I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3598

To establish an interagency committee to coordinate Federal manufacturing 

research and development efforts in manufacturing, strengthen existing 

programs to assist manufacturing innovation and education, and expand 

outreach programs for small and medium-sized manufacturers, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 21, 2003

Mr. EHLERS (for himself and Mr. UDALL of Colorado) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science 

A BILL

To establish an interagency committee to coordinate Federal 

manufacturing research and development efforts in manufacturing, strengthen existing programs to assist manufacturing innovation and education, and expand outreach 

programs for small and medium-sized manufacturers, 

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 ‘‘Manufacturing Tech5 nology Competitiveness Act of 2003’’. 
2

•HR 3598 IH 

1 SEC. 2. INTERAGENCY COMMITTEE AND ADVISORY COM2 MITTEE. 

3 (a) INTERAGENCY COMMITTEE.—

4 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The President shall es5 tablish an interagency committee on manufacturing 

6 research and development, which shall include rep7 resentatives from the Office of Science and Tech8 nology Policy, the National Institute of Standards 

9 and Technology, the Small Business Administration, 

10 the Science and Technology Directorate of the De11 partment of Homeland Security, the National 

12 Science Foundation, the Department of Energy’s 

13 Office of Industrial Technology, a representative of 

14 the Department of Energy National Laboratories 

15 with expertise in manufacturing research, and any 

16 other agency that the President may designate. The 

17 Interagency Committee shall be chaired by the 

18 Under Secretary of Commerce for Manufacturing 

19 and Technology. 

20 (2) FUNCTIONS.—The Interagency Committee 

21 shall be responsible for the planning and coordina22 tion of Federal efforts in manufacturing research 

23 and development through—

24 (A) establishing goals and priorities for co25 ordinated manufacturing research and develop26 ment, including the strengthening of United 
3

•HR 3598 IH 

1 States manufacturing through the support and 

2 coordination of Federal manufacturing re3 search, development, technology transfer, stand4 ards, and technical training; 

5 (B) propose a coordinated interagency 

6 budget for manufacturing research and develop7 ment to the Office of Management and Budget 

8 that will ensure the maintenance of a balanced 

9 research portfolio and ensure that each agency 

10 is allocated the level of funding required to 

11 meet the goals and priorities established for 

12 manufacturing research and development; and 

13 (C) developing, within 6 months after the 

14 date of enactment of this Act, and updating 

15 every 3 years, a strategic plan, to be trans16 mitted to the Committee on Science of the 

17 House of Representatives and the Committee 

18 on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of 

19 the Senate, and to the President, for manufac20 turing research and development that in21 cludes—

22 (i) an analysis of the research, devel23 opment, technology transfer, standards, 

24 technical training, and integration needs of 

25 the manufacturing sector important to en-
4

•HR 3598 IH 

1 suring and maintaining United States com2 petitiveness; 

3 (ii) a report on the various Federal 

4 programs involved in manufacturing re5 search, development, technical training, 

6 standards, and integration, their funding 

7 levels, and the degree to which they meet 

8 the needs identified under clause (i); 

9 (iii) an analysis of the gaps that exist 

10 in those Federal programs and rec11 ommendations of changes that should be 

12 made to fill those gaps; and 

13 (iv) a plan on how to better coordi14 nate and strengthen federally supported 

15 manufacturing research, development, 

16 technical training, and integration activi17 ties. 

18 (3) RECOMMENDATIONS AND VIEWS.—In car19 rying out its functions under paragraph (2), the 

20 Interagency Committee shall consider the input and 

21 recommendations of the Advisory Committee and the 

22 views of academic, State, industry, and other entities 

23 in the manufacturing research and development 

24 community. 
5

•HR 3598 IH 

1 (4) COORDINATION OF GRANT PROGRAMS.—To 

2 ensure the effective implementation of the collabo3 rative grant program under section 33 of the Na4 tional Institute of Standards and Technology Act, 

5 the member agencies of the Interagency Committee 

6 shall, where practicable, coordinate their manufac7 turing grant activities with that program. 

8 (b) ADVISORY COMMITTEE.—

9 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 6 

10 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the 

11 President shall establish an advisory committee to 

12 provide advice and information to the Interagency 

13 Committee from the non-Federal manufacturing re14 search and development community. The Advisory 

15 Committee shall be composed of no more than 25 

16 members appointed by the President, including the 

17 following: 

18 (A) 4 members from outside the Federal 

19 Government who are eminent in the manufac20 turing industry, at least 2 of whom are rep21 resentatives of small and medium-sized compa22 nies in such industry. 

