Nucleic Acid Standards for Biosecurity Act

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Ms. SALINAS. Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, American biotech companies are leading a scientific revolution that is transforming our economy. In recent years, we have seen breakthroughs that have delivered promising new treatments for Alzheimer's, new biological alternatives to pesticides, and plastic- eating bacteria, just to name a few.

These innovations are making Americans healthier, driving a more sustainable economy, and supporting good jobs. However, while America leads the world in these emerging technologies, our competitors are close behind. If we want to ensure American industry stays on top, then American consumers must have confidence in the safety and reliability of our advancements.

One of the key ways American companies produce these breakthroughs is by producing synthetic nucleic acids, like DNA and RNA, for use in biotech research. These are an important tool though that allows scientists to study gene function, develop novel vaccines, improve diagnostic tests, and pursue countless other life-changing discoveries. Companies like Twist Bioscience in my district are pushing the envelope to accelerate and scale-up production, which, in turn, will facilitate faster discoveries.

As this field advances, particularly with the development of AI systems to design nucleic acid sequences, we need to double down on efforts to ensure the technology is used safely and responsibly.

H.R. 3029, the Nucleic Acid Standards for Biosecurity Act, directs the National Institute of Standards and Technology to carry out measurement research and lead consensus-driven standards development to ensure these tools can be harnessed in a trustworthy manner.

Businesses, small and large, in Oregon and across the country, will benefit from this partnership with NIST. These standards will drive sustainable growth while helping to keep this industry and the good jobs it supports right here in America. Through a commonsense partnership between government and industry, we will unlock responsible and trustworthy growth that benefits industry, workers, and consumers across the economy.

Madam Speaker, in closing, I want to extend my great gratitude to Chairman Babin and Mr. McCormick for their bipartisan work. I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on H.R. 3029, and I yield back the balance of my time.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source