The federal government spent over $1 billion with China and Russia over the past five years on experiments like cats exercising on treadmills.
Federal Spending in China, Russia “Legitimate” Experiments?
The federal government sent more than $1.3 billion in American tax dollars to China and Russia over the past five years, according to a new report from the fiscal transparency group Open the Books out Wednesday.
The analysis revealed that millions of taxpayer dollars have been given to, among others, a Chinese software developer for military tech support, a Russian health insurance provider that has since been sanctioned, and Chinese agriculture companies.
The report showed the federal government gave $2 million, more than previously reported, to the Chinese state-run Wuhan lab studying bat coronaviruses.
More than $490 million in U.S. contracts and grant money went to researchers in China while another $870 million ended up in Russia.
The use of millions of American tax dollars to fund dubious foreign research earned the Treasury Department the monthly “Squeal Award” presented by Iowa Republican Sen. Joni Ernst to highlight wasteful spending.
Check Out What Your Tax Dollars Were Spent On
- The TRACKS Act introduced by Rep. Ernst requires tracking and disclosure of federal funding to organizations in China and Russia.
- $2 million from the federal government went to China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology to conduct experiments on bat coronaviruses and “transgenic mice.”
- $490 million in U.S. grants and contracts were paid to Chinese entities, while $870 million were paid to Russian entities, according to data obtained from the Congressional Research Service.
- The Government Accountability Office previously estimated that the U.S. funneled $48 million to Chinese entities over a five-year period ending in 2021.
- State Department granted $58.7 million, including $96,875 to Beijing-based Crossroads Cultural Communication for “gender equality” through the exhibition of New Yorker magazine cartoons.
- Department of Defense granted $51.6 million, resulting in $6 million funding for Chinese tech firm Beijing Juehua Trading Co. for “deployment and distribution command” software for the U.S. military.
- Chinese food producers were awarded $1.6 million under the Department of Agriculture’s National School Lunch Program.
- $2 million in research funding for the Wuhan Institute of Virology, including $1.1 million from the U.S. Agency for International Development and $600,000 from the National Institutes of Health. The funding was indirectly transferred through EcoHealth Alliance.
- $4.2 million Health and Human Services program granted $770,466 to the Pavlov Institute, a state-run lab in St. Petersburg, Russia, for experimenting on cats running on treadmills. Funding was later cut off by the Biden administration.
- $4.7 million was wired to Russian company PAO Rosgosstrakh for health insurance, despite being sanctioned by the Treasury Department amid the Ukraine invasion in 2022.
- $1.45 million was granted to entities in Russia for COVID-19 pandemic virus tracking.
“Washington’s continued spending is so out of hand, it is losing track of Americans’ hard-earned taxpayer dollars, but I am creating accountability for every penny,” stated GOP Senator Ernst in a statement after releasing the report.
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