I

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 300

To reauthorize economic development programs under the Public Works and

Economic Development Act of 1965 for fiscal years 1994 and 1995,

to reenact the Public Works and Economic Development Act of 1965

as the Economic Development and Financing Act of 1994, and for

other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 4, 1995

Mr. KANJORSKI introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and, in addition, to the

Committees on Banking and Financial Services, the Judiciary, and

Science for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in

each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

A BILL

To reauthorize economic development programs under the

Public Works and Economic Development Act of 1965

for fiscal years 1994 and 1995, to reenact the Public

Works and Economic Development Act of 1965 as the

Economic Development and Financing Act of 1994, 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,
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Economic Development

3 Reauthorization Act of 1995’’.

4 SEC. 2. REAUTHORIZATION OF THE PUBLIC WORKS AND

5 ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ACT OF 1965.

6 The Public Works and Economic Development Act of

7 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3121, et seq.) is amended to read as

8 follows:

9 ‘‘SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.

10 ‘‘(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the

11 ‘Economic Development and Financing Act of 1995’’.

12 ‘‘(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—

‘‘Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.

‘‘Sec. 2. Congressional findings and Statement of purpose.

‘‘TITLE I—GRANTS FOR PUBLIC WORKS AND DEVELOPMENT

FACILITIES

‘‘Sec. 101. Direct and supplementary grants.

‘‘Sec. 102. Limitation of funds expended in any 1 State.

‘‘Sec. 103. Authorization of appropriations.

‘‘Sec. 104. Financial assistance for sewer facilities.

‘‘Sec. 105. Construction cost increases.

‘‘Sec. 106. Use of funds in projects constructed under projected cost.

‘‘Sec. 107. Changed project circumstances.

‘‘TITLE II—LOANS, LOAN GUARANTEES, AND ECONOMIC

DEVELOPMENT REVOLVING FUND

‘‘Sec. 201. Public works and development facility loans.

‘‘Sec. 202. Business loans and loan guarantees.

‘‘Sec. 203. Economic development liquidating fund.

‘‘TITLE III—STRATEGIC PLANNING, RESEARCH, INFORMATION,

AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE

‘‘Subtitle A—Strategic Economic Development Planning, Research, and

Information

‘‘Sec. 301. Office of Strategic Economic Development Planning and Policy.

‘‘Sec. 302. Office of Economic Development Information.

‘‘Sec. 303. Uniform grant application form.
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‘‘Subtitle B—Technical Assistance and Economic Development Planning

‘‘Sec. 311. Technical assistance.

‘‘Sec. 312. Economic development planning.

‘‘Sec. 313. Business outreach center demonstration project.

‘‘Sec. 314. Authorization of appropriations.

‘‘TITLE IV—ELIGIBILITY AND INVESTMENT STRATEGIES

‘‘Sec. 401. Area eligibility.

‘‘Sec. 402. Investment strategy.

‘‘Sec. 403. Definition.

‘‘Sec. 404. Funding.

‘‘TITLE V—ADMINISTRATION

‘‘Sec. 501. Appointment of Assistant Secretary of Commerce and Administrator for Economic Development; compensation.

‘‘Sec. 502. Consultation of Secretary with other persons and agencies.

‘‘Sec. 503. Administration, operation, and maintenance.

‘‘Sec. 504. Expedited processing of applications.

‘‘Sec. 505. Performance evaluations of grant recipients.

‘‘TITLE VI—MISCELLANEOUS

‘‘Sec. 601. Powers of Secretary.

‘‘Sec. 602. Saving provisions.

‘‘Sec. 603. Transfer of functions of area redevelopment administration.

‘‘Sec. 604. Separability.

‘‘Sec. 605. Definition of State.

‘‘Sec. 606. Annual report to Congress.

‘‘Sec. 607. Use of other facilities.

‘‘Sec. 608. Authorization of appropriations.

‘‘Sec. 609. Penalties.

‘‘Sec. 610. Employment of expediters and administrative employees.

‘‘Sec. 611. Labor standards; rate of wages; assurance of maintenance of

standards; enforcement.

‘‘Sec. 612. Maintenance of records of approved applications for financial

assistance; public inspection.

‘‘Sec. 613. Records and audit.

‘‘Sec. 614. Prohibition against a statutory construction which might cause

diminution in other Federal assistance.

‘‘Sec. 615. Acceptance of applicants’ certifications.

‘‘Sec. 616. Supervision of regional counsels.

‘‘TITLE VII—SPECIAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND

ADJUSTMENT ASSISTANCE

‘‘Subtitle A—Grants and Adjustment Assistance

‘‘Sec. 701. Statement of purpose.

‘‘Sec. 702. Eligible recipient defined.

‘‘Sec. 703. Grants by Secretary.

‘‘Sec. 704. Annual reports by recipient and Secretary.

‘‘Sec. 705. Authorization of appropriations.

‘‘Subtitle B—Economic Development Financing
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‘‘Sec. 711. Guaranteed loan program.

‘‘Sec. 712. Pilot equity finance program.

‘‘Sec. 713. Treatment of revolving loan funds.

‘‘Sec. 714. Sale of financial instruments in revolving loan funds.

‘‘Sec. 715. Economic development challenge grants demonstration project.

‘‘Subtitle C—Business Development Assistance

‘‘Sec. 721. Findings, purposes, and definitions.

‘‘Sec. 722. Consolidation of information on technologies.

‘‘Sec. 723. Business development and technology commercialization corporation.

‘‘Sec. 724. Assistance to businesses in securing financing.

‘‘Sec. 725. Technical assistance for lenders and borrowers.

1 ‘‘SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS AND STATEMENT OF

2 PURPOSE.

3 ‘‘(a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds that the main4 tenance of the national economy at a high level is vital

5 to the best interests of the United States, but that some

6 of our regions, counties, and communities are suffering

7 substantial and persistent unemployment and

8 underemployment; that such unemployment and

9 underemployment cause hardship to many individuals and

10 their families, and waste invaluable human resources; that

11 to overcome this problem the Federal Government, in co12 operation with the States, should help areas and regions

13 of substantial and persistent unemployment and

14 underemployment to take effective steps in planning and

15 financing their public works, business development, indus16 trial retention, and economic development; that Federal

17 financial assistance, including grants for public works and

18 development facilities to communities, industries, enter19 prises, and individuals in areas needing development
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1 should enable such areas to help themselves achieve last2 ing improvement and enhance the domestic prosperity by

3 the establishment of stable and diversified local economies

4 and improved local conditions, provided that such assist5 ance is preceded by and consistent with sound, long-range

6 economic planning; and that under the provisions of this

7 Act new employment opportunities should be created by

8 developing and expanding new and existing public works

9 and other facilities and resources, financing business de10 velopment, and promoting industrial retention.

11 ‘‘(b) DECLARATION.—The Congress declares that, in

12 furtherance of maintaining the national economy at a high

13 level—

14 ‘‘(1) the assistance authorized by this Act

15 should be made available to both rural and urban

16 areas;

17 ‘‘(2) such assistance be available for planning

18 for economic development prior to the actual occur19 rences of economic distress in order to avoid such

20 condition; and

21 ‘‘(3) that such assistance be used for long-term

22 economic rehabilitation in areas where long-term

23 economic deterioration has occurred or is taking

24 place.
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1 ‘‘TITLE I—GRANTS FOR PUBLIC

2 WORKS AND DEVELOPMENT

3 FACILITIES

4 ‘‘SEC. 101. DIRECT AND SUPPLEMENTARY GRANTS.

5 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Upon the application of any

6 State, or political subdivision thereof, Indian tribe, or pri7 vate or public nonprofit organization or association, the

8 Secretary of Commerce (hereafter in this Act referred to

9 as the ‘Secretary’) may—

10 ‘‘(1) make direct grants for the acquisition or

11 development of land and improvements for public

12 works, public service, or development facility usage,

13 and the acquisition, design and engineering, con14 struction, rehabilitation, alteration, expansion, or im15 provement of such facilities, including related ma16 chinery and equipment if the Secretary finds that—

17 ‘‘(A) the project for which financial assist18 ance is sought will directly or indirectly—

19 ‘‘(i) tend to improve the opportunities,

20 in the area where such project is or will be

21 located, for the successful establishment or

22 expansion of industrial or commercial

23 plants or facilities,
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1 ‘‘(ii) otherwise assist in the creation

2 of additional long-term employment oppor3 tunities for such area, or

4 ‘‘(iii) primarily benefit the long-term

5 unemployed and members of low-income

6 families or otherwise substantially further

7 the objectives of the Economic Opportunity

8 Act of 1964;

9 ‘‘(B) the project for which a grant is re10 quested will fulfill a pressing need of the area,

11 or part thereof, in which it is, or will be,

12 located;

13 ‘‘(C) the area for which a project is to be

14 undertaken has an approved investment strat15 egy and such project is consistent with such

16 strategy; and

17 ‘‘(D) in the case of an area described in

18 section 401(a)(4), the project to be undertaken

19 will provide immediate useful work to unem20 ployed and underemployed persons in that area;

21 and

22 ‘‘(2) make supplementary grants in order to en23 able the States and other entities to take maximum

24 advantage of designated Federal grant-in-aid pro25 grams (as hereinafter defined), direct grants-in-aid
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1 authorized under this section, and Federal grant-in2 aid programs authorized by the Watershed Protec3 tion and Flood Prevention Act and the 11 water4 sheds authorized by the Flood Control Act of De5 cember 22, 1944, for which they are eligible but for

6 which, because of their economic situation, they can7 not supply the required matching share.

8 ‘‘(b) MAXIMUM PROPORTION OF DIRECT GRANT

9 FUNDS TO TOTAL PROJECT COST.—Subject to subsection

10 (c), the amount of any direct grant under this section for

11 any project shall not exceed 50 percent of the cost of such

12 project.

13 ‘‘(c) PROPORTION OF SUPPLEMENTARY GRANT

14 FUNDS TO TOTAL PROJECT COST; RULES AND REGULA15 TIONS; MAXIMUM GRANTS; REQUIRED NON-FEDERAL

16 SHARE.—The amount of any supplementary grant under

17 this section for any project shall not exceed the applicable

18 percentage established by regulations promulgated by the

19 Secretary, but in no event shall the non-Federal share of

20 the aggregate cost of any such project (including assump21 tions of debt) be less than 20 percent of such cost, except

22 that in the case of a grant to an Indian tribe, the Sec23 retary may reduce the non-Federal share below such per24 centage or may waive the non-Federal share. In the case

25 of any State or political subdivision thereof which the Sec-
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1 retary determines has exhausted its effective taxing and

2 borrowing capacity, the Secretary shall reduce the non3 Federal share below such percentage or shall waive the

4 non-Federal share in the case of such a grant for a project

5 in an area described in section 401(a)(4). In the case of

6 any community development corporation which the Sec7 retary determines has exhausted its effective borrowing ca8 pacity, the Secretary may reduce the non-Federal share

9 below such percentage or waive the non-Federal share in

10 the case of such a grant for a project in an area described

11 in section 401(a)(4). Supplementary grants shall be made

12 by the Secretary, in accordance with such regulations as

13 the Secretary shall prescribe, by increasing the amounts

14 of direct grants authorized under this section or by the

15 payment of funds appropriated under this Act to the heads

16 of the departments, agencies, and instrumentalities of the

17 Federal Government responsible for the administration of

18 the applicable Federal programs. Notwithstanding any re19 quirement as to the amount or sources of non-Federal

20 funds that may otherwise be applicable to the Federal pro21 gram involved, funds provided under this subsection shall

22 be used for the sole purpose of increasing the Federal con23 tribution to specific projects under such programs above

24 the fixed maximum portion of the cost of such project oth25 erwise authorized by the applicable law. The term ‘des-
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1 ignated Federal grant-in-aid programs,’ as used in this

2 subsection, means such existing or future Federal grant3 in-aid programs assisting in the construction or equipping

4 of facilities as the Secretary may, in furtherance of the

5 purposes of this Act, designate as eligible for allocation

6 of funds under this section. In determining the amount

7 of any supplementary grant available to any project under

8 this section, the Secretary shall take into consideration the

9 relative needs of the area and the nature of the project

10 to be assisted.

11 ‘‘(d) REGULATIONS; FACTORS TO BE CONSIDERED

12 IN PRESCRIBING REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall

13 prescribe regulations and procedures to carry out this sec14 tion which will assure that adequate consideration is given

15 to the relative needs of eligible areas. In prescribing such

16 rules, regulations, and procedures the Secretary shall con17 sider among other relevant factors—

18 ‘‘(1) the severity of the rates of unemployment

19 in the eligible areas and the duration of such unem20 ployment, and

21 ‘‘(2) the income levels of families and the extent

22 of underemployment in eligible areas.

23 ‘‘(e) REVIEW AND COMMENT UPON PROJECTS BY

24 LOCAL GOVERNMENTAL AUTHORITIES.—The Secretary

25 shall prescribe regulations which will assure that appro-
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1 priate local governmental authorities have been given a

2 reasonable opportunity to review and comment upon pro3 posed projects under this section.

4 ‘‘SEC. 102. LIMITATION OF FUNDS EXPENDED IN ANY 1

5 STATE.

6 ‘‘Not more than 15 percent of the appropriations

7 made pursuant to this title may be expended in any 1

8 State unless the Secretary determines that expenditures

9 in excess of such limitation are necessary by reason of the

10 occurrence of a major natural disaster in such State.

11 ‘‘SEC. 103. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

12 ‘‘There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out

13 this title $195,000,000 for fiscal year 1995 and

14 $130,924,000 for fiscal year 1996. Such sums shall re15 main available until expended.

16 ‘‘SEC. 104. FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE FOR SEWER FACILITIES.

17 ‘‘No financial assistance shall be extended under this

18 Act for sewer or other waste disposal facilities unless the

19 appropriate agency of the State in which the project is

20 located certifies that such facilities meet applicable Fed21 eral, State, interstate, or local water quality standards.

22 ‘‘SEC. 105. CONSTRUCTION COST INCREASES.

23 ‘‘In any case where a grant (including a supplemental

24 grant) has been made under this title for a project and

25 after such grant has been made but before completion of
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1 the project, the cost of such project based upon the de2 signs and specifications which were the basis of the grant

3 has been increased because of increases in costs, the

4 amount of such grant may be increased by an amount

5 equal to the percentage increase, as determined by the

6 Secretary, in such costs.

7 ‘‘SEC. 106. USE OF FUNDS IN PROJECTS CONSTRUCTED

8 UNDER PROJECTED COST.

9 ‘‘In any case where a grant (including a supplemental

10 grant) has been made under this title for a project and

11 after such grant has been made but before completion of

12 the project, the cost of such project based upon the de13 signs and specifications which were the basis of the grant

14 has decreased because of decreases in costs, such

15 underrun funds may be used to improve the project either

16 directly or indirectly as determined by the Secretary.

17 ‘‘SEC. 107. CHANGED PROJECT CIRCUMSTANCES.

18 ‘‘In any case where a grant (including a supplemental

19 grant) has been made under this title for a project and

20 after such grant has been made but before completion of

21 the project, the purpose or scope of such project based

22 upon the designs and specifications which were the basis

23 of the grant has changed, the Secretary may approve the

24 use of grant funds on such changed project if the Sec-
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1 retary determines such changes are necessary to enhance

2 economic development in the area.

3 ‘‘TITLE II—LOANS, LOAN GUAR4 ANTEES, AND ECONOMIC DE5 VELOPMENT REVOLVING

6 FUND

7 ‘‘SEC. 201. PUBLIC WORKS AND DEVELOPMENT FACILITY

8 LOANS.

9 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsection (b) and

10 section 401, upon the application of any State, any politi11 cal subdivision of any State, any Indian tribe, or any pri12 vate or public nonprofit organization or association, the

13 Secretary may purchase evidences of indebtedness and

14 make loans to assist in financing—

15 ‘‘(1) the purchase or development of land and

16 improvements for public works, public service, or de17 velopment facility usage, including public works,

18 public service, and development facility usage, to be

19 provided by agencies of the Federal Government

20 pursuant to legislation requiring that non-Federal

21 entities bear some part of the cost of providing such

22 works, service, or usage; and

23 ‘‘(2) the acquisition, construction, rehabilita24 tion, alteration, expansion, or improvement of such
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1 facilities, including related machinery and equip2 ment.

