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[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 9627 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>

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.
                                 <all>
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