S.Amdt. 4453

SA 4453. Mr. RISCH submitted an amendment intended to be proposed to
amendment SA 3867 submitted by Mr. Reed and intended to be proposed to
the bill H.R. 4350, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2022
for military activities of the Department of Defense, for military
construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy,
to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for
other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

At the end of subtitle F of title X, insert the following:

SEC. 1054. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE REPORT ON
OVERSIGHT OF INTERNATIONAL LIFE SCIENCES
RESEARCH COLLABORATION.

(a) In General.--Not later than one year after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the
United States shall submit a report to the appropriate
congressional committees on the following matters:
(1) An audit of United States Government authorities,
policies, and processes governing cooperation with other
nations as it relates to life sciences research that could be
weaponized or pose dual-use concerns, such as pathogens or
toxins, synthetic biology, and related emerging technologies,
and the degree to which these authorities, policies, and
processes account for national security, proliferation, and
country-specific considerations in decisions on whether to
pursue such collaboration.
(2) An assessment of the degree of coordination between
Federal departments and agencies responsible for public
health preparedness and the governance of biomedical research
and Federal departments and agencies responsible for national
security, especially the United States Department of State,
to assess and account for security implications of
cooperation with other nations on life sciences research.
(b) Elements.--The review required under subsection (a)
shall address the following elements:
(1) The Federal department or agencies or other
governmental entities that provide funding or other material
support for life sciences research, especially biological
research, with other nations.
(2) The authorities, policies, and processes that currently
exist for reviewing, approving, and monitoring grant funding
or other material support for biological research with other
nations, including a description of all the steps involved
reviewing, approving, and monitoring such funding or other
support.
(3) Which Federal departments and agencies, including
specific bureaus and offices, are involved in the
authorities, policies, and processes described in paragraph
(2).
(4) The circumstances under which Federal departments and
agencies apply enhanced review, monitoring, and coordination
to proposed collaboration, as well as an analysis of the
extent to which and how national security, proliferation, or
country-specific considerations, such as a nation's adherence
to the Biological Weapons Convention, are among the
circumstances that trigger enhanced scrutiny of whether the
United States Government should fund a particular research
program.
(5) The information required to be included in an
application for United States Government funding of life
sciences research to address potential national security,
proliferation, or country-specific concerns, and whether the
information required varies across departments and agencies.
(6) The extent to which Federal departments and agencies
with national security responsibilities have visibility into
the information described in paragraph (5) prior to an award
being made, even if grantees are applying to funding from
another Federal department or agency.
(7) The processes and timeline by which funds are issued to
the awardee or awardees after a grant or other funding award
is made, and to what extent these funds are monitored for
national security implications thereafter, including how
Federal departments and agencies with national security
responsibilities are involved in monitoring such research
after funds are awarded.
(c) Report Submission.--Within 15 days of the completion of
the report required under subsection (a), the Comptroller
General shall submit the report to--
(1) the Committee on Foreign Relations, the Committee on
Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, and the Committee on
Armed Services of the Senate; and
(2) the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Committee on
Energy and Commerce, and the Committee on Armed Services of
the House of Representatives.
(d) Form of Report.--The report required under subsection
(a) shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may include
a classified annex.
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