3 ‘‘(b) CONDITIONS.—The Secretary may provide fi4 nancial assistance under subsection (a) only if the Sec5 retary finds that—

6 ‘‘(1) the project for which financial assistance is

7 sought will directly or indirectly—

8 ‘‘(A) tend to improve the opportunities, in

9 the area where such project is or will be lo10 cated, for the successful establishment or ex11 pansion of industrial or commercial plants or

12 facilities,

13 ‘‘(B) otherwise assist in the creation of ad14 ditional long-term employment opportunities for

15 such area, or

16 ‘‘(C) primarily benefit the long-term unem17 ployed and members of low-income families or

18 otherwise substantially further the objectives of

19 the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964;

20 ‘‘(2) the funds requested for such project are

21 not otherwise available from private lenders or from

22 other Federal agencies on terms which in the opin23 ion of the Secretary will permit the accomplishment

24 of the project;
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1 ‘‘(3) the amount of the loan plus the amount of

2 other available funds for such project are adequate

3 to ensure the completion of the project;

4 ‘‘(4) there is a reasonable expectation of repay5 ment; and

6 ‘‘(5) such area has an approved investment

7 strategy under section 402 and the project for which

8 financial assistance is sought is consistent with such

9 strategy.

10 ‘‘(c) LOAN TERMS; INTEREST RATES.—

11 ‘‘(1) MAXIMUM TERM OF MATURITY.—Subject

12 to section 601, no loan, including renewals or exten13 sions of any loan, shall be made under this section

14 for a period exceeding 40 years, and no evidence of

15 indebtedness maturing more than 40 years from the

16 date of purchase shall be purchased under this

17 section.

18 ‘‘(2) INTEREST.—Loans under this section shall

19 bear interest at a rate not less than a rate deter20 mined by the Secretary of the Treasury taking into

21 consideration the current average market yield on

22 outstanding marketable obligations of the United

23 States with remaining periods to maturity com24 parable to the average maturities of such loans, ad-
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justed to the nearest 1 1 ⁄8 of 1 percent, minus not to

exceed 1 2 ⁄2 of 1 percent per annum.

3 ‘‘(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

4 are hereby authorized to be appropriated such sums as

5 may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this section

6 and section 202.

7 ‘‘(e) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall prescribe

8 regulations which will assure that appropriate local gov9 ernmental authorities have been given a reasonable oppor10 tunity to review and comment upon proposed projects

11 under this section.

12 ‘‘SEC. 202. BUSINESS LOANS AND LOAN GUARANTEES.

13 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—

14 ‘‘(1) FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE AUTHORIZED.—

15 Subject to section 401, the Secretary may assist in

16 the financing the purchase or development of land

17 and facilities (including machinery and equipment)

18 for industrial or commercial usage, including the

19 construction of new buildings, the rehabilitation of

20 abandoned or unoccupied buildings, and the alter21 ation, conversion, or enlargement of existing build22 ings by—

23 ‘‘(A) purchasing evidences of indebtedness;
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1 ‘‘(B) making loans (which for purposes of

2 this section shall include participation in loans);

3 and

4 ‘‘(C) guaranteeing loans made to private

5 borrowers by private lending institutions, for

6 any of the purposes referred to in this para7 graph upon application of such institution and

8 upon such terms and conditions as the Sec9 retary may prescribe, except that no such guar10 antee shall at any time exceed 90 percent of the

11 amount of the outstanding unpaid balance of

12 such loan.

13 ‘‘(2) INTEREST SUBSIDY.—

14 ‘‘(A) AUTHORIZATION.—In addition to any

15 other financial assistance under this sub16 chapter, the Secretary may, in the case of any

17 loan guarantee under authority of paragraph

18 (1) of this section, pay to or on behalf of the

19 private borrower an amount sufficient to reduce

20 up to 4 percentage points the interest paid by

21 such borrower on such guaranteed loans.

22 ‘‘(B) MAXIMUM AMOUNT OF BUY-DOWN.—

23 No payment under this paragraph shall result

24 in the interest rate being paid by a borrower on

25 such a guaranteed loan being less than the rate
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1 of interest for such a loan if the loan were

2 made under section 201.

3 ‘‘(C) FREQUENCY OF PAYMENT.—Pay4 ments made to or on behalf of such borrower

5 shall be made no less often than annually.

6 ‘‘(3) WORKING CAPITAL LOANS AND GUARAN7 TEES.—The Secretary may assist in financing any

8 industrial or commercial activity by—

9 ‘‘(A) making working capital loans;

10 ‘‘(B) guaranteeing working capital loans

11 made to private borrowers by private lending

12 institutions upon application of such institution

13 and upon such terms and conditions as the Sec14 retary may prescribe, except that no such guar15 antee shall at any time exceed 90 percent of the

16 amount of the outstanding unpaid balance of

17 such loan;

18 ‘‘(C) guaranteeing rental payments of

19 leases for buildings and equipment, except that

20 no such guarantee shall exceed 90 percent of

21 the remaining rental payments required by the

22 lease;

23 ‘‘(D) paying those debts with respect to

24 which a lien against property has been legally

25 obtained (including the refinancing of any such
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1 debt) in any case where the Secretary deter2 mines that the payment is essential in order

3 to—

4 ‘‘(i) save employment in a designated

5 area;

6 ‘‘(ii) avoid a significant rise in unem7 ployment; or

8 ‘‘(iii) create new or increased employ9 ment.

10 ‘‘(b) TERMS AND CONDITIONS.—Financial assistance

11 under this section shall be on such terms and conditions

12 as the Secretary determines, subject to the following re13 strictions and limitations:

14 ‘‘(1) Such financial assistance shall not be ex15 tended to assist establishments relocating from 1

16 area to another or to assist subcontractors whose

17 purpose is to divest, or whose economic success is

18 dependent upon divesting, other contractors or sub19 contractors of contracts theretofore customarily per20 formed by them, except that this limitation shall not

21 be construed as prohibiting assistance for the expan22 sion of an existing business entity through the estab23 lishment of a new branch, affiliate, or subsidiary of

24 such entity if the Secretary finds that the establish25 ment of such branch, affiliate, or subsidiary will not
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1 result in an increase in unemployment of the area of

2 original location or in any other area where such en3 tity conducts business operations, unless the Sec4 retary has reason to believe that such branch, affili5 ate, or subsidiary is being established with the inten6 tion of closing down the operations of the existing

7 business entity in the area of the business entity’s

8 original location or in any other area where the

9 entity conducts such operations.

10 ‘‘(2) Such assistance shall be extended only to

11 applicants, both private and public (including Indian

12 tribes), which have been approved for such assist13 ance by an agency or instrumentality of the State or

14 political subdivision thereof in which the project to

15 be financed is located, and which agency or instru16 mentality is directly concerned with problems of eco17 nomic development in such State or subdivision.

18 ‘‘(3) The project for which financial assistance

19 is sought shall be reasonably calculated to provide

20 more than a temporary alleviation of unemployment

21 or underemployment within the area in which the

22 project is or will be located.

23 ‘‘(4) No loan or guarantee may be extended

24 under this section unless the financial assistance ap25 plied for is not otherwise available from private lend-
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1 ers or from other Federal agencies on terms which

2 in the opinion of the Secretary will permit the ac3 complishment of the project.

4 ‘‘(5) The Secretary may not make any loan

5 without a participation unless the Secretary deter6 mines that the loan cannot be made on a participa7 tion basis.

8 ‘‘(6) No evidences of indebtedness may be pur9 chased and no loans may be made or guaranteed un10 less the Secretary is determined that there is reason11 able assurance of repayment.

12 ‘‘(7) Subject to section 601(a)(5), no loan or

13 guarantee, including any renewal or extension of a

14 loan or guarantee, may be made under this section

15 for a term to maturity of more than 25 years and

16 no evidences of indebtedness which matures more

17 than 25 years after the date of purchase may be

18 purchased under this section, except that this para19 graph not apply to securities or obligations received

20 by the Secretary as a claimant in bankruptcy or eq21 uitable reorganization or as a creditor in other pro22 ceedings attendant upon insolvency of the obligor.

23 ‘‘(8) Loans made and evidences of indebtedness

24 purchased under this section shall bear interest at a

25 rate not less than a rate determined by the Sec-
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1 retary of the Treasury taking into consideration the

2 current average market yield on outstanding market3 able obligations of the United States with remaining

4 periods to maturity comparable to the average maturities of such loans, adjusted to the nearest 1 5 ⁄8 of 1

6 percent, plus an additional charge, if any, toward

7 covering other costs of the program as the Secretary

8 may determine to be consistent with the purpose of

9 this section.

10 ‘‘(9) Loan assistance (other than for a working

11 capital loan) shall not exceed 65 percent of the ag12 gregate cost to the applicant (excluding all other

13 Federal aid in connection with the undertaking) of

14 acquiring or developing land and facilities (including

15 machinery and equipment), and of constructing, al16 tering, converting, rehabilitating, or enlarging the

17 building or buildings of the particular project, and

18 shall, among others, be on the condition that—

19 ‘‘(A) other funds are available in an

20 amount which, together with the assistance pro21 vided under this section, shall be sufficient to

22 pay such aggregate cost;

23 ‘‘(B) not less than 15 percent of such ag24 gregate cost be supplied as equity capital or as

25 a loan repayable in no shorter period of time
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1 and at no faster an amortization rate than the

2 Federal financial assistance extended under this

3 section is being repaid, and if such a loan is se4 cured, the security for the loan shall be subordi5 nate and inferior to the lien or liens securing

6 such Federal financial assistance;

7 ‘‘(C) except with respect to projects involv8 ing financial participation by Indian tribes, not

9 less than 5 percent of such aggregate cost shall

10 be supplied by the State or any agency, instru11 mentality, or political subdivision of a State, or

12 by a community or area organization which is

13 nongovernmental in character, unless the Sec14 retary shall determine in accordance with objec15 tive standards prescribed by regulation that all

16 or part of such funds are not reasonably avail17 able to the project because of the economic dis18 tress of the area or for other good cause, in

19 which case the Secretary may waive the require20 ment of this provision to the extent of such un21 availability, and allow the funds required by

22 this subsection to be supplied by the applicant

23 or by such other non-Federal source as may

24 reasonably be available to the project; and
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1 ‘‘(D) to the extent the Secretary finds such

2 action necessary to encourage financial partici3 pation in a particular project by other lenders

4 and investors, and except as otherwise provided

5 in subparagraph (B), any Federal financial as6 sistance extended under this section may be re7 payable only after other loans made in connec8 tion with such project have been repaid in full,

9 and the security, if any, for such Federal finan10 cial assistance may be subordinate and inferior

11 to the lien or liens securing other loans made

12 in connection with the same project.

13 ‘‘SEC. 203. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT LIQUIDATING FUND.

14 ‘‘The Economic Development Revolving Fund estab15 lished before the date of the enactment of the Economic

16 Development and Financing Act of 1995 shall continue

17 to be available to the Secretary as a liquidating account

18 as defined under section 502 of the Federal Credit Reform

19 Act of 1990 for payment of obligations and costs in con20 nection with financial assistance extended under this Act

21 before October 1, 1991.
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1 ‘‘TITLE III—STRATEGIC PLAN2 NING, RESEARCH, INFORMA3 TION, AND TECHNICAL AS4 SISTANCE

5 ‘‘Subtitle A—Strategic Economic

6 Development Planning, Re7 search, and Information

8 ‘‘SEC. 301. OFFICE OF STRATEGIC ECONOMIC DEVELOP9 MENT PLANNING AND POLICY.

10 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall estab11 lish an Office of Strategic Economic Development Plan12 ning and Policy (hereafter in this section referred to as

13 ‘the Office’).

14 ‘‘(b) DUTIES.—The duties of the administrator of the

15 Office are as follows:

16 ‘‘(1) RESEARCH, EVALUATION AND DEM17 ONSTRATION.—To support research, evaluation and

18 demonstration projects to study and assess best

19 practices in economic development and to examine

20 trends and changes in economic conditions that ef21 fect regional development.

22 ‘‘(2) POLICY DEVELOPMENT.—To develop rec23 ommendations on both short- and long-term policies

24 regarding economic development issues and pro25 grams, to help foster the diffusion of innovative, best
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1 practices in economic development throughout the

2 Department of Commerce.

3 ‘‘(3) COORDINATION.—To take a leading role in

4 developing and promoting means for greater coordi5 nation among States, regions and local communities

6 in the design and implementation of economic devel7 opment strategies, and shall work in conjunction

8 with Federal agencies on developing and implement9 ing means for reducing fragmentation and increase

10 coordination among Federal programs that provide

11 economic development assistance.

12 ‘‘(4) INFORMATION DISSEMINATION.—To spon13 sor and support conferences, workshops, and other

14 forums to bring together the best scholars and prac15 titioners in the field to effectively disseminate knowl16 edge of the state-of-the-art in economic development

17 to Federal, State, and local development organiza18 tions. It shall also disseminate information on all as19 pects of economic development through electronic

20 and printed media, making such information widely

21 accessible.

22 ‘‘(c) RESEARCH IN CAUSES OF LONG-TERM ECO23 NOMIC DETERIORATION.—

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—To assist in the long-range

25 accomplishment of the purposes of this Act, the Sec-
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1 retary, in cooperation with other agencies having

2 similar functions, shall establish and conduct a con3 tinuing program of study, training, and research

4 to—

5 ‘‘(A) assist in determining the causes of

6 unemployment, underemployment, under7 development, and chronic depression in the var8 ious areas and regions of the Nation,

9 ‘‘(B) assist in the formulation and imple10 mentation of national, State, and local pro11 grams which will raise income levels and other12 wise produce solutions to the problems resulting

13 from these conditions, and

14 ‘‘(C) assist in providing the personnel

15 needed to conduct such programs.

16 ‘‘(2) MANNER OF PROVIDING STUDY, ASSIST17 ANCE.—The program of study, training, and re18 search may be conducted by the Secretary

19 through—

20 ‘‘(A) members of the Secretary’s staff;

21 ‘‘(B) the payment of funds authorized for

22 this section to other departments or agencies of

23 the Federal Government;
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1 ‘‘(C) the employment of private individ2 uals, partnerships, firms, corporations, or suit3 able institutions;

4 ‘‘(D) contracts entered into for such pur5 poses;

6 ‘‘(E) grants to such individuals, organiza7 tions, or institutions as the Secretary deter8 mines to be appropriate; or

9 ‘‘(F) conferences and similar meetings or10 ganized for such purposes.

11 ‘‘(3) AVAILABILITY OF RESULTS OF RE12 SEARCH.—The Secretary shall make available to in13 terested individuals and organizations the results of

14 such research.

15 ‘‘(4) ANNUAL REPORT OF SECRETARY.—The

16 Secretary shall include in the annual report under

17 section 606 a detailed statement concerning the

18 study and research conducted under this section to19 gether with the Secretary’s findings and conclusions

20 and such recommendations for legislative and other

21 action as the Secretary may consider appropriate.

22 ‘‘(d) GEOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS TOOL.—

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall, in co24 operation with other appropriate Federal agencies

25 develop a computerized geographic analysis tool that
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1 all Federal departments and agencies and grant re2 cipients may use to evaluate the success of these

3 programs.