23 (B) 4 members from the academic research 

24 community who are eminent in their field and 

25 have expertise in the manufacturing sciences. 
6

•HR 3598 IH 

1 (C) 3 members from labor unions, a major2 ity of whose membership have manufacturing 

3 jobs. 

4 (2) INPUT AND RECOMMENDATIONS.—The Ad5 visory Committee shall assist the Interagency Com6 mittee by providing it with input and recommenda7 tions on—

8 (A) the goals and priorities for manufac9 turing research and development; and 

10 (B) the strategic plan, including proposals 

11 for focus areas for research, development, tech12 nology transfer, standards, technical training, 

13 supply chain integration, and the identification 

14 and proposal of technological or organizational 

15 solutions to challenges such as outsourcing. 

16 (3) REPORT.—The Advisory Committee shall 

17 also assist the Interagency Committee in the update 

18 of its strategic plan by providing a report every 3 

19 years, which shall also be transmitted to the Com20 mittee on Science of the House of Representatives 

21 and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 

22 Transportation of the Senate, and to the President, 

23 that shall assess—

24 (A) the progress made in implementing the 

25 strategic plan and challenges to this progress; 
7

•HR 3598 IH 

1 (B) the management, coordination, imple2 mentation of activities under the strategic plan; 

3 (C) the effectiveness of these activities in 

4 improving United States manufacturing com5 petitiveness; 

6 (D) the need to revise the goals and prior7 ities established by the Interagency Committee; 

8 and 

9 (E) new and emerging problems and op10 portunities affecting the manufacturing re11 search community, including workforce issues, 

12 education, research infrastructure, and the 

13 measurement and statistical analysis of manu14 facturing that may need to be considered by the 

15 Interagency Committee. 

16 (4) FEDERAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE ACT AP17 PLICATION.—Section 14 of the Federal Advisory 

18 Committee Act shall not apply to the Advisory Com19 mittee. 

20 SEC. 3. MANUFACTURING AND TECHNOLOGY. 

21 (a) AMENDMENT.—Section 5 of the Stevenson22 Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980 (15 U.S.C. 

23 3704) is amended to read as follows: 
8

•HR 3598 IH 

1 ‘‘SEC. 5. MANUFACTURING AND TECHNOLOGY. 

2 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the 

3 Department of Commerce a Manufacturing and Tech4 nology Administration, which shall operate in accordance 

5 with the provisions, findings, and purposes of this Act. 

6 The Manufacturing and Technology Administration shall 

7 include—

8 ‘‘(1) the National Institute of Standards and 

9 Technology; 

10 ‘‘(2) the National Technical Information Serv11 ice; and 

12 ‘‘(3) a policy analysis office, which shall be 

13 known as the Office of Manufacturing and Tech14 nology Policy. 

15 ‘‘(b) UNDERSECRETARY AND ASSISTANT SECRE16 TARIES.—The President shall appoint, by and with the ad17 vice and consent of the Senate, to the extent provided for 

18 in appropriations Acts—

19 ‘‘(1) an Under Secretary of Commerce for Man20 ufacturing and Technology, who shall be an indi21 vidual with engineering or management experience 

22 in manufacturing, including experience with small 

23 and medium-sized manufacturing firms, and experi24 ence in dealing with public policy matters related to 

25 manufacturing, and who shall be compensated at the 
9

•HR 3598 IH 

1 rate provided for level III of the Executive Schedule 

2 in section 5314 of title 5, United States Code; 

3 ‘‘(2) an Assistant Secretary of Manufacturing 

4 who shall serve as a policy analyst for the Under 

5 Secretary; and 

6 ‘‘(3) an Assistant Secretary of Technology who 

7 shall serve as a policy analyst for the Under Sec8 retary. 

9 ‘‘(c) UNDER SECRETARY’S DUTIES.—The Secretary, 

10 through the Under Secretary, as appropriate, shall—

11 ‘‘(1) manage the Manufacturing and Tech12 nology Administration and supervise its agencies, 

13 programs, and activities; 

14 ‘‘(2) serve as a point of contact on Federal 

15 manufacturing research and development, as well as 

16 broader policy issues related to manufacturing, for 

17 discussions among industry, academic, labor, and 

18 other groups; 

19 ‘‘(3) provide that cooperative efforts to stimu20 late industrial competitiveness and innovation be un21 dertaken between the Under Secretary and other of22 ficials in the Department of Commerce responsible 

23 for such areas as trade and economic assistance; 

24 ‘‘(4) encourage and assist the creation of cen25 ters and other joint initiatives by State or local gov-
10

