II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1965 

To jump-start economic recovery through the formation and growth of new 

businesses, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 8, 2011 

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

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To jump-start economic recovery through the formation and 

growth of new businesses, 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

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

5 ‘‘Startup Act of 2011’’. 

6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

7 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Findings. 

Sec. 3. Economic impact of major rules. 

Sec. 4. Permanent full exclusion applicable to qualified small business stock. 

Sec. 5. Income tax credit for certain startup small businesses. 

Sec. 6. Study of regulatory impact of possible Sarbanes-Oxley reform. 

Sec. 7. Accelerated commercialization of university-based research. 


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Sec. 8. Conditional permanent resident status for aliens with an advanced degree in a STEM field. 

Sec. 9. Alien entrepreneurs. 

Sec. 10. Biennial State startup business report. 

Sec. 11. New business formation report. 

1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress makes the following findings: 

3 (1) Achieving economic recovery will require the 

4 formation and growth of new companies. 

5 (2) Between 1980 and 2005, companies less 

6 than 5 years old accounted for nearly all net job cre7 ation in the United States. 

8 (3) New firms in the United States create an 

9 average of 3,000,000 jobs per year. 

10 (4) To get Americans back to work, entre11 preneurs must be free to pursue their ideas, form 

12 companies, and hire employees. 

13 (5) State and local policies affect entrepreneurs’ 

14 ability to start new businesses and grow existing 

15 businesses. 

16 SEC. 3. ECONOMIC IMPACT OF MAJOR RULES. 

17 Section 553 of title 5, United States Code, is amend18 ed by adding at the end the following: 

19 ‘‘(f) REQUIRED REVIEW BEFORE ISSUANCE OF

20 MAJOR RULES.— 

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Before issuing a notice of 

22 proposed rulemaking in the Federal Register regard23 ing the issuance of a proposed major rule, the head 


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1 of the Federal agency or independent regulatory 

2 agency seeking to issue the rule shall complete a re3 view that— 

4 ‘‘(A) analyzes the problem that the pro5 posed rule intends to address, including— 

6 ‘‘(i) the specific market failure, such 

7 as externalities, market power, or lack of 

8 information, that justifies such rule; or 

9 ‘‘(ii) any other specific problem, such 

10 as the failures of public institutions, that 

11 justifies such rule; 

12 ‘‘(B) analyzes the expected impact of the 

13 proposed rule on the ability of new businesses 

14 to form and expand; 

15 ‘‘(C) identifies the expected impact of the 

16 proposed rule on State, local, and tribal govern17 ments, including the availability of resources— 

18 ‘‘(i) to carry out the mandates im19 posed by the rule on such government enti20 ties; and 

21 ‘‘(ii) to minimize the burdens that 

22 uniquely or significantly affect such gov23 ernmental entities, consistent with achiev24 ing regulatory objectives; 


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1 ‘‘(D) identifies any conflicting or duplica2 tive regulations; 

3 ‘‘(E) determines— 

4 ‘‘(i) if existing laws or regulations cre5 ated, or contributed to, the problem that 

6 the new rule is intended to correct; and 

7 ‘‘(ii) if the laws or regulations re8 ferred to in clause (i) should be modified 

9 to more effectively achieve the intended 

10 goal of the rule; and 

11 ‘‘(F) includes the cost-benefit analysis de12 scribed in paragraph (2). 

13 ‘‘(2) COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS.—A cost-benefit 

14 analysis described in this paragraph shall include— 

15 ‘‘(A)(i) an assessment, including the un16 derlying analysis, of benefits anticipated from 

17 the proposed rule, such as— 

18 ‘‘(I) promoting the efficient func19 tioning of the economy and private mar20 kets; 

21 ‘‘(II) enhancing health and safety; 

22 ‘‘(III) protecting the natural environ23 ment; and 

24 ‘‘(IV) eliminating or reducing dis25 crimination or bias; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) the quantification of the benefits de2 scribed in clause (i), to the extent feasible; 

3 ‘‘(B)(i) an assessment, including the un4 derlying analysis, of costs anticipated from the 

5 proposed rule, such as— 

6 ‘‘(I) the direct costs to the Federal 

7 Government to administer the rule; 

8 ‘‘(II) the direct costs to businesses 

9 and others to comply with the rule; and 

10 ‘‘(III) any adverse effects on the effi11 cient functioning of the economy, private 

12 markets (including productivity, employ13 ment, and competitiveness), health, safety, 

14 and the natural environment; and 

15 ‘‘(ii) the quantification of the costs de16 scribed in clause (i), to the extent feasible; 

17 ‘‘(C)(i) an assessment, including the un18 derlying analysis, of costs and benefits of poten19 tially effective and reasonably feasible alter20 natives to the proposed rule, which have been 

21 identified by the agency or by the public, in22 cluding taking reasonably viable nonregulatory 

23 actions; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) an explanation of why the proposed 

2 rule is preferable to the alternatives identified 

3 under clause (i). 

