Rep. Lance Gooden (R-TX) told Breitbart News Saturday that his legislation would investigate and hold China accountable for spreading the novel coronavirus.

Gooden unveiled the Stop China-Originated Viral Infectious Disease (COVID) Act of 2020, otherwise known as the Stop COVID Act, which would amend the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA) to allow the Department of Justice (DOJ) to investigate the origins of the coronavirus pandemic and allow the DOJ to file claims against the Chinese Communist Party in the United States.

Gooden explained to Breitbart News Saturday host Matthew Boyle, “China currently enjoys immunity from U.S. litigation, even if it becomes known that China manufactured this deadly virus. This bill would change that. The Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act of the 1970s … says that U.S. courts cannot hear a case against a foreign nation. So what this bill does is amend that law in the case of a bioweapon being used against our citizens. We all know that this pandemic didn’t just happen, even if it was an accident, even if investigations prove it wasn’t a weapon. The Chinese nonetheless have been lying about how this started. If China had been honest from day one, if they had talked about how serious this was, then the flight bans would have started much sooner and the response could have started much sooner, and the world could have prepared for this. Now, we are suffering and losing American lives.”

“What this bill does is allow the Department of Justice to investigate the origins of this, and we’ll take it a step further and hold someone accountable if someone is responsible. I suspect China is, because the roads all seem to lead that way,” he added.

“American lives are ending today because of Chinese inaction and dishonesty. I think that is unforgivable,” he said.

“If we can put the Department of Justice in charge of an investigation … we can take steps to actually make [China] pay.” Gooden concluded.

Breitbart News Saturday airs on SiriusXM Patriot 125 from 10:00 A.M. to 1:00 P.M. Eastern.