•HR 3598 IH 

1 ernments, regional organizations, private businesses, 

2 institutions of higher education, nonprofit organiza3 tions, or Federal laboratories to encourage tech4 nology transfer, to encourage innovation, and to pro5 mote an appropriate climate for investment in tech6 nology-related industries; 

7 ‘‘(5) propose and encourage cooperative re8 search involving appropriate Federal entities, State 

9 or local governments, regional organizations, colleges 

10 or universities, nonprofit organizations, or private 

11 industry to promote the common use of resources, to 

12 improve training programs and curricula, to stimu13 late interest in manufacturing and technology ca14 reers, and to encourage the effective dissemination 

15 of manufacturing and technology skills within the 

16 wider community; 

17 ‘‘(6) propose and support studies and policy ex18 periments, in cooperation with other Federal agen19 cies, to determine the effectiveness of measures for 

20 improving United States manufacturing capabilities 

21 and productivity; and 

22 ‘‘(7) ensure that activities undertaken by the 

23 Manufacturing and Technology Administration, 

24 where appropriate, take into account the needs of 

25 small and medium-sized manufacturers. 
11

•HR 3598 IH 

1 ‘‘(d) ASSISTANT SECRETARIES’ DUTIES.—The As2 sistant Secretaries described in subsection (b)(2) and (3) 

3 shall—

4 ‘‘(1) produce periodic manufacturing reports 

5 and policy analyses for use by the Advisory Com6 mittee described in paragraph (3), Federal agencies, 

7 policymakers, and manufacturers, which may include 

8 such subjects as technology trends, workforce, edu9 cation, and the manufacturing economy, to guide im10 provements in United States industrial productivity; 

11 ‘‘(2) identify manufacturing and technological 

12 needs, problems, and opportunities within and across 

13 industrial sectors that, if addressed, could make sig14 nificant contributions to the economy of the United 

15 States; 

16 ‘‘(3) provide technical and administrative sup17 port to the Interagency Committee established or 

18 designated under section 2(a) of the Manufacturing 

19 Technology Competitiveness Act of 2003 and the 

20 Advisory Committee established or designated under 

21 section 2(b) of the Manufacturing Technology Com22 petitiveness Act of 2003; and 

23 ‘‘(4) conduct public outreach, including the dis24 semination of findings and recommendations of the 

25 Interagency Committee and the Advisory Committee 
12

•HR 3598 IH 

1 described in paragraph (3), and of the activities of 

2 the Manufacturing and Technology Administration. 

3 ‘‘(e) REPORT ON FOREIGN EFFORTS.—Not later 

4 than one year after the date of enactment of this Act, the 

5 Under Secretary of Commerce for Manufacturing and 

6 Technology shall submit a report to Congress describing 

7 the efforts of foreign governments to attract and develop 

8 technology-based manufacturing, including supporting 

9 technical and scientific education, research and develop10 ment, development of standards, and encouraging techno11 logical investment from overseas.’’. 

12 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 4 of the 

13 Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980 (15 

14 U.S.C. 3703) is amended—

15 (1) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘Manufac16 turing and’’ after ‘‘Office of’’; and 

17 (2) in paragraph (3), by inserting ‘‘Manufac18 turing and’’ after ‘‘Under Secretary of Commerce 

19 for’’. 

20 SEC. 4. COLLABORATIVE MANUFACTURING RESEARCH 

21 GRANTS. 

22 The National Institute of Standards and Technology 

23 Act is amended—

24 (1) by redesignating the first section 32 as sec25 tion 34 and moving it to the end of the Act; and 
13

•HR 3598 IH 

1 (2) by inserting before the section moved by 

2 paragraph (1) the following new section: 

3 ‘‘SEC. 33. COLLABORATIVE MANUFACTURING RESEARCH 

4 GRANTS. 

5 ‘‘(a) AUTHORITY.—

6 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Director shall es7 tablish a program of awards to partnerships among 

8 participants described in paragraph (2) for the pur9 poses described in paragraph (3). Awards shall be 

10 made on a peer-reviewed, competitive basis. 

11 ‘‘(2) PARTICIPANTS.—Such partnerships shall 

12 include at least—

13 ‘‘(A) 1 manufacturing industry partner; 

14 and 

15 ‘‘(B) 1 nonindustry partner. 

