House Bills - 110th Congress

H. R. 6671 —The Select Agent Program and Biosafety Improvement Act of 2008

On July 30, 2008, Representative Jane Harmon (D-CA) introduced H.R. 6671, the Select Agent Program and Biosafety Improvement Act of 2008. Provisions would (1) Reauthorize the Select Agent Program through 2013; (2) require the Secretary of HHS, in consultation with the Secretary of Agriculture, to enter into a contract with the National Academy of Sciences to conduct a review of the current program and submit a report to Congress within 240 days after enactment; (3) require the Secretary of HHS to issue guidance on monitoring the biological agents included in the Select Agent registry; (4) require, either directly or through a contract, that the Secretary, in coordination with the Secretary of Agriculture, and in consultation with the Secretaries of Defense and Homeland Security, evaluate national needs of, and oversight of, high containment (Biosafety Level 3 and 4) biological laboratories. In addition, provisions would require that the Secretary, acting through the Directors of the NIH and CDC, and in coordination with the Secretary of Agriculture and scientific experts, develop minimum standards for laboratory Biosafety and Biosecurity training for relevant personnel of such labs. H.R. 6671 is the companion of S. 3127, which was introduced on June 12, and was referred to the House Committees on the Judiciary, Energy and Commerce, and Agriculture.