H.R. 6624

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6624 Introduced in House (IH)]

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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).''.
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