I 
117TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 9489 
To direct the Secretary of Energy to establish a National Laboratory Bio-
technology Program to address biotechnology threats, and for other pur-
poses. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
DECEMBER 12, 2022 
Mr. FOSTER (for himself and Ms. LEGER FERNANDEZ) introduced the fol-
lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and 
Technology, and in addition to the Committees on Armed Services, and 
Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 
Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within 
the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To direct the Secretary of Energy to establish a National 
Laboratory Biotechnology Program to address bio-
technology threats, and for other purposes. 
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 ‘‘National Laboratory 
Biotechnology Research Act of 2022’’. 
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
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(1) DEPARTMENT.—The term ‘‘Department’’ 
means the Department of Energy. 
(2) NATIONAL LABORATORY.—The term ‘‘Na-
tional Laboratory’’ has the meaning given the term 
in section 2 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 
U.S.C. 15801). 
(3) NNSA.—The term ‘‘NNSA’’ means the Na-
tional Nuclear Security Administration. 
(4) OFFICE.—The term ‘‘Office’’ means the 
joint program office established under section 3(b). 
(5) OFFICE OF INTELLIGENCE AND COUNTER-
INTELLIGENCE.—The term ‘‘Office of Intelligence 
and Counterintelligence’’ means the Office of Intel-
ligence and Counterintelligence of the Department. 
(6) OFFICE OF SCIENCE.—The term ‘‘Office of 
Science’’ means the Office of Science of the Depart-
ment. 
(7) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘Program’’ means 
the National Laboratory Biotechnology Program es-
tablished under section 3(a). 
(8) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 
the Secretary of Energy. 
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SEC. 3. NATIONAL LABORATORY BIOTECHNOLOGY PRO-
GRAM. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish a 
National Laboratory Biotechnology Program to integrate 
the resources of the Department, including the Office of 
Science, the Office of Intelligence and Counterintelligence, 
and the NNSA, to provide research, development, test and 
evaluation, and response capabilities to respond to— 
(1) long-term biotechnology threats facing the 
United States; and 
(2) any remaining threats posed by COVID–19. 
(b) JOINT PROGRAM OFFICE.—To carry out the Pro-
gram, the Secretary shall establish a joint program office, 
which shall comprise appropriate leadership from the Of-
fice of Science, the NNSA, and the National Laboratories. 
(c) FUNCTIONS.—The Office shall— 
(1) oversee the development and operation of 
major research activities of the Program; 
(2) periodically review and recommend updates 
as necessary to Program policies and guidelines for 
the development and operation of major research ac-
tivities; 
(3) collaborate with the directors of research di-
rectorates of the Department, directors of National 
Laboratories, and other senior Department officials, 
as appropriate, to gain greater access to top re-
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searchers and new and potentially transformative 
ideas; 
(4) enable access to broad scientific and tech-
nical expertise and resources that will lead to the de-
ployment 
of 
innovative 
products, 
including 
through— 
(A) research and development, including 
proof of concept, technical development, and 
compliance testing activities; and 
(B) early-stage product development, in-
cluding through— 
(i) computational modeling and sim-
ulation; 
(ii) molecular structural determina-
tion; 
(iii) genomic sequencing; 
(iv) epidemiological and logistics sup-
port; 
(v) knowledge discovery infrastructure 
and scalable protected data; 
(vi) advanced manufacturing to ad-
dress supply chain bottlenecks; 
(vii) new capabilities for testing of 
clinical and nonclinical samples; 
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(viii) 
understanding 
environmental 
fate and transport of viruses; and 
(ix) discovery of potential therapeutics 
through computation and molecular struc-
ture determination; 
(5) provide access to user facilities with ad-
vanced or unique equipment, services, materials, and 
other resources to perform research and testing; 
(6) support technology transfer and related ac-
tivities; and 
(7) promote access and development across the 
Federal Government and to United States industry, 
including startup companies, of early applications of 
the technologies, innovations, and expertise bene-
ficial to the public that are derived from Program 
activities. 
