I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4373 
To provide for a coordinated Federal research initiative to ensure continued 
United States leadership in engineering biology. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 18, 2019 
Ms. JOHNSON of Texas (for herself, Mr. SENSENBRENNER, Ms. LOFGREN, 
and Mr. LUCAS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Science, Space, and Technology 
A BILL 
To provide for a coordinated Federal research initiative to 
ensure continued United States leadership in engineering 
biology. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Engineering Biology 
Research and Development Act of 2019’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress makes the following findings: 
(1) Cellular and molecular processes may be 
used, mimicked, or redesigned to develop new prod-
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ucts, processes, and systems that improve societal 
well-being, strengthen national security, and con-
tribute to the economy. 
(2) Engineering biology relies on a workforce 
with a diverse and unique set of skills combining the 
biological, 
physical, 
chemical, 
and 
information 
sciences and engineering. 
(3) Long-term research and development is nec-
essary to create breakthroughs in engineering biol-
ogy. Such research and development requires govern-
ment investment as many of the benefits are too dis-
tant or uncertain for industry to support alone. 
(4) Research is necessary to inform evidence- 
based governance of engineering biology and to sup-
port the growth of the engineering biology industry. 
(5) The Federal Government can play an im-
portant role by facilitating the development of tools 
and technologies to further advance engineering biol-
ogy, including user facilities, by facilitating public- 
private partnerships, by supporting risk research, 
and by facilitating the commercial application in the 
United States of research funded by the Federal 
Government. 
(6) The United States led the development of 
the science and engineering techniques that created 
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the field of engineering biology, but due to increas-
ing international competition, the United States is 
at risk of losing its competitive advantage if it does 
not invest the necessary resources and have a na-
tional strategy. 
(7) A National Engineering Biology Initiative 
can serve to establish new research directions and 
technology goals, improve interagency coordination 
and planning processes, drive technology transfer to 
the private sector, and help ensure optimal returns 
on the Federal investment. 
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) 
BIOMANUFACTURING.—The 
term 
‘‘bio-
manufacturing’’ means the utilization of biological 
systems to develop new and advance existing prod-
ucts, tools, and processes at commercial scale. 
(2) ENGINEERING BIOLOGY.—The term ‘‘engi-
neering biology’’ means the application of engineer-
ing design principles and practices to biological sys-
tems, including molecular and cellular systems, to 
advance fundamental understanding of complex nat-
ural systems and to enable novel functions and capa-
bilities. 
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(3) INITIATIVE.—The term ‘‘Initiative’’ means 
the National Engineering Biology Research and De-
velopment Initiative established under section 4. 
(4) OMICS.—The term ‘‘omics’’ refers to the 
collective technologies used to explore the roles, rela-
tionships, and actions of the various types of mol-
ecules that make up the cells of an organism. 
SEC. 4. NATIONAL ENGINEERING BIOLOGY RESEARCH AND 
DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVE. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The President, acting through the 
Office of Science and Technology Policy, shall implement 
a National Engineering Biology Research and Develop-
ment Initiative to advance societal well-being, national se-
curity, sustainability, and economic productivity and com-
petitiveness through— 
(1) advancing areas of research at the intersec-
tion of the biological, physical, chemical, and infor-
mation sciences and engineering to accelerate sci-
entific understanding and technological innovation in 
engineering biology; 
(2) advancing areas of biomanufacturing re-
search to optimize, standardize, scale, and deliver 
new products and solutions; 
(3) supporting social and behavioral sciences 
and economics research that advances the field of 
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engineering biology and contributes to the develop-
ment and public understanding of new products, 
processes, and technologies; 
(4) supporting risk research, including under 
subsection (d); 
(5) supporting the development of novel tools 
and technologies to accelerate scientific under-
standing and technological innovation in engineering 
biology; 
(6) expanding the number of researchers, edu-
cators, and students with engineering biology train-
ing, including from traditionally underserved popu-
lations; 
(7) accelerating the translation and commer-
cialization of engineering biology research and devel-
opment by the private sector; and 
(8) improving the interagency planning and co-
ordination of Federal Government activities related 
to engineering biology. 
