II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4900 

To reauthorize the SBIR and STTR programs and pilot programs, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 20, 2022 

Mr. CARDIN (for himself and Ms. ERNST) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice, considered, read the third time, and passed 

A BILL 

To reauthorize the SBIR and STTR programs and pilot 

programs, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘SBIR and STTR Ex5 tension Act of 2022’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) ADMINISTRATION; ADMINISTRATOR.—The 

9 terms ‘‘Administration’’ and ‘‘Administrator’’ mean 


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1 the Small Business Administration and the Adminis2 trator thereof, respectively. 

3 (2) FEDERAL AGENCY; PHASE I; PHASE II; 

4 PHASE III; SBIR; STTR.—The terms ‘‘Federal agen5 cy’’, ‘‘Phase I’’, ‘‘Phase II’’, ‘‘Phase III’’, ‘‘SBIR’’, 

6 and ‘‘STTR’’ have the meanings given those terms, 

7 respectively, in section 9(e) of the Small Business 

8 Act (15 U.S.C. 638(e)). 

9 SEC. 3. REAUTHORIZATION OF SBIR AND STTR PROGRAMS 

10 AND PILOT PROGRAMS. 

11 Section 9 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638) 

12 is amended by striking ‘‘2022’’ each place that term ap13 pears and inserting ‘‘2025’’. 

14 SEC. 4. FOREIGN RISK MANAGEMENT. 

15 (a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 9(e) of the Small Busi16 ness Act (15 U.S.C. 638(e)) is amended— 

17 (1) in paragraph (13)(B), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

18 the end; 

19 (2) in paragraph (14), by striking the period at 

20 the end and inserting a semicolon; and 

21 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

22 ‘‘(15) the term ‘covered individual’ means an 

23 individual who— 

24 ‘‘(A) contributes in a substantive, mean25 ingful way to the scientific development or exeVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:51 Sep 20, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4900.CPS S4900

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1 cution of a research and development project 

2 proposed to be carried out with a research and 

3 development award from a Federal research 

4 agency; and 

5 ‘‘(B) is designated as a covered individual 

6 by the Federal research agency concerned; 

7 ‘‘(16) the term ‘foreign affiliation’ means a 

8 funded or unfunded academic, professional, or insti9 tutional appointment or position with a foreign gov10 ernment or government-owned entity, whether full11 time, part-time, or voluntary (including adjunct, vis12 iting, or honorary); 

13 ‘‘(17) the term ‘foreign country of concern’ 

14 means the People’s Republic of China, the Demo15 cratic People’s Republic of Korea, the Russian Fed16 eration, the Islamic Republic of Iran, or any other 

17 country determined to be a country of concern by 

18 the Secretary of State; 

19 ‘‘(18) the term ‘malign foreign talent recruit20 ment program’ has the meaning given such term in 

21 section 10638 of the Research and Development, 

22 Competition, and Innovation Act (division B of Pub23 lic Law 117–167); and 

24 ‘‘(19) the term ‘federally funded award’ means 

25 a Phase I, Phase II (including a Phase II award 


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1 under subsection (cc)), or Phase III SBIR or STTR 

2 award made using a funding agreement.’’. 

3 (b) DUE DILIGENCE PROGRAM TO ASSESS SECURITY

4 RISKS.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 9 of the Small Busi6 ness Act (15 U.S.C. 638) is amended by adding at 

7 the end the following: 

8 ‘‘(vv) DUE DILIGENCE PROGRAM TO ASSESS SECU9 RITY RISKS.— 

10 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The head of each Fed11 eral agency required to establish an SBIR or STTR 

12 program, in coordination with the Administrator, 

13 shall establish and implement a due diligence pro14 gram to assess security risks presented by small 

15 business concerns seeking a federally funded award. 

16 ‘‘(2) RISKS.—Each program established under 

17 paragraph (1) shall— 

18 ‘‘(A) assess, using a risk-based approach 

19 as appropriate, the cybersecurity practices, pat20 ent analysis, employee analysis, and foreign 

21 ownership of a small business concern seeking 

22 an award, including the financial ties and obli23 gations (which shall include surety, equity, and 

24 debt obligations) of the small business concern 

25 and employees of the small business concern to 


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1 a foreign country, foreign person, or foreign en2 tity; and 

3 ‘‘(B) assess awards and proposals or appli4 cations, as applicable, using a risk-based ap5 proach as appropriate, including through the 

6 use of open-source analysis and analytical tools, 

7 for the nondisclosures of information required 

8 under (g)(13). 

9 ‘‘(3) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.— 

10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In addition to the 

11 amount allocated under subsection (mm)(1), 

12 each Federal agency required to establish an 

13 SBIR program may allocate not more than 2 

14 percent of the funds allocated to the SBIR pro15 gram of the Federal agency for the cost of es16 tablishing the due diligence program required 

17 under this subsection. 

18 ‘‘(B) REPORTING.— 

19 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 

20 December 31 of the year in which this sub21 paragraph is enacted, and not later than 

22 December 31 of each year thereafter, the 

23 head of a Federal agency that exercises the 

24 authority under subparagraph (A) shall 

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1 ness and the Committee on Science, Space, 

2 and Technology of the House of Represent3 atives, the Committee on Small Business 

4 and Entrepreneurship of the Senate, and 

5 the Administrator, for the covered year— 

6 ‘‘(I) the total funds allowed to be 

7 allocated for the cost of establishing 

8 the due diligence program required 

9 under this subsection; 

10 ‘‘(II) the total amount of funds 

11 obligated or expended under subpara12 graph (A); and 

13 ‘‘(III) the due diligence activities 

14 carried out or to be carried out using 

15 amounts allocated under subpara16 graph (A). 

