[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5770 Introduced in House (IH)]
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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 Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``National Security Biotechnology
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 Defense shall establish and
carry out a training program--
(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 biotechnologies;
(B) analyzing, preparing for, or responding to
biological threats; or
(C) planning, research and development,
engineering, or testing and evaluation of systems
(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 described in subsection (a) based on--
(A) the needs and priorities of the Department; and
(B) the relevance of the training to the
individuals' positions.
(2) Material.--The material covered in the training
programs shall be customized by Department leadership to align
with specific needs and mission requirements.
(3) Skills.--The Secretary shall define the essential
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 established under
this section shall, at a minimum, include 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 defense,
health, agriculture, energy, environment, and other
relevant areas;
(D) the ways in which artificial intelligence,
quantum computing, and other technologies are leveraged
to advance biotechnology;
(E) mechanisms by which the Federal Government
supports, funds, purchases, and deploys biotechnology
and its applications;
(F) ways in which the Federal Government can
benefit from biotechnology;
(G) ethical, social, and legal aspects of
biotechnology including ways of incorporating a wide
range of stakeholder perspectives throughout research
and innovation cycles;
(H) ways to mitigate the risks described in
previous subparagraphs, including efforts to create and
identify biotechnologies that are reliable, safe, and
trustworthy; and
(I) future trends in biotechnology, including
intersections with artificial intelligence, quantum
computing, autonomous systems, robotics, advanced
manufacturing, and other relevant technologies, as well
as trends for economic 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 under the training programs. The
Secretary shall provide access to courses through institutions
of professional military education, such as the National
Defense University.
(4) Updates.--The training programs established 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 education 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 receive 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 submit to the Committees on
Armed Services of the Senate and House of Representatives a report that
includes a plan to establish and implement the training programs
required 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 established under subsection (a).
(g) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) The term ``artificial intelligence'' has the meaning
given that term in section 5002 of the National 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.
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