4 ‘‘(2) REPORT.—Not later than 6 months after

5 the date of the enactment of the Economic Develop6 ment and Financing Act of 1995, the Secretary shall

7 transmit to Congress a report on use of the comput8 erized geographic analysis tool developed pursuant to

9 paragraph (1) by Federal departments and agencies.

10 ‘‘(e) INDEPENDENT ADVISORY COMMITTEE.—The

11 Secretary shall establish an advisory committee made up

12 of representatives from major State, local, and nonprofit

13 economic development organizations as well as nationally

14 recognized experts on innovative approaches to economic

15 development to advise and make recommendations to the

16 Office.

17 ‘‘(f) FEDERAL COORDINATING COUNCIL FOR ECO18 NOMIC DEVELOPMENT.—

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall estab20 lish a Federal Coordinating Council for Economic

21 Development (hereafter in this section referred to as

22 the ‘Council’).

23 ‘‘(2) COMPOSITION OF COUNCIL.—The Council

24 shall be composed of representatives from the Fed-
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1 eral agencies involved in matters that affect regional

2 economic development.

3 ‘‘(3) DUTIES.—The council shall assist in pro4 viding a unifying framework for economic and re5 gional development efforts and develop a govern6 mentwide strategic plan for economic development.

7 ‘‘(g) GRANTS AND CONTRACTS FOR DEMONSTRATION

8 PROJECTS; PURPOSES.—The Secretary may make grants,

9 enter into contracts, or otherwise provide funds for any

10 demonstration project in an eligible area which the Sec11 retary determines is designed to foster regional productiv12 ity and growth, prevent outmigration, and otherwise carry

13 out the purposes of this Act.

14 ‘‘SEC. 302. OFFICE OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT INFORMA15 TION.

16 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall estab17 lish the Office of Economic Development Information

18 (hereafter in this section referred to as the ‘Office’) within

19 the Office of Strategic Economic Development Planning

20 and Policy.

21 ‘‘(b) DUTIES.—The duties of the administrator of the

22 Office shall be to—

23 ‘‘(1) serve as a central information clearing24 house on matters relating to economic development,

25 economic adjustment, industrial retention, disaster
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1 recovery, and defense conversion programs and ac2 tivities of the Federal and State governments, in3 cluding political subdivisions of the States; and

4 ‘‘(2) help potential and actual applicants for

5 economic development, economic adjustment, disas6 ter recovery, industrial retention, and defense con7 version assistance under Federal, State and local

8 laws in locating and applying for such assistance, in9 cluding financial and technical assistance.

10 ‘‘(c) INFORMATION DATA BASES.—

11 ‘‘(1) USES.—The Office shall develop informa12 tion data bases for use by Federal departments and

13 agencies, State and local governmental agencies,

14 public and private entities, and individuals to assist

15 such agencies, entities, and individuals in the proc16 ess of identifying and applying for assistance and re17 sources under economic development, economic ad18 justment, disaster recovery, industrial retention, and

19 defense conversion programs and activities of the

20 Federal, State, and local governments.

21 ‘‘(2) SPECIFIC KINDS OF INFORMATION RE22 QUIRED TO BE INCLUDED.—The data bases shall in23 clude the following kinds of information:

24 ‘‘(A) A comprehensive compilation of all

25 relevant information concerning available eco-
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1 nomic development, economic adjustment, disas2 ter recovery, industrial retention, and defense

3 conversion programs of the Federal Govern4 ment, including key contact people, descriptions

5 of the application process, eligibility require6 ments and criteria, selection and followup pro7 cedures, and other such relevant information.

8 ‘‘(B) A compilation of major State and

9 local governmental economic development, eco10 nomic adjustment, disaster relief, industrial re11 tention, and defense conversion assistance pro12 grams, including lists of appropriate offices, of13 ficers, and contact personnel connected with, or

14 involved in, such programs.

15 ‘‘(C) A compilation of relevant economic

16 data and trends, including information about

17 the national, regional and local impacts of trade

18 agreements, defense spending and downsizing,

19 technological change, and other sources of sub20 stantial economic dislocation.

21 ‘‘(D) A compilation of case studies and

22 ‘best practices’ in economic development, ad23 justment and conversion.

24 ‘‘(E) A compilation of technology develop25 ment, deployment, diffusion, and commer-
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1 cialization programs, assistance and resources

2 provided by Federal agencies, including listings

3 of patents, licenses, and technologies, and proc4 esses owned, or held in part, by the Federal

5 Government, and other such information as re6 ferred to in section 722 and any other relevant

7 information, such as major State and local pro8 grams, to assist technology development, de9 ployment and commercialization in economic de10 velopment, adjustment and conversion efforts.

11 ‘‘(F) A compilation of published works

12 (books, reports, articles, videos, and tapes), and

13 selected texts of such works, related to all fac14 ets of economic development, economic adjust15 ment and defense conversion.

16 ‘‘(G) A compilation of information on case

17 studies on early warning and intervention

18 efforts.

19 ‘‘(3) POINTS OF PUBLIC ACCESS.—

20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Office shall es21 tablish several mechanisms to assure easy, ac22 cess by the public and others to such data

23 bases, and to assure that the data bases be as

24 accessible, user-friendly, culturally neutral, and

25 affordable as possible.
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1 ‘‘(B) OUTREACH.—The Office shall con2 duct an extensive outreach to States and com3 munities, and to a wide range of constituencies,

4 including State and local government officials,

5 chambers of commerce, industrial organizations,

6 labor unions, and community-based organiza7 tions, to publicize the existence of the data

8 banks and other assistance and services pro9 vided under this section, and how to acquire

10 such assistance and services, and access such

11 data banks.

12 ‘‘(C) MEANS OF ACCESS.—Access to the

13 Office’s data services shall include the following

14 means:

15 ‘‘(i) A toll-free nationwide telephone

16 number to provide direct phone access to

17 the public.

18 ‘‘(ii) On-line electronic access through

19 existing computer network services and

20 publicly available computer data base ac21 cess facilities, such as at repository librar22 ies and by direct call-in via modem.

23 ‘‘(iii) Printed manuals and orientation

24 materials.
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1 ‘‘(iv) Periodic orientation workshops

2 available to the public.

3 ‘‘(v) On-call information specialists to

4 address special problems requiring person5 to-person assistance.

6 ‘‘(d) CONSULTATIVE MEETINGS.—The Office shall

7 conduct, on an annual basis, consultative meetings and

8 briefings with constituencies from several different types

9 of distressed areas and regions, drawn from local and

10 State governments, economic development districts, Indian

11 tribes, business, labor, community and public interest or12 ganizations and academic institutions. Such meetings and

13 briefings shall be held in these different areas to introduce

14 the Office’s programs and receive comments and rec15 ommendations concerning the Office’s services and how to

16 expand and improve them.

17 ‘‘(e) INTERAGENCY COORDINATION.—The Secretary

18 shall enter into such agreements and understandings as

19 may be necessary with other Federal departments and

20 agencies to coordinate the accomplishment of the objec21 tives of this section.

22 ‘‘SEC. 303. UNIFORM GRANT APPLICATION FORM.

23 ‘‘(a) DEVELOPMENT.—The Secretary shall, in co24 operation with the heads of appropriate Federal depart25 ments and agencies, develop a general, simplified applica-
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1 tion form for grant assistance under this Act which may

2 be used by all Federal departments and agencies which

3 provide grant assistance.

4 ‘‘(b) REPORT.—Not later than 6 months after the

5 date of the enactment of this section, the Secretary shall

6 transmit to Congress a report on use of the form devel7 oped pursuant to subsection (a) by Federal departments

8 and agencies.

9 ‘‘Subtitle B—Technical Assistance

10 and Economic Development

11 Planning

12 ‘‘SEC. 311. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.

13 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the duties of the

14 Secretary under this Act, the Secretary may provide tech15 nical assistance which would be useful in alleviating or

16 preventing conditions of excessive unemployment or

17 underemployment to areas which the Secretary finds have

18 substantial need for such assistance, including assistance

19 for project planning and feasibility studies, management

20 and operational assistance, and studies evaluating the

21 needs of, and developing potentialities for, economic

22 growth of such areas.

23 ‘‘(b) PROCEDURES AND TERMS.—
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1 ‘‘(1) MANNER OF PROVIDING ASSISTANCE.—As2 sistance may be provided by the Secretary

3 through—

4 ‘‘(A) members of the Secretary’s staff;

5 ‘‘(B) the payment of funds authorized for

6 this section to other departments or agencies of

7 the Federal Government;

8 ‘‘(C) the employment of private individ9 uals, partnerships, firms, corporations, or suit10 able institutions;

11 ‘‘(D) contracts entered into for such pur12 poses; or

13 ‘‘(E) grants-in-aid to appropriate public or

14 private nonprofit State, area, district, or local

15 organizations.

16 ‘‘(2) REPAYMENT TERMS.—The Secretary, in

17 the Secretary’s discretion, may require the repay18 ment of assistance provided under this subsection

19 and prescribe the terms and conditions of such re20 payment.

21 ‘‘(c) GRANTS COVERING ADMINISTRATIVE EX22 PENSES.—

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may make

24 grants to defray not to exceed 75 percent of the ad25 ministrative expenses of organizations which he de-
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1 termines to be qualified to receive grants-in-aid

2 under subsection (a), except that in the case of a

3 grant under this subsection to an Indian tribe the

4 Secretary is authorized to defray up to 100 percent

5 of such expenses.

6 ‘‘(2) DETERMINATION OF NON-FEDERAL

7 SHARE.—In determining the amount of the non-Fed8 eral share of administrative costs or expenses, the

9 Secretary shall give due consideration to all con10 tributions both in cash and in kind, fairly evaluated,

11 including space, equipment, and services.

12 ‘‘(3) USE OF GRANTS WITH PLANNING

13 GRANTS.—Where practicable, grants-in-aid author14 ized under this subsection shall be used in conjunc15 tion with other available planning grants, such as

16 urban planning grants authorized under the Housing

17 Act of 1954 and highway planning and research

18 grants authorized under the Federal Aid Highway

19 Act of 1962, to assure adequate and effective plan20 ning and economical use of funds.

21 ‘‘(d) AVAILABILITY OF TECHNICAL INFORMATION;

22 FEDERAL PROCUREMENT.—The Secretary shall aid areas

23 by furnishing to interested individuals, communities, in24 dustries, and enterprises within such areas any assistance,

25 technical information, market research, or other forms of
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1 assistance, information, or advice which would be useful

2 in alleviating or preventing conditions of excessive unem3 ployment or underemployment within such areas. The Sec4 retary may furnish the procurement divisions of the var5 ious departments, agencies, and other instrumentalities of

6 the Federal Government with a list containing the names

7 and addresses of business firms which are desirous of ob8 taining Government contracts for the furnishing of sup9 plies or services, and designating the supplies and services

10 such firms are engaged in providing.

11 ‘‘SEC. 312. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PLANNING.

12 ‘‘(a) DIRECT GRANTS.—

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may, upon

14 application of any State, or city, or other political

15 subdivision of a State, or sub-State planning and de16 velopment organization (including an economic de17 velopment district or any area described in section

18 401(a)(4)), to make direct grants to such State, city,

19 other political subdivision, or organization pay up to

20 80 percent of the cost for economic development

21 planning.

22 ‘‘(2) PLANNING PROJECTS SPECIFICALLY IN23 CLUDED.—The planning for cities, other political

24 subdivisions, and sub-State planning and develop25 ment organizations (including an economic develop-
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1 ment district or an area described in section

2 401(a)(4)) assisted under this section shall include

3 systematic efforts to reduce unemployment and in4 crease incomes.

5 ‘‘(3) PLANNING PROCESS.—The planning shall

6 be a continuous process involving public officials and

7 private citizens in analyzing local economies, defin8 ing development goals, determining project opportu9 nities, and formulating and implementing a develop10 ment program.

11 ‘‘(4) COOPERATIVE DEVELOPMENT OF INVEST12 MENT STRATEGY.—Any State investment strategy

13 prepared with assistance under this section shall be

14 prepared cooperatively by the State, the political

15 subdivisions of the State, and the economic develop16 ment districts and areas described in section

17 401(a)(4) located in whole or in part within such

18 State.

19 ‘‘(5) STATE CERTIFICATION.—Upon completion

20 of any such strategy, the State shall certify to the

21 Secretary that—

22 ‘‘(A) in the preparation of such State in23 vestment strategy, the local and economic devel24 opment district strategies were considered and,

25 to the fullest extent possible, such State strat-
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1 egy is consistent with such local and economic

2 development district strategies; and

3 ‘‘(B) such State strategy is consistent with

4 such local and economic development district

5 strategies, or, if such State strategy is not con6 sistent with such local and economic develop7 ment district strategies, all of the inconsist8 encies of the State strategy with the local and

9 economic development district strategies, and

10 the justification for each of these inconsist11 encies.

12 ‘‘(6) COMPREHENSIVE PLANNING PROCESS.—

13 The development of any State investment strategy

14 shall be a part of a comprehensive planning process

15 that shall consider the provisions of public works

16 to—

17 ‘‘(A) stimulate and channel development,

18 economic opportunities, and choices for individ19 uals;

20 ‘‘(B) support sound land use;

21 ‘‘(C) enhance and protect the environment

22 including the conservation and preservation of

23 open spaces and environmental quality;

24 ‘‘(D) provide public services; and
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1 ‘‘(E) balance physical and human re2 sources through the management and control of

3 physical development.

4 ‘‘(7) COORDINATION OF ASSISTANCE UNDER

5 311(c).—The assistance available under this section

6 may be provided in addition to assistance available

7 under section 311(c) but shall not supplant such

8 assistance.

9 ‘‘(8) ANNUAL REPORT BY RECIPIENT.—Each

10 State receiving assistance under this subsection shall

11 submit to the Secretary an annual report on the

12 planning process assisted under this subsection.

13 ‘‘(b) COMPLIANCE WITH REVIEW PROCEDURE.—The

14 planning assistance authorized under this title shall be

15 used in conjunction with any other available Federal plan16 ning assistance to assure adequate and effective planning

17 and economical use of funds.

18 ‘‘SEC. 313. BUSINESS OUTREACH CENTER DEMONSTRATION

19 PROJECT.

20 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall conduct a

21 project in each of fiscal years 1995 through 1997 with

22 funds made available under this title for the purpose of

23 demonstrating methods of assisting isolated small busi24 nesses to access small business services provided by Fed25 eral, State, and local governments.
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1 ‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT OF CENTERS.—In conducting

2 the demonstration project under this section, the Sec3 retary shall establish 3 business outreach centers.

4 ‘‘(c) PURPOSE OF CENTERS.—It shall be the purpose

5 of each business outreach center established under this

6 section—

7 ‘‘(1) to provide a one-stop clearinghouse to as8 sist isolated small businesses in accessing small busi9 ness services provided by Federal, State, and local

10 governments; and

11 ‘‘(2) to improve efficiency in the delivery of

12 such services.

13 ‘‘(d) SERVICES TO BE PROVIDED.—Each business

14 outreach center established under this section shall pro15 vide the following services:

16 ‘‘(1) Outreach to isolated small businesses.

17 ‘‘(2) Assessment of the need of isolated small

18 businesses for assistance services.

19 ‘‘(3) Referral of isolated small businesses to

20 small business assistance agencies.

21 ‘‘(4) Preparation of materials required by iso22 lated small businesses for participation in small

23 business assistance programs.

24 ‘‘(5) Case management to assure follow up and

25 quality control of business services.
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1 ‘‘(6) Coordination of networking among isolated

2 small businesses.

3 ‘‘(7) Quality control of small business assist4 ance services.

5 ‘‘(e) ISOLATED SMALL BUSINESS DEFINED.—For

6 the purposes of this section, the term ‘isolated small busi7 ness’ means a small business that is unable to effectively

8 access small business services provided by Federal, State,

9 and local governments due to linguistic, cultural, or geo10 graphic barriers.

