Discussion · House of Representatives
Brian Babin Republican
“I want the House to pass this bill. People can easily order custom-made DNA to make new medicines, but bad actors could use it to make dangerous germs. This bill has the government work with scientists and companies to create clear screening standards so dangerous orders are caught.”
“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.”
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.