Nucleic Acid Standards for Biosecurity Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. BABIN. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 3029) to amend the Research and Development, Competition, and Innovation Act to support nucleic acid screening, and for other purposes, as amended.

The Clerk read the title of the bill.

The text of the bill is as follows: H.R. 3029

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited ``Nucleic Acid Standards for Biosecurity Act''. SEC. 2. SUPPORTING NUCLEIC ACID SCREENING.

Section 10221 of the Research and Development, Competition, and Innovation Act (42 U.S.C. 18931; enacted as part of title II of division B of Public Law 117-167) is amended--

(1) in subsection (a)(1)--

(A) in subparagraph (C), by striking ``and'' after the semicolon;

(B) by redesignating subparagraph (D) as subparagraph (E); and

(C) by inserting after subparagraph (C) the following new subparagraph:

``(D) best practices, guidelines, and technical standards for risk management associated with engineering biology and biomanufacturing, including risks associated with the use of artificial intelligence; and'';

(2) by redesignating subsections (b) and (c) as subsections (c) and (d), respectively; and

(3) by inserting after subsection (a) the following new subsection:

``(b) Nucleic Acid Synthesis Screening Tools and Standards.--

``(1) In general.--The Director, in consultation with heads of Federal agencies the Director considers appropriate, shall carry out measurement research to support the development and improvement of best practices and technical standards for biosecurity measures related to nucleic acid synthesis, including the following:

``(A) Testing to improve the accuracy, efficacy, and reliability of screening for nucleic acid synthesis.

``(B) Best practices, including security and access controls, for operational security and managing sequence-of- concern databases to support such screening.

``(C) Technical implementation guidance to ensure such screening is effective and secure.

``(D) Conformity-assessment best practices and technical standards.

``(E) Methods to evaluate the impact and effectiveness of the implementation of subparagraphs (A) through (D).

``(2) Consortium.--In carrying out this subsection, the Director shall convene a consortium of stakeholders, including industry, institutions of higher education, nonprofit organizations, and customers to carry out the following:

``(A) Develop and periodically update consensus priorities and best practices, as appropriate, for synthetic nucleic acid procurement screening mechanisms.

``(B) Develop roadmaps to inform the activities carried out under paragraph (1).

``(3) Report.--Not later than 18 months after the first meeting of the consortium under paragraph (2), the Director shall submit to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives a report summarizing the findings of the consortium.

``(4) Authorization of appropriations.--Of the funds authorized to be appropriated for the National Institute of Standards and Technology pursuant to this section for scientific and technical research and services laboratory activities, there is authorized to be appropriated $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2027 through 2031 to carry out this subsection.''.

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Mr. BABIN. 3029, the bill now under consideration.

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Mr. BABIN. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 3029, the Nucleic Acid Standards for Biosecurity Act, introduced by Representative Salinas of Oregon, along with Representative McCormick of Georgia.

This bill is about protecting two things we all care about: American leadership in the life sciences and the security of the American people.

Today, an American company or university laboratory can legally order made-to-order DNA, the basic building blocks of biology, and have it delivered in a matter of days. This technology powers new medicines and vaccines, stronger crops, and advanced manufacturing. It is a real source of American strength.

However, the same technology that lets us build the biology of the future could, in the wrong hands, potentially be used to assemble the genetic material of a dangerous pathogen.

Responsible providers already guard against this. They screen incoming orders against sequences of concern and verify the identities of their customers. However, as this field continues to advance rapidly, the lack of common technical standards and best practices for screening presents an emerging biosecurity risk.

That is exactly the kind of work the National Institute of Standards and Technology, NIST, was built to do. NIST is our Nation's measurement and standards laboratory. It does not regulate industry. It provides industry with the tools and benchmarks and the best practices needed to get this right.

H.R. 3029 directs NIST to carry out the measurement research needed to make this screening more accurate and reliable by improving screening tools, securing databases of concerning sequences, and developing ways for providers to demonstrate that their screening systems work as intended.

It also directs NIST to convene a consortium of the people who actually do this work, including industry, universities, and nonprofit organizations, to develop consensus best practices and a roadmap for the future.

This legislation does not create a new regulatory regime for American biotechnology. It strengthens our biosecurity while safeguarding the innovation that keeps us ahead of our competitors, and it passed the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee on a bipartisan basis.

I thank Representatives Salinas and McCormick for their work on this bill, I urge my colleagues to support it, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. BABIN. Madam Speaker, H.R. 3029 is a practical, targeted bill. It directs NIST to develop the science-based standards and best practices needed to make the screening of synthetic DNA much more reliable, helping to ensure that the very technology driving American biotechnology cannot be turned against us.

That is why this bill earned bipartisan support in the Science, Space, and Technology Committee and why it deserves the support of the full House today.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 3029, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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