S. 588: COVID Act of 2023

This bill requires the President to impose sanctions and take other actions related to COVID-19 if certain conditions are not met.

Specifically, if the President is unable to certify within 90 days of this bill's enactment that China's government has allowed a transparent international forensic investigation into the origins of COVID-19 at certain laboratories in the city of Wuhan, the President must impose visa- and property-blocking sanctions against (1) individuals with leadership positions in the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS); and (2) officials of the Chinese Communist Party, China's military, or China's State Council who were involved in concealing or restricting information about the initial COVID-19 outbreak in China.

If the certification cannot be made, the President must also (1) prohibit federal funding for collaborative projects between U.S.-based researchers and CAS researchers in any academic field, and (2) prohibit U.S.-based researchers and institutions that receive federal funding from engaging in certain research on viruses with individuals or institutions based in China.

Written by the Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress.