I 
119TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 5770 
To establish biotechnology workforce training programs for Department of 
Defense personnel, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
OCTOBER 17, 2025 
Ms. HOULAHAN (for herself and Mr. BACON) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services 
A BILL 
To establish biotechnology workforce training programs for 
Department of Defense personnel, 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 Security Bio-
technology Workforce Training Act’’. 
SEC. 
2. 
DEPARTMENT 
OF 
DEFENSE 
BIOTECHNOLOGY 
WORKFORCE TRAINING. 
(a) REQUIREMENT.—Not later than one year after 
the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 
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Defense shall establish and carry out a training pro-
gram— 
(1) for members of the covered Armed Forces, 
civilian employees of the Department of Defense, 
and contractors of such Department whose duties 
the Secretary determines include— 
(A) creating or deploying novel biotech-
nologies; 
(B) analyzing, preparing for, or responding 
to biological threats; or 
(C) planning, research and development, 
engineering, or testing and evaluation of sys-
tems (including quality control and assurance, 
procurement and contracting, logistics, and cost 
estimating) regarding biotechnology; and 
(2) on biotechnology and other relevant critical 
and emerging technologies. 
(b) CONSULTATION.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall consult 
with leadership and workforce training managers in 
the Department to develop and implement such 
training program and identify the individuals de-
scribed in subsection (a) based on— 
(A) the needs and priorities of the Depart-
ment; and 
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(B) the relevance of the training to the in-
dividuals’ positions. 
(2) MATERIAL.—The material covered in the 
training programs shall be customized by Depart-
ment leadership to align with specific needs and mis-
sion requirements. 
(3) SKILLS.—The Secretary shall define the es-
sential skills for biotechnology personnel to better 
understand what Federal personnel should undergo 
training and how to customize training for groups. 
(c) REQUIREMENTS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The training program estab-
lished under this section shall, at a minimum, in-
clude information on— 
(A) the fundamental science underlying 
biotechnology, artificial intelligence and other 
relevant critical and emerging technologies; 
(B) concepts relating to the technological 
features of biotechnology systems; 
(C) applications of biotechnology in de-
fense, health, agriculture, energy, environment, 
and other relevant areas; 
(D) the ways in which artificial intel-
ligence, quantum computing, and other tech-
nologies are leveraged to advance biotechnology; 
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(E) mechanisms by which the Federal Gov-
ernment supports, funds, purchases, and de-
ploys biotechnology and its applications; 
(F) ways in which the Federal Government 
can benefit from biotechnology; 
(G) ethical, social, and legal aspects of bio-
technology including ways of incorporating a 
wide range of stakeholder perspectives through-
out research and innovation cycles; 
(H) ways to mitigate the risks described in 
previous subparagraphs, including efforts to 
create and identify biotechnologies that are reli-
able, safe, and trustworthy; and 
(I) future trends in biotechnology, includ-
ing intersections with artificial intelligence, 
quantum computing, autonomous systems, ro-
botics, advanced manufacturing, and other rel-
evant technologies, as well as trends for eco-
nomic and national security, and innovation. 
(2) PARTICIPATION.—Any individual described 
under subsection (b)(1) shall complete training 
under this section annually. 
(3) INTERACTIVE.—The Secretary shall ensure 
interactive learning with scholars and experts from 
private, public and nonprofit sectors is included 
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under the training programs. The Secretary shall 
provide access to courses through institutions of pro-
fessional military education, such as the National 
Defense University. 
(4) UPDATES.—The training programs estab-
lished under this section shall be updated each year 
to review and cover advances in biotechnology and 
its convergence with other critical and emerging 
technologies. 
(5) CONTINUING
EDUCATION.—The Secretary 
shall update the training programs established under 
this section to provide continuing technology edu-
cation for individuals described in subsection (a) and 
include requirements for refresher training on the 
latest advances in biotechnology science, laboratory 
work, equipment and software. 
(d) PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENTS.—The Secretary 
shall establish mechanisms to measure participation in 
training programs required under this section, and to re-
ceive and consider feedback from program participants to 
improve training. 
(e) REPORT.—Not later than six months after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall sub-
mit to the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate 
and House of Representatives a report that includes a 
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plan to establish and implement the training programs re-
quired under this section. 
(f) SUNSET.—This section and the training programs 
required to be carried out by this section shall terminate 
on the date that is five years after such programs are es-
tablished under subsection (a). 
(g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
(1) The term ‘‘artificial intelligence’’ has the 
meaning given that term in section 5002 of the Na-
tional Artificial Intelligence Initiative Act of 2020 
(division E of Public Law 116–283). 
(2) The term ‘‘covered Armed Force’’ means 
the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, or Space 
Force. 
Æ 
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