I

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 3158

To amend the Small Business Act to extend the pilot Small Business

Technology Transfer program, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 25, 1996

Mrs. MEYERS of Kansas (for herself, Mr. POSHARD, Mr. TORKILDSEN, and

Mr. LAFALCE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Small Business

A BILL

To amend the Small Business Act to extend the pilot Small

Business Technology Transfer program, and for other

purposes.

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Pilot Small Business

5 Technology Transfer Program Extension Act of 1996’’.

6 SEC. 2. PROGRAM EXTENSION.

7 Section 9(n) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C.

8 638(n)) is amended—

9 (1) in paragraph (1)—
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1 (A) by striking ‘‘in fiscal year 1994, 1995,

2 or 1996,’’;

3 (B) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of sub4 paragraph (B);

5 (C) by striking the comma at the end of

6 subparagraph (C) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

7 (D) by inserting after subparagraph (C)

8 the following new subparagraph:

9 ‘‘(D) not less than 0.25 percent of such

10 budget in fiscal year 1997 and each succeeding

11 fiscal year,’’; and

12 (2) by adding at the end the following new

13 paragraph:

14 ‘‘(4) PROGRAM EXPIRATION.—Authorization to

15 carry out the STTR program pursuant to this sub16 section (and subsections (o) and (p) of this section)

17 shall expire on September 30, 2000.’’.

18 SEC. 3. ASSESSMENT BY THE COMPTROLLER GENERAL.

19 (a) ASSESSMENT REQUIRED.—The Comptroller Gen20 eral of the United States shall conduct an assessment of

21 the ongoing implementation of the Small Business Innova22 tion Research (SBIR) program and the pilot Small Busi23 ness Technology Transfer (STTR) program. The assess24 ment shall address the following issues with respect to

25 each program:
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1 (1) The extent of competition and the quality of

2 proposals submitted for the award of SBIR and

3 STTR agreements, and the quality of subsequent

4 performance by the recipients of such awards.

5 (2) Whether any adverse effects on the research

6 or research and development programs of any spon7 soring agency are attributable to the agency’s par8 ticipation in the SBIR program or the pilot STTR

9 program.

10 (3) Whether any awards by a sponsoring agen11 cy in each fiscal year represent the applicable per12 centages of such agency’s extramural budget, identi13 fying any systemic management weaknesses contrib14 uting to such limitation on implementation.

15 (4) Any management techniques initiated by

16 sponsoring agencies that attempt to minimize delays

17 between the successful completion of a Phase I

18 agreement and the award (and commencement of

19 performance) under a Phase II agreement or amelio20 rate the adverse effects of such delays.

21 (5) The implementation of Phase III by partici22 pating agencies, including awards in support of

23 Phase III and other techniques adopted by the agen24 cies to foster commercialization.
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1 (6) The extent to which small business partici2 pants in each program, especially recipients of

3 STTR awards, utilize the results of research under4 taken for Federal agencies by universities, federally

5 funded research and development centers, and other

6 research institutions, and the extent to which the re7 sults were subsequently developed by such small

8 firms to meet the needs of Federal, State, and local

9 government or advanced to use in the commercial

10 marketplace.

11 (7) Whether the required and structured col12 laboration between a small business and a research

13 institution under the pilot STTR program is nec14 essary in light of the experiences with voluntary col15 laborations under the SBIR program.

16 (8) Any duplication between the SBIR program

17 and the pilot STTR program.

18 (9) Any other relevant information as deter19 mined by the Comptroller General.

20 (b) PERIOD OF ASSESSMENT.—The assessment re21 quired by subsection (a) shall focus on the implementation

22 of each program during the period beginning October 1,

23 1995 and ending September 30, 1999.

