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118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 6174 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 8, 2024 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and 

Governmental Affairs 

AN ACT 

To improve the biodetection functions of the Department 

of Homeland Security, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘DHS Biodetection Im3 provement Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. DHS UTILIZATION OF DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY NA5 TIONAL LABORATORIES AND SITES FOR CER6 TAIN BIODETECTION RESEARCH AND DEVEL7 OPMENT RELATING TO THE MISSIONS OF 

8 THE DHS. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Homeland Secu10 rity shall conduct an assessment of how the Department 

11 of Homeland Security has utilized Department of Energy 

12 national laboratories and sites regarding research and de13 velopment in carrying out the missions of the Department 

14 of Homeland Security, in accordance with section 309 of 

15 the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 189). 

16 (b) STRATEGY ON BIODETECTION RESEARCH AND

17 DEVELOPMENT.—Not later than 180 days after the date 

18 of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland 

19 Security shall submit to the Committee on Homeland Se20 curity of the House of Representatives and the Committee 

21 on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the 

22 Senate the assessment required under subsection (a), to23 gether with a strategy for how the Department of Home24 land Security will conduct research and development in co25 ordination with Department of Energy national labora26 tories and sites to address biodetection research and develVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:13 Mar 13, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6174.RFS H6174

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1 opment of the Department of Homeland Security, includ2 ing the following: 

3 (1) Identifying biodetection technologies that 

4 can, either individually or together, meet the bio5 detection mission needs as outlined in Department 

6 of Homeland Security capabilities analysis and re7 quirements documents and informed by studies pro8 duced by the Comptroller General of the United 

9 States, such as the National Re-Assessment of the 

10 BioWatch Collector Network to Increase the Frac11 tion of Population Covered, as developed by the 

12 Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Office of 

13 the Department in November 2021, and other such 

14 future studies as applicable. 

15 (2) Developing an acquisition and procurement 

16 plan to acquire and provide, in accordance with Fed17 eral law, the Federal Acquisition Regulation, and 

18 Department of Homeland Security acquisition and 

19 procurement management directives, the biodetection 

20 technologies referred to in paragraph (1) to existing 

21 BioWatch jurisdictions. 

22 (3) Conducting periodic external evaluations to 

23 identify gaps and potential failure points with re24 spect to such biodetection technologies, and recom25 mending contingency plans in the event such bioVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:13 Mar 13, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6174.RFS H6174

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1 detection technologies do not perform as expected or 

2 intended. 

3 (4) Assisting, as appropriate and in partnership 

4 with Federal, State, local, and Tribal governments, 

5 institutions of higher education (as such term is de6 fined in section 101 of the Higher Education Act of 

7 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001)), and the private sector, with 

8 the development of clearly defined program and 

9 technical requirements for future Department of 

10 Homeland Security environmental biodetection pro11 grams, including any related transformational pro12 gram of research and development. 

13 (c) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—Not later than one 

14 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec15 retary of Homeland Security shall provide to the Com16 mittee on Homeland Security of the House of Representa17 tives and the Committee on Homeland Security and Gov18 ernmental Affairs of the Senate an update of the assess19 ment and strategy required under this section, including 

20 any challenges to implementing such strategy. 

Passed the House of Representatives March 7, 

2024. 

Attest: KEVIN F. MCCUMBER, 

Clerk. 


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