4 ‘‘(3) REPORT.—Before issuing a notice of pro5 posed rulemaking in the Federal Register regarding 

6 the issuance of a proposed major rule, the head of 

7 the Federal agency seeking to issue the rule shall— 

8 ‘‘(A) submit the results of the review con9 ducted under paragraph (1) to— 

10 ‘‘(i) Congress; and 

11 ‘‘(ii) the Office of Information and 

12 Regulatory Affairs in the Office of Man13 agement and Budget; and 

14 ‘‘(B) post the results of the review con15 ducted under paragraph (1) on a publicly avail16 able website. 

17 ‘‘(4) JUDICIAL REVIEW.—Any determinations 

18 made, or other actions taken, by an agency or inde19 pendent regulatory agency under this subsection 

20 shall not be subject to judicial review. 

21 ‘‘(5) DEFINED TERM.—In this subsection the 

22 term ‘major rule’ has the meaning given the term in 

23 section 804.’’. 


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1 SEC. 4. PERMANENT FULL EXCLUSION APPLICABLE TO 

2 QUALIFIED SMALL BUSINESS STOCK. 

3 (a) PERMANENT FULL EXCLUSION.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (a) of section 

5 1202 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is 

6 amended to read as follows: 

7 ‘‘(a) EXCLUSION.—In the case of a taxpayer other 

8 than a corporation, gross income shall not include 100 

9 percent of any gain from the sale or exchange of qualified 

10 small business stock held for more than 5 years.’’. 

11 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

12 (A) The heading for section 1202 of such 

13 Code is amended by striking ‘‘PARTIAL’’. 

14 (B) The item relating to section 1202 in 

15 the table of sections for part I of subchapter P 

16 of chapter 1 of such Code is amended by strik17 ing ‘‘Partial exclusion’’ and inserting ‘‘Exclu18 sion’’. 

19 (C) Section 1223(13) of such Code is 

20 amended by striking ‘‘1202(a)(2),’’. 

21 (b) REPEAL OF MINIMUM TAX PREFERENCE.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (a) of section 57 

23 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by 

24 striking paragraph (7). 


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1 (2) TECHNICAL AMENDMENT.—Subclause (II) 

2 of section 53(d)(1)(B)(ii) of such Code is amended 

3 by striking ‘‘, (5), and (7)’’ and inserting ‘‘and (5)’’. 

4 (c) REPEAL OF 28 PERCENT CAPITAL GAINS RATE

5 ON QUALIFIED SMALL BUSINESS STOCK.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subparagraph (A) of section 

7 1(h)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is 

8 amended to read as follows: 

9 ‘‘(A) collectibles gain, over’’. 

10 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

11 (A) Section 1(h) of such Code is amended 

12 by striking paragraph (7). 

13 (B)(i) Section 1(h) of such Code is amend14 ed by redesignating paragraphs (8), (9), (10), 

15 (11), (12), and (13) as paragraphs (7), (8), (9), 

16 (10), (11), and (12), respectively. 

17 (ii) Sections 163(d)(4)(B), 854(b)(5), 

18 857(c)(2)(D) of such Code are each amended 

19 by striking ‘‘section 1(h)(11)(B)’’ and inserting 

20 ‘‘section 1(h)(10)(B)’’. 

21 (iii) The following sections of such Code 

22 are each amended by striking ‘‘section 

23 1(h)(11)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 1(h)(10)’’: 

24 (I) Section 301(f)(4). 

25 (II) Section 306(a)(1)(D). 


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1 (III) Section 584(c). 

2 (IV) Section 702(a)(5). 

3 (V) Section 854(a). 

4 (VI) Section 854(b)(2). 

