Today, Chairman John Moolenaar (R-MI) and Ranking Member Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) of the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the U.S. and the Chinese Communist Party, along with House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic Chairman Brad Wenstrup D.P.M. (R-OH), issued a statement following the 40 to 1 vote by the House Oversight Committee to advance the BIOSECURE Act to the House floor.
In their joint statement, they declared, “The House Oversight Committee just sent a powerful, bipartisan message to the Chinese Communist Party: the United States will not sit idly by while the CCP steals our genetic data and seeks to control our biotech supply chains. We are proud to lead the BIOSECURE Act and look forward to working with House leadership to get this bill on the floor as soon as possible.”
The Chinese Communist Party's national security laws require all Chinese firms, including biotechnology companies that collect, test, and store American genomic data, to share any requested data with the CCP. The Beijing Genomics Institute (BGI), a company in China's People's Republic has collected DNA from millions worldwide without consent for genomic projects conducted by China's military. Furthermore, WuXi AppTec, another Chinese company reportedly involved in intellectual property theft from U.S., has sponsored events with China's military and jointly operated genetic collection sites.
These companies have concerning connections with ongoing human rights abuses against Uyghurs in Xinjiang. BGI is known for its illicit collection of pregnant women’s DNA and conducting research with China’s People’s Liberation Army. The U.S. government has placed export control restrictions on BGI due to its involvement in tracking ethnic minorities in Xinjiang where genocide against Uyghur people is being perpetrated.
WuXi AppTec generates over 60% of its revenue from the U.S. market, indicating that U.S. consumers are directly contributing to a company that poses a risk to national security. BGI operates over 100 genetic collection laboratories in over 20 countries, infrastructure that the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission has stated is providing “genetic data to serve PRC ambitions to dominate biotech.”
The BIOSECURE Act aims to address these concerns and protect American genetic data from misuse.
