[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 9489 Introduced in House (IH)]
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117th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 9489
To direct the Secretary of Energy to establish a National Laboratory
Biotechnology Program to address biotechnology threats, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
December 12, 2022
Mr. Foster (for himself and Ms. Leger Fernandez) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space,
and Technology, and in addition to the Committees on Armed Services,
and Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by
the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall
within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To direct the Secretary of Energy to establish a National Laboratory
Biotechnology Program to address biotechnology threats, and for other
purposes.
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 as the ``National Laboratory Biotechnology
Research Act of 2022''.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Department.--The term ``Department'' means the
Department of Energy.
(2) National laboratory.--The term ``National Laboratory''
has the meaning given the term in section 2 of the Energy
Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 15801).
(3) NNSA.--The term ``NNSA'' means the National Nuclear
Security Administration.
(4) Office.--The term ``Office'' means the joint program
office established under section 3(b).
(5) Office of intelligence and counterintelligence.--The
term ``Office of Intelligence and Counterintelligence'' means
the Office of Intelligence and Counterintelligence of the
Department.
(6) Office of science.--The term ``Office of Science''
means the Office of Science of the Department.
(7) Program.--The term ``Program'' means the National
Laboratory Biotechnology Program established under section
3(a).
(8) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of Energy.
SEC. 3. NATIONAL LABORATORY BIOTECHNOLOGY PROGRAM.
(a) In General.--The Secretary shall establish a National
Laboratory Biotechnology Program to integrate the resources of the
Department, including the Office of Science, the Office of Intelligence
and Counterintelligence, and the NNSA, to provide research,
development, test and evaluation, and response capabilities to respond
to--
(1) long-term biotechnology threats facing the United
States; and
(2) any remaining threats posed by COVID-19.
(b) Joint Program Office.--To carry out the Program, the Secretary
shall establish a joint program office, which shall comprise
appropriate leadership from the Office of Science, the NNSA, and the
National Laboratories.
(c) Functions.--The Office shall--
(1) oversee the development and operation of major research
activities of the Program;
(2) periodically review and recommend updates as necessary
to Program policies and guidelines for the development and
operation of major research activities;
(3) collaborate with the directors of research directorates
of the Department, directors of National Laboratories, and
other senior Department officials, as appropriate, to gain
greater access to top researchers and new and potentially
transformative ideas;
(4) enable access to broad scientific and technical
expertise and resources that will lead to the deployment of
innovative products, including through--
(A) research and development, including proof of
concept, technical development, and compliance testing
activities; and
(B) early-stage product development, including
through--
(i) computational modeling and simulation;
(ii) molecular structural determination;
(iii) genomic sequencing;
(iv) epidemiological and logistics support;
(v) knowledge discovery infrastructure and
scalable protected data;
(vi) advanced manufacturing to address
supply chain bottlenecks;
(vii) new capabilities for testing of
clinical and nonclinical samples;
(viii) understanding environmental fate and
transport of viruses; and
(ix) discovery of potential therapeutics
through computation and molecular structure
determination;
(5) provide access to user facilities with advanced or
unique equipment, services, materials, and other resources to
perform research and testing;
(6) support technology transfer and related activities; and
(7) promote access and development across the Federal
Government and to United States industry, including startup
companies, of early applications of the technologies,
innovations, and expertise beneficial to the public that are
derived from Program activities.
(d) Biodefense Expertise.--
(1) In general.--In carrying out the Program, the Office
shall support research that harnesses the capabilities of the
National Laboratories to address advanced biological threats of
national security significance through assessments and research
and development programs that--
(A) support the near- and long-term biodefense
needs of the United States;
(B) support the national security community in
reducing uncertainty and risk;
(C) enable greater access to top researchers and
new and potentially transformative ideas for biodefense
of human, animal, plant, environment, and
infrastructure assets (including physical, cyber, and
economic infrastructure); and
(D) enable access to broad scientific and technical
expertise and resources that will lead to the
development and deployment of innovative biodefense
assessments and solutions, including through--
(i) the accessing, monitoring, and
evaluation of biological threats to reduce
risk, including through analysis and
prioritization of gaps and vulnerabilities
across open-source and classified data;
(ii) development of scientific and
technical roadmaps--
(I) to address gaps and
vulnerabilities;
(II) to inform analyses of
technologies; and
(III) to accelerate the application
of unclassified research to classified
applications; and
(iii) demonstration activities to enable
deployment, including--
(I) threat signature development
and validation;
(II) automated anomaly detection
using artificial intelligence and
machine learning;
(III) fate and transport dynamics
for priority scenarios;
(IV) data curation, access,
storage, and security at scale; and
(V) risk assessment tools.
(2) Resources.--The Secretary shall ensure that the Office
is provided and uses sufficient resources to carry out
paragraph (1).
(e) Strengthening Institutional Research and Private
Partnerships.--
(1) In general.--The Office shall, to the maximum extent
practicable, promote cooperative research and development
activities under the Program, including collaboration between
appropriate industry and academic institutions to promote
innovation and knowledge creation.
(2) Accessibility of information.--The Office shall
develop, maintain, and publicize information on scientific user
facilities and capabilities supported by laboratories of the
Department for combating biotechnology threats, which shall be
accessible for use by individuals from academic institutions
and industry.
(3) Academic participation.--The Office shall, to the
maximum extent practicable--
(A) conduct outreach about internship opportunities
relating to activities under the Program primarily to
institutions of higher education (as defined in section
101 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C.
1001)) and minority-serving institutions of higher
education;
(B) encourage the development of research
collaborations between research-intensive universities
and the institutions described in subparagraph (A); and
(C) provide traineeships at the institutions
described in subparagraph (A) to graduate students who
pursue a masters or doctoral degree in an academic
field relevant to research advanced under the Program.
(f) Evaluation and Plan.--
(1) In general.--Not less frequently than biennially, the
Secretary shall--
(A) evaluate the activities carried out under the
Program; and
(B) develop a strategic research plan under the
Program, which shall be made publicly available and
submitted to the Committee on Energy and Natural
Resources of the Senate and the Committee on Energy and
Commerce of the House of Representatives.
(2) Classified information.--If the strategic research plan
developed under paragraph (1)(B) contains classified
information, the plan--
(A) shall be made publicly available and submitted
to the committees of Congress described in paragraph
(1)(B) in an unclassified format; and
(B) may, as part of the submission to those
committees of Congress only, include a classified annex
containing any sensitive or classified information, as
necessary.
(g) Interagency Collaboration.--The Office may collaborate with the
Secretary of Homeland Security, the Secretary of Health and Human
Services, the Secretary of Defense, and the heads of other appropriate
Federal departments and agencies to advance biotechnology research and
development under the Program.
(h) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be
appropriated to the Secretary to carry out this section, to remain
available until expended--
(1) $30,000,000 for fiscal year 2023;
(2) $40,000,000 for fiscal year 2024;
(3) $45,000,000 for fiscal year 2025; and
(4) $50,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2026 and 2027.
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