The Senate version of the National Defense Authorization Act could include a House-authored provision that prohibits the United States government and its contractors from buying equipment from \u2018adversarial biotech companies\u2019 that work to \u2018exploit\u2019 Americans\u2019 genetic information for \u2018malign purposes,\u2019 Fox News Digital has learned.<\/p>\n
Both the Senate and the House of Representatives are currently conferencing and negotiating on final NDAA text that can be passed by both chambers.<\/p>\n
The provision, which was passed in the original House bill, was introduced by House China Select Committee Chairman Mike Gallagher, R-Wis. The provision prohibits the purchase of biotechnology equipment or services from all United States adversaries, including North Korea, Russia, Iran and China.<\/p>\n
But in his amendment, Gallagher specifically mentions\u00a0Shenzhen-based company Beijing Genomics Institute (BGI) and seeks to block the company from contracting with the United States government. BGI has close ties to the Chinese Communist Party.<\/p>\n
\u2018Beijing Genomics Institute collects genetic data on people all over the world, to include that of pregnant women, and uses it for research with the Chinese military,\u2019 Gallagher told Fox News Digital. \u2018The CCP will undoubtedly use the genetic data collected by BGI to further its malign aggression, potentially even to develop a bioweapon used to target the American people.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n
Gallagher said that \u2018the good news is that Congress can do something about it.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n
Gallagher and Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., are working together \u2018to prohibit the U.S. government and those that contract with the U.S. government from acquiring genetic sequencing equipment from BGI and its subsidiaries in this year\u2019s National Defense Authorization Amendment.\u2019<\/p>\n
Hagerty told Fox News Digital that he is \u2018pleased\u2019 to work with Gallagher to ensure the NDAA includes \u2018this important provision to prevent CCP-aligned Chinese biotech companies from collecting Americans\u2019 DNA.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u2018It\u2019s deeply alarming that the Chinese Communist Party, through China\u2019s \u2018national champion\u2019 biotech companies like\u00a0BGI, is harvesting genetic data from millions of people around the world for storage and analysis back in China, often in collaboration with the Chinese military,\u2019 Hagerty told Fox News Digital.<\/p>\n
Hagerty, at this point, has filed a motion to instruct conferees to include the BGI text in the final conference report.<\/p>\n
\u2018I urge my Senate colleagues to support this effort to prohibit the U.S. government and its contractors from buying equipment from adversarial biotech companies whose intent is to exploit Americans\u2019 genetic and medical information for malign purposes,\u2019 Hagerty said.<\/p>\n
And Gallagher called for lawmakers \u2018on both sides of the aisle and in both chambers of Congress to protect Americans\u2019 sensitive health information and include this critical provision in the final bill.\u2019<\/p>\n
The push comes as the Intelligence Community, dating back to 2021, has been sounding the alarm on China\u2019s\u00a0collection of\u00a0health care\u00a0data and DNA of Americans. Intelligence officials have warned that the efforts pose \u2018serious risks\u2019 to the privacy of Americans and to U.S. economic and national security.<\/p>\n
The National Counterintelligence and Security Center within the Office of the Director of National Intelligence has warned that China is prioritizing the collection of health care data, including genomic data \u2013 which it\u00a0says the country views as a \u2018strategic commodity\u2019 to be collected and used for its economic and national security priorities.<\/p>\n
NCSC defined genomic data as \u2018a broad term referring to your entire genetic sequence \u2013 all your DNA.\u2019<\/p>\n
The collection efforts come as part of China\u2019s efforts to advance its\u00a0artificial intelligence and precision medicine industries.<\/p>\n
In 2016, the People\u2019s Republic of China announced a $9 billion, 15-year project to collect, analyze\u00a0and sequence genomic data to become a global leader in precision medicine \u2013 which ODNI describes as a process designed to provide tailored treatments based on the genetic makeup, environment and lifestyle of individual patients.<\/p>\n
The intelligence community has also explicitly called out BGI, pointing to its efforts during the coronavirus pandemic. Intelligence officials have pointed to China\u2019s efforts to market its\u00a0COVID-19 testing kits around the world\u00a0as well as laboratories to support its COVID-19 testing.<\/p>\n
NCSC said that by August 2020, BGI said it had sold test kits to 180 countries and established labs in 18 countries during the pandemic.<\/p>\n
Intelligence officials told Fox News that BGI made \u2018aggressive efforts\u2019 to market their COVID testing and lab services in states across America in the early days of the pandemic, despite concerns from the NCSC,\u00a0the FBI and others in the intelligence community about the collection of health and genetic data from Americans.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Pentagon has also listed BGI as a \u2018Chinese military company\u2019 operating in the United States.<\/p>\n
BGI group and its subsidiaries are currently active throughout the United States. The company has a regional headquarters located in San Jose, California.<\/p>\n
The company is required by law in the People\u2019s Republic of China to share its data with the CCP.<\/p>\n