17 ‘‘(ii) ANNUAL REPORT INCLUSION.— 

18 The Administrator shall include the infor19 mation submitted by head of a Federal 

20 agency under clause (i) in the next annual 

21 report submitted under subsection (b)(7) 

22 after the Administrator receives such infor23 mation. 

24 ‘‘(iii) COVERED YEAR.—In this sub25 paragraph, the term ‘covered year’ means, 


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1 with respect to the information required 

2 under clause (i), the year covered by the 

3 annual report submitted under subsection 

4 (b)(7) in which the Administrator is re5 quired to include such information by 

6 clause (ii). 

7 ‘‘(C) TERMINATION DATE.—This para8 graph shall terminate on September 30, 2025.’’. 

9 (2) IMPLEMENTATION.— 

10 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 270 

11 days after the date of enactment of this Act, 

12 the head of a Federal agency required to estab13 lish an SBIR or STTR program shall imple14 ment a due diligence program under subsection 

15 (vv) of section 9 of the Small Business Act (15 

16 U.S.C. 638), as added by paragraph (1), at the 

17 Federal agency that, to the extent practicable, 

18 incorporates the applicable best practices dis19 seminated under paragraph (3). 

20 (B) PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT.—Chap21 ter 35 of title 44, United States Code (com22 monly known as the ‘‘Paperwork Reduction 

23 Act’’), shall not apply to the implementation of 

24 a due diligence program under subsection (vv) 


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1 of section 9 of the Small Business Act (15 

2 U.S.C. 638), as added by paragraph (1). 

3 (C) BRIEFING.—Not later than 30 days 

4 after the date of enactment of this Act, and on 

5 a recurring basis until implementation is com6 plete, each Federal agency required to establish 

7 a due diligence program under subsection (vv) 

8 of section 9 of the Small Business Act (15 

9 U.S.C. 638), as added by paragraph (1), shall 

10 brief the Committee on Small Business and En11 trepreneurship of the Senate and the Com12 mittee on Small Business and the Committee 

13 on Science, Space, and Technology of the 

14 House of Representatives on the implementa15 tion of the due diligence program. 

16 (3) BEST PRACTICES.—Not later than 180 days 

17 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Adminis18 trator shall— 

19 (A) in coordination with the Director of 

20 the Office of Science and Technology Policy and 

21 in consultation with the Committee on Foreign 

22 Investment in the United States, disseminate 

23 among Federal agencies required to establish 

24 an SBIR or STTR program best practices of 

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1 grams required under subsection (vv) of section 

2 9 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638), 

3 as added by paragraph (1); and 

4 (B) in consultation with the Committee on 

5 Foreign Investment in the United States, pro6 vide to Federal agencies described in subpara7 graph (A) guidance on the business relation8 ships required to be disclosed under paragraph 

9 (13)(G) of subsection (g) and paragraph 

10 (17)(G) of subsection (o) of section 9 of the 

11 Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638), as added 

12 by this Act. 

13 (4) GAO STUDY.—Not later than 1 year after 

14 the date of enactment of this Act, and annually 

15 thereafter for 3 years, the Comptroller General of 

16 the United States shall conduct a study and submit 

17 to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepre18 neurship and the Committee on Armed Services of 

19 the Senate and the Committee on Small Business, 

20 the Committee on Armed Services, and the Com21 mittee on Science, Space, and Technology of the 

22 House of Representatives a report on the implemen23 tation and best practices of due diligence programs 

24 established under subsection (vv) of section 9 of the 

25 Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638), as added by 


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1 paragraph (1), across Federal agencies required to 

2 establish an SBIR or STTR program. 

3 (5) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in sub4 section (vv) of section 9 of the Small Business Act 

5 (15 U.S.C. 638), as added by paragraph (1), shall 

6 be construed to— 

7 (A) apply to any Federal agency with a 

8 due diligence program that applies to the SBIR 

9 or STTR programs required under subsection 

10 (vv) of section 9 of the Small Business Act (15 

11 U.S.C. 638), as added by paragraph (1), in ex12 istence as of the date of enactment of this Act; 

13 or 

14 (B) restrict any Federal agency from tak15 ing due diligence measures in addition to those 

16 required under such subsection (vv) at the Fed17 eral agency. 

18 (c) DISCLOSURES REGARDING TIES TO PEOPLE’S

19 REPUBLIC OF CHINA AND OTHER FOREIGN COUN20 TRIES.— 

21 (1) SBIR.—Section 9(g) of the Small Business 

22 Act (15 U.S.C. 638(g)) is amended— 

23 (A) in paragraph (11), by striking ‘‘and’’ 

24 at the end; 


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1 (B) in paragraph (12), by striking the pe2 riod at the end and inserting a semicolon; and 

3 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘(13) require each small business concern sub5 mitting a proposal or application for a federally 

6 funded award to disclose in the proposal or applica7 tion— 

8 ‘‘(A) the identity of all owners and covered 

9 individuals of the small business concern who 

10 are a party to any foreign talent recruitment 

11 program of any foreign country of concern, in12 cluding the People’s Republic of China; 

13 ‘‘(B) the existence of any joint venture or 

14 subsidiary of the small business concern that is 

15 based in, funded by, or has a foreign affiliation 

16 with any foreign country of concern, including 

17 the People’s Republic of China; 

