Congressman John Moolenaar Chairman of the Select Committee on the CCP | Official U.S. House headshot
Congressman John Moolenaar Chairman of the Select Committee on the CCP | Official U.S. House headshot
This week, Chairman Moolenaar of the Select Committee on China, Chairman Walberg of the Committee on Education and the Workforce, and Chairman Babin of the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology have taken steps to address a potential agroterrorism incident in Michigan. They sent two letters regarding this matter.
The first letter calls upon the National Institute of Health (NIH) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) to examine grants given to two University of Michigan professors. These professors' labs hosted Chinese nationals recently charged by the Department of Justice with smuggling biological materials. The letter states: "The Committees found that Jian and Liu conducted research under the supervision of, or in concert with, UM professors funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Science Foundation (NSF). It is our position that Chinese researchers tied to the PRC defense research and industrial base have no business participating in U.S. taxpayer-funded research with clear national security implications—especially those related to dangerous biological materials."
According to this letter, these Chinese nationals were connected to professors who received around $9.6 million in federal research funding.
The second letter seeks information from the University of Michigan about its oversight practices concerning these individuals. This follows previous concerns over research security linked to China's involvement with the university.
Earlier this year, following a letter from Chairman Moolenaar detailing ties between Shanghai Jiao Tong University and Chinese military efforts, the University of Michigan closed its joint institute with them.
Expressing their concern over recent developments, including criminal charges against Chinese nationals associated with smuggling dangerous biological materials into U.S. laboratories at UM, another statement reads: "We are deeply alarmed about recent reports and related criminal charges involving Chinese nationals with direct ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) allegedly smuggling dangerous biological materials into the United States for use at UM laboratories." The committees have urged NIH and NSF for a comprehensive review concerning any grants related to these incidents.
Twenty-five Members of Congress from these three committees signed both letters.
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