5 (iv) The heading of section 857(c)(2) is 

6 amended by striking ‘‘1(h)(11)’’ and inserting 

7 ‘‘1(h)(10)’’. 

8 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

9 this section apply to stock acquired after December 31, 

10 2011. 

11 SEC. 5. INCOME TAX CREDIT FOR CERTAIN STARTUP 

12 SMALL BUSINESSES. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 6401 of the Internal Rev14 enue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end the 

15 following new subsection: 

16 ‘‘(c) INCOME TAX CREDIT FOR STARTUP SMALL

17 BUSINESSES.— 

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a qualified 

19 small business (within the meaning of section 

20 1202(d)), if the tax imposed by subtitle A for any 

21 taxable year exceeds the credits allowable under 

22 chapter 1 for such taxable year, an amount equal to 

23 the lesser of— 

24 ‘‘(A) the applicable percentage of the 

25 amount of such excess, or 


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1 ‘‘(B) $5,000,000, 

2 shall be considered an overpayment with respect to 

3 such taxable year. 

4 ‘‘(2) APPLICABLE PERCENTAGE.—For purposes 

5 of this section, the applicable percentage is 100 per6 cent for the first taxable year described in para7 graph (1) of the qualified small business, 50 percent 

8 for each of the 2 succeeding taxable years, and zero 

9 percent thereafter. 

10 ‘‘(3) ELECTION NOT TO CLAIM CREDIT.—This 

11 subsection shall not apply to a taxpayer for any tax12 able year if such taxpayer elects to have this sub13 section not apply for the first taxable year described 

14 in paragraph (1). 

15 ‘‘(4) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall pre16 scribe such regulations as may be appropriate to 

17 carry out the purposes of this subsection, includ18 ing— 

19 ‘‘(A) regulations to prevent the avoidance 

20 of the purposes of this subsection through split21 ups, shell corporations, partnerships, or other22 wise, and 

23 ‘‘(B) regulations to provide for the proper 

24 determination of the first taxable year of a 

25 qualified small business.’’. 


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1 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 6501(m) of 

2 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking 

3 ‘‘or 51(j)’’ and inserting ‘‘51(j), or 6401(c)’’. 

4 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

5 this section shall apply to the first taxable year described 

6 in section 6401(c)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code of 

7 1986 (as added by this section) of any qualified small 

8 business, but only if such first taxable year begins after 

9 the date of the enactment of this Act. 

10 SEC. 6. STUDY OF REGULATORY IMPACT OF POSSIBLE SAR11 BANES-OXLEY REFORM. 

12 In carrying out the study and report required by sec13 tion 989I of the Investor Protection and Securities Reform 

14 Act of 2010 (Public Law 111–203, 124 Stat. 1948), the 

15 Comptroller General of the United States shall— 

16 (1) assess the costs and benefits to prospective 

17 investors, shareholders, and securities markets of al18 lowing smaller issuers to opt out of the requirements 

19 of section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 

20 (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)); and 

21 (2) in assessing such costs and benefits, con22 sider the feasibility, costs, and benefits to prospec23 tive investors, shareholders, and securities markets 

24 of placing an asterisk or some other designation on 

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1 sures of such issuers, indicating that the issuer has 

2 elected not to comply with section 404(b) of the Sar3 banes-Oxley Act of 2002 (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)). 

4 SEC. 7. ACCELERATED COMMERCIALIZATION OF UNIVER5 SITY-BASED RESEARCH. 

6 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

7 (1) COMMITTEE.—The term ‘‘Committee’’ 

8 means the Committee on Research Commercializa9 tion Improvement established under subsection (c). 

10 (2) EXTRAMURAL BUDGET.—The term ‘‘extra11 mural budget’’ means the sum of the total obliga12 tions minus amounts obligated for such activities by 

13 employees of the agency in or through Government14 owned, Government-operated facilities, except that 

15 for the Department of Energy it shall not include 

16 amounts obligated for atomic energy defense pro17 grams solely for weapons activities or for naval reac18 tor programs, and except that for the Agency for 

19 International Development it shall not include 

20 amounts obligated solely for general institutional 

21 support of international research centers or for 

22 grants to foreign countries. 

23 (3) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

24 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 


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1 meaning given the term in section 101(a) of the 

2 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a)). 