18 ‘‘(C) any current or pending contractual or 

19 financial obligation or other agreement specific 

20 to a business arrangement, or joint venture-like 

21 arrangement with an enterprise owned by a for22 eign state or any foreign entity; 

23 ‘‘(D) whether the small business concern is 

24 wholly owned in the People’s Republic of China 

25 or another foreign country of concern; 


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1 ‘‘(E) the percentage, if any, of venture 

2 capital or institutional investment by an entity 

3 that has a general partner or individual holding 

4 a leadership role in such entity who has a for5 eign affiliation with any foreign country of con6 cern, including the People’s Republic of China; 

7 ‘‘(F) any technology licensing or intellec8 tual property sales to a foreign country of con9 cern, including the People’s Republic of China, 

10 during the 5-year period preceding submission 

11 of the proposal; and 

12 ‘‘(G) any foreign business entity, offshore 

13 entity, or entity outside the United States re14 lated to the small business concern; 

15 ‘‘(14) after reviewing the disclosures of a small 

16 business concern under paragraph (13), and if deter17 mined appropriate by the head of such Federal 

18 agency, request such small business concern to pro19 vide true copies of any contractual or financial obli20 gation or other agreement specific to a business ar21 rangement, or joint-venture like arrangement with 

22 an enterprise owned by a foreign state or any for23 eign entity in effect during the 5-year period pre24 ceding submission of the proposal with respect to 


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1 which such small business concern made such disclo2 sures;’’. 

3 (2) STTR.—Section 9(o) of the Small Business 

4 Act (15 U.S.C. 638(o)) is amended— 

5 (A) in paragraph (15), by striking ‘‘and’’ 

6 at the end; 

7 (B) in paragraph (16), by striking the pe8 riod at the end and inserting a semicolon; and 

9 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(17) require each small business concern sub11 mitting a proposal or application for a federally 

12 funded award to disclose in the proposal or applica13 tion— 

14 ‘‘(A) the identity of all owners and covered 

15 individuals of the small business concern who 

16 are a party to any foreign talent recruitment 

17 program of any foreign country of concern, in18 cluding the People’s Republic of China; 

19 ‘‘(B) the existence of any joint venture or 

20 subsidiary of the small business concern that is 

21 based in, funded by, or has a foreign affiliation 

22 with any foreign country of concern, including 

23 the People’s Republic of China; 

24 ‘‘(C) any current or pending contractual or 

25 financial obligation or other agreement specific 


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1 to a business arrangement, or joint venture-like 

2 arrangement with an enterprise owned by a for3 eign state or any foreign entity; 

4 ‘‘(D) whether the small business concern is 

5 wholly owned in the People’s Republic of China 

6 or another foreign country; 

7 ‘‘(E) the percentage, if any, of venture 

8 capital or institutional investment by an entity 

9 that has a general partner or individual holding 

10 a leadership role in such entity who has a for11 eign affiliation with any foreign country of con12 cern, including the People’s Republic of China; 

13 ‘‘(F) any technology licensing or intellec14 tual property sales to a foreign country of con15 cern, including the People’s Republic of China, 

16 during the 5-year period preceding submission 

17 of the proposal; and 

18 ‘‘(G) any foreign business entity, offshore 

19 entity, or entity outside the United States re20 lated to the small business concern; 

21 ‘‘(18) after reviewing the disclosures of a small 

22 business concern under paragraph (17), and if deter23 mined appropriate by the head of such Federal 

24 agency, request such small business concern to pro25 vide true copies of any contractual or financial obliVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:51 Sep 20, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00014 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4900.CPS S4900

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1 gation or other agreement specific to a business ar2 rangement, or joint-venture like arrangement with 

3 an enterprise owned by a foreign state or any for4 eign entity in effect during the 5-year period pre5 ceding submission of the proposal with respect to 

6 which such small business concern made such disclo7 sures;’’. 

8 (d) DENIAL OF AWARDS.— 

9 (1) SBIR.—Section 9(g) of the Small Business 

10 Act (15 U.S.C. 638(g)), as amended by subsection 

11 (c)(1), is further amended by adding at the end the 

12 following: 

13 ‘‘(15) not make an award under the SBIR pro14 gram of the Federal agency to a small business con15 cern if the head of the Federal agency determines 

16 that— 

17 ‘‘(A) the small business concern submitting 

18 the proposal or application— 

19 ‘‘(i) has an owner or covered indi20 vidual that is party to a malign foreign tal21 ent recruitment program; 

22 ‘‘(ii) has a business entity, parent 

23 company, or subsidiary located in the Peo24 ple’s Republic of China or another foreign 

25 country of concern; or 


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1 ‘‘(iii) has an owner or covered indi2 vidual that has a foreign affiliation with a 

3 research institution located in the People’s 

4 Republic of China or another foreign coun5 try of concern; and 

6 ‘‘(B) the relationships and commitments 

7 described in clauses (i) through (iii) of subpara8 graph (A)— 

9 ‘‘(i) interfere with the capacity for ac10 tivities supported by the Federal agency to 

11 be carried out; 

12 ‘‘(ii) create duplication with activities 

13 supported by the Federal agency; 

14 ‘‘(iii) present concerns about conflicts 

15 of interest; 

16 ‘‘(iv) were not appropriately disclosed 

17 to the Federal agency; 

18 ‘‘(v) violate Federal law or terms and 

19 conditions of the Federal agency; or 

20 ‘‘(vi) pose a risk to national secu21 rity;’’. 

