[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 138 (Tuesday, August 3, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5784-S5785]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 2459. Mr. LUJAN (for himself and Mr. Heinrich) submitted an 
amendment intended to be proposed to amendment SA 2137 proposed by Mr. 
Schumer (for Ms. Sinema (for herself, Mr. Portman, Mr. Manchin, Mr. 
Cassidy, Mrs. Shaheen, Ms. Collins, Mr. Tester, Ms. Murkowski, Mr. 
Warner, and Mr. Romney)) to the bill H.R. 3684, to authorize funds for 
Federal-aid highways, highway safety programs, and transit programs, 
and for other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as 
follows:

        At the appropriate place in title XII of division D, 
     insert the following:

     SEC. 412__. NATIONAL LABORATORY BIOTECHNOLOGY PROGRAM.

       (a) Definitions.--In this section:
       (1) EERE.--The term ``EERE'' means the Office of Energy 
     Efficiency and Renewable Energy of the Department.
       (2) NNSA.--The term ``NNSA'' means the National Nuclear 
     Security Administration.
       (3) Office of intelligence and counterintelligence.--The 
     term ``Office of Intelligence and Counterintelligence'' means 
     the Office of Intelligence and Counterintelligence of the 
     Department.
       (4) Office of science.--The term ``Office of Science'' 
     means the Office of Science of the Department.
       (5) Program.--The term ``Program'' means the National 
     Laboratory Biotechnology Program established under subsection 
     (b)(1).
       (6) Working group.--The term ``working group'' means the 
     working group established under subsection (b)(2).
       (b) National Laboratory Biotechnology Program.--
       (1) 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, the EERE, and 
     the NNSA, to provide research, development, test and 
     evaluation, and response capabilities to respond to--
       (A) biological disasters and emergencies;
       (B) long-term biotechnology threats and hazards impacting 
     national security;
       (C) emerging and re-emerging diseases; and
       (D) any remaining threats posed by COVID-19.
       (2) Working group.--To carry out the Program, the Secretary 
     shall establish a working group, which shall comprise 
     appropriate leadership from the Office of Science, the NNSA, 
     and the National Laboratories.
       (3) Functions.--The working group shall--
       (A) oversee the development and operation of major research 
     activities of the Program;
       (B) identify Department programs and elements that will 
     participate in the research and development activities of the 
     Program;
       (C) establish a formal process to engage the capabilities 
     of the National Laboratories, including identifying a 
     National Laboratory to be a coordinator for each research 
     project carried out under the Program;
       (D) collaborate with the directors of research directorates 
     of the Department, directors of National Laboratories, and 
     other senior Department officials, as appropriate, to gain 
     greater access to top researchers and new and potentially 
     transformative ideas;
       (E) periodically review and recommend updates as necessary 
     to Program policies and guidelines for the development and 
     operation of major research activities, including by taking 
     into consideration how those updates fit into the broader 
     Federal response framework;
       (F)(i) disperse funds to entities participating in 
     activities under the Program; and
       (ii) conduct periodic reviews to adjust funding allocations 
     in response to changing biological disasters and emergencies, 
     biotechnology threats, biodefense needs, or emerging and re-
     emerging diseases;
       (G) enable access to broad scientific and technical 
     expertise and resources that will lead to the deployment of 
     innovative products, including through--
       (i) research and development, including proof of concept, 
     technical development, and compliance testing activities; and
       (ii) early-stage product development, including through--

       (I) computational modeling and simulation;
       (II) molecular structural determination;
       (III) genomic sciences;
       (IV) epidemiological and logistics support;
       (V) knowledge discovery infrastructure and scalable 
     protected data;
       (VI) advanced manufacturing to address supply chain 
     bottlenecks;
       (VII) new capabilities for testing of clinical and 
     nonclinical samples;
       (VIII) understanding environmental fate and transport of 
     viruses; and
       (IX) discovery of potential therapeutics through 
     computation and molecular structure determination;

