Democratic Congresswoman Anna Eshoo called for an investigation into the origins of COVID-19 that considers “every hypothesis available.”

The Chairwoman of the Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee released the following statement in response to a recent statement from 18 researchers published in the journal Science that encouraged others to take theories about “laboratory spillovers seriously.”

In full, Rep. Eshoo’s statement reads:

“I applaud Stanford University’s Dr. David Relman and 17 other esteemed scientists on their open letter published in Science calling for a transparent, objective, and data-driven investigation into the origins of COVID-19. In order to crush the virus and prevent future global pandemics, we must consider every hypothesis available and have non-partisan, independent, scientific experts conduct an investigation to inform our understanding of COVID-19 and similar infectious diseases. I stand ready to support the Biden Administration and our international partners in such an investigation of COVID-19 and SARS-CoV-2 origins, and I’m grateful to the scientists for leading this effort.”

Among the signatories of the Science letter are professors from institutions including Harvard, Stanford, and Yale. Dr. Ralph Baric – whose gain-of-function research record and ties to the Wuhan Institute of Virology were recently discussed in an exchange between Dr. Anthony Fauci and Senator Rand Paul – also signed the letter.

The letter also comes one day after The National Pulse unearthed a conference focused on gain-of-function research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology with several National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)-funded researchers in attendance. Among them was Dr. David Relman – the organizer of the letter.