11 ‘‘SEC. 314. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

12 ‘‘There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out

13 this title $37,524,000 for fiscal year 1995 and

14 $50,000,000 for fiscal year 1996. Such sums shall remain

15 available until expended.

16 ‘‘TITLE IV—ELIGIBILITY AND

17 INVESTMENT STRATEGIES

18 ‘‘SEC. 401. AREA ELIGIBILITY.

19 ‘‘(a) CERTIFICATION.—In order to be eligible for as20 sistance under title I or II, an applicant seeking assistance

21 to undertake a project shall certify, as part of an applica22 tion for such assistance, that, as of the date of submission

23 of such application, the area in which the project is located

24 meets 1 or more of the following criteria:
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1 ‘‘(1) The area has a per capita income of 80

2 percent or less of the national average.

3 ‘‘(2) The area has an unemployment rate 1 per4 cent above the national average percentage for the

5 most recent 24-month period for which statistics are

6 available.

7 ‘‘(3) The area has experienced or is about to

8 experience a sudden economic dislocation resulting

9 in job loss that is significant both in terms of the

10 number of jobs eliminated and the effect upon the

11 employment rate of the area.

12 ‘‘(4) The area is a community or neighborhood

13 (defined without regard to political or other subdivi14 sions or boundaries) which the Secretary determines

15 has 1 or more of the following conditions:

16 ‘‘(A) A large concentration of low-income

17 persons.

18 ‘‘(B) Rural areas having substantial out19 migration.

20 ‘‘(C) Substantial unemployment.

21 ‘‘(b) DOCUMENTATION.—A certification made under

22 subsection (a) shall be supported by Federal data, when

23 available, and in other cases by data available through the

24 State government. Such documentation shall be accepted
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1 by the Secretary unless it is determined to be inaccurate.

2 The most recent statistics available shall be used.

3 ‘‘(c) SPECIAL RULE.—No area which meets the cri4 teria of subsection (a) shall be subject to the requirements

5 of subparagraphs (A) and (C) of section 101(a)(1).

6 ‘‘(d) PRIOR DESIGNATIONS.—Any designation of a

7 redevelopment area under this title made before the date

8 of the enactment of the Economic Development and Fi9 nancing Act of 1995 shall not be effective after such date

10 of enactment.

11 ‘‘(e) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this Act, the

12 term ‘large concentration of low-income persons’ means an

13 area with a median family income of not more than 80

14 percent of the national median family income.

15 ‘‘SEC. 402. INVESTMENT STRATEGY.

16 ‘‘The Secretary may provide assistance under this

17 Act to an applicant for a project to be undertaken in an

18 area only if the applicant submits to the Secretary, as part

19 of an application for such assistance, and the Secretary

20 approves an investment strategy which—

21 ‘‘(1) identifies the economic development prob22 lems to be addressed using such assistance;

23 ‘‘(2) identifies past, present, and projected fu24 ture economic development investments in such area
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1 and public and private participants and sources of

2 funding for such investments;

3 ‘‘(3) sets forth a strategy for addressing the

4 economic problems identified pursuant to paragraph

5 (1) and describes how the strategy will solve such

6 problems;

7 ‘‘(4) provides a description of the project nec8 essary to implement the strategy, estimates of costs

9 and time tables; and

10 ‘‘(5) provides a summary of public and private

11 resources expected to be available for such project.

12 ‘‘SEC. 403. DEFINITION.

13 ‘‘For purposes of this Act, the term ‘economic devel14 opment district’ means—

15 ‘‘(1) an economic development district des16 ignated before the date of enactment of the Eco17 nomic Development and Financing Act of 1995

18 under section 403(a) of the Public Works and Eco19 nomic Development Act of 1965, as in effect on the

20 day before such date; and

21 ‘‘(2) any district within a State which—

22 ‘‘(A) is designated by the Secretary;

23 ‘‘(B) is of sufficient size or population and

24 contains sufficient resources to foster economic
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1 development on a scale involving more than 1

2 county; and

3 ‘‘(C) does not contain within its boundaries

4 any part of another economic development dis5 trict designated under subparagraph (A).

6 ‘‘SEC. 404. FUNDING.

7 ‘‘Amounts authorized to be appropriated under other

8 sections of this Act shall be available for the purposes of

9 carrying out this title.

10 ‘‘TITLE V—ADMINISTRATION

11 ‘‘SEC. 501. APPOINTMENT OF ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF

12 COMMERCE AND ADMINISTRATOR FOR ECO13 NOMIC DEVELOPMENT; COMPENSATION.

14 ‘‘(a) ADMINISTRATION OF ACT.—The Secretary shall

15 administer this Act and, with the assistance of an Assist16 ant Secretary of Commerce, in addition to those already

17 provided for, shall supervise and direct the Administrator

18 appointed pursuant to subsection (c).

19 ‘‘(b) APPOINTMENT OF ASSISTANT SECRETARY.—

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Assistant Secretary

21 whose position is established under subsection (a)

22 shall be appointed by the President, by and with the

23 advice and consent of the Senate.
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1 ‘‘(2) DUTIES.—The Assistant Secretary ap2 pointed under paragraph (1) shall perform such

3 functions as the Secretary may prescribe.

4 ‘‘(c) ADMINISTRATOR FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOP5 MENT.—There shall be appointed by the President, by and

6 with the advice and consent of the Senate, an Adminis7 trator for Economic Development who—

8 ‘‘(1) shall be compensated at the rate provided

9 for level V of the Federal Executive Salary Schedule

10 under section 5316 of title 5, United States Code;

11 and

12 ‘‘(2) shall perform such duties as are assigned

13 by the Secretary.

14 ‘‘SEC. 502. CONSULTATION OF SECRETARY WITH OTHER

15 PERSONS AND AGENCIES.

16 ‘‘(a) CONSULTATION ON PROBLEMS RELATING TO

17 UNEMPLOYMENT.—The Secretary may, from time to time,

18 call together and confer with any persons, including rep19 resentatives of labor, management, agriculture, and gov20 ernment, who can assist in meeting the problems of area

21 and regional unemployment or underemployment.

22 ‘‘(b) CONSULTATION ON ADMINISTRATION OF ACT.—

23 The Secretary may make provision for such consultation

24 with interested departments and agencies as he may deem
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1 appropriate in the performance of the functions vested in

2 him by this Act.

3 ‘‘SEC. 503. ADMINISTRATION, OPERATION, AND MAINTE4 NANCE.

5 ‘‘No Federal assistance shall be approved under this

6 Act unless the Secretary is satisfied that the project for

7 which Federal assistance is granted will be properly and

8 efficiently administered, operated, and maintained.

9 ‘‘SEC. 504. EXPEDITED PROCESSING OF APPLICATIONS.

10 ‘‘(a) GUIDELINES.—Not later than 60 days after the

11 date of the enactment of the Economic Development and

12 Financing Act of 1995, the Assistant Secretary for Eco13 nomic Development shall—

14 ‘‘(1) publish guidelines to expedite the process15 ing of applications for assistance under this Act; and

16 ‘‘(2) transmit to the Committee on Public

17 Works and Transportation and the Committee on

18 Banking, Finance and Urban Affairs of the House

19 of Representatives and the Committee on Environ20 ment and Public Works and the Committee on

21 Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate

22 a report containing such guidelines.

23 ‘‘(b) CONTENTS.—Guidelines to be published under

24 subsection (a) shall, at a minimum, provide for the

25 following:
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1 ‘‘(1) Increased reliance on self-certification by

2 applicants to establish compliance with other Fed3 eral laws.

4 ‘‘(2) Greater use of uniform application forms

5 and procedures.

6 ‘‘(3) Delegation of decisionmaking authority to

7 regional offices.

8 ‘‘(4) Reduction in the time and number of re9 views conducted by other offices of the Department

10 of Commerce.

11 ‘‘SEC. 505. PERFORMANCE EVALUATIONS OF GRANT RE12 CIPIENTS.

13 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—At least once every 2 years, the

14 Secretary shall conduct an evaluation of each university

15 center and economic development district receiving grant

16 assistance under this Act to assess the recipient’s perform17 ance and contribution toward job creation.

18 ‘‘(b) CRITERIA.—

19 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall es20 tablish criteria for use in conducting evaluations

21 under subsection (a).

22 ‘‘(2) CRITERIA FOR UNIVERSITY CENTERS.—

23 The criteria for evaluation of a university center

24 shall, at a minimum, provide for an assessment of

25 the center’s contribution to providing technical as-
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1 sistance, conducting applied research, and dissemi2 nating results of the center’s activities.

3 ‘‘(3) CRITERIA FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

4 DISTRICTS.—The criteria for evaluation of an eco5 nomic development district shall, at a minimum, pro6 vide for an assessment of management standards, fi7 nancial accountability, and program performance.

8 ‘‘(c) PEER REVIEW.—In conducting an evaluation of

9 a university center under subsection (a), the Secretary

10 shall provide for the participation of at least 1 other uni11 versity center on a cost-reimbursement basis.

12 ‘‘TITLE VI—MISCELLANEOUS

13 ‘‘SEC. 601. POWERS OF SECRETARY.

14 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In performing the duties of the

15 Secretary under this Act, the Secretary may—

16 ‘‘(1) adopt, alter, and use a seal, which shall be

17 judicially noticed;

18 ‘‘(2) hold such hearings, sit and act at such

19 times and places, and take such testimony, as the

20 Secretary may deem advisable;

21 ‘‘(3) request directly from any executive depart22 ment, bureau, agency, board, commission, office,

23 independent establishment, or instrumentality infor24 mation, suggestions, estimates, and statistics needed

25 to carry out the purposes of this Act; and each de-
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1 partment, bureau, agency, board, commission, office,

2 establishment or instrumentality is authorized to

3 furnish such information, suggestions, estimates,

4 and statistics directly to the Secretary;

5 ‘‘(4) under regulations prescribed by the Sec6 retary, assign or sell at public or private sale, or oth7 erwise dispose of for cash or credit, in the Sec8 retary’s discretion and upon such terms and condi9 tions and for such consideration as the Secretary de10 termines to be reasonable, any evidence of debt, con11 tract, claim, personal property, or security assigned

12 to or held by the Secretary in connection with grants

13 or loans made or evidences of indebtedness pur14 chased under this Act, and collect or compromise all

15 obligations assigned to or held by him in connection

16 with such grants, loans, or evidences of indebtedness

17 until such time as such obligations may be referred

18 to the Attorney General for suit or collection;

19 ‘‘(5) further extend the maturity of or renew

20 any loan made or evidence of indebtedness pur21 chased under this Act, beyond the periods stated in

22 such loan or evidence of indebtedness or in this Act,

23 for additional periods not to exceed 10 years, if such

24 extension or renewal will aid in the orderly liquida25 tion of such loan or evidence of indebtedness;
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1 ‘‘(6) deal with, complete, renovate, improve,

2 modernize, insure, rent, or sell for cash or credit,

3 upon such terms and conditions and for such consid4 eration as the Secretary determines to be reasonable,

5 any real or personal property conveyed to, or other6 wise acquired by, the Secretary in connection with

7 grants or loans made or evidences of indebtedness

8 purchased under this Act;

9 ‘‘(7) pursue to final collection, by way of com10 promise or other administrative action, prior to ref11 erence to the Attorney General, all claims against 3d

12 parties assigned to the Secretary in connection with

13 grants or loans made or evidences of indebtedness

14 purchased under this Act;

15 ‘‘(8) acquire, in any lawful manner, any prop16 erty (real, personal, or mixed, tangible or intangi17 ble), whenever necessary or appropriate to the con18 duct of activities under section 201, 202, 311, or

19 411;

20 ‘‘(9) in addition to any powers, functions, privi21 leges, and immunities otherwise vested in the Sec22 retary, take any action, including the procurement of

23 the services of attorneys by contract, determined by

24 the Secretary to be necessary or desirable in making,

25 purchasing, servicing, compromising, modifying, liq-
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1 uidating, or otherwise administratively dealing with

2 or realizing on loans made or evidences of indebted3 ness purchased under this Act;

4 ‘‘(10) employ experts and consultants or organi5 zations as authorized by section 3109 of title 5,

6 compensate individuals so employed at rates not in

7 excess of $100 per diem, including travel time, and

8 allow them, while away from their homes or regular

9 places of business, travel expenses (including per

10 diem in lieu of subsistence) as authorized by section

11 5703 of title 5 for persons in the Government serv12 ice employed intermittently, while so employed, ex13 cept that contracts for such employment may be re14 newed annually;

15 ‘‘(11) sue and be sued in any court of record

16 of a State having general jurisdiction or in any Unit17 ed States district court, and jurisdiction is conferred

18 upon such district court to determine such con19 troversies without regard to the amount in con20 troversy; but no attachment, injunction, garnish21 ment, or other similar process, mesne or final, shall

22 be issued against the Secretary or his property; and

23 ‘‘(12) establish such regulations and procedures

24 as the Secretary may deem appropriate in carrying

25 out the provisions of this Act.
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1 ‘‘(b) DEFICIENCY JUDGMENTS.—The authority

2 under paragraph (7) of subsection (a) to pursue claims

3 shall include the authority to obtain deficiency judgments

4 or otherwise in the case of mortgages assigned to the

5 Secretary.

6 ‘‘(c) INAPPLICABILITY OF CERTAIN OTHER RE7 QUIREMENTS.—Section 3709 of the Revised Statutes of

8 the United States shall not apply to any contract of haz9 ard insurance or to any purchase or contract for services

10 or supplies on account of property obtained by the Sec11 retary as a result of grants or loans made or evidences

12 of indebtedness purchased under this Act if the premium

13 for the insurance or the amount of the insurance does not

14 exceed $1,000.

15 ‘‘(d) POWERS OF CONVEYANCE AND EXECUTION.—

16 The power to convey and to execute, in the name of the

17 Secretary, deeds of conveyance, deeds of release, assign18 ments and satisfactions of mortgages, and any other writ19 ten instrument relating to real or personal property or any

20 interest therein acquired by the Secretary pursuant to the

21 provisions of this Act may be exercised by the Secretary,

22 or by any officer or agent appointed by the Secretary for

23 such purpose, without the execution of any express delega24 tion of power or power of attorney.
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1 ‘‘(e) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—No provision of this

2 section shall be construed to except the activities under

3 this Act from the application of sections 507(b), 517 and

4 2679 of title 28.

5 ‘‘SEC. 602. SAVING PROVISIONS.

6 ‘‘(a) EFFECT OF ADOPTION OF ACT ON OTHER AC7 TIONS.—No suit, action, or other proceeding lawfully com8 menced by or against the Administrator or any other offi9 cer of the Area Redevelopment Administration in the Ad10 ministrator’s or officer’s official capacity or in relation to

11 the discharge of the Administrator’s official duties under

12 the Area Redevelopment Act shall abate by reason of the

13 taking effect of the provisions of this Act, but the court

14 may, on motion or supplemental petition filed at any time

15 within 12 months after such taking effect, showing a ne16 cessity for the survival of such suit, action, or other pro17 ceeding to obtain a settlement of the questions involved,

18 allow the same to be maintained by or against the Sec19 retary or the Administrator or such other officer of the

20 Department of Commerce as may be appropriate.

21 ‘‘(b) TREATMENT OF POWERS AND DUTIES.—Except

22 as may be otherwise expressly provided in this Act, all

23 powers and authorities conferred by this Act shall be cu24 mulative and additional to and not in derogation of any

25 powers and authorities otherwise existing.
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1 ‘‘(c) CONTINUED EFFECTIVENESS OF PRIOR REGU2 LATIONS, ETC.—All rules, regulations, orders, authoriza3 tions, delegations, or other actions duly issued, made, or

4 taken by or pursuant to applicable law, prior to August

5 26, 1965, by any agency, officer, or office pertaining to

6 any functions, powers, and duties under the Area Redevel7 opment Act shall continue in full force and effect after

8 August 26, 1965, until modified or rescinded by the Sec9 retary or such other officer of the Department of Com10 merce as, in accordance with applicable law, may be

11 appropriate.