(d) BIODEFENSE EXPERTISE.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—In carrying out the Pro-
gram, the Office shall support research that har-
nesses the capabilities of the National Laboratories 
to address advanced biological threats of national se-
curity significance through assessments and research 
and development programs that— 
(A) support the near- and long-term bio-
defense needs of the United States; 
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(B) support the national security commu-
nity in reducing uncertainty and risk; 
(C) enable greater access to top research-
ers and new and potentially transformative 
ideas for biodefense of human, animal, plant, 
environment, and infrastructure assets (includ-
ing physical, cyber, and economic infrastruc-
ture); and 
(D) enable access to broad scientific and 
technical expertise and resources that will lead 
to the development and deployment of innova-
tive biodefense assessments and solutions, in-
cluding through— 
(i) the accessing, monitoring, and 
evaluation of biological threats to reduce 
risk, 
including 
through 
analysis 
and 
prioritization of gaps and vulnerabilities 
across open-source and classified data; 
(ii) development of scientific and tech-
nical roadmaps— 
(I) to address gaps and vulnera-
bilities; 
(II) to inform analyses of tech-
nologies; and 
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(III) to accelerate the application 
of unclassified research to classified 
applications; and 
(iii) demonstration activities to enable 
deployment, including— 
(I) threat signature development 
and validation; 
(II) automated anomaly detection 
using artificial intelligence and ma-
chine learning; 
(III) fate and transport dynamics 
for priority scenarios; 
(IV) data curation, access, stor-
age, and security at scale; and 
(V) risk assessment tools. 
(2) RESOURCES.—The Secretary shall ensure 
that the Office is provided and uses sufficient re-
sources to carry out paragraph (1). 
(e) STRENGTHENING
INSTITUTIONAL
RESEARCH 
AND PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Office shall, to the max-
imum extent practicable, promote cooperative re-
search and development activities under the Pro-
gram, including collaboration between appropriate 
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industry and academic institutions to promote inno-
vation and knowledge creation. 
(2) ACCESSIBILITY OF INFORMATION.—The Of-
fice shall develop, maintain, and publicize informa-
tion on scientific user facilities and capabilities sup-
ported by laboratories of the Department for com-
bating biotechnology threats, which shall be acces-
sible for use by individuals from academic institu-
tions and industry. 
(3) ACADEMIC
PARTICIPATION.—The Office 
shall, to the maximum extent practicable— 
(A) conduct outreach about internship op-
portunities relating to activities under the Pro-
gram primarily to institutions of higher edu-
cation (as defined in section 101 of the Higher 
Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001)) and 
minority-serving institutions of higher edu-
cation; 
(B) encourage the development of research 
collaborations between research-intensive uni-
versities and the institutions described in sub-
paragraph (A); and 
(C) provide traineeships at the institutions 
described in subparagraph (A) to graduate stu-
dents who pursue a masters or doctoral degree 
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in an academic field relevant to research ad-
vanced under the Program. 
(f) EVALUATION AND PLAN.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Not less frequently than bi-
ennially, the Secretary shall— 
(A) evaluate the activities carried out 
under the Program; and 
(B) develop a strategic research plan under 
the Program, which shall be made publicly 
available and submitted to the Committee on 
Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate 
and the Committee on Energy and Commerce 
of the House of Representatives. 
(2) CLASSIFIED
INFORMATION.—If the stra-
tegic research plan developed under paragraph 
(1)(B) contains classified information, the plan— 
(A) shall be made publicly available and 
submitted to the committees of Congress de-
scribed in paragraph (1)(B) in an unclassified 
format; and 
(B) may, as part of the submission to 
those committees of Congress only, include a 
classified annex containing any sensitive or clas-
sified information, as necessary. 
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(g) INTERAGENCY
COLLABORATION.—The Office 
may collaborate with the Secretary of Homeland Security, 
the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Sec-
retary of Defense, and the heads of other appropriate Fed-
eral departments and agencies to advance biotechnology 
research and development under the Program. 
(h) AUTHORIZATION
OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 
are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry 
out this section, to remain available until expended— 
(1) $30,000,000 for fiscal year 2023; 
(2) $40,000,000 for fiscal year 2024; 
(3) $45,000,000 for fiscal year 2025; and 
(4) $50,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2026 
and 2027. 
Æ 
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