With Alex Daugherty, Daniel Lippman
LOBBYING FIGHT BREWS OVER POTENTIAL CRACKDOWN ON FOREIGN GENOMICS FIRMS: Language in this year’s defense authorization bill that would bar the government from continuing to do business with genomics companies with ties to China has sparked a lobbying fight, as lawmakers work to put a bow on a compromise version of the National Defense Authorization Act.
— Negotiators in both chambers met formally for the first time today to reconcile the differences between the House- and Senate-passed versions of the bill, with final votes on the package possible as soon as next week, our Connor O’Brien reports.
— Among the discrepancies between the two bills is language in the House version prohibiting federal procurement of or funding for biotech equipment or services from covered companies that are headquartered in or subject to the jurisdiction of foreign adversary. That provision is not in the Senate version, but House Select China Chair Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) and Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.) are pushing to make sure the ban is included in the final bill.
— Chinese genomics companies singled out in the potential ban have snapped up lobbyists in recent months as they try to beat back the threat, meanwhile more than a dozen conservative advocacy groups are urging Congress to back Gallagher and Hagerty’s push.
— In a Nov. 17 letter to the Hill, groups including Heritage Action, Americans for Limited Government, the Benjamin Rush Institute and Frontiers of Freedom argued to lawmakers that including the ban in the final NDAA “would establish necessary safeguards to ensure that Americans’ genomic information is protected from potentially malign actors seeking to amass and leverage this sensitive personal information to achieve economic and national security goals,” Fox News’ Houston Keene reported.
— The House bill names several Chinese companies that would be subject to the ban, including Shenzhen-based BGI Group….
Read the full article here