12 ‘‘SEC. 603. TRANSFER OF FUNCTIONS OF AREA REDEVELOP13 MENT ADMINISTRATION.

14 ‘‘The functions, powers, duties, and authorities and

15 the assets, funds, contracts, loans, liabilities, commit16 ments, authorizations, allocations, and records which are

17 vested in or authorized to be transferred to the Secretary

18 of the Treasury under section 29(b) of the Area Redevel19 opment Act, and all functions, powers, duties, and authori20 ties under section 29(c) of such Act are hereby vested in

21 the Secretary.

22 ‘‘SEC. 604. SEPARABILITY.

23 ‘‘Notwithstanding any other evidence of the intent of

24 Congress, it is hereby declared to be the intent of Congress

25 that if any provision of this Act or the application thereof
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1 to any persons or circumstances shall be adjudged by any

2 court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, such judg3 ment shall not affect, impair, or invalidate the remainder

4 of this Act or its application to other persons and cir5 cumstances, but shall be confined in its operation to the

6 provision of this Act or the application thereof to the per7 sons and circumstances directly involved in the con8 troversy in which such judgment shall have been rendered.

9 ‘‘SEC. 605. DEFINITION OF STATE.

10 ‘‘For purposes of this Act, the terms ‘State’ and

11 ‘United States’ include the several States, the District of

12 Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin

13 Islands, Guam, and American Samoa.

14 ‘‘SEC. 606. ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS.

15 ‘‘The Secretary shall make a comprehensive and de16 tailed annual report to the Congress of his operations

17 under this Act for each fiscal year beginning with the fis18 cal year ending June 30, 1966. Such report shall be print19 ed and shall be transmitted to the Congress not later than

20 April 1 of the year following the fiscal year with respect

21 to which such report is made.

22 ‘‘SEC. 607. USE OF OTHER FACILITIES.

23 ‘‘(a) DELEGATION OF FUNCTIONS TO OTHER FED24 ERAL DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES.—The Secretary

25 may delegate to the heads of other departments and agen-
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1 cies of the Federal Government any of the Secretary’s

2 functions, powers, and duties under this Act as he may

3 deem appropriate, and to authorize the redelegation of

4 such functions, powers, and duties by the heads of such

5 departments and agencies.

6 ‘‘(b) DEPARTMENT AND AGENCY EXECUTION OF

7 DELEGATED AUTHORITY.—Departments and agencies of

8 the Federal Government shall exercise their powers, du9 ties, and functions in such manner as will assist in carry10 ing out the objectives of this Act.

11 ‘‘(c) TRANSFER OF FUNDS.—

12 ‘‘(1) TRANSFER BETWEEN DEPARTMENTS.—

13 Funds authorized to be appropriated under this Act

14 may be transferred between departments and agen15 cies of the Government, if such funds are used for

16 the purposes for which they are specifically author17 ized and appropriated.

18 ‘‘(2) TRANSFER FOR OTHER PURPOSES UNDER

19 THIS ACT.—Funds authorized to be appropriated

20 under this Act may be transferred between functions

21 established under different titles of this Act, if such

22 funds are used for the purposes for which they are

23 specifically authorized and appropriated. Such trans24 ferred funds shall remain available until expended,

25 and may be transferred to and merged with the ap-
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1 propriations under the heading ‘salaries and ex2 penses’ by the Secretary to the extent that the total

3 amount of such transfer and merger shall not exceed

4 5 percent of such transferred funds.

5 ‘‘(d) FUNDS TRANSFERRED FROM OTHER DEPART6 MENTS AND AGENCIES.—In order to carry out the objec7 tives of this Act, the Secretary may accept transfers of

8 funds from other departments and agencies of the Federal

9 Government if the funds are used for the purposes for

10 which (and in accordance with the terms under which) the

11 funds are specifically authorized and appropriated.

12 ‘‘SEC. 608. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

13 ‘‘There are hereby authorized to be appropriated such

14 sums as may be necessary to carry out those provisions

15 of the Act for which specific authority for appropriations

16 is not otherwise provided in this Act except that there are

17 hereby authorized to be appropriated to carry out those

18 provisions of the Act for which specific authority for ap19 propriations is not otherwise provided in this Act not to

20 exceed $36,000,000 for the fiscal year ending September

21 30, 1996. Appropriations authorized under this Act shall

22 remain available until expended unless otherwise provided

23 by appropriations Acts. Amounts authorized to be appro24 priated under this section may be used to support a per25 sonnel level of up to 375 full-time equivalents and to ‘buy-
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1 out’ existing employees without the loss of the full-time

2 equivalent positions filled by such employees. Funds ap3 propriated to carry out the purposes of this Act are au4 thorized to be expended for the payment of all obligations

5 and expenditures arising from actions to protect the Gov6 ernment’s interest in grant property.

7 ‘‘SEC. 609. PENALTIES.

8 ‘‘(a) FALSE STATEMENTS; SECURITY OVER9 VALUATION.—Whoever makes any statement knowing it

10 to be false, or whoever willfully overvalues any security,

11 for the purpose of obtaining for such person or for any

12 applicant any financial assistance under section 101, 201,

13 202, or 411 or any extension of any such assistance by

14 renewal, deferment, or action, or otherwise, or the accept15 ance, release, or substitution of security for such assist16 ance, or for the purpose of influencing in any way the ac17 tion of the Secretary, or for the purpose of obtaining

18 money, property, or anything of value, under this Act,

19 shall be punished by a fine under title 18, United States

20 Code, imprisoned for not more than 5 years, or both.

21 ‘‘(b) EMBEZZLEMENT AND FRAUD-RELATED

22 CRIMES.—Whoever, being connected in any capacity with

23 the Secretary, in the administration of this Act—

24 ‘‘(1) embezzles, abstracts, purloins, or willfully

25 misapplies any moneys, funds, securities, or other
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1 things of value, whether belonging to such person or

2 pledged or otherwise entrusted to such person;

3 ‘‘(2) with intent to defraud the Secretary or

4 any other body politic or corporate, or any individ5 ual, or to deceive any officer, auditor, or examiner,

6 makes any false entry in any book, report, or state7 ment of or to the Secretary, or without being duly

8 authorized draws any order or issues, puts forth, or

9 assigns any note, debenture, bond, or other obliga10 tion, or draft, bill of exchange, mortgage, judgment,

11 or decree thereof;

12 ‘‘(3) with intent to defraud participates or

13 shares in or receives directly or indirectly any

14 money, profit, property, or benefit through any

15 transaction, loan, grant, commission, contract, or

16 any other act of the Secretary; or

17 ‘‘(4) gives any unauthorized information con18 cerning any future action or plan of the Secretary

19 which might affect the value of securities, or having

20 such knowledge invests or speculates, directly or in21 directly, in the securities or property of any com22 pany or corporation receiving loans, grants, or other

23 assistance from the Secretary,

24 shall be fined under title 18, United States Code, impris25 oned for not more than 5 years, or both.
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1 ‘‘SEC. 610. EMPLOYMENT OF EXPEDITERS AND ADMINIS2 TRATIVE EMPLOYEES.

3 ‘‘No financial assistance shall be extended by the Sec4 retary under section 101, 201, 202, or 411 to any business

5 enterprise unless the owners, partners, or officers of such

6 business enterprise—

7 ‘‘(1) certify to the Secretary the names of any

8 attorneys, agents, and other persons engaged by or

9 on behalf of such business enterprise for the purpose

10 of expediting applications made to the Secretary for

11 assistance of any sort, under this Act, and the fees

12 paid or to be paid to any such person; and

13 ‘‘(2) execute an agreement binding such busi14 ness enterprise, for a period of 2 years after such

15 assistance is rendered by the Secretary to such busi16 ness enterprise, to refrain from employing, tendering

17 any office or employment to, or retaining for profes18 sional services, any person who, on the date such as19 sistance or any part thereof was rendered, or within

20 the 1-year period ending on such date, shall have

21 served as an officer, attorney, agent, or employee,

22 occupying a position or engaging in activities which

23 the Secretary determines involves discretion with re24 spect to the granting of assistance under this Act.
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1 ‘‘SEC. 611. LABOR STANDARDS; RATE OF WAGES; ASSUR2 ANCE OF MAINTENANCE OF STANDARDS; EN3 FORCEMENT.

4 ‘‘All laborers and mechanics employed by contractors

5 or subcontractors on projects assisted by the Secretary

6 under this Act shall be paid wages at rates not less than

7 those prevailing on similar construction in the locality as

8 determined by the Secretary of Labor in accordance with

9 the Act of March 3, 1931, known as the Davis-Bacon Act.

10 The Secretary shall not extend any financial assistance

11 under section 101, 201, 202, 411, or 703 for such a

12 project without first obtaining adequate assurance that

13 these labor standards will be maintained upon the con14 struction work. The Secretary of Labor shall have, with

15 respect to the labor standards specified in this provision,

16 the authority and functions set forth in Reorganization

17 Plan Numbered 14 of 1950 and section 2 of the Act of

18 June 13, 1934 (Chapter 482; 48 Stat. 948).

19 ‘‘SEC. 612. MAINTENANCE OF RECORDS OF APPROVED AP20 PLICATIONS FOR FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE;

21 PUBLIC INSPECTION.

22 ‘‘(a) MAINTENANCE OF RECORD REQUIRED.—The

23 Secretary shall maintain as a permanent part of the

24 records of the Department of Commerce a list of applica25 tions approved for financial assistance under section 3131,

26 3141, 3142, or 3171 of this title, which shall be kept avail-
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1 able for public inspection during the regular business

2 hours of the Department of Commerce.

3 ‘‘(b) POSTING TO LIST.—The following information

4 shall be posted in such list as soon as each application

5 is approved:

6 ‘‘(1) The name of the applicant and, in the case

7 of corporate applications, the names of the officers

8 and directors of the corporation.

9 ‘‘(2) The amount and duration of the loan or

10 grant for which application is made.

11 ‘‘(3) The purposes for which the proceeds of the

12 loan or grant are to be used.

13 ‘‘(4) A general description of the security of14 fered in the case of a loan.

15 ‘‘SEC. 613. RECORDS AND AUDIT.

16 ‘‘(a) RECORDKEEPING AND DISCLOSURE REQUIRE17 MENTS.—Each recipient of assistance under this Act shall

18 keep such records as the Secretary shall prescribe, includ19 ing records which fully disclose the amount and the dis20 position by such recipient of the proceeds of such assist21 ance, the total cost of the project or undertaking in con22 nection with which such assistance is given or used, and

23 the amount and nature of that portion of the cost of the

24 project or undertaking supplied by other sources, and such

25 other records as will facilitate an effective audit.
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1 ‘‘(b) ACCESS TO BOOKS FOR EXAMINATION AND

2 AUDIT.—The Secretary and the Comptroller General of

3 the United States, or any of their duly authorized rep4 resentatives, shall have access for the purpose of audit and

5 examination to any books, documents, papers, and records

6 of the recipient that are pertinent to assistance received

7 under this Act.

8 ‘‘SEC. 614. PROHIBITION AGAINST A STATUTORY CON9 STRUCTION WHICH MIGHT CAUSE DIMINU10 TION IN OTHER FEDERAL ASSISTANCE.

11 ‘‘All financial and technical assistance authorized

12 under this Act shall be in addition to any Federal assist13 ance previously authorized, and no provision hereof shall

14 be construed as authorizing or permitting any reduction

15 or diminution in the proportional amount of Federal as16 sistance to which any State or any other entity eligible

17 under this Act would otherwise be entitled under the provi18 sions of any other Act.

19 ‘‘SEC. 615. ACCEPTANCE OF APPLICANTS’ CERTIFICATIONS.

20 ‘‘The Secretary may accept, when deemed appro21 priate, the applicants’ certifications to meet the require22 ments of this Act.

23 ‘‘SEC. 616. SUPERVISION OF REGIONAL COUNSELS.

24 ‘‘The Secretary shall take such actions as may be

25 necessary to ensure that individuals serving as Regional
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1 Counsels of the Economic Development Administration re2 port directly to their respective Regional Director.

3 ‘‘TITLE VII—SPECIAL ECONOMIC

4 DEVELOPMENT AND ADJUST5 MENT ASSISTANCE

6 ‘‘Subtitle A—Grants and

7 Adjustment Assistance

8 ‘‘SEC. 701. STATEMENT OF PURPOSE.

9 ‘‘The purpose of this title is to provide special eco10 nomic development and adjustment assistance programs

11 to help State and local areas meet special needs arising

12 from actual or threatened severe unemployment arising

13 from economic dislocation, including unemployment aris14 ing from actions of the Federal Government and from

15 compliance with environmental requirements which re16 move economic activities from a locality, and economic ad17 justment problems resulting from severe changes in eco18 nomic conditions (including long-term economic deteriora19 tion), and to encourage cooperative intergovernmental ac20 tion to prevent or solve economic adjustment problems.

21 Nothing in this title is intended to replace the efforts of

22 the economic adjustment program of the Department of

23 Defense.
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1 ‘‘SEC. 702. ELIGIBLE RECIPIENT DEFINED.

2 ‘‘As used in this title, the term ‘eligible recipient’

3 means an economic development district (as defined in

4 section 411), an Indian tribe, a State, a city or other polit5 ical subdivision of a State, or a consortium of such politi6 cal subdivisions, or a public or private nonprofit organiza7 tion or association.

8 ‘‘SEC. 703. GRANTS BY SECRETARY.

9 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—

10 ‘‘(1) DIRECT GRANTS.—The Secretary may

11 make grants directly to any eligible recipient in an

12 area which—

13 ‘‘(A) the Secretary has determined has ex14 perienced, or may reasonably be foreseen to be

15 about to experience, a special need to meet an

16 expected rise in unemployment, or other eco17 nomic adjustment problems (including those

18 caused by any action or decision of the Federal

19 Government); or

20 ‘‘(B) the Secretary determines has dem21 onstrated long-term economic deterioration, to

22 carry out or develop a plan which—

23 ‘‘(i) meets the requirements of sub24 section (b); and

25 ‘‘(ii) is approved by the Secretary to

26 use such grants for any of the following:
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1 ‘‘(I) Public facilities.

2 ‘‘(II Public services.

3 ‘‘(III) Business development.

4 ‘‘(IV) Industrial retention.

5 ‘‘(V) Planning.

6 ‘‘(VI) Research.

7 ‘‘(VII Technical assistance.

8 ‘‘(VIII) Administrative expenses.

9 ‘‘(IX) Training.

10 ‘‘(X) Relocation of individuals

11 and businesses.

12 ‘‘(XI) Assistance to business

13 through trade adjustment assistance

14 centers.

15 ‘‘(XII) Other assistance which

16 demonstrably furthers the economic

17 development and adjustment objec18 tives of this title.

19 ‘‘(2) DIRECT EXPENDITURE OR REDISTRIBU20 TION BY RECIPIENT.—Grants under paragraph (1)

21 may be used in direct expenditures by the eligible re22 cipient or through redistribution by it to public and

23 private entities in grants, loans, loan guarantees,

24 payments to reduce interest on loan guarantees, or

25 other appropriate assistance, but no grant shall be
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1 made by an eligible recipient to a private profit2 making entity.

3 ‘‘(3) RESEARCH AND TECHNICAL ASSIST4 ANCE.—The Secretary may conduct research or pro5 vide technical assistance for purposes of this title di6 rectly through members of the Secretary’s staff or

7 through the payment of funds to other departments

8 or agencies of the Federal Government.