22 (2) STTR.—Section 9(o) of the Small Business 

23 Act (15 U.S.C. 638(o)), as amended by subsection 

24 (c)(2), is further amended by adding at the end the 

25 following: 


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1 ‘‘(19) not make an award under the STTR pro2 gram of the Federal agency to a small business con3 cern if the head of the Federal agency determines 

4 that— 

5 ‘‘(A) the small business concern submitting 

6 the proposal or application— 

7 ‘‘(i) has an owner or covered indi8 vidual that is party to a malign foreign tal9 ent recruitment program; 

10 ‘‘(ii) has a business entity, parent 

11 company, or subsidiary located in the Peo12 ple’s Republic of China or another foreign 

13 country of concern; or 

14 ‘‘(iii) has an owner or covered indi15 vidual that has a foreign affiliation with a 

16 research institution located in the People’s 

17 Republic of China or another foreign coun18 try of concern; and 

19 ‘‘(B) the relationships and commitments 

20 described in clauses (i) through (iii) of subpara21 graph (A)— 

22 ‘‘(i) interfere with the capacity for ac23 tivities supported by the Federal agency to 

24 be carried out; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) create duplication with activities 

2 supported by the Federal agency; 

3 ‘‘(iii) present concerns about conflicts 

4 of interest; 

5 ‘‘(iv) were not appropriately disclosed 

6 to the Federal agency; 

7 ‘‘(v) violate Federal law or terms and 

8 conditions of the Federal agency; or 

9 ‘‘(vi) pose a risk to national secu10 rity;’’. 

11 SEC. 5. AGENCY RECOVERY AUTHORITY AND ONGOING RE12 PORTING. 

13 (a) SBIR.—Section 9(g) of the Small Business Act 

14 (15 U.S.C. 638(g)), as amended by section 4(d)(1), is fur15 ther amended by adding at the end the following: 

16 ‘‘(16) require a small business concern receiving 

17 an award under its SBIR program to repay all 

18 amounts received from the Federal agency under the 

19 award if— 

20 ‘‘(A) the small business concern makes a 

21 material misstatement that the Federal agency 

22 determines poses a risk to national security; or 

23 ‘‘(B) there is a change in ownership, 

24 change to entity structure, or other substantial 

25 change in circumstances of the small business 


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1 concern that the Federal agency determines 

2 poses a risk to national security; and 

3 ‘‘(17) require a small business concern receiving 

4 an award under its SBIR program to regularly re5 port to the Federal agency and the Administration 

6 throughout the duration of the award on— 

7 ‘‘(A) any change to a disclosure required 

8 under subparagraphs (A) through (G) of para9 graph (13); 

10 ‘‘(B) any material misstatement made 

11 under paragraph (16)(A); and 

12 ‘‘(C) any change described in paragraph 

13 (16)(B).’’. 

14 (b) STTR.—Section 9(o) of the Small Business Act 

15 (15 U.S.C. 638(o)), as amended by section 4(d)(1), is fur16 ther amended by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(20) require a small business concern receiving 

18 an award under its STTR program to repay all 

19 amounts received from the Federal agency under the 

20 award if— 

21 ‘‘(A) the small business concern makes a 

22 material misstatement that the Federal agency 

23 determines poses a risk to national security; or 

24 ‘‘(B) there is a change in ownership, 

25 change to entity structure, or other substantial 


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1 change in circumstances of the small business 

2 concern that the Federal agency determines 

3 poses a risk to national security; and 

4 ‘‘(21) require a small business concern receiving 

5 an award under its STTR program to regularly re6 port to the Federal agency and the Administration 

7 throughout the duration of the award on— 

8 ‘‘(A) any change to a disclosure required 

9 under subparagraphs (A) through (G) of para10 graph (17); 

11 ‘‘(B) any material misstatement made 

12 under paragraph (20)(A); and 

13 ‘‘(C) any change described in paragraph 

14 (20)(B).’’. 

15 (c) PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT.—Chapter 35 of 

16 title 44, United States Code (commonly known as the ‘‘Pa17 perwork Reduction Act’’), shall not apply to the implemen18 tation of paragraphs (16) and (17) of subsection (g) or 

19 paragraphs (20) and (21) of subsection (o) of section 9 

20 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638), as added by 

21 subsections (a) and (b). 


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1 SEC. 6. REPORT ON ADVERSARIAL MILITARY AND FOREIGN 

2 INFLUENCE IN THE SBIR AND STTR PRO3 GRAMS. 

4 (a) COVERED AGENCY DEFINED.—In this section, 

5 the term ‘‘covered agency’’ means— 

6 (1) the Department of Defense; 

7 (2) the Department of Energy; 

8 (3) the Department of Health and Human 

9 Services; or 

10 (4) the National Science Foundation. 

11 (b) REQUIREMENT.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para13 graph (2), not later than 180 days after the date of 

14 enactment of this Act, the head of each covered 

15 agency shall submit a report assessing the adver16 sarial military and foreign influences in the SBIR 

17 and STTR programs at the covered agency to— 

18 (A) the Committee on Armed Services, the 

19 Committee on Small Business and Entrepre20 neurship, and the Committee on Commerce, 

21 Science, and Transportation of the Senate; and 

22 (B) the Committee on Armed Services, the 

23 Committee on Small Business, and the Com24 mittee on Science, Space, and Technology of 

25 the House of Representatives. 


