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[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3029 Reported in House (RH)]
<DOC>
Union Calendar No. 654
119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 3029
[Report No. 119-751]
To amend the Research and Development, Competition, and Innovation Act
to support nucleic acid screening, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
April 28, 2025
Ms. Salinas (for herself and Mr. McCormick) introduced the following
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and
Technology
July 16, 2026
Additional sponsors: Ms. McBride and Mr. Riley of New York
July 16, 2026
Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union
and ordered to be printed
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Research and Development, Competition, and Innovation Act
to support nucleic acid screening, 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 ``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 2026 through 2030 to carry out this
subsection.''.
Union Calendar No. 654
119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 3029
[Report No. 119-751]
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Research and Development, Competition, and Innovation Act
to support nucleic acid screening, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
July 16, 2026
Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union
and ordered to be printed