YES on H.R. 3029: Support Nucleic Acid Screening Standards

As your constituent, I urge you to vote in favor of H.R. 3029. This bill directs the responsible development of nucleic acid synthesis screening best practices and technical standards to strengthen U.S. biosecurity while supporting effective, secure implementation. The bill’s purpose is clear: it amends the Research and Development, Competition, and Innovation Act to support research that improves the accuracy, efficacy, and reliability of screening. It also calls for practical security and access controls and guidance for managing sequence-of-concern databases—critical components for ensuring screening systems are not just present, but dependable and protected. Just as important, the bill is not vague. It explicitly includes technical implementation guidance, conformity-assessment best practices, and methods to evaluate real-world impact and effectiveness. That means the focus is on measurable improvement, not symbolic policy. H.R. 3029 also requires convening a consortium of stakeholders—industry, universities, nonprofits, and customers—so that consensus priorities and roadmaps reflect what can work in practice. This stakeholder approach helps ensure standards are usable and adoptable, including as technologies and risks evolve. Finally, the bill includes a specific authorization of funding for fiscal years 2027 through 2031 to carry out these scientific and technical research and services laboratory activities. I strongly believe this is the kind of targeted, accountability-focused legislation Congress should support. Please vote YES on H.R. 3029.