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1 (2) DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN

2 SERVICES.—The Secretary of Health and Human 

3 Services shall submit 2 reports under paragraph 

4 (1)— 

5 (A) 1 assessing the adversarial military 

6 and foreign influences in the SBIR and STTR 

7 programs of the National Institutes of Health; 

8 and 

9 (B) 1 assessing the adversarial military 

10 and foreign influences in the SBIR and STTR 

11 programs of the Department of Health and 

12 Human Services other than those of the Na13 tional Institutes of Health. 

14 (c) CONTENTS.—Each report submitted by a covered 

15 agency under subsection (b) shall include an analysis of— 

16 (1) the national security and research and in17 tegrity risks of the SBIR and STTR programs of 

18 the covered agency; and 

19 (2) the capability of such covered agency to 

20 identify and mitigate such risks. 

21 (d) FORM.—Each report submitted under subsection 

22 (b) shall be in unclassified form, but may include a classi23 fied annex. 

24 (e) INDEPENDENT ENTITY CONTRACTING.—The 

25 head of each covered agency, in coordination with the 


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1 heads of other Federal agencies, as appropriate, may enter 

2 into a contract with an independent entity to prepare a 

3 report required under subsection (b). 

4 SEC. 7. PROGRAM ON INNOVATION OPEN TOPICS. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 9 of the Small Business 

6 Act (15 U.S.C. 638), as amended by this Act, is further 

7 amended— 

8 (1) in subsection (b)(7)— 

9 (A) in subparagraph (G), by striking 

10 ‘‘and’’ at the end; and 

11 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘(I) the number of applications submitted 

13 to each Federal agency participating in the 

14 SBIR or STTR program in innovation open 

15 topics as compared to conventional topics, and 

16 how many small business concerns receive fund17 ing from open topics compared to conventional 

18 topics; 

19 ‘‘(J) the total number and dollar amount, 

20 and average size, of awards made by each Fed21 eral agency participating in the SBIR or STTR 

22 program, by phase, from— 

23 ‘‘(i) open topics; and 

24 ‘‘(ii) conventional topics;’’; and 

25 (2) by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(ww) PROGRAM ON INNOVATION OPEN TOPICS.— 

2 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 180 

3 days after the date of enactment of this subsection, 

4 the Secretary of Defense shall establish innovation 

5 open topic activities using the SBIR and STTR pro6 grams of the Department of Defense in order to— 

7 ‘‘(A) increase the transition of commercial 

8 technology to the Department of Defense; 

9 ‘‘(B) expand the small business nontradi10 tional industrial base; 

11 ‘‘(C) increase commercialization derived 

12 from investments of the Department of De13 fense; and 

14 ‘‘(D) expand the ability for qualifying 

15 small business concerns to propose technology 

16 solutions to meet the needs of the Department 

17 of Defense. 

18 ‘‘(2) FREQUENCY.—The Secretary of Defense 

19 shall conduct not less than 1 open topic announce20 ment at each component of the Department of De21 fense per fiscal year. 

22 ‘‘(3) BRIEFING.—Not later than 180 days after 

23 the date of enactment of this subsection, the Sec24 retary of Defense shall provide a briefing on the esVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:51 Sep 20, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00024 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4900.CPS S4900

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1 tablishment of the program required under para2 graph (1) to— 

3 ‘‘(A) the Committee on Armed Services 

4 and the Committee on Small Business and En5 trepreneurship of the Senate; and 

6 ‘‘(B) the Committee on Small Business, 

7 the Committee on Armed Services, and the 

8 Committee on Science, Space, and Technology 

9 of the House of Representatives.’’. 

10 (b) GAO REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the 

11 date of enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter for 

12 3 years, the Comptroller General of the United States 

13 shall submit to Congress and issue a publicly available re14 port comparing open topics and conventional topics under 

15 the SBIR and STTR programs that includes, to the extent 

16 practicable— 

17 (1) an assessment of the percentage of small 

18 business concerns that progress from Phase I to 

19 Phase II awards, then to Phase III awards; 

20 (2) the number of awards under the SBIR and 

21 STTR programs made to first-time applicants and 

22 first-time awardees; 

23 (3) the number of awards under the SBIR and 

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1 ness concerns, including those owned by women, mi2 norities, and veterans; 

3 (4) a description of outreach and assistance ef4 forts by the Department of Defense to encourage 

5 and prepare new and diverse small business concerns 

6 to participate in the program established under sub7 section (ww) of section 9 of the Small Business Act 

8 (15 U.S.C. 638), as added by subsection (a); 

9 (5) the length of time to review and disburse 

10 awards under such subsection (ww), evaluated in a 

11 manner enabling normalized comparisons of such 

12 times taken by each Federal agency that is required 

13 to establish an SBIR or STTR program and offers 

14 open topics; 

15 (6) the ratio, and an assessment, of the amount 

16 of funding allocated towards open topics as com17 pared to conventional topics at each Federal agency 

18 that is required to establish an SBIR or STTR pro19 gram and offers open topics; and 

20 (7) a comparison of the types of technology and 

21 end users funded under open topics compared to the 

22 types of technology and end users funded under con23 ventional topics. 