3 (4) RESEARCH OR RESEARCH AND DEVELOP4 MENT.—The term ‘‘research’’ or ‘‘research and de5 velopment’’ means any activity that is— 

6 (A) a systematic, intensive study directed 

7 toward greater knowledge or understanding of 

8 the subject studied; 

9 (B) a systematic study directed specifically 

10 toward applying new knowledge to meet a rec11 ognized need; or 

12 (C) a systematic application of knowledge 

13 toward the production of useful materials, de14 vices, and systems or methods, including design, 

15 development, and improvement of prototypes 

16 and new processes to meet specific require17 ments. 

18 (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

19 the Secretary of Commerce. 

20 (b) GRANT PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each Federal agency that 

22 has an extramural budget for research or research 

23 and development that is in excess of $100,000,000 

24 for each of fiscal years 2012 through 2017, shall 

25 transfer 0.15 percent of such extramural budget for 


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1 each of such fiscal years to the Secretary to enable 

2 the Secretary to carry out a grant program in ac3 cordance with this subsection. 

4 (2) GRANTS.— 

5 (A) AWARDING OF GRANTS.— 

6 (i) IN GENERAL.—From funds trans7 ferred under paragraph (1), the Secretary 

8 shall use the criteria developed by the 

9 Committee to award grants to institutions 

10 of higher education, including consortia of 

11 institutions of higher education, for initia12 tives to improve commercialization and 

13 transfer of technology. 

14 (ii) REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS.—Not 

15 later than 30 days after the Committee 

16 submits the recommendations for criteria 

17 to the Secretary under subsection 

18 (c)(4)(B), and annually thereafter for each 

19 fiscal year for which the grant program is 

20 authorized, the Secretary shall release a 

21 request for proposals. 

22 (iii) APPLICATIONS.—Each institution 

23 of higher education that desires to receive 

24 a grant under this subsection shall submit 

25 an application to the Secretary not later 


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1 than 90 days after the Secretary releases 

2 the request for proposals under clause (ii). 

3 (iv) COMMITTEE REVIEW.— 

4 (I) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary 

5 shall submit each application received 

6 under clause (iii) to the Committee 

7 for Committee review. 

8 (II) RECOMMENDATIONS.—The 

9 Committee shall review each applica10 tion received under subclause (I) and 

11 submit recommendations for grant 

12 awards to the Secretary, including 

13 funding recommendations for each 

14 proposal. 

15 (III) PUBLIC RELEASE.—The 

16 Committee shall publicly release any 

17 recommendations made under sub18 clause (II). 

19 (IV) CONSIDERATION OF REC20 OMMENDATIONS.—In awarding grants 

21 under this subsection, the Secretary 

22 shall take into consideration the rec23 ommendations of the Committee 

24 under subclause (II). 


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1 (B) COMMERCIALIZATION ACCELERATOR

2 GRANTS.— 

3 (i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

4 award grants to support institutions of 

5 higher education pursuing specific innova6 tive initiatives to improve an institution’s 

7 capacity to commercialize faculty research 

8 that can be widely adopted if the research 

9 yields measurable results. 

10 (ii) CONTENT OF PROPOSALS.— 

11 Grants shall be awarded under this sub12 paragraph to proposals demonstrating the 

13 capacity for accelerated commercialization, 

14 proof-of-concept proficiency, and trans15 lating scientific discoveries and cutting16 edge inventions into technological innova17 tions and new companies. In particular, 

18 grant funds shall seek to support innova19 tive approaches to achieving these goals 

20 that can be replicated by other institutions 

21 of higher education if the innovative ap22 proaches are successful. 

23 (iii) ASSESSMENT OF SUCCESS.— 

24 Grants awarded under this subparagraph 

25 shall use criteria for assessing the success 


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1 of programs through the establishment of 

2 technical milestones. 

3 (C) COLLABORATIVE COMMERCIALIZATION

4 GRANTS.— 

5 (i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

6 award grants to support institutions of 

7 higher education pursuing initiatives that 

8 allow faculty to directly approach tech9 nology transfer programs outside of their 

10 institution of employment in an effort to 

11 commercialize research breakthroughs. 

12 (ii) CONTENT OF INITIATIVES.—Ini13 tiatives eligible to be supported with grant 

14 funds awarded under this subparagraph 

15 shall only include those— 

16 (I) that have a licensing revenue 

17 sharing agreement between the insti18 tution of higher education where the 

19 research originates and the institution 

20 that commercializes the research; and 

21 (II) for which the first right of 

22 refusal in commercializing research 

23 belongs to the institution of higher 

24 education where the research origi25 nates. 


