Coronavirus Origin Validation, Investigation, and Determination Act of 2023 or the 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.