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1 SEC. 8. INCREASED MINIMUM PERFORMANCE STANDARDS 

2 FOR EXPERIENCED FIRMS. 

3 Section 9 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638), 

4 as amended by this Act, is further amended— 

5 (1) in subsection (b)(7), by adding at the end 

6 the following: 

7 ‘‘(K) the minimum performance standards 

8 established under subsection (qq), including any 

9 applicable modifications under paragraph (3) of 

10 such subsection, and the number of small busi11 ness concerns that did not meet those minimum 

12 performance standards, provided that the Ad13 ministrator does not publish any personally 

14 identifiable information, the identity of each 

15 such small business concern, or any otherwise 

16 sensitive information; and 

17 ‘‘(L) the aggregate number and dollar 

18 amount of SBIR and STTR awards made pur19 suant to waivers under subsection (qq)(3)(E), 

20 provided that the Administrator does not pub21 lish any personally identifiable information, the 

22 identity of each such small business concern, or 

23 any otherwise sensitive information;’’; and 

24 (2) in subsection (qq)— 

25 (A) by redesignating paragraphs (3) and 

26 (4) as paragraphs (4) and (5), respectively; 


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1 (B) by inserting after paragraph (2) the 

2 following: 

3 ‘‘(3) INCREASED MINIMUM PERFORMANCE

4 STANDARDS FOR EXPERIENCED FIRMS.— 

5 ‘‘(A) PROGRESS TO PHASE II SUCCESS.— 

6 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—With respect to a 

7 small business concern that received or re8 ceives more than 50 Phase I awards dur9 ing a covered period, each minimum per10 formance standard established under para11 graph (1)(A)(ii) shall be doubled for such 

12 covered period. 

13 ‘‘(ii) CONSEQUENCE OF FAILURE TO

14 MEET STANDARD.—If the head of a Fed15 eral agency determines that a small busi16 ness concern that received a Phase I award 

17 from the Federal agency is not meeting an 

18 applicable increased minimum performance 

19 standard modified under clause (i), the 

20 small business concern may not receive 

21 more than 20 total Phase I awards and 

22 Phase II awards under subsection (cc) 

23 from each Federal agency during the 1- 

24 year period beginning on the date on which 

25 such determination is made. 


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1 ‘‘(iii) COVERED PERIOD DEFINED.—In 

2 this subparagraph, the term ‘covered pe3 riod’ means a consecutive period of 5 fiscal 

4 years preceding the most recent fiscal year. 

5 ‘‘(B) PROGRESS TO PHASE III SUCCESS.— 

6 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Each minimum 

7 performance standard established under 

8 paragraph (2)(A)(ii) shall— 

9 ‘‘(I) with respect to a small busi10 ness concern that received or receives 

11 more than 50 Phase II awards during 

12 a covered period, require an average 

13 of $250,000 of aggregate sales and in14 vestments per Phase II award re15 ceived during such covered period; and 

16 ‘‘(II) with respect to a small 

17 business concern that received or re18 ceives more than 100 Phase II awards 

19 during a covered period, require an 

20 average of $450,000 of aggregate 

21 sales and investments per Phase II 

22 award received during such covered 

23 period. 

24 ‘‘(ii) CONSEQUENCE OF FAILURE TO

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1 eral agency determines that a small busi2 ness concern that received a Phase I award 

3 from the agency is not meeting an applica4 ble increased minimum performance stand5 ard modified under clause (i), the small 

6 business concern may not receive more 

7 than 20 total Phase I awards and Phase II 

8 awards under subsection (cc) from each 

9 agency during the 1-year period beginning 

10 on the date on which such determination is 

11 made. 

12 ‘‘(iii) DOCUMENTATION.— 

13 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—A small busi14 ness concern that is subject to an in15 creased minimum performance stand16 ard described in clause (i) shall sub17 mit to the Administrator supporting 

18 documentation evidencing that all cov19 ered sales of the small business con20 cern were properly used to meet the 

21 increased minimum performance 

22 standard. 

23 ‘‘(II) COVERED SALE DE24 FINED.—In this clause, the term ‘covVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:51 Sep 20, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00030 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4900.CPS S4900

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1 ered sale’ means a sale by a small 

2 business concern— 

3 ‘‘(aa) that the small busi4 ness concern claims to be attrib5 utable to an SBIR or STTR 

6 award; 

7 ‘‘(bb) for which no amount 

8 of the payment was or is made 

9 using Federal funds; 

10 ‘‘(cc) which the small busi11 ness concern uses to meet an ap12 plicable increased minimum per13 formance standard under clause 

14 (i); and 

15 ‘‘(dd) that was or is received 

16 during the 5 fiscal years imme17 diately preceding the fiscal year 

18 in which the small business con19 cern uses the sale to meet the in20 creased minimum performance 

21 standard. 

22 ‘‘(iv) COVERED PERIOD DEFINED.—In 

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1 cal years preceding the most recent 2 fiscal 

2 years. 

3 ‘‘(C) PATENTS FOR INCREASED MINIMUM

4 PERFORMANCE STANDARDS.—A small business 

5 concern with respect to which an increased min6 imum performance standard under subpara7 graph (B) applies may not meet the increased 

8 minimum performance standard by obtaining 

9 patents. 

10 ‘‘(D) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Subparagraphs 

11 (A) through (C) shall take effect on April 1, 

12 2023. 

13 ‘‘(E) WAIVER.— 

14 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator 

15 may, upon the request of a senior official 

16 of a Federal agency, grant a waiver with 

17 respect to a topic for the SBIR or STTR 

18 program of the Federal agency if— 

19 ‘‘(I) the topic is critical to the 

20 mission of the Federal agency or re21 lates to national security; and 

22 ‘‘(II) the official submits to the 

23 Administrator a request for the waiver 

24 in accordance with clause (iii). 