(b) INITIATIVE ACTIVITIES.—The activities of the 
Initiative shall include— 
(1) sustained support for engineering biology 
research and development through— 
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(A) grants to individual investigators and 
teams of investigators, including interdiscipli-
nary teams; 
(B) projects funded under joint solicita-
tions by a collaboration of no fewer than two 
agencies participating in the Initiative; and 
(C) interdisciplinary research centers that 
are organized to investigate basic research 
questions, carry out technology development 
and demonstration activities, and increase un-
derstanding of how to scale up engineering biol-
ogy processes, including biomanufacturing; 
(2) sustained support for databases and related 
tools, including— 
(A) 
support 
for 
curated 
genomics, 
epigenomics, and all other relevant omics data-
bases, including plant and microbial databases, 
that are available to researchers to carry out 
engineering biology research; 
(B) development of standards for such 
databases, including for curation, interoper-
ability, and protection of privacy and security; 
(C) support for the development of com-
putational tools, including artificial intelligence 
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tools, that can accelerate research and innova-
tion using such databases; and 
(D) an inventory and assessment of all 
Federal government omics databases to identify 
opportunities for consolidation and inform in-
vestment in such databases as critical infra-
structure for the engineering biology research 
enterprise; 
(3) sustained support for the development, opti-
mization, and validation of novel tools and tech-
nologies to enable the dynamic study of molecular 
processes in situ, including through grants to inves-
tigators at institutions of higher education and other 
nonprofit research institutions, and through the 
Small Business Innovation Research Program and 
the Small Business Technology Transfer Program, 
as described in section 9 of the Small Business Act 
(15 U.S.C. 638); 
(4) education and training of undergraduate 
and graduate students in engineering biology, in bio-
manufacturing, in bioprocess engineering, and in 
areas of computational science applied to engineer-
ing biology; 
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(5) activities to develop robust mechanisms for 
tracking and quantifying the outputs and economic 
benefits of engineering biology; and 
(6) activities to accelerate the translation and 
commercialization of new products, processes, and 
technologies by— 
(A) identifying precompetitive research op-
portunities; 
(B) facilitating public-private partnerships 
in engineering biology research and develop-
ment; 
(C) connecting researchers, graduate stu-
dents, and postdoctoral fellows with entrepre-
neurship education and training opportunities; 
and 
(D) supporting proof of concept activities 
and the formation of startup companies includ-
ing through programs such as the Small Busi-
ness Innovation Research Program and the 
Small Business Technology Transfer Program. 
(c) EXPANDING
PARTICIPATION.—The Initiative 
shall include, to the maximum extent practicable, outreach 
to primarily undergraduate and minority-serving institu-
tions about Initiative opportunities, and shall encourage 
the development of research collaborations between re-
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search-intensive universities and primarily undergraduate 
and minority-serving institutions. 
(d) ETHICAL, LEGAL, ENVIRONMENTAL, SAFETY, 
SECURITY, AND SOCIETAL ISSUES.—Initiative activities 
shall take into account ethical, legal, environmental, safe-
ty, security, and other appropriate societal issues by— 
(1) supporting research, including in the social 
sciences, and other activities addressing ethical, 
legal, environmental, and other appropriate societal 
issues related to engineering biology, including inte-
grating research on such topics with the research 
and development in engineering biology, and ensur-
ing that the results of such research are widely dis-
seminated, including through interdisciplinary engi-
neering biology research centers described in sub-
section (b)(1); 
(2) supporting research and other activities re-
lated to the safety and security implications of engi-
neering biology, including outreach to increase 
awareness among federally funded researchers at in-
stitutions of higher education about potential safety 
and security implications of engineering biology re-
search, as appropriate; 
(3) ensuring that input from Federal and non- 
Federal experts on the ethical, legal, environmental, 
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security, and other appropriate societal issues re-
lated to engineering biology is integrated into the 
Initiative; and 
(4) ensuring, through the agencies and depart-
ments that participate in the Initiative, that public 
input and outreach are integrated into the Initiative 
by the convening of regular and ongoing public dis-
cussions through mechanisms such as workshops, 
consensus conferences, and educational events, as 
appropriate. 
SEC. 5. INITIATIVE COORDINATION. 
