding for technology acquisitions and a $5 million earmark to expand your Institute\u2019s reach. The Governor\u2019s support for the Hormel Institute has remained steadfast, continuing even after the FBI concluded on February 28, 2023 that COVID-19 pandemic likely originated from the WIV.\n\n\u201cGovernor Walz\u2019s personal connections to China\u2014his honeymoon there, over 30 trips, and public comments downplaying the strategic threat posed by the CCP13\u2014only raise further questions about his motivations for promoting your institution.\n\n\u201cYour institute\u2019s ongoing partnership with the Wuhan Institute of Virology, and by extension the People\u2019s Liberation Army, reflects a troubling disregard for national security concerns\u2026The American people deserve assurance that their resources and institutions are not inadvertently supporting the goals of our chief geopolitical adversary.\u201d\n\nRead the full letter here or below:\n\nDear Director Clarke:\n\nI write to you today with growing concern regarding the Hormel Institute\u2019s longstanding partnership with China\u2019s Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV).\n\nThe WIV, as you are certainly aware, has been credibly implicated as the likely point of origin of the COVID-19 pandemic. Even more troubling are its direct ties to China\u2019s People\u2019s Liberation Army (PLA) and its involvement in classified military research including laboratory animal experiments under the auspices of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) at least as recently as 2017. Despite these alarming connections which raise obvious national security concerns, the institute you lead has not only maintained its collaboration with WIV but it has done so with the backing of Minnesota\u2019s top elected official.\n\nFor over a decade, Governor Tim Walz has acted as one of the Institute\u2019s most ardent supporters, securing millions of taxpayer dollars to fund its operations, including over $2 million in federal funding for technology acquisitions and a $5 million earmark to expand your Institute\u2019s reach. The Governor\u2019s support for the Hormel Institute has remained steadfast, continuing even after the FBI concluded on February 28, 2023 that COVID-19 pandemic likely originated from the WIV.\n\nIn recent years, researchers at the Hormel Institute have collaborated with the Wuhan Institute of Virology on a variety of projects, including a 2020 COVID-19 study and, as more recently as of 2024, on structural biology research.\n\nThe COVID-19 study, titled \u201cA dynamic regulatory interface on SARS-CoV-2 RNA polymerase,\u201d was authored by four WIV researchers, three Hormel Institute researchers, and a Yale School of Medicine professor. Similarly, in January 2024, Hormel Institute researchers published a study on genes with the WIV\u2019s Lina He, Wei Zhou, and Yangbo Hu. In 2023, WIV\u2019s Yangbo Hu also worked with the Hormel Institute\u2019s Dmytro Kompaniiets, Dong Wang, and Bin Liu on research titled \u201cStructure and molecular mechanism of bacterial transcription activation,\u201d among other collaborations.\n\nFurthermore, the resignation of your predecessor, Dr. Zigang Dong, who served as Executive Director for nearly 18 years and resigned following an FBI investigation into his \u201cpossible failure to disclose foreign backing when applying for grants,\u201d should have prompted a thorough reassessment of your institute\u2019s engagements with foreign entities. Yet, despite this disconcerting event, Governor Walz continues to promote and direct public resources to your institute. Even after the U.S. government ceased funding to organizations working with the WIV, Governor Walz toured your facility and publicly praised its work.\n\nGovernor Walz\u2019s personal connections to China\u2014his honeymoon there, over 30 trips, and public comments downplaying the strategic threat posed by the CCP\u2014only raise further questions about his motivations for promoting your institution.\n\nAdditionally, in 2020, the Hormel Institute\u2019s disclosure in a 2020 EMBO Journal Study that it received \u201chelp from the Core Facility and Technical Support\u201d of the WIV for \u201cradioactive and fluorescent tests\u201d adds to the concern. Further raising suspicions is that Bin Liu, a professor at the Hormel Institute who worked on that 2020 EMBO Journal study, attended Wuhan University. Federal records indicate that the researchers for this particular study included those affiliated with the WIV, in addition to the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences and China\u2019s Zhengzhou University.\n\nIn light of these recently-disclosed facts, it is critical to understand the full extent of your institute\u2019s involvement in a partnership that risks benefitting our nation\u2019s chief geopolitical adversary. Accordingly, for the purposes of oversight, I request that you respond to the following questions and requests by October 31, 2024:\n\n1. How much public and private funding has the Hormel Institute received specifically for projects involving collaboration with the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV)? Please provide an itemized accounting of all such funding.\n\n2. When did the Hormel Institute first initiate collaboration with the WIV, and what were the specific reasons for choosing to partner with a facility known to have ties to China\u2019s People\u2019s Liberation Army?\n\n3. What actions has the Hormel Institute taken to ensure that its collaborative work with the WIV does not benefit China\u2019s military or pose a risk to U.S. national security?\n\na. If no such actions were taken, what was the rationale behind this decision?\n\n4. Given the WIV\u2019s ties to China\u2019s military, why has the Hormel Institute not publicly disclosed the full extent of its collaborations with the WIV?\n\na. If this information has been withheld, please explain why.\n\n5. Please provide all internal documentation or communications related to the Hormel Institute\u2019s partnerships with Chinese research facilities, including but not limited to the WIV.\n\n6. What was the Institute\u2019s reasoning behind continuing its collaboration with the WIV, even after serious concerns about the origins of COVID-19 and the lab\u2019s military affiliations became widely known?\n\n7. How can the American public trust that the Hormel Institute\u2019s partnerships with the WIV are not inadvertently advancing China\u2019s geopolitical goals, particularly in biotechnology and biomedical research?\n\n8. Given the U.S. government\u2019s cessation of funding to other nonprofits with ties to the WIV, what justifications does the Hormel Institute offer for continuing its relationship with the WIV?\n\n9. Why did the Hormel Institute continue collaborating with the WIV after your predecessor, Dr. Zigang Dong, resigned amid an FBI investigation into his failure to disclose foreign funding when applying for grants?\n\n10. The Hormel Institute\u2019s work with the WIV includes research on gene structures and SARS-CoV-2 RNA polymerase. What measures have been taken to ensure that no sensitive intellectual property or technology has been transferred to China\u2019s military-backed labs during these studies? If no measures were taken, why not?\n\n11. Please provide any documentation or communications between the Hormel Institute and the Office of the Minnesota Governor regarding the Institute\u2019s partnerships with Chinese research facilities, particularly the WIV.\n\nYour institute\u2019s ongoing partnership with the Wuhan Institute of Virology, and by extension the People\u2019s Liberation Army, reflects a troubling disregard for national security concerns. The devastating impact of COVID-19 has highlighted the seriousness of these issues, as the pandemic has severely affected lives and economies worldwide. The American people deserve assurance that their resources and institutions are not inadvertently supporting the goals of our chief geopolitical adversary. As Executive Director, it is crucial that you address these concerns transparently. Failure to do so will only deepen public mistrust and undermine confidence in your institute\u2019s integrity and intentions.\n\nThe American people look forward to your timely and comprehensive response.\n\nSincerely,\n\n/X/\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-07T21:57:20Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.cruz.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/icymi-sen-cruz-demands-transparency-on-tim-walzs-ties-to-the-wuhan-institute-of-virology"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.549366395920515, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}