16 ‘‘(3) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the program 

17 under this section is to foster collaborations among 

18 firms, educational institutions, research institutions, 

19 State agencies, and nonprofit organizations to en20 courage the development of innovative, multidisci21 plinary manufacturing technologies. Partnerships re22 ceiving awards under this section shall conduct ap23 plied research to develop new manufacturing proc24 esses, techniques, or materials that would contribute 

25 to improved performance, productivity, and competi-
14

•HR 3598 IH 

1 tiveness of United States manufacturing, and build 

2 lasting alliances among collaborators. 

3 ‘‘(b) PROGRAM CONTRIBUTION.—Awards under this 

4 section shall provide for not more than one-third of the 

5 costs of a partnership. Not more than an additional one6 third of such costs may be obtained directly or indirectly 

7 from other Federal sources. 

8 ‘‘(c) APPLICATIONS.—Applications for awards under 

9 this section shall be submitted in such manner, at such 

10 time, and containing such information as the Director 

11 shall require. Such applications shall describe at a min12 imum—

13 ‘‘(1) how each partner will participate in devel14 oping and carrying out the research agenda of the 

15 partnership; 

16 ‘‘(2) the work that the grant would fund; and 

17 ‘‘(3) how the work to be funded with the award 

18 would contribute to improved performance, produc19 tivity, and competitiveness of the United States 

20 manufacturing industry. 

21 ‘‘(d) SELECTION CRITERIA.—In selecting applica22 tions for awards under this section, the Director shall con23 sider at a minimum—

24 ‘‘(1) the degree to which projects will have a 

25 broad impact on manufacturing; 
15

•HR 3598 IH 

1 ‘‘(2) the novelty and scientific and technical 

2 merit of the proposed projects; 

3 ‘‘(3) the demonstrated capabilities of the appli4 cants to successfully carry out the proposed re5 search; and 

6 ‘‘(4) any other criteria the Director may re7 quire. 

8 ‘‘(e) DISTRIBUTION.—In selecting applications under 

9 this section the Director shall ensure, to the extent prac10 ticable a distribution of overall awards among a variety 

11 of manufacturing industry sectors and a range of firm 

12 sizes. 

13 ‘‘(f) PREFERENCE.—The Director shall give pref14 erence to the selection of applicants whose proposals in15 clude training of qualified candidates at educational insti16 tutions or industrial facilities. 

17 ‘‘(g) REPORT.—Not later than 2 years after the date 

18 of enactment of this Act, the Director shall transmit to 

19 Congress a report on the performance of the program 

20 under this section.’’. 

21 SEC. 5. MANUFACTURING FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM. 

22 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—In order to promote the de23 velopment of a robust research community working at the 

24 leading edge of manufacturing sciences, the Director of 
16

•HR 3598 IH 

1 the National Institute of Standards and Technology shall 

2 establish a program to award—

3 (1) postdoctoral research fellowships to individ4 uals who are seeking research positions at institu5 tions, including the National Institute of Standards 

6 and Technology, engaged in research activities re7 lated to manufacturing sciences; and 

8 (2) senior research fellowships to individuals 

9 seeking research positions at institutions, including 

10 the National Institute of Standards and Technology, 

11 engaged in research activities related to manufac12 turing sciences. 

13 (b) APPLICATIONS.—To be eligible for an award 

14 under this section, an individual shall submit an applica15 tion to the Director of the National Institute of Standards 

16 and Technology at such time, in such manner, and con17 taining such information as the Director may require. 

18 (c) STIPEND LEVELS.—Under this section, the Di19 rector shall provide stipends for postdoctoral research fel20 lowships at a level consistent with the National Institute 

21 of Standards and Technology Postdoctoral Research Fel22 lowship Program, and senior research fellowships at levels 

23 consistent with support for a faculty member in a sab24 batical position. 
17

•HR 3598 IH 

1 SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

2 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Sec3 retary of Commerce for the Collaborative Manufacturing 

4 Research Grants program under section 33 of the Na5 tional Institute of Standards and Technology Act and for 

6 Manufacturing Fellowships at the National Institute of 

7 Standards and Technology under section 5 of this Act—

8 (1) $41,500,000 for fiscal year 2005, of which 

9 $40,000,000 shall be for the program under section 

10 33 of the National Institute of Standards and Tech11 nology Act and $1,500,000 shall be for the program 

12 under section 5 of this Act; 

13 (2) $45,750,000 for fiscal year 2006, of which 

14 $44,000,000 shall be for the program under section 

15 33 of the National Institute of Standards and Tech16 nology Act and $1,750,000 shall be for the program 

17 under section 5 of this Act; 

18 (3) $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2007, of which 

19 $48,000,000 shall be for the program under section 

20 33 of the National Institute of Standards and Tech21 nology Act and $2,000,000 shall be for the program 

22 under section 5 of this Act; and 

23 (4) $54,250,000 for fiscal year 2008, of which 

24 $52,000,000 shall be for the program under section 

25 33 of the National Institute of Standards and Tech-
18

•HR 3598 IH 

1 nology Act and $2,250,000 shall be for the program 

2 under section 5 of this Act. 

