Ro Khanna, Indian-American Congressman, To Head Commission On Emerging Biotechnology

Indian-American Congressman Ro Khanna was on Thursday named to the National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology. The 12-member National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology, established as par the National Defense Authorization Act 2022, will conduct a thorough review of how advances in emerging biotechnology and related technologies will shape current and future activities of the Department of Defense.

It has been tasked to provide an interim report to the President of the United States and the Armed Services Committees within a year and submit a final unclassified report within two years to the president and the committees, including recommendations for action by Congress and the federal government. The announcement in this regard was made by the bipartisan leadership of the House and Senate Armed Services Committees, Congressmen Adam Smith and Mike Rogers, Chairman and Ranking Member of the House Armed Services Committee, and Senators Jack Reed and Jim Inhofe, Chairman and Ranking Member of Senate Armed Services Committee.

Congressman Ro Khanna has been selected to the committee by Adam Smith, a media release said. Khanna represents California’s 17th Congressional District, located in the heart of Silicon Valley, and is serving a third term. He sits on the House Armed Services, Agriculture and Oversight and Reform committees, where he chairs the Environmental Subcommittee.

Additionally, Rep. Khanna is the Deputy Whip of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, serves as an Assistant Whip for the Democratic Caucus, and is the Democratic Vice Chair of the House Caucus on India and Indian-Americans. Khanna is committed to representing the people and ideas rooted in Silicon Valley to the nation and throughout the world, a media release said. Other members of the commission include Senator Alex Padilla, the first Latino to represent California in the US Senate; Dov S Zakheim is Senior Advisor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and Senior Fellow at the CNA Corporation, Paul Arcangeli; Senator Todd Young. Alongside them Dr. Alexander Titus, a Product Strategy & Operations Lead at Google Research where he focuses on driving alignment between research priorities and Google’s product priorities; Congressman Stephanie Bice and Jason Kelly, co-founder and CEO of Ginkgo Bioworks are also its members.

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