II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1515 

To facilitate access to university technical expertise in support of Department 

of Defense missions. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 29, 2017 

Mr. MORAN (for himself and Mr. TESTER) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services 

A BILL 

To facilitate access to university technical expertise in 

support of Department of Defense missions. 

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 ‘‘Expand and Strength5 en Defense Network of Partners Act of 2017’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. MECHANISMS FOR EXPEDITED ACCESS TO TECH2 NICAL TALENT AND EXPERTISE AT ACA3 DEMIC INSTITUTIONS TO SUPPORT DEPART4 MENT OF DEFENSE MISSIONS. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Defense shall es6 tablish one or more multi-institution task order contracts, 

7 consortia, cooperative agreements, or other arrangements 

8 to facilitate expedited access to university technical exper9 tise in support of Department of Defense missions in the 

10 areas specified in subsection (e). The Secretary may use 

11 this arrangement to fund technical analyses and other en12 gineering support as required to address acquisition and 

13 operational challenges, including support for classified 

14 programs and activities. The Secretary shall ensure that 

15 work under task orders awarded through the arrangement 

16 is performed primarily by the designated university per17 former. 

18 (b) LIMITATION.—The arrangement established 

19 under subsection (a) may not be used to fund research 

20 programs that can be executed through other Department 

21 of Defense basic research activities. 

22 (c) COORDINATION WITH OTHER DEPARTMENT OF

23 DEFENSE ACTIVITIES.—The arrangement may be made 

24 in coordination with other Department of Defense activi25 ties, including federally funded research and development 

26 centers (FFRDCs), university affiliated research centers 


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1 (UARCs), and Defense laboratories and test centers, for 

2 purposes of providing technical expertise and reducing 

3 costs and duplicative efforts. 

4 (d) POLICIES AND PROCEDURES.—The Secretary 

5 shall establish and implement policies and procedures to 

6 govern— 

7 (1) selection of participants in the arrangement; 

8 (2) the awarding of task orders under the ar9 rangement; 

10 (3) maximum award size for tasks under the 

11 arrangement; 

12 (4) the appropriate use of competitive awards 

13 and sole source awards under the arrangement; and 

14 (5) technical areas under the arrangement. 

15 (e) MISSION AREAS.—The Secretary may establish 

16 the arrangement in any of the following technical areas: 

17 (1) Cybersecurity. 

18 (2) Air and ground vehicles. 

19 (3) Shipbuilding. 

20 (4) Explosives detection. 

21 (5) Modeling and simulation. 

22 (6) Undersea warfare. 

23 (7) Trusted microelectronics. 

24 (8) Unmanned systems. 


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1 (9) Intelligence/Surveillance/Reconnaissance 

2 (ISR) photonics and sensors. 

3 (10) Directed energy. 

4 (11) Energy, power, and propulsion. 

5 (12) Advanced materials. 

6 (13) Other areas as designated by the Sec7 retary. 

Æ 


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