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On September 6, 2023, the Select Committee on Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party (“Select Committee”) issued its first subpoena as part of its ongoing investigation into the illegal facility that local authorities uncovered in Reedley, California. The subpoena, signed by the Chairman with an on-site visit by the Select Committee’s Chief Investigative Counsel and two investigative staffers, uncovered thousands of pages of documents, hundreds of photographs, and hours of video. This evidence, alongside interviews of local officials and other investigative steps, revealed troubling gaps in federal pathogen safeguards. These gaps allowed a wanted fugitive from Canada, who is a PRC national who had previously stolen millions of dollars of American intellectual property, to operate an illegal facility that contained “thousands of vials of potentially infectious agents” in Reedley, California.

The Select Committee engaged in this investigation based on public requests and expressions of concern from both Republican and Democratic Members of Congress and in coordination with Congressman Jim Costa, who represents the district where Reedley is located. After the Select Committee issued the subpoena, Congressman Costa stated, “It is my hope that we work in a bipartisan, coordinated manner to fully understand the scope of this lab and prevent any future labs like this one from operating illegally in our communities.” The Select Committee shares these goals and drafted this report, in part, as an essential step towards accomplishing them.