9 ‘‘(b) CRITERIA FOR APPROVAL OF PLAN.—No plan

10 shall be approved by the Secretary under this section un11 less the plan—

12 ‘‘(1) identifies each economic development and

13 adjustment need of the area for which assistance is

14 sought under this title;

15 ‘‘(2) describes each activity planned to meet

16 each such need;

17 ‘‘(3) explains the details of the method of carry18 ing out each such planned activity;

19 ‘‘(4) contains assurances satisfactory to the

20 Secretary that the proceeds from the repayment of

21 loans made by the eligible recipient with funds

22 granted under this title will be used for economic de23 velopment or adjustment; and

24 ‘‘(5) be in such form and contain such addi25 tional information as the Secretary shall prescribe.
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1 ‘‘(c) COORDINATION OF ACTIVITIES WITH OTHER

2 FEDERAL PROGRAMS, REGIONAL COMMISSIONS, STATES,

3 ETC.—The Secretary to the extent practicable shall co4 ordinate the activities relating to the requirements for

5 plans and making grants and loans under this title with

6 other Federal programs, regional commissions, States,

7 economic development districts and other appropriate

8 planning and development organizations.

9 ‘‘(d) PRIORITIZING NEEDS AND SELECTION CRI10 TERIA FOR ASSISTANCE.—

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall pre12 scribe regulations and procedures to carry out this

13 title which establish a method to prioritize applica14 tions and award funding in a manner which takes

15 into consideration the relative needs of eligible areas

16 and the capacity of the applicant organizations.

17 ‘‘(2) FACTORS TO BE CONSIDERED.—In pre18 scribing such regulations and procedures the Sec19 retary shall consider among other relevant factors—

20 ‘‘(A) the severity of the current and antici21 pated rates of unemployment in the eligible

22 areas and the current and anticipated duration

23 of such unemployment;

24 ‘‘(B) the income levels of families and the

25 extent of underemployment in eligible areas;
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1 ‘‘(C) the economic development records of

2 the applicant organization, including the organi3 zation’s prior experience and its capacity to

4 leverage or attract funding from the private

5 sector;

6 ‘‘(D) the ability of the applicant organiza7 tion to raise funds necessary to meet any

8 matching requirements applicable to the assist9 ance provided under this title;

10 ‘‘(E) how the applicant organization will

11 coordinate or create partnerships with other or12 ganizations in the community and the extent to

13 which the applicant will increase the resources

14 for economic development activities through

15 such coordination or by forging partnerships

16 with private financial institutions; and

17 ‘‘(F) the applicant organization’s record in

18 targeting assistance to economically distressed

19 communities.

20 ‘‘(e) BASE CLOSINGS AND REALIGNMENTS.—

21 ‘‘(1) LOCATION OF PROJECTS.—In any case in

22 which the Secretary determines a need for assistance

23 under subsection (a) due to the closure or realign24 ment of a military installation, the Secretary may

25 make such assistance available for projects to be
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1 carried out on the military installation and for

2 projects to be carried out in communities adversely

3 affected by the closure or realignment.

4 ‘‘(2) INTEREST IN PROPERTY.—Notwithstand5 ing any other provision of law, the Secretary may

6 provide to an eligible recipient any assistance avail7 able under this Act for a project to be carried out

8 on a military installation that is closed or scheduled

9 for closure or realignment without requiring that the

10 eligible recipient have title to the property or a lease11 hold interest in the property for any specified term.

12 ‘‘SEC. 704. ANNUAL REPORTS BY RECIPIENT AND SEC13 RETARY.

14 ‘‘(a) RECIPIENT’S REPORT.—Each eligible recipient

15 which receives assistance under this title shall annually

16 during the period such assistance continues make a full

17 and complete report to the Secretary, in such manner as

18 the Secretary shall prescribe, and such report shall contain

19 an evaluation of the effectiveness of the economic assist20 ance provided under this title in meeting the need it was

21 designed to alleviate and the purposes of this title.

22 ‘‘(b) SECRETARY’S REPORT.—The Secretary shall in23 clude in the annual report pursuant to section 3217 of

24 this title a consolidated report with his recommendations,
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1 if any, on the assistance authorized under this title, in

2 a form which he deems appropriate.

3 ‘‘SEC. 705. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

4 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be appro5 priated to carry out this title $175,000,000 for fiscal year

6 1995 and $175,000,000 for fiscal year 1996. Such sums

7 shall remain available until expended.

8 ‘‘(b) SET-ASIDE FOR DEFENSE CONVERSION ACTIVI9 TIES.—Of amounts appropriated pursuant to subsection

10 (a) for fiscal year 1995, not less than $100,000,000 shall

11 be available for purposes of assisting eligible recipients in

12 activities related to defense conversion.

13 ‘‘(c) ADDITIONAL AMOUNTS.—In addition to the ap14 propriations authorized by subsection (a), there is author15 ized to be appropriated to carry out this title such sums

16 as may be necessary to provide assistance for defense con17 version activities and to provide assistance in the case of

18 a natural disaster. Such sums shall remain available until

19 expended.

20 ‘‘Subtitle B—Economic

21 Development Financing

22 ‘‘SEC. 711. GUARANTEED LOAN PROGRAM.

23 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—To the extent the Secretary

24 deems it appropriate to carry out the purposes of this title,

25 the Secretary may guarantee loans made to private bor-
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1 rowers by private lending institutions, community develop2 ment financial institutions, and other lenders as the Sec3 retary considers appropriate.

4 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE ACTIVITIES.—Activities for which

5 loans may be guaranteed under this title include the devel6 opment of land and facilities (including machinery and

7 equipment) for industrial or commercial usage (such as

8 the construction of new buildings and the rehabilitation

9 of abandoned or unoccupied buildings, and alterations,

10 conversion, or enlargement of existing buildings), or for

11 the provision of working capital.

12 ‘‘(c) TERMS AND CONDITIONS.—

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may make

14 such guarantees upon application of the lenders and

15 upon such terms and conditions as the Secretary

16 may prescribe, except that no such guarantee shall

17 at any time exceed 90 percent of the amount of the

18 outstanding unpaid balance of such loans.

19 ‘‘(2) PRESUMPTION OF VALIDITY.—Guarantees

20 under paragraph (1) shall be conclusive evidence

21 that the guarantee has been properly obtained, that

22 the underlying loan qualifies for such guarantee, and

23 that, but for fraud or material misrepresentation by

24 the holder, such guarantee will be presumed to be

25 valid, legal, and enforceable.
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1 ‘‘(3) FULL FAITH AND CREDIT OF U.S.—Guar2 antees under paragraph (1) shall have the full faith

3 and credit of the United States Government.

4 ‘‘(4) LENDER RESPONSIBILITIES.—No guaran5 tee may be provided unless the lender is responsible

6 and makes adequate provision for servicing the loan

7 on reasonable terms and for protecting the financial

8 interest of the United States.

9 ‘‘(5) PROHIBITION ON CERTAIN LOAN GUARAN10 TEES.—No loan may be guaranteed if the proceeds

11 of such loan are excluded from gross income for the

12 purposes of Chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code

13 of 1986 or if the guarantee provides sufficient collat14 eral or security, as determined by the Secretary, for

15 other obligations the income from which is so

16 excluded.

17 ‘‘(d) PREFERRED LENDER PREFERENCE.—To the

18 extent feasible, the Secretary shall conduct the guarantee

19 program established under this subsection on a preferred

20 lender basis and authorize lenders, in accordance with

21 agreements entered into between the Secretary and such

22 lenders, to take such actions on the Secretary’s behalf as

23 the Secretary deems appropriate, including, but not lim24 ited to, the determination of eligibility and credit worthi25 ness and loan monitoring, collection and liquidation.
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1 ‘‘SEC. 712. PILOT EQUITY FINANCE PROGRAM.

2 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In order to study the feasibility

3 and desirability of a program of equity financing, the Sec4 retary shall establish a 5-year pilot program under which

5 the Secretary may, either directly or through grants made

6 to eligible recipients (as defined in section 702), purchase

7 or commit to purchase nonvoting equity instruments, with

8 or without equity warrants or commit to guarantee the

9 payment of up to 50 percent of the redemption price of,

10 and dividends on, such equity instruments of private Unit11 ed States businesses or nonprofit organizations and asso12 ciations for the purpose of providing capital for any

13 project which is consistent with the provisions of this title.

14 ‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT OF FUND.—For purposes of

15 conducting the pilot program provided under subsection

16 (a), the Secretary shall establish an Equity Investment

17 Revolving Fund to carry out the purposes of this section.

18 ‘‘(c) DISPOSAL OF EQUITY INSTRUMENTS.—The Sec19 retary shall endeavor to dispose of any equity instruments

20 purchased or guaranteed under this section within the 10-

21 year period beginning on the date of the acquisition of

22 such interest.

23 ‘‘(d) USE OF PAYMENTS.—

24 ‘‘(1) USE OF PAYMENTS TO THE SECRETARY.—

25 Amounts received by the Secretary from the pay26 ment of dividends and the redemption of equity in-
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1 struments shall be deposited in the Equity Invest2 ment Revolving Fund and shall be available to make

3 or guarantee additional equity investments consist4 ent with this section.

5 ‘‘(2) USE OF PAYMENTS TO ELIGIBLE RECIPI6 ENT INTERMEDIARIES.—Of the amounts received by

7 eligible recipient intermediaries from the payment of

8 dividends and the redemption of equity instru9 ments—

10 ‘‘(A) up to 50 percent may be retained by

11 such organizations to make or guarantee addi12 tional equity investments consistent with this

13 section; and

14 ‘‘(B) no less than 50 percent shall be re15 turned to the Secretary to be deposited into the

16 Fund established under subsection (b) to make

17 or guarantee additional equity investments con18 sistent with this section.

19 ‘‘(e) INVESTMENT OF EXCESS FUNDS.—If the Sec20 retary determines that the amount of money in the Fund

21 exceeds the current requirements of the Fund, the Sec22 retary may direct the Secretary of the Treasury to invest

23 such amounts in obligations of the United States, in obli24 gations guaranteed by the United States Government, or
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1 in such other obligations or securities of the United States

2 as the Secretary of the Treasury deems appropriate.

3 ‘‘(f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—In addi4 tion to the funds authorized to be appropriated under sec5 tion 705, there are authorized to be appropriated

6 $10,000,000 for fiscal year 1996, to carry out this section.

7 Such sums shall remain available until expended.

8 ‘‘SEC. 713. TREATMENT OF REVOLVING LOAN FUNDS.

9 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Amounts from grants under this

10 title which are used by an eligible recipient to establish

11 a revolving loan fund shall not be treated, except as pro12 vided by subsection (b), as amounts derived from Federal

13 funds for the purposes of any Federal law after such

14 amounts are loaned from the fund to a borrower and re15 paid to the fund.

16 ‘‘(b) EXCEPTION.—Amounts described in subsection

17 (a) which are loaned from a revolving loan fund to a bor18 rower and repaid to the fund—

19 ‘‘(1) may only be used for projects which are

20 consistent with the purposes of this title; and

21 ‘‘(2) shall be subject to the financial manage22 ment, accounting, reporting, and auditing standards

23 which were originally applicable to such amounts.
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1 ‘‘(c) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 30 days after

2 the enactment of this section, the Secretary shall issue

3 regulations to carry out subsection (a).

4 ‘‘(d) PUBLIC REVIEW AND COMMENT.—Before issu5 ing any final guidelines or administrative manuals govern6 ing the operation of revolving loan funds established using

7 amounts from grants under this title, the Secretary shall

8 provide reasonable opportunity for public review of and

9 comment on such guidelines and administrative manuals.

10 ‘‘SEC. 714. SALE OF FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS IN REVOLV11 ING LOAN FUNDS.

12 ‘‘Any loan, loan guarantee, equity, or other financial

13 instrument in the portfolio of a Revolving Loan Fund may

14 be sold, at the discretion of the administrator of the Fund,

15 to a third party provided that the proceeds of the sale—

16 ‘‘(1) shall be deposited in the Fund and only

17 used for projects which are consistent with the pur18 poses of this title, and

19 ‘‘(2) shall be subject to the financial manage20 ment, accounting, reporting, and auditing standards

21 which were originally applicable to the financial

22 instrument.
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1 ‘‘SEC. 715. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CHALLENGE GRANTS

2 DEMONSTRATION PROJECT.

3 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In order to study the feasibility

4 and desirability of using challenge grants to generate new

5 pools of investment capital in areas suffering from long6 term economic deterioration, the Secretary shall establish

7 a multiyear demonstration project under which the Sec8 retary shall provide grants to selected recipients, to be

9 matched by the recipients 1 dollar for every 2 Federal dol10 lars, for the purpose of establishing substantially leveraged

11 financing for business development and other innovative

12 economic development efforts.

13 ‘‘(b) FEDERAL AND COMMUNITY CONTRIBUTIONS.—

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall grant 2

15 dollars for every 1 dollar raised by each selected re16 cipient, up to $10,000,000 per year per selected re17 cipient.

18 ‘‘(2) USE OF OTHER FEDERAL FUNDS IN CON19 JUNCTION WITH CHALLENGE GRANT.—Funds from

20 other Federal programs may be used in conjunction

21 or merged with the challenge grant and matching

22 funds to form a larger investment fund.

23 ‘‘(c) ESTABLISHMENT AND USE OF FUNDS.—

24 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—For purposes of this

25 Act, an investment fund established by a selected re26 cipient consists of—
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1 ‘‘(A) the economic development challenge

2 grant received by the selected recipient;

3 ‘‘(B) the matching funds required under

4 subsection (b); and

5 ‘‘(C) any such other funds that may be de6 rived from other sources, including other Fed7 eral funds.

8 ‘‘(2) USE.—An investment fund shall be used

9 by the selected recipients for the purposes of gener10 ating long-term sustainable economic development

11 and job growth in areas identified by the selected re12 cipients, pursuant to the requirements and limita13 tions of eligibility and performance in subsections

14 (d), (e), (f), (g) and (h).

15 ‘‘(d) ELIGIBLE RECIPIENTS.—The Secretary shall

16 make grants to any eligible recipients for use in an area

17 which must meet 1 or more of the following criteria:

18 ‘‘(1) The area has a per capita income of 80

19 percent or less of the national average.

20 ‘‘(2) The area has an unemployment rate 1 per21 cent above the national average percentage for the

22 more recent 24-month period for which statistics are

23 available.

24 ‘‘(3) The area has been determined by the Sec25 retary to have at least 1 of the following conditions:
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1 ‘‘(A) A large concentration of low-income

2 persons (as defined in section 401(e)).

3 ‘‘(B) Areas having substantial outmigra4 tion.

5 ‘‘(C) Substantial underemployment or un6 employment.

7 An eligible recipient may include any local government or

8 group of local governments, economic development dis9 trict, Indian tribe, public or private nonprofit organization

10 or association, community-based organization, business or

11 worker organization, or any consortium of such entities,

12 that is able to demonstrate to the satisfaction of the Sec13 retary that they can carry out the objectives of this pro14 gram pursuant to the criteria and requirements estab15 lished in this section.

16 ‘‘(e) SELECTION OF DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS.—

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall make

18 grants to selected recipients from 3 to 5 areas suf19 fering from long-term economic distress.

20 ‘‘(2) DISTRIBUTION.—At least 1 selected recipi21 ent shall be from a rural area, 1 from a declining

22 industrial area, and 1 from an area that is a com23 bination of rural, small metropolitan, and suburban

24 communities.
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1 ‘‘(3) INDUSTRIAL RETENTION STRATEGY RE2 QUIREMENT.—Of the 3 recipients described in para3 graph (2), at least 1 of the projects selected shall in4 clude an industrial retention strategy.

5 ‘‘(f) GRANT SELECTION PROCESS.—

6 ‘‘(1) NATIONAL COMPETITION.—The Secretary

7 shall select recipients of the challenge grants

8 through a nationally competitive process.

9 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENT.—Each se10 lected recipient must submit a comprehensive strat11 egy for generating sustained, long-term economic

12 growth and for both preserving and creating high13 quality jobs.