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1 ‘‘(ii) WAIVER EFFECTS.—If the Ad2 ministration grants a waiver with respect 

3 to a topic for the SBIR or STTR program 

4 of a Federal agency, subparagraphs (A)(ii) 

5 and (B)(ii) shall not prohibit any covered 

6 small business concern from receiving an 

7 SBIR or STTR award under such topic. 

8 ‘‘(iii) AGENCY REQUEST AND CON9 GRESSIONAL NOTIFICATION.—Not later 

10 than 15 days before the release of a solici11 tation including a topic for which a senior 

12 official of a Federal agency is requesting a 

13 waiver under clause (i), the senior official 

14 shall submit to the Administrator, the 

15 Committee on Small Business and the 

16 Committee on Science, Space, and Tech17 nology of the House of Representatives, 

18 and the Committee on Small Business and 

19 Entrepreneurship of the Senate a request 

20 for the waiver. 

21 ‘‘(iv) ADMINISTRATOR DETERMINA22 TION AND CONGRESSIONAL NOTIFICA23 TION.—Not later than 15 days after re24 ceiving a request for a waiver under clause 

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1 mination with respect to the request and 

2 notify the senior official at the Federal 

3 agency that made the request, the Com4 mittee on Small Business and the Com5 mittee on Science, Space, and Technology 

6 of the House of Representatives, and the 

7 Committee on Small Business and Entre8 preneurship of the Senate of the deter9 mination. 

10 ‘‘(v) DEFINITIONS.—In this subpara11 graph: 

12 ‘‘(I) COVERED SMALL BUSINESS

13 CONCERN.—The term ‘covered small 

14 business concern’ means a small busi15 ness concern that is subject to the 

16 consequences under subparagraph 

17 (A)(ii) or (B)(ii) pursuant to a deter18 mination by the head of a Federal 

19 agency that such small business con20 cern did not meet an increased min21 imum performance standard that was 

22 applicable to such small business con23 cern. 

24 ‘‘(II) SENIOR OFFICIAL.—The 

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1 vidual appointed to a position in a 

2 Federal agency that is classified above 

3 GS–15 pursuant section 5108 of title 

4 5, United States Code, or any equiva5 lent position, as determined by the 

6 Administrator. 

7 ‘‘(F) REPORTING.— 

8 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 

9 July 1, 2023, and annually thereafter, the 

10 Administrator shall submit to Congress a 

11 list of the small business concerns that did 

12 not meet— 

13 ‘‘(I) an applicable minimum per14 formance standard established under 

15 paragraph (1)(A)(ii) or (2)(A)(ii); or 

16 ‘‘(II) an applicable increased 

17 minimum performance standard. 

18 ‘‘(ii) WAIVERS.—Each list submitted 

19 under clause (i) shall identify each small 

20 business concern that received an SBIR or 

21 STTR award pursuant to a waiver granted 

22 under subparagraph (E) by the Adminis23 trator during the period covered by the 

24 list. 


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1 ‘‘(iii) CONFIDENTIALITY.—Each list 

2 submitted under clause (i) shall be con3 fidential and exempt from disclosure under 

4 section 552(b)(3) of title 5, United States 

5 Code (commonly known as the ‘Freedom of 

6 Information Act’). 

7 ‘‘(G) IMPLEMENTATION.—Not later than 

8 April 1, 2023, the Administration shall imple9 ment the increased minimum performance 

10 standards under this paragraph. 

11 ‘‘(H) RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing 

12 in this paragraph shall be construed— 

13 ‘‘(i) to prohibit a small business con14 cern from participating in a Phase I (or 

15 Phase II if under the authority of sub16 section (cc)) of an SBIR or STTR pro17 gram under paragraph (1)(B) or (2)(B) 

18 solely on the basis of a determination by 

19 the head of a Federal agency that the 

20 small business concern is not meeting an 

21 increased minimum performance standard; 

22 or 

23 ‘‘(ii) to prevent the head of a Federal 

24 agency from implementing more restrictive 

25 limitations on the number of federally 


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1 funded Phase I awards and direct to Phase 

2 II awards under subsection (cc) that may 

3 be awarded to a small business concern 

4 than the limitations described in subpara5 graphs (A)(ii) and (B)(ii). 

6 ‘‘(I) TERMINATION.—This paragraph shall 

7 terminate on September 30, 2025.’’; 

8 (C) in paragraph (5), as so redesignated, 

9 by striking ‘‘paragraph (3)(A)’’ and inserting 

10 ‘‘paragraph (4)(A)’’; and 

11 (D) by adding at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘(6) INSPECTOR GENERAL AUDIT.—Not later 

13 than 1 year after the date on which the Adminis14 trator implements the increased minimum perform15 ance standards under paragraph (3), and periodi16 cally thereafter, the Inspector General of the Admin17 istration shall— 

18 ‘‘(A) conduct an audit on whether the 

19 small business concerns subject to increased 

20 minimum performance standards under para21 graph (3)(B) verified— 

22 ‘‘(i) the sales by and investments in 

23 the small business concerns— 

24 ‘‘(I) during the 5 fiscal years im25 mediately preceding the fiscal year in 


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1 which the small business concern used 

2 such sales and investments to meet an 

3 applicable increased performance 

4 standard; and 

5 ‘‘(II) as a direct result of a 

6 Phase I award or Phase II award 

7 made under subsection (cc) during the 

8 covered period (as defined in para9 graph (3)(B)(iv)), consistent with the 

10 definition of Phase III, as applicable; 

11 ‘‘(ii) any third-party revenue the small 

12 business concerns list as investments or in13 comes to meet the increased minimum per14 formance standard— 

15 ‘‘(I) is a direct result of a Phase 

16 I award or Phase II award made 

17 under subsection (cc) during the cov18 ered period (as defined in paragraph 

19 (3)(B)(iv)); and 

20 ‘‘(II) consistent with the require21 ments of the Administrator as in ef22 fect on September 30, 2022, or any 