3 SEC. 7. MANUFACTURING EXTENSION. 

4 (a) MANUFACTURING CENTER EVALUATION.—Sec5 tion 25(c)(5) of the National Institute of Standards and 

6 Technology Act (15 U.S.C. 278k(c)(5)) is amended by in7 serting ‘‘A Center that has not received a positive evalua8 tion by the evaluation panel shall be notified by the panel 

9 of the deficiencies in its performance and placed on proba10 tion for one year, after which time the panel shall reevalu11 ate the Center. If the Center has not addressed the defi12 ciencies identified by the panel, or shown a significant im13 provement in its performance, the Director shall conduct 

14 a new competition to select an operator for the Center.’’ 

15 after ‘‘sixth year at declining levels.’’. 

16 (b) MANUFACTURING EXTENSION CENTER COMPETI17 TIVE GRANT PROGRAM.—Section 25 of the National Insti18 tute of Standards and Technology Act (15 U.S.C. 278k) 

19 is amended by adding at the end the following new sub20 section: 

21 ‘‘(e) COMPETITIVE GRANT PROGRAM.—

22 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Director shall es23 tablish, within the Manufacturing Extension Part24 nership program under this section and section 26 

25 of this Act, a program of competitive awards among 
19

•HR 3598 IH 

1 participants described in paragraph (2) for the pur2 poses described in paragraph (3). 

3 ‘‘(2) PARTICIPANTS.—Participants receiving 

4 awards under this subsection shall be the Centers, or 

5 a consortium of such Centers. 

6 ‘‘(3) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the program 

7 under this subsection is to develop projects to solve 

8 new or emerging manufacturing problems as deter9 mined by the Director, in consultation with the Di10 rector of the Manufacturing Extension Partnership 

11 program, the Manufacturing Extension Partnership 

12 National Advisory Board, and small and medium13 sized manufacturers. One or more themes for the 

14 competition may be identified, which may vary from 

15 year to year, depending on the needs of manufactur16 ers and the success of previous competitions. These 

17 themes may be related to projects associated with 

18 manufacturing extension activities, including work19 force training, supply chain integration, and quality 

20 management, or extend beyond these traditional 

21 areas. 

22 ‘‘(4) APPLICATIONS.—Applications for awards 

23 under this subsection shall be submitted in such 

24 manner, at such time, and containing such informa25 tion as the Director shall require, in consultation 
20

•HR 3598 IH 

1 with the Manufacturing Extension Partnership Na2 tional Advisory Board. 

3 ‘‘(5) SELECTION.—Awards under this sub4 section shall be peer reviewed and competitively 

5 awarded. The Director shall select proposals to re6 ceive awards—

7 ‘‘(A) that utilize innovative or collaborative 

8 approaches to solving the problem described in 

9 the competition; 

10 ‘‘(B) that will improve the competitiveness 

11 of industries in the region in which the Center 

12 or Centers are located; and 

13 ‘‘(C) that will contribute to the long-term 

14 economic stability of that region. 

15 ‘‘(6) PROGRAM CONTRIBUTION.—Recipients of 

16 awards under this subsection shall not be required 

17 to provide a matching contribution. 

18 ‘‘(7) REPORT.—Not later than two years after 

19 the first awards under this subsection, the Director 

20 shall transmit to Congress a report on the program 

21 describing the grants that were awarded, their re22 cipients, the success to date of the program to meet 

23 the purposes of this subsection, lessons learned, and 

24 the challenges and opportunities facing the future 

25 success of the program. 
21

•HR 3598 IH 

1 ‘‘(8) FUNDING.—Funding for the program 

2 under this subsection shall not be available unless 

3 amounts remain available after financial assistance 

4 is provided to Centers as specified under this sec5 tion.’’. 

6 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

7 are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of Com8 merce for the Manufacturing Extension Partnership pro9 gram under sections 25 and 26 of the National Institute 

10 of Standards and Technology Act (15 U.S.C. 278k and 

11 278l)—

12 (1) $120,000,000 for fiscal year 2005; 

13 (2) $125,000,000 for fiscal year 2006; 

14 (3) $132,000,000 for fiscal year 2007; and 

15 (4) $137,000,000 for fiscal year 2008.

Æ