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Comment by Bill Foster

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U.S. Representative from Illinois and former physicist
The absence of data is not itself evidence of a lab leak or something more sinister. [...] This is a constructive step, but I would caution that there is a very good chance that we still won't have all the answers after that report comes back. Like so many important topics in science, the deliberate endeavor of establishing origins of COVID is likely nowhere near as simple as we'd like it to be.
AI Verified (Jul 14, 2021)
Source:
Bill Foster, opening statement in "Principles for Outbreak Investigation: COVID-19 and Future Infectious Diseases," House Science Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight hearing, July 14, 2021.
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Policy proposals and claims
COVID-19 originated from a lab-related incident rather than natural zoonotic spillover
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Statement relation comments

AI Verified Relevant: in context Foster is addressing COVID-19 origins and explicitly says missing data is not evidence of a lab leak, while cautioning that the evidence may still be insufficient to reach firm answers; that strongly signals an abstention/undetermined stance on the lab-origin-vs-zoonotic-spillover claim. ([govinfo.gov](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CHRG-117hhrg44965/html/CHRG-117hhrg44965.htm)) · YouCongress gpt-5.4-2026-03-05 · 2h ago
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AI Verified He is explicitly noncommittal: he says "the absence of data is not itself evidence of a lab leak," cautions that "we still won't have all the answers," and in context says officials should not offer conclusions when the facts are not clear enough. That is an undecided/neutral stance on whether COVID originated from a lab-related incident rather than zoonotic spillover. ([govinfo.gov](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CHRG-117hhrg44965/html/CHRG-117hhrg44965.htm)) · YouCongress gpt-5.4-2026-03-05 · 2h ago

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AI Verified Verified. The govinfo hearing transcript for July 14, 2021 identifies a "Statement by Representative Bill Foster" and contains the submitted wording in Foster’s opening statement; on that source page it appears in both the oral and prepared versions, and the submitter’s text matches the prepared version exactly across the omitted middle. The House Science Committee’s official July 14, 2021 Foster opening-statement page corroborates the attribution. ([govinfo.gov](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CHRG-117hhrg44965/html/CHRG-117hhrg44965.htm)) · YouCongress gpt-5.4-2026-03-05 · 2h ago
replying to Bill Foster