HR 5191 Re-checks Congress.gov for new actions and updates the bill's status, and fills in any sponsors, committees, or related bills that are missing. It does not re-pull sponsors/cosponsors/committees/related — those rarely change — and it skips all work if nothing has changed upstream, so it's cheap to click.
To direct the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering to issue guidance for private entities on demonstrating how biobased products meet Department of Defense requirements, and for other purposes.
To direct the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering to issue guidance for private entities on demonstrating how biobased products meet Department of Defense requirements, and for other purposes.
Summary
The bill directs the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering to develop and publish guidance within one year to help private companies demonstrate how their biobased products meet Department of Defense requirements. It requires the Comptroller General to analyze whether the Defense Department's process for developing product requirements intentionally or unintentionally excludes biobased products. If the Comptroller General finds that such exclusion occurs, the bill requires recommendations to reduce that exclusion. The bill defines biobased products as those manufactured or developed through the application of living organisms to alter materials.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
- Rep. Khanna, Ro [D-CA-17] (D-CA)
2 cosponsors
Money behind the sponsor
Top reported contributors to Ro Khanna’s campaign committee (2024 cycle) — who funds the bill’s sponsor, not a claim about this bill. Data from FEC.
Organizations whose employees gave the most — itemized individual contributions grouped by the donor’s reported employer (FEC Schedule A). Full finance for Ro Khanna → · Outside spending →
Actions (2)
- Sep 8, 2025 Referred to the House Committee on Armed Services. · house
- Sep 8, 2025 Introduced in House
Similar bills (6)
Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.
Text versions (1)
Bills are re-published as they move (Introduced → Reported → Engrossed → Enrolled …). Each stage below is a separate text; pick two to see what changed. Data from Congress.gov.
Full text
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
September 8, 2025
Mr. Khanna (for himself, Mr. Garamendi, and Mr. Davis of North Carolina) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services
A BILL
To direct the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering to issue guidance for private entities on demonstrating how biobased products meet Department of Defense requirements, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. ESTABLISHING BIOBASED PRODUCT MERIT GUIDANCE.
(a) In General.—Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, in coordination with the Secretaries of the military departments (as defined in section 101(a) of title 10, United States Code), shall develop and make publicly available guidance for private entities on how such entities can effectively prove that a biobased product of such entity provides capabilities meeting the requirements of the Department of Defense.
(b) Analysis.—
(1) In general.—The Comptroller General of the United States shall conduct an analysis of the process of the Department of Defense for developing requirements to determine if such processes intentionally or unintentionally exclude biobased products.
(2) Report.—Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to the congressional defense committees (as defined in section 101(a) of title 10, United States Code) a report on the findings of the analysis conducted under paragraph (1) and, if Comptroller General determines through such analysis that the processes described in such paragraph exclude biobased products, containing recommendations of the Comptroller General to reduce such exclusion.
(c) Biobased Product Defined.—In this section, the term “biobased product” means a product manufactured, produced, or developed through the application living organisms to alter living or non-living materials. <all>
Comments