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1 (3) TERMINATION.—The Secretary shall have 

2 the authority to terminate grant funding to an insti3 tution of higher education in accordance with the 

4 process and performance metrics recommended by 

5 the Committee. 

6 (4) LIMITATIONS.— 

7 (A) PROJECT MANAGEMENT COSTS.—A 

8 grant recipient may use not more than 10 per9 cent of grant funds awarded under this sub10 section for the purpose of funding project man11 agement costs of the grant program. 

12 (B) SUPPLEMENT, NOT SUPPLANT.—An 

13 institution of higher education that receives a 

14 grant under this subsection shall use the grant 

15 funds to supplement, and not supplant, non16 Federal funds that would, in the absence of 

17 such grant funds, be made available for activi18 ties described in this section. 

19 (5) UNSPENT FUNDS.—Any funds transferred 

20 to the Secretary under paragraph (1) for a fiscal 

21 year that are not expended by the end of such fiscal 

22 year may be expended in any subsequent fiscal year 

23 through fiscal year 2017. Any funds transferred 

24 under paragraph (1) that are remaining at the end 

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1 section shall be transferred to the Treasury for def2 icit reduction. 

3 (c) COMMITTEE ON RESEARCH COMMERCIALIZATION

4 IMPROVEMENT.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after 

6 the date of enactment of this section, the Director 

7 of the National Science Foundation shall— 

8 (A) establish the Committee on Research 

9 Commercialization Improvement; and 

10 (B) appoint the members of the Committee 

11 described in subparagraphs (A) through (J) of 

12 paragraph (2). 

13 (2) COMPOSITION.—The Committee shall be 

14 composed of 15 members, of whom— 

15 (A) 1 member shall be an administrator at 

16 a private institution of higher education; 

17 (B) 1 member shall be an administrator at 

18 a land-grant college or university (as defined in 

19 section 1404 of the Agricultural Research, Ex20 tension, and Teaching Policy Act of 1977 (7 

21 U.S.C. 3103)); 

22 (C) 1 member shall be an administrator at 

23 a public institution of higher education; 


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1 (D) 1 member shall be a tenured faculty 

2 member at an institution of higher education, 

3 whose research has been commercialized; 

4 (E) 1 member shall be a qualified venture 

5 capitalist, defined as an individual who is em6 ployed by a company that— 

7 (i) is classified as a ‘‘venture capital 

8 operating company’’ under section 2510.3– 

9 101(d) of title 29, Code of Federal Regula10 tions; 

11 (ii) is based in the United States; 

12 (iii) is comprised of partners, the ma13 jority of whom are United States citizens; 

14 (iv) has capital commitments of not 

15 less than $10,000,000; 

16 (v) has been operating for not less 

17 than 2 years; and 

18 (vi) has made not less than 2 invest19 ments of not less than $500,000 during 

20 each of the most recent 2 years; 

21 (F) 1 member shall be a qualified Angel 

22 Investor, defined as an individual who— 

23 (i) is an accredited investor (as de24 fined in section 230.501(a) of title 17, 

25 Code of Federal Regulations); 


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1 (ii) is a United States citizen; and 

2 (iii) has made not less than 2 equity 

3 investments of not less than $50,000 in 

4 each of the previous 3 years; 

5 (G) 1 member shall be a small business 

6 owner or executive at a company that— 

7 (i) is based in the United States; and 

8 (ii) has worked with an institution of 

9 higher education in commercializing re10 search; 

11 (H) 1 member shall be a chief executive of12 ficer at an innovative and growing company 

13 that is based in the United States; 

14 (I) 2 members shall be individuals who 

15 work in a technology transfer office at an insti16 tution of higher education; 

17 (J) 1 member shall be an individual who 

18 works in a technology transfer office at a com19 pany in the technology sector that generates at 

20 least $50,000,000 in revenue annually; 

21 (K) 1 member shall be a technology trans22 fer expert to be nominated by the National Gov23 ernors Association; 

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1 ployed at the time of their service on the Com2 mittee by a public or private institution of high3 er education; 

4 (M) 1 member shall be nominated by the 

5 National Advisory Council on Innovation and 

6 Entrepreneurship; and 

7 (N) 1 member shall be the Director of the 

8 National Science Foundation. 

9 (3) CHAIR.— 

10 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the 

11 National Science Foundation shall serve as the 

12 Chair of the Committee. 

13 (B) REPLACEMENT OF MEMBERS.—The 

14 Director of the National Science Foundation, in 

15 the Director’s capacity as Chair of the Com16 mittee, shall appoint a replacement for any 

17 member described in subparagraphs (A) 

18 through (M) of paragraph (2) who leaves mem19 bership on the Committee. 