14 ‘‘(3) PREFERENCE FOR CERTAIN PROJECTS.—

15 The Secretary shall give preference to eligible recipi16 ents which—

17 ‘‘(A) utilize Federal the grant plus match18 ing funds to further leverage private and public

19 capital to create an even larger economic devel20 opment investment fund;

21 ‘‘(B) represent consortia or partnerships

22 comprised of at least 2 or more of the groups

23 identified in subsection (d); or

24 ‘‘(C) intend to use their investment funds

25 to finance or leverage financing for new busi-
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1 ness development and startups, industrial serv2 ices, industrial modernization of local-based

3 firms or industrial retention (including em4 ployee stock ownership plans and worker or

5 management buyouts), or other economic devel6 opment strategies that illustrate ‘best practices’

7 in economic development.

8 ‘‘(4) BROAD-BASED PARTICIPATION TO BE EN9 COURAGED.—The Secretary shall strongly encourage

10 broad-based participation of public and private enti11 ties within an area in the development and imple12 mentation of the challenge grant proposals submit13 ted by eligible recipients.

14 ‘‘(g) LIMITATIONS.—The investment funds estab15 lished by the selected recipients shall—

16 ‘‘(1) not be used to permit units of State and

17 local government to offer tax inducements to attract

18 businesses to locate in the area; and

19 ‘‘(2) be subject to the same conditions described

20 in section 202(b)(1).

21 No area may receive an economic development challenge

22 grant if it has been designated an empowerment or enter23 prise community under section 13301 of the Omnibus

24 Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993.
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1 ‘‘(h) PERFORMANCE EVALUATIONS; REPORT TO

2 CONGRESS.—

3 ‘‘(1) EVALUATION OF EFFECTIVENESS.—The

4 Secretary shall conduct performance evaluations of

5 the demonstration challenge grant project to assess

6 the effectiveness of this kind of program in generat7 ing sustained economic growth and job creation in

8 areas of the Nation experiencing long-term economic

9 distress.

10 ‘‘(2) REPORT.—Based on the evaluations con11 ducted pursuant to paragraph (1), the Secretary

12 shall submit an annual report to Congress with rec13 ommendations for expansion, modification or termi14 nation of the program.

15 ‘‘(i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—In addi16 tion to the funds authorized to be appropriated under sec17 tion 705, there is authorized to be appropriated

18 $30,000,000 for fiscal year 1996 to carry out this section.

19 Such sums shall remain available until expended.

20 ‘‘Subtitle C—Business Development

21 Assistance

22 ‘‘SEC. 721. FINDINGS, PURPOSES, AND DEFINITIONS.

23 ‘‘(a) FINDINGS.—The Congress hereby finds the

24 following:
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1 ‘‘(1) Through its support and funding of re2 search and development in this Nation’s Federal

3 agencies, laboratories, and educational institutions,

4 the Federal Government has fostered the creation of

5 thousands of patents, licenses, technologies, and

6 processes owned, or held in whole or part, by the

7 Federal Government.

8 ‘‘(2) If commercialized, these patents, licenses,

9 technologies, and processes owned, or held in whole

10 or part, by the Federal Government hold the poten11 tial to be a significant tool to foster economic devel12 opment and to create significant numbers of new

13 jobs at good wages for American workers.

14 ‘‘(3) The Federal Government has not been suf15 ficiently effective in encouraging the commercializa16 tion of these patents, licenses, technologies, and

17 processes owned, or held in whole or part, by the

18 Federal Government.

19 ‘‘(4) The Federal Government does not have an

20 effective mechanism to encourage the commercializa21 tion of these patents, licenses, technologies, and

22 processes by businesses located in parts of the Na23 tion in need of economic development.

24 ‘‘(5) Throughout the Federal Government,

25 there is no single inventory or source of information
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1 on patents, licenses, technologies, and processes

2 owned, or held in whole or part, by the Federal

3 Government.

4 ‘‘(6) Information on patents, licenses, tech5 nologies, and processes owned, or held in whole or

6 part, by the Federal Government is not standardized

7 in form or content, is separately maintained by nu8 merous Federal agencies and departments, and is

9 not easily accessible by the public.

10 ‘‘(7) Businesses and entrepreneurs in areas in

11 need of economic development are largely unaware of

12 the existence of these patents, licenses, technologies,

13 and processes, and largely unaware of the possibili14 ties for obtaining the rights to these patents, li15 censes, technologies, and processes for the purpose

16 of commercialization.

17 ‘‘(8) It is in the economic interest of the United

18 States to facilitate the private sector commercializa19 tion of patents, licenses, technologies, and processes

20 by United States businesses located in areas in need

21 of economic development.

22 ‘‘(9) Greater effectiveness will be achieved

23 through the utilization of the private sector cor24 porate structure and profit incentives in facilitating

25 the commercialization of patents, licenses, tech-
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1 nologies, and processes than can reasonably be ex2 pected by the Federal Government performing this

3 function.

4 ‘‘(b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this subtitle are

5 as follows:

6 ‘‘(1) To provide assistance to private-sector

7 United States businesses, located in areas in need of

8 economic development, to commercialize patents, li9 censes, technologies, and processes owned, or held in

10 whole or part, by the Federal Government.

11 ‘‘(2) To create new employment opportunities

12 by facilitating the commercialization of patents, li13 censes, technologies, and processes by United States

14 businesses and entrepreneurs in areas in need of

15 economic development.

16 ‘‘(3) To develop a single, comprehensive data

17 base of information on patents, licenses, tech18 nologies, and processes owned, or held in whole or

19 part, by the Federal Government, which is standard20 ized and easily accessible.

21 ‘‘(4) To heighten the awareness of United

22 States businesses and entrepreneurs of the availabil23 ity for commercialization of patents, licenses, tech24 nologies, and processes owned, or held in whole or

25 part, by the Federal Government.
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1 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this subtitle,

2 the following definitions shall apply:

3 ‘‘(1) SECRETARY.—The term ‘Secretary’ means

4 the Secretary of Commerce.

5 ‘‘(2) CORPORATION.—The term ‘Corporation’

6 means the Business Development and Technology

7 Commercialization Corporation established under

8 this subtitle.

9 ‘‘(3) BOARD.—The term ‘Board’ means the

10 Board of Directors of the Business Development and

11 Technology Commercialization Corporation.

12 ‘‘(4) QUALIFIED CONCERN.—The term ‘quali13 fied concern’ means a United States-based consor14 tium, a private United States business, or an edu15 cational institution participating in a joint project

16 with 1 or more private United States businesses, for

17 the development and commercialization of patents,

18 licenses, processes, and technologies—

19 ‘‘(A) owned or held in whole or part by

20 Federal departments, agencies, or government21 controlled corporations;

22 ‘‘(B) developed in Federal laboratories;

23 ‘‘(C) arising in the course of federally

24 funded research at educational institutions,
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1 other units of government, or with private con2 cerns; or

3 ‘‘(D) which are made available to the Fed4 eral Government by private concerns.

5 ‘‘SEC. 722. CONSOLIDATION OF INFORMATION ON TECH6 NOLOGIES.

7 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF DATA.—The Secretary

8 shall establish and maintain an integrated, comprehensive

9 data base describing all patents, licenses, technologies, and

10 processes owned, or held in whole or part, by the Federal

11 Government, or which originated in the course of federally

12 funded research in which the Federal Government has an

13 interest.

14 ‘‘(b) STANDARDIZATION AND ACCESSIBILITY OF IN15 FORMATION.—The Secretary shall take such steps as are

16 necessary to ensure that the information contained in the

17 data base established under subsection (a) is in a stand18 ardized form, is accessible and usable in a manner as sim19 ple and easy to use as possible, recognizing the needs of

20 small- and medium-sized businesses.

21 ‘‘(c) RESPONSIBILITIES.—In carrying out this sec22 tion, the Secretary shall—

23 ‘‘(1) consult with and, to the extent practicable,

24 utilize the capabilities of other executive agencies, as
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1 appropriate, to ensure the efficient and effective im2 plementation of this section; and

3 ‘‘(2) explore, with other executive agencies,

4 ways to avoid duplication of effort by consolidating

5 the administration of the program established by

6 this section with any other similar Federal program,

7 and as part of such consolidation may delegate ad8 ministrative functions, as necessary and appropriate,

9 to another executive agency.

10 ‘‘(d) OTHER FEDERAL AGENCIES.—Other executive

11 agencies shall provide such information, and in such form,

12 as determined by the Secretary and shall cooperate with

13 the Secretary in carrying out this section.

14 ‘‘(e) ACCESS TO THE DATA BASE.—

15 ‘‘(1) ACCESS TO THE DATA BASE BY THE COR16 PORATION.—Except as provided in paragraph (3),

17 the Secretary shall provide unlimited access to the

18 data base established under this section to the Busi19 ness Development and Technology Commercializa20 tion Corporation established under this part, without

21 fee, to assist the Corporation in meeting its respon22 sibilities under this Part.

23 ‘‘(2) ACCESS TO THE DATA BASE BY THE PUB24 LIC.—Except as provided in paragraph (3), the Sec25 retary shall, by regulation, develop and implement
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1 procedures providing for access to the data base es2 tablished under this section to members of the gen3 eral public.

4 ‘‘(3) RESTRICTIONS.—If, in consultation with

5 the heads of other executive agencies, the Secretary

6 determines that access by the Corporation or any

7 other person to information contained in the data

8 base established under this section would—

9 ‘‘(A) threaten national security;

10 ‘‘(B) violate the proprietary rights of any

11 private interest; or

12 ‘‘(C) be otherwise inappropriate,

13 the Secretary shall take such steps as the Secretary

14 may determine to be appropriate to limit access to

15 the information in the data base described in sub16 paragraph (A), (B), or (C) to the Corporation or

17 any other person.

18 ‘‘(f) REVIEW OF CURRENT FEDERAL TECHNOLOGY

19 TRANSFER EFFORTS.—

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall con21 duct a review of all technology transfer and commer22 cialization activities within all Federal departments,

23 agencies, and laboratories, or which are otherwise

24 supported by federal funds. This review shall iden25 tify those activities which may overlap or duplicate
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1 the technology transfer and commercialization activi2 ties provided for under this subtitle.

3 ‘‘(2) REPORTS.—Before the end of the 1-year

4 period beginning on the date of the enactment of the

5 Economic Development and Financing Act of 1995,

6 the Secretary shall issue a report to the Congress

7 describing in detail—

8 ‘‘(A) the findings of the review directed

9 under paragraph (1),

10 ‘‘(B) the funding levels of each existing

11 federal technology transfer and commercializa12 tion activities, and

13 ‘‘(C) recommendations for the modification

14 or elimination of any existing federal technology

15 transfer and commercialization activities which

16 he finds to be duplicative of the activities pro17 vided for under this subtitle.

18 ‘‘SEC. 723. BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT AND TECHNOLOGY

19 COMMERCIALIZATION CORPORATION.

20 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF CORPORATION.—

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There shall be established

22 a Business Development and Technology Commer23 cialization Corporation (hereafter in this section re24 ferred to as the ‘Corporation’).
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1 ‘‘(2) PURPOSE.—The Corporation shall be oper2 ated for the purpose of fostering economic growth,

3 assisting in the creation of new employment oppor4 tunities, and strengthening the industrial base of the

5 United States by providing credit for businesses and

6 by facilitating the transfer and commercialization of

7 patents, licenses, processes, and technologies—

8 ‘‘(A) owned or held in whole or part by

9 Federal departments, agencies, or government

10 controlled corporations;

11 ‘‘(B) developed in Federal laboratories;

12 ‘‘(C) arising in the course of federally

13 funded research at educational institutions,

14 other units of government, or with private con15 cerns; and

16 ‘‘(D) which are made available by private

17 concerns.

18 ‘‘(3) CORPORATION NOT AN ESTABLISHMENT

19 OF THE UNITED STATES.—The Corporation shall

20 not be an agency or establishment of the United

21 States.

22 ‘‘(b) PROCESS OF ORGANIZATION.—

23 ‘‘(1) INCORPORATION.—

24 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of

25 Commerce, the Secretary of Labor, and the Ad-
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1 ministrator of the Small Business Administra2 tion shall serve as the incorporators of the

3 Business Development and Technology Com4 mercialization Corporation and as the initial

5 members of the Board of Directors established

6 under subsection (c)(1) until their successors

7 are elected and qualified.

8 ‘‘(B) NECESSARY ACTION AUTHORIZED.—

9 The incorporators referred to in subparagraph

10 (A) shall take such other actions as may be nec11 essary to establish the Corporation, including

12 the filing of articles of incorporation.

13 ‘‘(2) OWNERSHIP OF THE CORPORATION.—

14 ‘‘(A) RETENTION OF FEDERAL GOVERN15 MENT INTEREST.—The Federal Government

16 shall retain a 60 percent nonvoting equity own17 ership of the Corporation, except as otherwise

18 provided under this subtitle.

19 ‘‘(B) SOLICITATION OF PROPOSALS FOR

20 EQUITY INVESTMENT AND MANAGEMENT.—Be21 fore the end of the 6-month period beginning on

22 the date of the enactment of the Economic De23 velopment and Financing Act of 1995, the Sec24 retary of Commerce shall solicit proposals for

25 the sale of the remaining 40 percent of the eq-
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1 uity ownership in the Corporation to a United

2 States private entity or consortium which will

3 assume the management and operation of the

4 Corporation.

5 ‘‘(C) DEADLINE FOR TRANSFER.—The sale

6 of the equity ownership interests pursuant to

7 paragraph (3) shall be completed before the end

8 of the 6-month period beginning on the date of

9 the enactment of the Economic Development

10 and Financing Act of 1995.

11 ‘‘(D) SUBSEQUENT STOCK OFFERING.—

12 Any subsequent stock offering in the Corpora13 tion will be managed in such a manner that 60

14 percent of such offering is conveyed as

15 nonvoting equity ownership, without cost, to the

16 Federal Government.

17 ‘‘(3) SELECTION CRITERIA AND PROCEDURES

18 FOR THE SALE OF 40 PERCENT OF THE EQUITY IN

19 THE CORPORATION.—

20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The President, in con21 sultation with the Secretary of Commerce, shall

22 make the final selection of a proposal for the

23 sale of 40 percent of the equity in the Corpora24 tion, as provided under this subsection.
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1 ‘‘(B) CRITERIA FOR SELECTING A PRO2 POSAL TO RECOMMEND TO THE PRESIDENT.—

3 In selecting a proposal to recommend to the

4 President for the sale of 40 percent of the eq5 uity in the Corporation, as described in sub6 paragraph (A), the Secretary of Commerce shall

7 take into consideration the following factors—

8 ‘‘(i) the quality of the operational

9 plan;

10 ‘‘(ii) the soundness of the financing of

11 the organization and of the operational

12 plan;

13 ‘‘(iii) the qualifications of, and the di14 versity of talents and skills represented by,

15 the submitters of the proposal, including

16 the extent to which a combination of orga17 nizations is submitting a joint proposal;

18 ‘‘(iv) whether a State government, or

19 unit of a State government, is participat20 ing financially with the organization sub21 mitting a proposal;

22 ‘‘(v) the intentions of the submitters

23 of the proposal to locate the headquarters

24 of the Corporation in an area which is not

25 located in the 50 largest Metropolitan Sta-
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1 tistical Areas, based on the 1990 Census;

2 and

3 ‘‘(vi) such other factors as the

4 incorporators determine to be appropriate

5 in meeting the objectives of this Act.

