Transcript of Ranking Member Krishnamoorthi’s Opening Statement from Hearing on The Bioeconomy and American National Security

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the U.S. and the Chinese Communist Party held a hearing to highlight the CCP’s threat to U.S. biosecurity and how U.S. companies can better compete on the global stage.

Members of the Select Committee, led by Ranking Member Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) and Chairman Mike Gallagher (R-WI), listened to testimony provided by Dr. Jason Kelly, CEO of Gingko Bioworks; Dr. Tara O’Toole, senior fellow and executive vice president at In-Q-Tel, and Dr. Charles Clancy, Chief Technology Officer at MITRE.

Click here to access video of the hearing.

A full transcript of Ranking Member Krishnamoorthi’s remarks can be found below. Video of his opening statement and line of questioning can be found at the corresponding links.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you all for being here today.

There are two sides to biotech: one on hand, boundless possibilities, and on the other hand, existential risk. Our job is to make sure those possibilities – from curing diseases through new medicines to eradicating hunger through new crops - happen in America. And that those risks – including the CCP’s efforts to use biotech to enhance its miliary – are addressed.

With that in mind, I think it’s fitting to show this side-by-side of Steve Rogers – before and after the U.S. military used advanced biotech to turn him into Captain America.

In all seriousness, the CCP is conducting human experiments to develop soldiers with "biologically enhanced capabilities." By some reports, it’s even researching “mind reading software” to ensure CCP officials remain loyal to the Party.[1] You can’t make this stuff up.

And the CCP isn’t content to simply experiment on its own soldiers or read the minds of its own officials. They are collecting large quantities of genetic data from Americans. This is because of companies like BGI Group – which sequence DNA right here in the USA. Well, this Committee has already begun to take action by introducing the BIOSECURE Act, a bill to ensure foreign adversary biotech companies do not gain access to U.S. taxpayer dollars.

Now, however, we need do even more.

First, we need to draw a line in the sand and ensure biotech innovation reflects our values.

This means holding bad actors accountable and imposing outbound investment controls on CCP-affiliated biotech firms. The Administration just took groundbreaking action on this issue in its recent executive order, creating data privacy guardrails to stop Americans’ genetic information from flowing to foreign countries of concern.

The CCP cannot be allowed to impose its values on the very genetic fabric of humankind.

Second, we need to invest in innovation and the talent that makes it possible.

We must prioritize investment in STEM education and uphold our status as a welcoming haven for immigrants. A great number of students arrive here for education, obtain their green cards, and subsequently establish their lives here in America.

Consider the untapped potential for innovation if those very same students who sought to remain in America but were unable to secure green cards were able to stay. Let us embrace talent wholeheartedly and leverage it to its fullest.

Third, let’s keep outcompeting the CCP.

That means we must not only invest in people but also work in close collaboration with allies and partners to discover and manufacture biotechnologies. This means investing in research. It means funding basic science, advanced science, and every type of science in between.

Let’s imagine a world where a blind child’s vision can be restored. Or cancer can be cured. This is possible. Just like we did with mRNA vaccines, let’s make it happen here in America.

In closing, the competition with the CCP in biotech is make or break. If we win, it will propel our nation lightyears ahead and improve the lives of countless Americans. But if we lose, we face a bleak future of superhuman soldiers and designer babies. So we must – and we will – win.

Thank you and I yield back the balance of my time.

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