Committee advances bipartisan bill banning purchases from a Chinese genomics firm and restricting organs from Chinese coercive practices

Senate Bill 311, introduced by Senator Clint Penzo, seeks to restrict state procurement and contracts with entities tied to foreign actors of concern and to bar Arkansas entities from participating in organ transplants sourced through coercive practices abroad. Witnesses described national‑security concerns tied to data collection by foreign genomics companies and recounted allegations of organ harvesting in China.

Jackie Deal, who has researched the Chinese military and served on a nonprofit advisory board, told the committee the Chinese government has sought to build genomic capacity through subsidized companies and that those companies' global sequencing activities raise intelligence and ethical questions. "Arkansas has an opportunity to act here and take a leading role in protecting its people and their genetic material from a military‑connected hostile foreign adversary company," Deal told members.

Members asked whether the bill’s prohibitions were symbolic or enforceable in practice, and how often Arkansas patients use organ‑transplant services abroad. The sponsor framed the bill as a precautionary step to protect Arkansans and state research investments; other members recounted anecdotal accounts of rapid availability of organs in foreign clinics as evidence of ethical concerns.

After questions, the committee voted to advance the measure. Sponsors said they intended the bill to align procurement policy with federal sanctions and to remove ethical incentives to engage with suppliers implicated in human‑rights abuses.