6 ‘‘(C) PROCEDURES FOR SELECTING A PRO7 POSAL TO RECOMMEND TO THE PRESIDENT.—

8 In selecting a proposal to recommend to the

9 President for the sale of 40 percent of the eq10 uity in the Corporation, as described in sub11 paragraph (A), the Secretary of Commerce shall

12 ensure that in the selection process—

13 ‘‘(i) not less than 3 proposals are

14 identified as proposals to receive further

15 consideration, as provided in clauses (ii)

16 and (iii), except that, if fewer than 3 pro17 posals are received, each of them shall re18 ceive further consideration;

19 ‘‘(ii) a review procedure is imple20 mented under which the sponsors of the

21 proposals identified in clause (i) are pro22 vided an opportunity to make personal

23 presentations of their proposals to the Sec24 retary or the Secretary’s designee; and
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1 ‘‘(iii) individual negotiations for the

2 revision of proposals identified in clause (i)

3 may be entered into.

4 ‘‘(4) CONVERSION OF NONVOTING EQUITY TO

5 VOTING EQUITY.—Before the solicitation for propos6 als in accordance with paragraph (2)(B), the Sec7 retary shall prescribe regulations setting forth the

8 circumstances under which the Federal Govern9 ment’s 60 percent nonvoting equity ownership may

10 be converted into voting equity ownership in order to

11 meet the objectives of this Act or otherwise protect

12 the interests of the American taxpayers.

13 ‘‘(c) DIRECTORS, OFFICERS, AND EMPLOYEES.—

14 ‘‘(1) BOARD OF DIRECTORS.—

15 ‘‘(A) APPOINTMENT AND NUMBER.—The

16 Corporation shall be under the management of

17 a Board of Directors (hereafter in this section

18 referred to as the ‘Board’) consisting of individ19 uals who are citizens of the United States, of

20 whom 1 shall be elected by the Board to serve

21 as chairperson.

22 ‘‘(B) TERM.—The members of the Board

23 shall be elected annually by the stockholders of

24 the Corporation.
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1 ‘‘(C) PROHIBITION ON CONFLICTS OF IN2 TEREST.—

3 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—A director may

4 not participate in the deliberations on, or

5 vote on, a matter regarding an application,

6 claim, or other matter pending before the

7 Corporation if, to the director’s knowledge,

8 the director, the director’s spouse, minor

9 child, parent, sibling, or partner, or any

10 organization, other than the Corporation,

11 in which the director is serving as an offi12 cer, director, trustee, partner, or employee,

13 or any person with whom the director is

14 negotiating or has any arrangement con15 cerning perspective employment, has a fi16 nancial interest in the matter.

17 ‘‘(ii) CONSEQUENCE OF VIOLATION.—

18 A director who violates this subparagraph

19 shall be subject to removal from the

20 Board, but such a violation shall not im21 pair, nullify, or otherwise affect the valid22 ity of any otherwise lawful action by the

23 Corporation in which such director partici24 pated.

25 ‘‘(D) COMPENSATION OF THE BOARD.—
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1 ‘‘(i) AMOUNT.—The rate of compensa2 tion of members of the Board shall be

3 fixed by the stockholders of the Corpora4 tion.

5 ‘‘(ii) FUNDS.—Funds for such com6 pensation shall be drawn from the capital

7 and earnings of the Corporation.

8 ‘‘(E) BYLAWS.—The Board may adopt and

9 amend bylaws governing the operation of the

10 Corporation in a manner consistent with the

11 provisions of this title and the articles of incor12 poration of the Corporation.

13 ‘‘(2) OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES.—

14 ‘‘(A) APPOINTMENT.—The Board shall ap15 point a chief executive officer, who shall have

16 the authority to appoint such other officers and

17 employees as the officer determines to be nec18 essary to carry out the provisions of this section

19 and the functions of the Corporation.

20 ‘‘(B) PROHIBITION ON CONFLICTS OF IN21 TEREST.—

22 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—An officer or em23 ployee may not participate in a matter re24 garding an application, claim, or other

25 matter pending before the Corporation if,
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1 to such person’s knowledge, the person, the

2 person’s spouse, minor child, parent, sib3 ling, or partner, or an organization, other

4 than the Corporation, in which the person

5 is serving as an officer, director, trustee,

6 partner, or employee, or any person with

7 whom the person is negotiating or has any

8 arrangement concerning perspective em9 ployment, has a financial interest in the

10 matter.

11 ‘‘(ii) CONSEQUENCE OF VIOLATION.—

12 An officer or employee who violates this

13 subparagraph shall be subject to termi14 nation, but such a violation shall not im15 pair, nullify, or otherwise affect the valid16 ity of any otherwise lawful action by the

17 Corporation in which such officer or em18 ployee participated.

19 ‘‘(C) COMPENSATION OF OFFICERS AND

20 EMPLOYEES.—

21 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Subject to clause

22 (i), the rate of compensation of the chief

23 executive officer, and all officers and em24 ployees, of the Corporation shall be fixed

25 by the Board.
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1 ‘‘(ii) DELEGATION TO C.E.O.—At the

2 discretion of the Board, the Board may

3 delegate to the chief executive officer, sub4 ject to the provisions of subparagraph (B),

5 the authority to fix the rate of compensa6 tion for other officers and employees.

7 ‘‘(D) SOURCE OF FUNDS FOR COMPENSA8 TION.—Funds for compensation for the chief

9 executive officer, and for all officers and em10 ployees, shall be drawn from the capital and

11 earnings of the Corporation.

12 ‘‘(E) TENURE.—Officers and employees

13 shall serve at the pleasure of the Board.

14 ‘‘(d) GENERAL POWERS.—The Corporation shall

15 have the power to do the following:

16 ‘‘(1) Have succession in the name of the Cor17 poration.

18 ‘‘(2) Adopt, alter, and use a corporate seal.

19 ‘‘(3) Sue and be sued in the name of the Cor20 poration.

21 ‘‘(4) Make and carry out contracts.

22 ‘‘(5) Exercise such other incidental powers not

23 inconsistent with this section that are necessary or

24 appropriate to carry out the purposes and functions

25 of the Corporation, including the usual powers con-
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1 ferred upon a corporation by the District of Colum2 bia Business Corporation Act.

3 ‘‘(6) Modify the name of the Corporation.

4 ‘‘(e) PROMOTION OF TECHNOLOGIES.—

5 ‘‘(1) MARKETING OF TECHNOLOGIES.—The

6 Corporation shall undertake an aggressive,

7 multifaceted outreach program to increase awareness

8 of the availability of patents, licenses, processes, and

9 technologies to qualified concerns under this subtitle.

10 This program shall emphasize the use of new infor11 mation technologies, including the utilization of

12 cable television and the modern electronic media,

13 and the data base established under this subtitle.

14 ‘‘(2) UTILIZATION OF CABLE TELEVISION.—

15 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In implementing the

16 outreach program provided under paragraph

17 (1), the Corporation shall enter into contracts

18 for the establishment of a cable television net19 work devoted to marketing efforts for the com20 mercialization of patents, licenses, processes,

21 and technologies—

22 ‘‘(i) owned or held in whole or part by

23 Federal departments, agencies, or govern24 ment controlled corporations,
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1 ‘‘(ii) developed in Federal labora2 tories,

3 ‘‘(iii) arising in the course of federally

4 funded research at educational institutions,

5 other units of government or with private

6 concerns; and

7 ‘‘(iv) which are otherwise made avail8 able to the government by private con9 cerns.

10 ‘‘(B) PROMOTIONAL FEES.—Under terms

11 negotiated between the Secretary and the Cor12 poration, the Secretary is authorized to make

13 payments to the Corporation for promotional

14 fees for the production of segments for broad15 cast over cable television, or other appropriate

16 media, which identify—

17 ‘‘(i) the technologies described in

18 paragraph (A);

19 ‘‘(ii) their potential commercial appli20 cations; and

21 ‘‘(iii) methods available for obtaining

22 additional information on the technologies.

23 ‘‘(3) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—

24 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Corporation shall,

25 upon request, provide technical assistance and
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1 services, as appropriate and needed, to qualified

2 concerns under this subtitle.

3 ‘‘(B) FEES.—The Corporation may—

4 ‘‘(i) charge fees for technical assist5 ance and services provided under this sec6 tion in amounts sufficient to cover the rea7 sonable cost of such assistance and serv8 ices; and

9 ‘‘(ii) waive such fees on a case-by-case

10 basis.

11 ‘‘(4) OUTREACH TO SPECIFIC AREAS.—The

12 Corporation shall seek to ensure that qualified con13 cerns located in areas determined by the Secretary

14 of Commerce to have a depressed economy or chron15 ically high unemployment are notified of the avail16 ability assistance through the program established

17 under this section and, to the extent practicable, to

18 encourage and facilitate the participation of such

19 qualified concerns in such program.

20 ‘‘(f) AUTHORITY TO REPRESENT THE GOVERN21 MENT.—

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In accordance with regula23 tions prescribed by the Secretary, the Corporation

24 shall act as an agent, and represent the interests, of

25 the Federal Government in facilitating the transfer
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1 of patents, licenses, processes, and technologies to

2 qualified concerns under this Act.

3 ‘‘(2) RIGHTS OF QUALIFIED CONCERNS.—In ac4 cordance with regulations promulgated by the Sec5 retary, the Corporation is authorized to convey, to

6 qualified concerns, under terms and conditions to be

7 negotiated between the Corporations and qualified

8 concerns, title, exclusive license, nonexclusive license,

9 or other rights which may be necessary and appro10 priate to facilitate the commercialization of patents,

11 licenses, processes, and technologies as provided

12 under this Act.

13 ‘‘(3) MINIMUM RIGHTS OF THE FEDERAL GOV14 ERNMENT.—In the conveyance of rights to qualified

15 concerns as provided for under paragraph (2), the

16 Corporation shall ensure the following:

17 ‘‘(A) The conveyance agreement contains

18 language providing for the right of the Corpora19 tion to revoke the rights provided under para20 graph (2) if—

21 ‘‘(i) the qualified concern does not

22 demonstrate that it is undertaking a good

23 faith effort to achieve the commercializa24 tion of the patent, license, process, or tech25 nology; or
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1 ‘‘(ii) the Secretary certifies that the

2 interests of national security or the general

3 welfare of the American people necessitates

4 the revocation of such rights.

5 ‘‘(B) The Federal Government retains a li6 cense to such patents, processes, and tech7 nologies for its own use.

8 ‘‘(C) The Federal Government receives in

9 compensation for the conveyance of such

10 rights—

11 ‘‘(i) royalty fees;

12 ‘‘(ii) partial equity ownership in the

13 qualified concerns to whom such rights are

14 conveyed;

15 ‘‘(iii) the right to share in the earn16 ings of the qualified entity proportionate to

17 the value of the rights so conveyed; or

18 ‘‘(iv) a sum of money or other com19 pensation that the Corporation determines

20 to be appropriate.

21 ‘‘(g) FINANCING OF CORPORATION.—

22 ‘‘(1) CAPITAL STOCK.—The Corporation may

23 issue and have outstanding, in such amounts as it

24 shall determine, shares of capital stock, without par
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1 value, which shall carry voting rights and be eligible

2 for dividends.

3 ‘‘(2) NONVOTING SECURITY ISSUES AND CER4 TIFICATES OF INDEBTEDNESS.—The Corporation

5 may issue, in addition to the stock authorized by

6 paragraph (1) of this section, nonvoting securities,

7 bonds, debentures, and other certificates of indebted8 ness as it may determine.

9 ‘‘(h) CONSULTATION WITH FEDERAL AGENCIES, AND

10 WITH PRIVATE PARTIES.—

11 ‘‘(1) CONSULTATION WITH FEDERAL AGEN12 CIES.—In carrying out this title, the Board and the

13 Corporation shall consult frequently with the Sec14 retary of Commerce, and such Federal agencies and

15 departments as is appropriate, to ensure coordina16 tion and the maximum utilization of all related Fed17 eral resources to promote technology transfer and

18 commercialization.

19 ‘‘(2) CONSULTATION WITH PRIVATE PARTIES.—

20 In carrying out this section, the Board and the Cor21 poration shall solicit comments from private parties,

22 including representatives of finance, industry, and

23 organized labor on the role of the Corporation and

24 the needs of private parties.
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1 ‘‘(i) AUDIT BY COMPTROLLER GENERAL.—The

2 Comptroller General of the United States may audit the

3 financial transactions of the Corporation. For the pur4 poses of carrying out such an audit, the Comptroller Gen5 eral shall have access to all books, records, and property

6 belonging to, or in the possession of, the Corporation. In

7 the case of a person or entity which has entered into a

8 financial relationship with the Corporation, the Comptrol9 ler General shall have access only to those books, records,

10 and property belonging to, or in the possession of, the per11 son or entity which pertain to the Corporation and which

12 are necessary to carry out the audit. The Comptroller Gen13 eral shall make a report of each such audit to the Congress

14 and the President.

15 ‘‘(j) ADMINISTRATION.—

16 ‘‘(1) HEARINGS.—The Board may hold such

17 hearings, sit and act at such times and places, take

18 such testimony, receive such evidence, and publish or

19 otherwise distribute so much of its proceedings and

20 reports as it may deem advisable.

21 ‘‘(2) OFFICE SPACE AND EQUIPMENT.—The

22 Board may acquire, furnish, and equip such office

23 space as it determines necessary.

24 ‘‘(3) NECESSARY EXPENSES.—The Board may

25 incur such necessary expenses and exercise such
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1 powers as are consistent and reasonably required to

2 perform its functions.

3 ‘‘(4) RECORDS.—To the extent permitted by

4 law, all appropriate records and papers of the Board

5 shall be made available for public inspection.

6 ‘‘(5) AID FROM FEDERAL AGENCIES.—Upon the

7 request of the Board, the head of a Federal depart8 ment or agency is authorized to—

9 ‘‘(A) furnish to the Board such informa10 tion as the Board deems necessary for carrying

11 out its functions and as is available to the agen12 cy; and

13 ‘‘(B) detail for temporary duty, on a reim14 bursable basis, such personnel as the Board

15 deems necessary to carry out its functions.

16 ‘‘(k) MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS.—

17 ‘‘(1) JURISDICTION.—

18 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Whenever the Cor19 poration is a party to any civil action under this

20 title, such action shall be deemed to arise under

21 the laws of the United States. No attachment

22 or execution may be issued against the Corpora23 tion, or any property thereof, prior to entry of

24 final judgment.
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1 ‘‘(B) CITIZENSHIP OF CORPORATION.—The

2 Corporation shall be deemed to be a citizen only

3 of the District of Columbia for the purpose of

4 determining the original jurisdiction of the dis5 trict courts of the United States in civil actions

6 to which the Corporation is a party.

7 ‘‘(2) BUSINESS ACTIVITY AND QUALIFICA8 TION.—The Corporation shall be deemed to be quali9 fied to do business in each State in which it per10 forms any activity authorized under this title.

11 ‘‘SEC. 724. ASSISTANCE TO BUSINESSES IN SECURING FI12 NANCING.

13 ‘‘(a) INFORMATION CLEARINGHOUSE.—The Corpora14 tion established under this subtitle shall act as a one-stop

15 clearinghouse for information to assist qualified concerns

16 identify sources of business development and technology

17 commercialization financing available through the Federal

18 Government as well as through applicable State and local

19 government programs and through private sources.

20 ‘‘(b) AGENT OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.—The

21 Corporation may act as an agent of the Federal Govern22 ment for purposes of accepting applications for financial

23 assistance and their submission to the appropriate Federal

24 agency on behalf of a qualified concern.
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1 ‘‘SEC. 725. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE FOR LENDERS AND

2 BORROWERS.

3 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Corporation shall, upon re4 quest, provide technical assistance and services, as appro5 priate and needed, to lenders and borrowers under this

6 title, and shall ensure that such lenders and borrowers

7 have ready access to appropriate assistance in order to aid

8 such lenders and borrowers in achieving the purposes of

9 this subtitle.

10 ‘‘(b) FEES.—The Corporation may—

11 ‘‘(1) charge fees for technical assistance and

12 services provided under this section in amounts suf13 ficient to cover the reasonable cost of such assist14 ance and services; and

15 ‘‘(2) waive such fees on a case-by-case basis.’’.

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