H.R. 4071 — Introduced in House

I 117th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 4071 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES June 22, 2021Mr. Wenstrup (for himself, Mr. Babin, Mr. Gosar, Mr. Dunn, Mr. Joyce of Pennsylvania, Mr. Jackson, Mrs. Miller-Meeks, Mr. Stewart, Mr. Crawford, Mr. Carter of Georgia, Ms. Stefanik, and Mr. Nunes) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To prohibit the use of Federal funds to conduct or support certain gain-of-function research by a foreign adversary. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Foreign Gain-of-Function Research Prevention Act of 2021. 2. Prohibition on Federal funding for certain gain-of-function research by a foreign adversary (a) In general No Federal funds may be made available, whether directly or indirectly, or used by an entity, to conduct or support any gain-of-function research involving a potential pandemic pathogen by a foreign adversary, including— (1) China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea; and (2) any other country the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Secretary of Defense, the Director of National Intelligence, or any other appropriate Federal official, determines to be a foreign adversary for the purposes of this section. (b) Funding freeze for violations Any entity the Secretary of State finds to have used Federal funds in violation of this section may not receive any Federal funding for a period of 5 years, beginning on the date of such finding. (c) Definitions In this section: (1) Gain-of-function research The term gain-of-function research means any research that may be reasonably anticipated to confer an attribute to a pathogen such that the pathogen would have enhanced pathogenicity or transmissibility in mammals. (2) Potential pandemic pathogen The term potential pandemic pathogen means a pathogen that, prior to any gain-of-function research— (A) is likely highly transmissible and likely capable of wide and uncontrollable spread in human populations; and (B) is likely highly virulent and likely to cause significant morbidity or mortality in humans.