24 (c) REPORT.—
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1 (1) SUBMISSION OF REPORT.—The Comptroller

2 General shall submit a report of the assessment re3 quired by subsection (a) to the Committees on Small

4 Business of the United States Senate and House of

5 Representatives not later than February 1, 2000.

6 (2) APPENDICES TO REPORT.—The report shall

7 include—

8 (A) an appendix summarizing the findings

9 of previous reports issued by the Comptroller

10 General with respect to the SBIR program and

11 the pilot STTR program; and

12 (B) an appendix listing reports of other as13 sessments of the SBIR program or the pilot

14 STTR program issued by the Small Business

15 Administration, any of the sponsoring agencies,

16 and any other entities determined by the Comp17 troller General to be useful resources to the

18 Congress in evaluating each program for reau19 thorization.

20 SEC. 4. INTERAGENCY TASK FORCE ON COMMERCIALIZA21 TION.

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator of the Small

23 Business Administration shall convene and supervise an

24 interagency task force on fostering commercialization of

25 the results of projects being undertaken by small business
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1 concerns through the SBIR program and the pilot STTR

2 program.

3 (b) DUTIES.—The interagency task force shall—

4 (1) review existing studies and analyses and

5 conduct independent assessments, as may be appro6 priate, regarding the obstacles faced by small busi7 ness entrepreneurs seeking to commercialize results

8 of basic research or research and development un9 dertaken through Federal funding;

10 (2) devise recommendations to overcome (or

11 minimize the effects of) such obstacles; and

12 (3) address other matters that the Adminis13 trator determines are appropriate to ensure a com14 prehensive analysis and the development of practical

15 recommendations.

16 (c) PARTICIPATION.—

17 (1) TASK FORCE MEMBERSHIP.—The inter18 agency task shall include participation by represent19 atives of—

20 (A) the Office of the Chief Counsel for Ad21 vocacy of the Small Business Administration;

22 (B) the 5 Executive agencies having the

23 greatest dollar value of awards under the SBIR

24 program in fiscal year 1995;
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1 (C) the Executive agencies participating in

2 the pilot STTR program in fiscal year 1995;

3 (D) the Office of Science and Technology

4 Policy, Executive Office of the President; and

5 (E) any other Executive agencies invited

6 by the Administrator.

7 (2) PUBLIC PARTICIPATION.—In undertaking

8 its assessments and fashioning its recommendations,

9 the interagency task force shall provide opportunities

10 for consultation with representatives of—

11 (A) small businesses and other entities

12 that have participated in the SBIR program or

13 the pilot STTR program;

14 (B) organizations representing small busi15 ness concerns;

16 (C) organizations representing venture

17 capital sources, especially those focusing on the

18 needs of small high-technology entrepreneurs;

19 and

20 (D) any other public or private entities

21 that the Administrator determines are appro22 priate.

23 (d) SCHEDULE.—

24 (1) NOTICE AND INITIAL CALL FOR PUBLIC

25 PARTICIPATION.—Not earlier than May 1, 1997, the
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1 Administrator shall publish in the Federal Register

2 (and through other means likely to result in broad

3 dissemination) a notice, which at a minimum, an4 nounces the existence of the interagency task force,

5 identifies the members of task force, summarizes

6 purposes and objectives of the task force, requests

7 suggestions and recommendations from the public

8 regarding the work of the task force, providing at

9 least 180 days to make a submission in response to

10 such notice, and announces any schedule of meetings

11 of the task force or other public meetings.

12 (2) ON-GOING PUBLIC PARTICIPATION.—In con13 ducting its assessments and fashioning its rec14 ommendations the task force shall make every rea15 sonable effort to solicit ideas from the public.

16 (e) REPORT.—Not later than March 1, 1999, the Ad17 ministrator shall submit to the Committees on Small Busi18 ness of the United States Senate and House of Represent19 atives a report of the work of the interagency task force,

20 including such recommendations for legislative or adminis21 trative action.
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1 SEC. 5. TECHNICAL CORRECTION.

2 Section 9(e)(4)(A) of the Small Business Act (15

3 U.S.C. 638(e)(4)(A)) is amended by striking ‘‘(B)(ii)’’ and

4 inserting ‘‘B’’.

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