20250409: CITI Hearing: Final Report of the National Security Commission for Emerging Biotechnology

House Subcommittee on Cyber, Information Technologies, and Innovation Subcommittee

2025-04-08

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Source: Congress.gov

Summary

This meeting of the subcommittee focused on the critical role of biotechnology in national security and economic competition, primarily between the United States and China, and discussed the National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology's findings and legislative recommendations to maintain U.S. leadership in this evolving field. The Commissioners presented their final report, highlighting both vulnerabilities and opportunities within the biotechnology landscape and emphasizing the urgent need for strategic action [ 00:02:13 ] [ 00:04:55 ] .

Themes

US-China Competition and the Significance of Biotechnology

Biotechnology is recognized as the next critical frontier in the competition with China, impacting defense, healthcare, agriculture, energy, and manufacturing sectors . Speakers expressed concern that China is rapidly advancing, even surpassing the U.S. in some areas, driven by heavy investment, technology theft, and strategic state subsidies [ 00:02:31 ] [ 00:05:22 ]

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. This competition is not just economic but also poses national security risks, including the potential weaponization of biotech, exploitation of biological enhancements against warfighters, and disruption of critical supply chains .

Challenges Hindering US Biotech Dominance

The United States faces significant internal challenges despite its innovative capacity . These include a lack of a cohesive federal strategy, stagnating R&D funding, fragmented biological data, and inadequate infrastructure and talent attraction . The current market primarily supports therapeutic product development, neglecting other critical applications for national security like health security, agriculture, and defense . A cumbersome regulatory process, involving multiple agencies, also stifles innovation and delays market entry for essential bioindustrial products .

Recommendations for Securing US Biotech Leadership

The Commission's primary recommendation is to dedicate substantial resources over the next five years to win the biotech race by innovating faster and slowing China's progress . Key legislative priorities include optimizing the regulatory system by creating a new entity to guide innovators through the process, thus reducing time to market . Another crucial recommendation is to treat biological data as a strategic resource, establishing a coordinated web of high-quality biological data and NIST standards to accelerate research and product development . Additionally, the government should become a better customer for biotech products, using off-take agreements and advanced market commitments to stimulate investment and ensure supply chain resilience .

Ethical Frameworks and DoD Integration

Speakers highlighted the need for the U.S. to lead by example in the ethical use of biotechnology, especially in contrast to concerns about China's ethical practices, such as human genetic modification . A proposed Congressional Commission on Responsibility and Ethics in Innovation would advise on ethical issues arising from new biotech innovations . The Department of Defense (DoD) needs to improve its engagement with the biotech industry by adjusting military specifications to accommodate biomanufactured products and by addressing the "Valley of Death" for startups through reliable demand signals and an independent investment fund [ 00:54:22 ]

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.

Tone of the Meeting

The tone of the meeting was one of urgent concern, mixed with determined optimism regarding the U.S.'s potential to maintain its leadership in biotechnology [ 00:05:22 ]

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. Speakers emphasized the gravity of the competition with China and the critical need for immediate, strategic action to avoid falling behind . There was a strong sense of bipartisan collaboration and a shared commitment to leveraging American innovation and resilience . Despite the challenges, there was confidence that implementing the Commission's recommendations could secure a prosperous and secure future for U.S. biotechnology .

Participants

Transcript

four years ago because we recognized the vulnerabilities, challenges, and opportunities that biotechnology presented.  I appreciate the work that the commissioners and the commission staff have done, especially our House members, Ranking Member Khanna and Congresswoman Stephanie Bice.  I also appreciate Senator Todd Young of Indiana, Chair of the Biotech Commission, and Dr. Michelle Rozo, the Vice Chair of the Biotech Commission, for appearing before the subcommittee today.   The United States has long been a leader in biotechnology, my home state of Nebraska being a big contributor to our leadership, but there is no doubt that China is catching up.  China has invested heavily in biomanufacturing, synthetic biology, and other biotechnologies, meanwhile prioritizing biotechnology leadership.  It's important now more than ever for the DoD to catalyze research and development in emerging biotech and dedicate the necessary resources to maintain the United States lead in this critical technology area.  While biotech is traditionally thought   of the medical and agriculture sectors, when applied to defense and national security, biotech has the potential to secure supply chains, enhance sensors to counter bioweapons, and improve warfighter readiness and lethality.  The Department of Defense has made strides in improving integration of biomanufacturing to fully maximize the power that biotechnology can bring to bear for national security.  But it must continue to scale those capabilities.  Congress recognizes this need and the massive potential biotech could have on national security.   leading to the creation of the National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology in the Fiscal Year 2022 National Defense Authorization Act.  The Commission was tasked with carrying out a review of emerging biotech capabilities and associated technologies related to national security.  The Commission released an interim report and recommendations in December 2023   several of which Congress authorized in the FY25 NDAA.  The commission's final report will be released this week, and today's hearing provides an opportunity to discuss their findings and legislative recommendations to help secure our leadership in biotechnology.  Thank you both for appearing today and for your hard work on this important commission.
I'll turn it over now to our ranking member, Khanna, for his opening remarks.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you for convening this hearing and your leadership.  I want to thank our witnesses for appearing today.  Senator Young has been a great partner on many issues with the CHIPS Act and other industrial policy, and he stepped in to   take the chairmanship and didn't phone it in.  He was present at every meeting, even ones that I missed, and really dived into the details.  And so thank you for your leadership, and thank you, Dr. Rosso, for your leadership.  Very much looking forward to what you have to say.  And I want to thank Representative Bryce for her leadership as well on the commission.  As you mentioned, Mr. Chairman, back in 2021,   The NDAA recognized the need for experts to look at biotechnology and its intersection with national security.  And we created this National Security Commission of Emerging Biotechnology.  I've been proud to be part of the commission, and I'm hopeful that   The final report and our discussion can lead to critical steps in addressing the challenges.  I just want to say that China is moving ahead at light speed.  Two trillion dollars of industrial lending   that they are doing, 200,000 AI companies that they are funding, and they are certainly funding a lot in biotechnology.  So if there is one message that I have, it is that we need to stay ahead of China in this area, we need to recognize how serious they are about it, and we need to make sure that our innovation, our creativity ultimately succeeds and thrives and leads.  So thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you.  I appreciate your comments.  With that, we'll yield to Senator Young for five minutes.  Well, thank you, Chairman Bacon.  Congressman Kahn had just offered, I think, the bottom line up front, which is that the United States needs to lead on biotechnology, and our leadership is indeed in jeopardy, as we outlined in the report and elaborate on through the classified   I thank all the members of the subcommittee for this opportunity to testify today.  I'd be remiss if I didn't mention all the hard work of the many commissioners, including Representative Bice, who I know will make every effort to be here as well.  Today, the United States is locked in a competition with China that will define the coming century.  This competition is playing out not only through arms races, but also through the quest to dominate cutting-edge technology.   Biotechnology is the next phase in this competition.  Thanks to breakthroughs in artificial intelligence, we now have the tools to reprogram the building blocks of biological systems.  These breakthroughs will advance every strategic sector   including defense, healthcare, agriculture, energy, and manufacturing.  Biotechnology can help us maintain military superiority, ensuring our warfighters continue to be the strongest fighting force on tomorrow's battlefields.

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