Democrat set to oppose bill targeting China's WuXi Biologics and BGI

An influential Democratic US congressman said Friday he will vote against a bill restricting business dealings with China's WuXi Biologics, BGI and other biotech companies due to national security concerns.

Rep. Jim McGovern of Massachusetts, the ranking member of the House Rules Committee, said he is trying to convince colleagues to vote against the bill.

McGovern said that it was not clear how the companies had been included in the legislation and that he could not get a straight answer as to why WuXi Biologics was added. The company is constructing a facility in his district.

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The US House of Representatives is expected to vote on the Biosecure Act on Monday. Supporters said the bill-which would slap federal contracting bans on the companies-is necessary to help protect the personal health and genetic data of Americans and US pharmaceutical supply chains.

McGovern, the lead House Democrat on the Congressional-Executive Commission on China and a critic of China's human rights abuses, said, "Companies providing sensitive information to the Chinese government is a real and important issue."

"But the bottom line is, this is a lousy bill."

The bill is to be voted on under a process that limits debate, prohibits amendments, and requires a two-thirds majority vote for approval.

A spokesperson for the House Select Committee on China said that "biotech companies beholden to our foremost adversary, the Chinese Communist Party, pose a tremendous national security risk" and added that WuXi Biologics, BGI, and WuXi AppTec have demonstrated a history of working with the party.

The bill also designates WuXi AppTec, MGI, and Complete Genomics as companies of concern.

The companies deny posing a risk to US national security, and each says it should not be included in the bill.

The legislation still had to be passed by both the House and Senate before President Joe Biden could sign it into law.