23 successor requirements; and 

24 ‘‘(iii) any dollar amounts such small 

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1 come to meet such increased minimum per2 formance standard the providence of which 

3 is unclear and that is not directly attrib4 utable to a Phase I award or Phase II 

5 award made under subsection (cc) during 

6 the covered period (as defined in para7 graph (3)(B)(iv)), consistent with the defi8 nition of Phase III, as applicable; 

9 ‘‘(B) assess the self-certification require10 ments for the minimum performance standards 

11 established under paragraph (2)(A)(ii) and the 

12 increased minimum performance standards 

13 under paragraph (3)(B); and 

14 ‘‘(C) submit to the Committee on Small 

15 Business and Entrepreneurship of the Senate 

16 and the Committee on Small Business and the 

17 Committee on Science, Space, and Technology 

18 of the House of Representatives a report on the 

19 audit conducted under subparagraph (A) and 

20 the assessment conducted under subparagraph 

21 (B). 

22 ‘‘(7) INCREASED MINIMUM PERFORMANCE

23 STANDARD DEFINED.—In this subsection, the term 

24 ‘increased minimum performance standard’ means a 

25 minimum performance standard established under 


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1 paragraph (1)(A)(ii) or (2)(A)(ii) as modified under 

2 subparagraph (A) or (B), respectively, of paragraph 

3 (3) with respect to a small business concern.’’. 

4 SEC. 9. PROHIBITION AGAINST WRITING SOLICITATION 

5 TOPICS. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 9 of the Small Business 

7 Act (15 U.S.C. 638), as amended by this Act, is further 

8 amended by adding at the end the following subsection: 

9 ‘‘(xx) ADDITIONAL PROVISIONS RELATING TO SOLIC10 ITATION TOPICS.— 

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A Federal agency required 

12 to establish an SBIR or STTR program shall imple13 ment a multi-level review and approval process with14 in the Federal agency for solicitation topics to en15 sure adequate competition and that no private indi16 vidual or entity is shaping the requirements for eligi17 bility for the solicitation topic after the selection of 

18 the solicitation topic, except that the Federal agency 

19 may amend the requirements to clarify the solicita20 tion topic. 

21 ‘‘(2) REFERRAL.—A Federal agency that does 

22 not comply with paragraph (1) shall be referred to 

23 the Inspector General of the Administration for fur24 ther investigation.’’. 


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1 SEC. 10. GAO STUDY ON MULTIPLE AWARD WINNERS. 

2 Not later than 18 months after the date of enactment 

3 of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States 

4 shall conduct a study and submit to the Committee on 

5 Small Business and Entrepreneurship of the Senate and 

6 the Committee on Small Business and the Committee on 

7 Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Rep8 resentatives a report, which shall be made publicly avail9 able, on small business concerns that are awarded not less 

10 than 50 Phase II awards under the SBIR or STTR pro11 grams during the consecutive period of 10 fiscal years pre12 ceding the most recent 2 fiscal years, including, to the ex13 tent practicable, an analysis of— 

14 (1) the impact of the small business concerns 

15 on the SBIR and STTR programs; 

16 (2) the ratio of the number of Phase II awards 

17 received by the small business concerns to the total 

18 number of Phase II awards; 

19 (3) the ability of the small business concerns to 

20 commercialize and meet the tenets of the SBIR and 

21 STTR programs; 

22 (4) the impact on new entrants and seeding 

23 technology necessary to the Federal agency mission 

24 or commercial markets and, with respect to the De25 partment of Defense, whether the types of tech26 nology the small business concerns are pursuing are 


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1 primarily hardware, software, or system components 

2 for the warfighter; 

3 (5) an evaluation and study of varying levels of 

4 award caps and lifetime program earning caps; 

5 (6) an assessment of the increased minimum 

6 performance standards under paragraph (3) of sec7 tion 9(qq) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

8 638(qq)), as added by section 8, on the behavior of 

9 those concerns and on the SBIR and STTR pro10 grams, and whether to continue such increased min11 imum performance standards; and 

12 (7) recommendations on whether alternative 

13 minimum performance standards under section 

14 9(qq) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

15 638(qq)) should be considered, and the extent to 

16 which such alternative minimum performance stand17 ards preserve the competitive, merit-based founda18 tion of the SBIR and STTR programs. 

19 SEC. 11. GAO REPORT ON SUBCONTRACTING IN SBIR AND 

20 STTR PROGRAMS. 

21 Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment 

22 of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States 

23 shall submit to the Committee on Small Business and En24 trepreneurship of the Senate and the Committee on Small 

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1 nology of the House of Representatives a report evalu2 ating, to the extent practicable, the following: 

3 (1) The extent to which SBIR awardees and 

4 STTR awardees are in compliance with the Federal 

5 Funding Accountability and Transparency Act (31 

6 U.S.C. 6101 note). 

7 (2) The extent to which SBIR awardees and 

8 STTR awardees enter into subcontracting agree9 ments with respect to an SBIR or STTR award. 

10 (3) The total number and dollar amount of sub11 contracts entered into between an SBIR awardee or 

12 an STTR awardee and a concern that is not a small 

13 business concern (including such concerns that are 

14 defense contractors) with respect to an SBIR or 

15 STTR award. 

16 (4) A description of the type and purpose of 

17 subcontracting agreements described in paragraph 

18 (2). 

19 (5) An analysis of whether the use of sub20 contracts by an SBIR awardee or an STTR awardee 

21 is consistent with the purposes of section 9 of the 

22 Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638). 

Æ 


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