The Wuhan lab was engaged in “dangerous genetic modification research on coronaviruses at unsafe biosafety levels,” according to the report, authored by the minority staff on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. The report includes revelations about unsafe working conditions at the lab, as well as new information indicating the Chinese government sought to mislead the world about the experiments taking place there. Congressional investigators say researchers at the lab “had the ability to genetically modify coronaviruses as early as 2016 without leaving any trace of that modification.”

Mounting evidence suggests the coronavirus that is still crippling the world “was accidentally released from a Wuhan Institute of Virology laboratory sometime prior to September 12, 2019,” according to the report. “It is incumbent upon the United States and likeminded countries around the world to ensure accountability and implement the reforms necessary to prevent the CCP’s malfeasance from giving rise to a third pandemic during the 21st century.”

The information unearthed by congressional Republicans led by Rep. Michael McCaul (R., Texas), the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s ranking member, is likely to increase pressure on the U.S. government to sanction China and hold it accountable for the coronavirus outbreak. McCaul and his colleagues are recommending the Biden administration also demand a full-scale overhaul of the World Health Organization, which they say aided China in its coverup.