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[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6624 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 6624
To restrict the export to foreign entities of concern of United States
intellectual property and sensitive information related to synthetic
biology, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
December 11, 2025
Mr. Davidson (for himself, Ms. Houlahan, Mrs. Bice, Mr. McCaul, Mr.
Sessions, and Mr. Harrigan) introduced the following bill; which was
referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To restrict the export to foreign entities of concern of United States
intellectual property and sensitive information related to synthetic
biology, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Biological Intellectual Property
Protection Act of 2025''.
SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS.
It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) the People's Republic of China is conducting a
systematic campaign to access and exploit sensitive United
States data and intellectual property to modernize its
military, intelligence, and other security apparatuses, enable
human rights abuses, and develop dual-use strategic
technologies;
(2) access by the People's Republic of China to sensitive
United States data and intellectual property poses grave and
direct threats to United States national security;
(3) the efforts of the People's Republic of China to access
such data and intellectual property are supported by a
military-civil fusion strategy, through which the People's
Republic of China increases the size of its military-industrial
complex by compelling civilian Chinese companies and research
institutions to support its military and intelligence
activities, which results in ostensibly private and civilian
companies that access United States capital supporting the
modernization of the People's Liberation Army;
(4) the law of the People's Republic of China requires that
all citizens of the People's Republic of China cooperate with
national security priorities, enabling the modernization of the
People's Liberation Army, including through--
(A) the National Security Law of 2015, which states
that citizens of the People's Republic of China ``shall
have duties and obligations to maintain national
security'';
(B) the National Intelligence Law of 2017, which
states that ``all organizations and citizens shall
support, assist, and cooperate with national
intelligence work'';
(C) the Data Security Law of 2021, which states
that ``where a public security organ or national
security organ needs to obtain data for the sake of
national security or for investigating crimes in
accordance with the law . . . the relevant
organizations and individuals shall cooperate''; and
(D) the Counterespionage Law, revised in 2023,
which states that citizens of the People's Republic of
China ``have the duty to maintain the security, honor
and interests of the state, and shall not engage in any
act that endangers the security, honor or interests of
the state'';
(5) the export of novel synthetic DNA and RNA sequences
provides insight into the designs and research of biotechnology
entities, leading to a high potential for intellectual property
theft by foreign adversaries; and
(6) the United States should therefore control the export
of synthetic DNA and RNA sequences to foreign adversaries.
SEC. 3. LICENSE REQUIREMENT TO PROTECT UNITED STATES INTELLECTUAL
PROPERTY AND SENSITIVE INFORMATION RELATED TO SYNTHETIC
BIOLOGY.
Part I of the Export Control Reform Act of 2018 (50 U.S.C. 4811 et
seq.) is amended by inserting after section 1758 the following:
``SEC. 1758A. LICENSE REQUIREMENT TO PROTECT UNITED STATES INTELLECTUAL
PROPERTY AND SEN- SITIVE INFORMATION RELATED TO SYN-
THETIC BIOLOGY.
``(a) License Requirement.--Not later than 1 year after the date of
the enactment of this section, the Secretary shall, except as provided
for in subsection (b), require a license for the export, reexport, or
in-country transfer to a foreign entity of concern of a digital
sequence of synthetic DNA or RNA designed by humans or artificial
intelligence systems.
``(b) Exception.--The requirement for a license under subsection
(a) shall not apply with respect to information described in section
734.3(b) of the Export Administration Regulations.
``(c) Definitions.--In this section:
``(1) Digital sequence.--The term `digital sequence' means
a binary file or other digital representation containing
symbols representing the identity, order, and any chemical
modification for each position in a DNA or RNA molecule.
``(2) Foreign country of concern.--The term `foreign
country of concern' has the meaning given that term in section
10612(a) of the Research and Development, Competition, and
Innovation Act (42 U.S.C. 19221(a)).
``(3) Foreign entity of concern.--The term `foreign entity
of concern' means--
``(A) a government entity of a foreign country of
concern;
``(B) a foreign person subject to the jurisdiction
of, or organized under the laws of, a foreign country
of concern; or
``(C) a foreign person owned, directed, or
controlled by an entity described in subparagraph (A)
or (B).
``(4) Synthetic dna or rna.--The term `synthetic DNA or
RNA' means--
``(A) molecules that are constructed by joining
nucleic acid molecules and can replicate in a living
cell, such as recombinant nucleic acids;
``(B) nucleic acid molecules that are chemically or
by other means synthesized, including such molecules
that are chemically or otherwise modified but can base
pair with naturally occurring nucleic acid molecules,
such as synthetic nucleic acids; or
``(C) molecules that result from the replication of
molecules described in subparagraph (A) or (B).''.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.
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