9/11-style panel urged for virus inquiry

Senators propose commission to look at origins, U.S. response, supplies, testing

With more than 600,000 Americans dead of covid-19 and questions still raging about the origin of the virus and the government’s response, a push is underway on Capitol Hill and beyond for a full-blown investigation of the crisis by a national commission like the one that looked into 9/11.

It is unclear whether such a probe will ever happen, though a privately sponsored team of public health experts is already laying the groundwork for one.

Given that most of the disaster unfolded during President Donald Trump’s administration, many worry that politics will get in the way of any inquiry, as happened when Republicans came out against a commission to investigate the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol by Trump supporters. Others fear that a desire by many to simply move on will thwart a review.

A bill introduced by Sens. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., and Susan Collins, R-Maine, would establish such a commission.

Its inquiry could include a look at the origins of the virus; early warnings and other communication with foreign governments; coordination among federal, state and local agencies; the availability of medical supplies; testing and public health surveillance; vaccine development and distribution; the uneven effect on minorities; and government relief policies.

“The death toll from the covid-19 pandemic is more than 200 times that of the 9/11 attacks — but Congress has yet to establish a similar blue ribbon commission to investigate the vulnerabilities of our public health system and issue guidance for how we as a nation can better protect the American people from future pandemics,” Menendez and Collins wrote in an essay this week in The New York Times.

While the government program to develop a vaccine proved a success, the crisis in the U.S. was marked by shortages of protective gear and other medical equipment, insufficient testing, defective test kits, false or misleading information about treatments, and mixed messages on the need for masks and lockdowns.

Last month, President Joe Biden ordered U.S. intelligence to step up its efforts to investigate the virus’s origins, including the possibility it escaped from a Chinese laboratory, a once-fringe theory that has gained currency in recent weeks.

Many scientists have said they instead believe the virus occurred in nature and jumped from animals to humans.

While no vote on the legislation is scheduled, work already is going on that could help shape an investigation. Members of what is called the Covid Commission Planning Group have been at work for five months, trying to come up with the key questions for a commission and the best ways to get answers.

University of Virginia history professor Philip Zelikow, who is leading the planning group and was executive director of the 9/11 Commission, said dozens of experts have been enlisted with the support of charitable foundations and have identified more than 40 lines of inquiry.