National Fab Lab Network Act of 2015

Summary: National Fab Lab Network Act of 2015  Grants a federal charter to the Fab Foundation for the National Fab Lab Network.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``National Fab Lab Network Act of 
2015''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Scientific discoveries and technical innovations are 
        critical to the economic and national security of the United 
        States.
            (2) Maintaining the leadership of the United States in 
        science, technology, engineering, and mathematics will require 
        a diverse population with the skills, interest, and access to 
        tools required to advance these fields.
            (3) Just as earlier digital revolutions in communications 
        and computation provided individuals with the Internet and 
        personal computers, a digital revolution in fabrication will 
        allow anyone to make almost anything, anywhere.
            (4) These creations include communications devices, solar 
        powered housing, consumer products, and new kinds of machines 
        and tools for advanced manufacturing.
            (5) The Center for Bits and Atoms of the Massachusetts 
        Institute of Technology (CBA) has contributed significantly to 
        the advancement of these goals through its work in creating and 
        advancing digital fabrication facilities, or ``fab labs'' in 
        the United States and abroad.
            (6) MakerSpaces, TechShops, and other creative platforms 
        also facilitate access to digital fabrication capabilities.
            (7) CBA's fab labs provide a model for a new kind of 
        national laboratory that links local facilities for advanced 
        manufacturing to expand access and empower communities.
            (8) A coordinated national public-private partnership will 
        be the most effective way to accelerate the provision of this 
        infrastructure for learning skills, developing inventions, 
        creating businesses, and producing personalized products.

SEC. 3. FEDERAL CHARTER FOR NATIONAL FAB LAB NETWORK.

    Title 36, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 
following new chapter:

                ``CHAPTER 3011--NATIONAL FAB LAB NETWORK

``Sec. 301101. Organization
    ``(a) Federal Charter.--The Fab Foundation is hereby granted a 
Federal charter as the National Fab Lab Network (in this chapter 
referred to as the `NFLN'). Except as otherwise provided, the NFLN 
shall have perpetual succession.
    ``(b) Definition of Fab Lab.--In this chapter, the term `fab lab' 
refers to a facility that is--
            ``(1) equipped with a standard integrated suite of 
        fabrication tools that can convert digital designs into 
        functional physical things;
            ``(2) equipped with scanning tools to convert physical 
        things into digital designs; and
            ``(3) made freely accessible to the general public, 
        allowing for necessary fees.
``Sec. 301102. Purposes and goals
    ``The purposes and goals of the NFLN are--
            ``(1) to create a national network of connected local fab 
        labs to empower individuals and communities in the United 
        States;
            ``(2) to foster the use of distributed digital fabrication 
        tools to promote science, technology, engineering and math 
        skills, increase invention and innovation, create businesses 
        and jobs, and fulfill personal, professional, and community 
        needs;
            ``(3) to serve as a resource to assist stakeholders with 
        the effective operation of fab labs;
            ``(4) to provide a platform for education, research, and 
        for catalyzing new methods in STEM education;
            ``(5) to create new ways of educating the workforce that 
        will enable workers to compete in a 21st Century global 
        marketplace; and
            ``(6) to seek to establish at least one fab lab per every 
        700,000 individuals in the United States in the first ten years 
        of its operation, corresponding to availability in all 435 
        Congressional districts and to provide guidelines for their 
        sustainable operation.
``Sec. 301103. Membership and organization
    ``Except as provided in this Act, eligibility for membership in the 
NFLN and the rights and privileges of members are as provided in the 
constitution and bylaws of the NFLN.
``Sec. 301104. Governing body
    ``Directors, officers, and other staff of the NFLN, and their 
powers and duties are as provided in the bylaws of the NFLN.
``Sec. 301105. Powers
    ``The NFLN may--
            ``(1) coordinate the creation of a national network of 
        local fab labs in the United States;
            ``(2) issue guidelines for the sustainable operation of fab 
        labs;
            ``(3) serve as a resource for organizations and communities 
        seeking to create fab labs by providing information, assessing 
        suitability, advising on the lab lifecycle, and maintaining 
        descriptions of prospective and operating sites;
            ``(4) accept funds from private individuals, corporations, 
        government agencies, or other organizations;
            ``(5) distribute funds to other non-profit organizations to 
        establish and operate fab labs as members of the NFLN;
            ``(6) facilitate communication between other non-profit 
        organizations seeking to join the NFLN with operational 
        entities that can source and install fab labs, provide 
        training, assist with operations, account for spending, and 
        assess impact;
            ``(7) communicate the benefits available through membership 
        in the NFLN to communities and the public;
            ``(8) facilitate and participate in synergistic programs, 
        including workforce training, job creation, research broader 
        impacts, and the production of civic infrastructure;
            ``(9) amend a constitution and bylaws for the management of 
        its property and the regulation of its affairs;
            ``(10) choose directors, officers, trustees, managers, 
        employees, and agents as the activities of the NFLN require;
            ``(11) make contracts;
            ``(12) acquire, own, lease, encumber, and transfer property 
        as necessary or convenient to carry out the purposes of the 
        corporation;
            ``(13) borrow money, issue instruments of indebtedness, and 
        secure its obligations by granting security interests in its 
        property;
            ``(14) charge and collect membership dues and subscription 
        fees; and
            ``(15) sue and be sued.
``Sec. 301106. Restrictions
    ``(a) Stock and Dividends.--The corporation may not issue 
securities of any kind or declare or pay a dividend.
    ``(b) Distribution of Income or Assets.--The income or assets of 
the corporation may not inure to the benefit of, or be distributed to, 
a director, officer, or member during the life of the charter granted 
by this Act. This paragraph does not prevent the payment of reasonable 
compensation to an officer or reimbursement for actual necessary 
expenses in amounts approved by the board of directors.
    ``(c) Loans.--The corporation may not make a loan to a director, 
officer, or employee.
    ``(d) Claim of Governmental Approval or Authority.--The corporation 
may not claim congressional approval or the authority of the United 
States Government for any of its activities.
``Sec. 301107. Records
    ``The NFLN shall keep--
            ``(1) correct and complete records of account;
            ``(2) minutes of the proceedings of its members, board of 
        directors, and committees having any of the authority of its 
        board of directors; and
            ``(3) at its principal office, a record of the names and 
        addresses of its members entitled to vote.
``Sec. 301108. Duty to maintain tax exempt status
    ``The NFLN shall exist as a nonprofit entity under Section 
501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
``Sec. 301109. Inspections
    ``A member entitled to vote, or an agent or attorney of the member, 
may inspect the records of the corporation for any proper purpose, at 
any reasonable time.
``Sec. 301110. Liability for acts of officers and agents
    ``The NFLN is liable for the acts of its officers and agents acting 
within the scope of their authority.
``Sec. 301111. Annual report
    ``The NFLN shall submit an annual report to Congress, including 
specifically to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the 
House of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 
Transportation of the Senate, on the activities of the corporation 
during the prior fiscal year. The report shall be submitted at the same 
time as the report of the audit required by section 10101 of this 
title. The report may not be printed as a public document.''.