[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 9627 Introduced in House (IH)]
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118th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 9627
To direct the Secretary of Defense to develop a biotechnology roadmap
to guide the efforts of the Department of Defense relating to
biotechnology, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
September 17, 2024
Mr. Khanna introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Armed Services
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To direct the Secretary of Defense to develop a biotechnology roadmap
to guide the efforts of the Department of Defense relating to
biotechnology, 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 ``Biotech Futures Act''.
SEC. 2. BIOTECHNOLOGY ROADMAP.
(a) Roadmap Required.--The Secretary of Defense shall develop a
biotechnology roadmap to guide the efforts of the Department of Defense
relating to biotechnology.
(b) Elements.--In the roadmap required by subsection (a), the
Secretary of Defense shall--
(1) clearly articulate the strategic objectives of the
Department of Defense relating to biotechnology;
(2) for each strategic objective, establish specific goals
and milestones for the achievement of such objective, including
timelines for meeting such goals and milestones;
(3) in the case of each updated version of the roadmap
following submittal of the initial roadmap under subsection
(d)(1), include--
(A) a review of the goals and milestones
established under paragraph (2) to ensure such goals
and milestones continue to align with strategic
objectives under paragraph (1); and
(B) a description of any goals and milestones that
changed as a result of such review;
(4) separately identify each biotechnology effort covered
by the strategy, including any programs, projects, or other
activities associated with such effort within the Office of the
Secretary of Defense, the Armed Forces, and other organizations
of the Department, and for each such effort provide--
(A) a description of the effort;
(B) an estimate of the funding dedicated to the
effort;
(C) a timeline for carrying out the effort; and
(D) an explanation of how the effort aligns with
the strategic objectives under paragraph (1);
(5) identify and describe the role of each organization of
the Department with responsibilities relating to biotechnology
under the strategy;
(6) establish metrics to measure the progress of the
Department in meeting the objectives, goals, and milestones
under the strategy;
(7) based on such metrics, assess the progress of the
Department in meeting such objectives, goals, and milestones;
(8) based on the results of such assessment, make any
necessary adjustments to the planning and execution of the
roadmap to ensure the Department makes continuous progress
toward achieving the objectives under paragraph (1);
(9) assess the overall risk to the security of the United
States of the biotechnology efforts covered by the strategy;
(10) analyze any requirements of the Federal Government
that hinder the ability of the Department to advance and use
biotechnology;
(11) provide for the development and support of the
biotechnology workforce of the Department, including personnel
with responsibilities relating directly to biotechnology and
personnel who indirectly support the biotechnology efforts of
the Department such as personnel involved program management,
acquisition, investment, and legal matters;
(12) with respect to the biotechnology workforce described
in paragraph (11)--
(A) identify the total number of biotechnology
positions required to support the objectives of the
roadmap--
(i) as of the date of the road map; and
(ii) over the periods of five and 10 years
following such date;
(B) indicate the number of such positions that have
been filled as of the date of the roadmap;
(C) describe the positions included in the
biotechnology workforce, including a description of--
(i) the role of each position in supporting
the objectives under paragraph (1); and
(ii) the qualifications required for each
position, including any qualifications relating
to seniority level, education, training, and
security clearances;
(D) identify any challenges affecting the ability
of the Department to develop the biotechnology
workforce and propose solutions to those challenges;
(E) assess whether the codes used to define
positions and roles within the workforce of the
Department adequately cover the range of positions and
personnel that comprise the biotechnology workforce,
such as personnel in research, engineering, and
testing;
(F) identify mechanisms to enable the Department to
access outside expertise relating to biotechnology,
including mechanisms to assemble a pool of outside
experts who have been prequalified (including by
obtaining any necessary security clearances) to provide
advice and assistance to the Department on matters
relating to biotechnology on an as-needed basis; and
(G) assess whether personnel occupying existing
positions in the Department could be used to meet
biotechnology workforce needs with additional training
and, if so, the nature and scope of the training
required; and
(13) address collaboration between the Department and
international partners to advance research on biotechnology,
which shall include--
(A) a description of any international partnerships
under which the United States is collaborating with
partners to conduct biotechnology research and
development for defense purposes;
(B) a description of any new international
partnerships that may be entered into, or existing
partnerships that may be modified, to provide for such
collaboration; and
(C) identification of any challenges affecting the
ability of the Department engage in such collaboration
with international partners, including--
(i) any limitations on co-investments
within international partnerships;
(ii) any United States export controls or
other technology protections that hinder
information sharing within such partnerships;
and
(iii) any other challenges that may prevent
the full utilization of such partnerships for
such collaboration.
(c) Consultation.--In preparing the roadmap required under
subsection (a), the Secretary of Defense shall consult with--
(1) the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and
Engineering;
(2) the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and
Sustainment;
(3) the Secretaries of the military departments; and
(4) such other officials of the Department of Defense as
the Secretary determines appropriate.
(d) Submittal to Congress; Updates.--
(1) Initial submission.--Not later than one year after the
date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense
shall submit to the congressional defense committees the
roadmap developed under subsection (a).
(2) Annual updates.--Not less frequently than once every
two years following the submittal of the initial roadmap under
paragraph (1), the Secretary shall--
(A) review and update the roadmap; and
(B) submit an updated version of the roadmap to the
congressional defense committees.
(3) Form.--Each version of the roadmap required to be
submitted under this subsection may be submitted in classified
form, but if so submitted, shall include an unclassified
executive summary.
(e) Public Availability.--On annual basis, the Secretary shall make
an unclassified version of the most recent roadmap submitted under
subsection (d) available on a publicly accessible website of the
Department of Defense.
(f) Biotechnology Defined.--In this section, the term
``biotechnology'' means the application of science and technology to
living organisms and to parts, products and models of such organisms to
alter living or non-living materials for the production of knowledge,
goods, or services.
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