00:00Murray State beat Duke to go to the College World Series, so people will be in momentarily.
00:08I recognize myself for the purpose of making an opening statement.
00:12I want to welcome everyone to today's committee hearing on the privacy and national security concerns surrounding 23andMe bankruptcy sale.
00:2123andMe is a direct-to-consumer genetic testing company in possession of personal genetic data of millions of Americans.
00:30On March 23rd, 2025, the company voluntarily filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, leaving open the question of who will purchase 23andMe and who may gain access to the sensitive information of customers and their family members.
00:43On May 19th, 2025, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, a biotechnology company based in York, announced it had entered into an asset purchase agreement to acquire 23andMe.
00:54On June 4th, 2025, the court decided to reopen the auction for 23andMe to allow for final bids from Regeneron, TTAM Research, and let me note that TTAM was founded by 23andMe co-founder and former CEO, Ms. Ann Wojcicki.
01:15With over 15 million customers worldwide, 23andMe users for a saliva sample to uncover their ancestry, family traits, and potential health risks.
01:27To whoever ends up controlling the company, there are serious concerns about what will happen to this private information.
01:33How will it be stored?
01:34How will it be stored?
01:35What will it be used for?
01:37Could it end up in the hands of a foreign adversary through direct investment or indirectly through future partnerships?
01:43Could the information be used against customers and consumers?
01:4823andMe has a record of engaging with foreign adversaries, namely the Chinese Communist Party.
01:54In 2015, the company received $115 million in funding from investors, including Wuxi Healthcare Ventures, which was then a corporate venture arm of Wuxi Aptech, a company with ties to the CCP and Chinese People's Liberation Army.
02:12At the time, the investment valued 23andMe at $1.1 billion.
02:16According to 23andMe, this partnership was terminated, but questions remain about the potential for the future owner of the company to partner with bad foreign actors.
02:27Notably, Regeneron partnered with a Chinese company called Xilab Limited on drug clinical trials during the height of the COVID pandemic.
02:36It is well known that the CCP engages in mass surveillance and has conducted dangerous activities to advance bioweapons, both used against its critics.
02:47In fact, 23andMe was hacked in 2023, exposing personal information from nearly 7 million profiles, mostly targeting Jewish and Chinese customers.
02:57The New York Times reported that China and other countries are working to dominate these technologies and are using both legal and illegal means to obtain American expertise.
03:04The CCP has a history of misusing genetic data, including DNA tests, to track Wuxi Muslims.
03:14National security concerns about 23andMe are not new.
03:18In December 2019, the U.S. Department of Defense advised members of the military not to use consumer DNA kits, saying the information collected by private companies could pose a security risk.
03:28A DOD memo warned that consumers' DNA kits pose personal and operational risk to service members and raise concerns about outside parties using genetic data for mass surveillance and entourage tracking.
03:42It is imperative that 23andMe and other companies like it ensure there is absolutely no legal or illegal way for foreign adversaries or anyone else to access, manipulate,
03:51and abuse Americans' genetic data to advance their nefarious agendas.
03:57Potential harm for consumers does not come solely from hostile foreign actors.
04:02Disclosures of individuals' genetic data could also be used for assessing higher insurance premiums, restrictions on credit extensions by financial institutions,
04:10and targeted advertising based on predisposition to specific medical conditions.
04:15All of this raises concerns about whether Congress needs to take action to ensure safety of Americans' personal genetic data.
04:23Given these serious risks, I look forward to hearing from the co-founder, former CEO, and current board member of 23andMe,
04:29who is bidding in the bankruptcy cell, Ms. Ann Wojcicki, and interim CEO, Mr. Joseph Selsavage.
04:37As previously discussed with the witnesses, the committee is aware of some court-mandated restrictions on public disclosure of specific aspects of the ongoing bankruptcy proceedings.
04:47It's our understanding that these restrictions are limited and not applicable to all aspects of the pending bankruptcy.
04:53The committee expects the witnesses to answer the questions to the fullest extent possible.
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