(a) INTERAGENCY COMMITTEE.—The President, act-
ing through the Office of Science and Technology Policy, 
shall designate an interagency committee to coordinate en-
gineering biology, which shall be co-chaired by the Office 
of Science and Technology Policy, and include representa-
tives from the National Science Foundation, the Depart-
ment of Energy, the National Aeronautics and Space Ad-
ministration, the National Institute of Standards and 
Technology, the Environmental Protection Agency, the 
Department of Agriculture, the National Institutes of 
Health, the Bureau of Economic Analysis, and any other 
agency that the President considers appropriate (in this 
section referred to as the ‘‘interagency committee’’). The 
Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy 
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shall select an additional co-chairperson from among the 
members of the Interagency Committee. The Interagency 
Committee shall oversee the planning, management, and 
coordination of the Initiative. The Interagency Committee 
shall— 
(1) provide for interagency coordination of Fed-
eral engineering biology research, development, and 
other activities undertaken pursuant to the Initia-
tive; 
(2) establish and periodically update goals and 
priorities for the Initiative; 
(3) develop, not later than 12 months after the 
date of enactment of this Act, and update every 3 
years, a strategic plan that— 
(A) guides the activities of the Initiative 
for purposes of meeting the goals and priorities 
established under (and updated pursuant to) 
paragraph (2); and 
(B) describes— 
(i) the Initiative’s support for long- 
term funding for interdisciplinary engineer-
ing biology research and development; 
(ii) the Initiative’s support for edu-
cation and public outreach activities; 
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(iii) the Initiative’s support for re-
search and other activities on ethical, legal, 
environmental, safety, security, and other 
appropriate societal issues related to engi-
neering biology; 
(iv) how the Initiative will move re-
sults out of the laboratory and into appli-
cation for the benefit of society and United 
States competitiveness; and 
(v) how the Initiative will measure 
and track the contributions of engineering 
biology to United States economic growth 
and other societal indicators; 
(4) develop a national genomic sequencing 
strategy to ensure engineering biology research fully 
leverages plant, animal, and microbe biodiversity to 
enhance long-term innovation and competitiveness in 
engineering biology in the United States; 
(5) propose an annually coordinated interagency 
budget for the Initiative that is intended to ensure— 
(A) the maintenance of a robust engineer-
ing biology research and development portfolio; 
and 
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(B) that the balance of funding across the 
Initiative is sufficient to meet the goals and pri-
orities established for the Program; 
(6) develop a plan to utilize Federal programs, 
such as the Small Business Innovation Research 
Program and the Small Business Technology Trans-
fer Program as described in section 9 of the Small 
Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638), in support of the ac-
tivities described in section 4(b)(3); and 
(7) in carrying out this section, take into con-
sideration the recommendations of the advisory com-
mittee established under section 6, the results of the 
workshop convened under section 7, existing reports 
on related topics, and the views of academic, State, 
industry, and other appropriate groups. 
(b) ANNUAL REPORT.—Beginning with fiscal year 
2020, not later than 90 days after submission of the Presi-
dent’s annual budget request and each fiscal year there-
after, the interagency committee shall prepare and submit 
to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of 
the House of Representatives and the Committee on Com-
merce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate a report 
that includes— 
(1) a summarized agency budget in support of 
the Initiative for the fiscal year to which such budg-
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et request applies, and for the then current fiscal 
year, including a breakout of spending for each 
agency participating in the Program and for the de-
velopment and acquisition of any research facilities 
and instrumentation; and 
(2) an assessment of how Federal agencies are 
implementing the plan described in subsection 
(a)(3), and a description of the amount and number 
of awards made under the Small Business Innova-
tion Research Program and the Small Business 
Technology Transfer Program (as described in sec-
tion 9 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638)) 
in support of the Initiative. 
(c) INITIATIVE STAFFING.—The President shall en-
sure adequate staffing for the Initiative, including full- 
time staff within the Office of Science and Technology 
Policy, who shall— 
(1) provide technical and administrative support 
to the interagency committee and the advisory com-
mittee established under section 6; 
(2) serve as the point of contact on Federal en-
gineering biology activities for government organiza-
tions, academia, industry, professional societies, 
State governments, interested citizen groups, and 
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