       (H) support unclassified and classified research that 
     harnesses the capabilities of the National Laboratories to 
     address advanced biological threats of national security 
     significance through assessments and research and development 
     programs that--
       (i) support the near- and long-term biodefense needs of the 
     United States;
       (ii) support the national security community in reducing 
     uncertainty and risk;
       (iii) enable greater access to top researchers and new and 
     potentially transformative ideas for biodefense of human, 
     animal, plant, environment, and infrastructure assets 
     (including physical, cyber, and economic infrastructure); and
       (iv) enable access to broad scientific and technical 
     expertise and resources that will

[[Page S5785]]

     lead to the development and deployment of innovative 
     biodefense assessments and solutions, including 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 technical roadmaps--

       (aa) to address gaps and vulnerabilities;
       (bb) to inform analyses of technologies; and
       (cc) to accelerate the application of unclassified research 
     to classified applications; and

       (III) demonstration activities to enable deployment, 
     including--

       (aa) threat signature development and validation;
       (bb) automated anomaly detection using artificial 
     intelligence and machine learning;
       (cc) fate and transport dynamics for priority scenarios;
       (dd) data curation, access, storage, and security at scale; 
     and
       (ee) risk assessment tools;
       (I) provide access to scientific user facilities and 
     collaboration facilities with advanced or unique equipment, 
     services, materials, and other resources to perform research 
     and testing;
       (J) establish a short-term exchange program under the 
     Program for National Laboratory staff and management to build 
     connections and awareness across the National Laboratory 
     system;
       (K) support technology transfer and related activities; and
       (L) 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 beneficial to the public that are 
     derived from Program activities.
       (4) Strengthening institutional research and private 
     partnerships.--
       (A) In general.--The working group shall, to the maximum 
     extent practicable, promote cooperative research and 
     development activities under the Program, including 
     collaboration between appropriate industry and academic 
     institutions to promote innovation and knowledge creation.
       (B) Accessibility of information.--The working group shall 
     develop, maintain, and publicize information on scientific 
     user facilities and capabilities supported by laboratories of 
     the Department for combating biotechnology threats, which 
     shall be accessible for use by individuals from academic 
     institutions and industry.
       (C) Academic participation.--The working group shall, to 
     the maximum extent practicable--
       (i) conduct outreach about internship opportunities 
     relating to activities under the Program primarily to 
     institutions of higher education and minority-serving 
     institutions of higher education;
       (ii) encourage the development of research collaborations 
     between research-intensive universities and the institutions 
     described in clause (i); and
       (iii) provide traineeships at the institutions described in 
     clause (i) to graduate students who pursue a masters or 
     doctoral degree in an academic field relevant to research 
     advanced under the Program.
       (5) Evaluation and plan.--
       (A) In general.--Not less frequently than biennially, the 
     Secretary shall--
       (i) evaluate the activities carried out under the Program; 
     and
       (ii) 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.
       (B) Classified information.--If the strategic research plan 
     developed under subparagraph (A)(ii) contains classified 
     information, the plan--
       (i) shall be made publicly available and submitted to the 
     committees of Congress described in subparagraph (A)(ii) in 
     an unclassified format; and
       (ii) may, as part of the submission to those committees of 
     Congress only, include a classified annex containing any 
     sensitive or classified information, as necessary.
       (6) Interagency collaboration.--The working group may 
     collaborate with the Secretary of Homeland Security, the 
     Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Secretary of 
     Defense, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Director, and the 
     heads of other appropriate Federal departments and agencies 
     to advance biotechnology research and development under the 
     Program.
       (7) Authorization of appropriations.--There are authorized 
     to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry out this 
     section, to remain available until expended--
       (A) $30,000,000 for fiscal year 2022;
       (B) $40,000,000 for fiscal year 2023;
       (C) $45,000,000 for fiscal year 2024; and
       (D) $50,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2025 and 2026.
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