I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 9403 

To support a broad and diverse interdisciplinary research community for 

the advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) and AI-powered innovation 

through partnerships and capacity building at certain institutions of 

higher education and other institutions to expand AI capacity in populations historically underrepresented in STEM, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

AUGUST 23, 2024 

Mrs. FOUSHEE (for herself and Mr. LUCAS) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology 

A BILL 

To support a broad and diverse interdisciplinary research 

community for the advancement of artificial intelligence 

(AI) and AI-powered innovation through partnerships 

and capacity building at certain institutions of higher 

education and other institutions to expand AI capacity 

in populations historically underrepresented in STEM, 

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, 


kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
2 

•HR 9403 IH

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Expanding AI Voices 

3 through Capacity Building Act’’ or the ‘‘Expanding AI 

4 Voices Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. EXPANDING CAPACITY IN ARTIFICIAL INTEL6 LIGENCE SCIENCE. 

7 Section 5401 of the National AI Initiative Act (15 

8 U.S.C. 9451; enacted as part of title LIV of division E 

9 of the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Au10 thorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021; Public Law 116– 

11 283) is amended by— 

12 (1) redesignating subsection (g) as subsection 

13 (h); and 

14 (2) inserting after subsection (f) the following 

15 new subsection: 

16 ‘‘(g) EXPANDING CAPACITY IN ARTIFICIAL INTEL17 LIGENCE.— 

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the Na19 tional Science Foundation, in consultation with the 

20 heads of Federal agencies the Director considers ap21 propriate, shall make awards on a competitive, 

22 merit-reviewed basis to eligible institutions of higher 

23 education specified in paragraph (2) or eligible non24 profit organizations (or consortia thereof) to broaden 

25 participation in artificial intelligence research, edu26 cation, and workforce development by increasing the 


kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
3 

•HR 9403 IH

1 ability of the United States to increase capacity and 

2 partnerships for artificial intelligence research and 

3 development. 

4 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDU5 CATION SPECIFIED.—Eligible institution of higher 

6 education specified in this paragraph the following: 

7 ‘‘(A) An institution of higher education, 

8 that, according to the data published by the 

9 National Center for Science and Engineering 

10 Statistics, is not, on average, among the top 

11 100 institutions in Federal research and devel12 opment expenditures during the 3-year period 

13 prior to the year of the award concerned. 

14 ‘‘(B) A historically Black college or univer15 sity. 

16 ‘‘(C) A minority-serving institution. 

17 ‘‘(C) A Tribal College or University. 

18 ‘‘(D) A consortia of any of the entities 

19 specified in subparagraphs (A) through (C). 

20 ‘‘(3) COLLABORATIONS.—A consortia receiving 

21 an award under this subsection may include the fol22 lowing: 

23 ‘‘(A) Mutually beneficial partnerships with 

24 institutions of higher education, nonprofit orga25 nizations, Federal agencies, State, territorial, 


kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
4 

•HR 9403 IH

1 local, and Tribal governments, and private sec2 tor entities. 

3 ‘‘(B) Developing partnerships with artifi4 cial intelligence research institutes established 

5 as part of section 5201 of this Act (15 U.S.C. 

6 9431) or recipients of other relevant awards 

7 made by the Foundation. 

8 ‘‘(4) USE OF FUNDS.—In carrying out the ac9 tivities under this subsection, an eligible institutions 

10 of higher education or eligible nonprofit organization 

11 (or consortia thereof) shall carry out one or more of 

12 the following: 

13 ‘‘(A) Development or expansion of research 

14 programs in artificial intelligence and related 

15 disciplines. 

16 ‘‘(B) Faculty recruitment and professional 

17 development in artificial intelligence and related 

18 disciplines. 

19 ‘‘(C) Bridge programs focused on pre20 paring post-baccalaureate students for graduate 

21 programs in artificial intelligence and related 

22 disciplines. 

23 ‘‘(D) To provide or broker access to re24 search resources, including computing re25 sources, networking, data facilities, and softVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:32 Sep 04, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H9403.IH H9403

kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
5 

•HR 9403 IH

1 ware engineering support for artificial intel2 ligence research and development. 

3 ‘‘(E) Community building activities to fos4 ter mutually beneficial public-private collabora5 tion with Federal research agencies, industry, 

6 Federal laboratories, academia, and nonprofit 

7 organizations. 

8 ‘‘(F) Development and hosting of intra- or 

9 inter-institutional workshops to broaden work10 force participation in artificial intelligence re11 search and development. 

12 ‘‘(G) Activities to integrate ethical and re13 sponsible practices and principles into education 

14 programs in artificial intelligence and related 

15 disciplines. 

16 ‘‘(H) Other activities necessary to build re17 search capacity, education pathways, and work18 force development pathways in artificial intel19 ligence and related disciplines. 

20 ‘‘(5) OUTREACH.—The Director of the National 

21 Science Foundation shall— 

22 ‘‘(A) conduct outreach to eligible institu23 tions of higher education and eligible nonprofit 

24 organizations to apply for awards under this 

25 subsection; and 


kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
6 

•HR 9403 IH

1 ‘‘(B) engage participants from all regions 

2 of the United States, especially individuals from 

3 underserved communities and groups histori4 cally underrepresented in science, technology, 

5 engineering, and mathematics. 

6 ‘‘(6) DUPLICATION.—The Director of the Na7 tional Science Foundation shall ensure awards made 

8 under this section are complimentary to, and not du9 plicative of, awards made under existing programs. 

10 ‘‘(7) ADDITIONAL CONSIDERATIONS.—In mak11 ing awards under this subsection, the Director of the 

12 National Science Foundation may also consider the 

13 following: 

14 ‘‘(A) The extent to which the eligible insti15 tutions of higher education and eligible non16 profit organizations applying for awards under 

17 this subsection support students from diverse 

18 backgrounds, including first-generation under19 graduate students. 

20 ‘‘(B) The geographic diversity of such in21 stitutions and organizations. 

22 ‘‘(C) Relative resource constraints of such 

23 institutions and organizations. 

24 ‘‘(8) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 


kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
7 

•HR 9403 IH

1 ‘‘(A) HISTORICALLY BLACK COLLEGE OR

2 UNIVERSITY.—The term ‘historically Black col3 lege or university’ has the meaning given the 

4 term ‘part B institution’ in section 322 of the 

5 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

6 1061). 

7 ‘‘(B) MINORITY-SERVING INSTITUTION.— 

8 The term ‘minority-serving institution’ means a 

9 Hispanic-serving institution as defined in sec10 tion 502(a) of the Higher Education Act of 

11 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1101a(a)); an Alaska Native12 serving institution or Native Hawaiian-serving 

13 institution as defined in section 317(b) of such 

14 Act (20 U.S.C. 1059d(b)); or a predominantly 

15 Black institution, Asian American and Native 

16 American Pacific Islander-serving institution, or 

17 Native American-serving nontribal institution 

18 as defined in section 371(c) of such Act (20 

19 U.S.C. 1067q(c)). 

20 ‘‘(C) NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION.—The 

21 term ‘nonprofit organization’ means an organi22 zation which is described in section 501(c)(3) of 

23 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and exempt 

24 from tax under section 501(a) of such code. 


kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
8 

•HR 9403 IH

1 ‘‘(D) TRIBAL COLLEGE OR UNIVERSITY.— 

2 The term ‘Tribal College or University’ has the 

3 meaning given such term in section 316 of the 

4 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

5 1059c).’’. 

Æ 


kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB