Dear Senators Schumer and McConnell,

On September 25, 2024, the Risky Research Review Act (S. 4667) passed the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on an 8-1 vote with bipartisan support.

We, the undersigned, urgently call on you to bring this critical legislation to the Senate floor for an immediate vote.

The bill seeks to establish an independent advisory panel within the Executive Branch to perform risk-benefit review of federally funded research that has the potential to enhance the transmissibility or virulence of potential pandemic pathogens.

The bill is a vital step toward safeguarding national public health and national security. The provisions of the bill will reduce the risk of a future laboratory-generated pandemic while ensuring that important biomedical research continues without interruption. The stakes could not be higher: gain-of-function research on pandemic pathogens likely caused the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in over 20 million deaths globally, including more than 1 million in the United States.

ABOUT US - Biosafety Now is a U.S.-based non-profit working for a future where scientific research on pathogens supports human life without also threatening it and public trust in science is restored.