20 (4) DUTIES.— 

21 (A) DEVELOPMENT OF CRITERIA.—Not 

22 later than 120 days after the Committee is es23 tablished and all of the members of the Com24 mittee are appointed, the Committee shall con25 vene and develop recommendations for criteria 


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1 in awarding grants to institutions of higher 

2 education under subsection (b). 

3 (B) SUBMISSION TO COMMERCE AND PUB4 LICLY RELEASED.—The Committee shall— 

5 (i) submit the recommendations de6 scribed in subparagraph (A) to the Sec7 retary; and 

8 (ii) release the recommendations to 

9 the public. 

10 (C) MAJORITY VOTE.—The recommenda11 tions submitted by the Committee, as described 

12 in this paragraph, shall be determined by a ma13 jority vote of Committee members. 

14 (D) PERFORMANCE METRICS.—The Com15 mittee shall develop and provide to the Sec16 retary recommendations on performance 

17 metrics to be used to evaluate grants awarded 

18 under subsection (b). 

19 (5) POWERS.— 

20 (A) HEARINGS.—The Committee may hold 

21 such hearings, meet and act at such times and 

22 places, take such testimony, and receive such 

23 evidence as the Committee considers advisable 

24 to carry out this section. 


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1 (B) INFORMATION FROM FEDERAL AGEN2 CIES.— 

3 (i) IN GENERAL.—The Committee 

4 may secure directly from a Federal agency 

5 such information as the Committee con6 siders necessary to carry out this section. 

7 (ii) PROVISION OF INFORMATION.— 

8 On request of the Chair of the Committee, 

9 the head of the agency shall provide the in10 formation to the Committee. 

11 (C) POSTAL SERVICES.—The Committee 

12 may use the United States mails in the same 

13 manner and under the same conditions as other 

14 agencies of the Federal Government. 

15 (6) COMMITTEE PERSONNEL MATTERS.— 

16 (A) COMPENSATION OF MEMBERS.—Mem17 bers of the Committee shall not receive any 

18 compensation for service on the Committee. 

19 (B) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—A member of the 

20 Committee shall be allowed travel expenses, in21 cluding per diem in lieu of subsistence, at rates 

22 authorized for an employee of an agency under 

23 subchapter I of chapter 57 of title 5, United 

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1 ular place of business of the member in the per2 formance of the duties of the Committee. 

3 (C) STAFF.— 

4 (i) IN GENERAL.—The Chair of the 

5 Committee may, without regard to the civil 

6 service laws (including regulations), ap7 point and terminate an executive director 

8 and such other additional personnel as are 

9 necessary to enable the Committee to per10 form the duties of the Committee. 

11 (ii) CONFIRMATION OF EXECUTIVE DI12 RECTOR.—The employment of an executive 

13 director shall be subject to confirmation by 

14 the Committee. 

15 (iii) COMPENSATION.— 

16 (I) IN GENERAL.—Except as pro17 vided in subparagraph (B), the Chair 

18 of the Committee may fix the com19 pensation of the executive director 

20 and other personnel without regard to 

21 the provisions of chapter 51 and sub22 chapter III of chapter 53 of title 5, 

23 United States Code, relating to classi24 fication of positions and General 

25 Schedule pay rates. 


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1 (iv) MAXIMUM RATE OF PAY.—The 

2 rate of pay for the executive director and 

3 other personnel shall not exceed the rate 

4 payable for level V of the Executive Sched5 ule under section 5316 of title 5, United 

6 States Code. 

7 (7) EVALUATION.— 

8 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 

9 days before the date that the grant program 

10 authorized under subsection (b) expires, the 

11 Committee shall conduct an evaluation of the 

12 effect that the grant program is having on ac13 celerating the commercialization of faculty re14 search. 

15 (B) INCLUSIONS.—The evaluation shall in16 clude— 

17 (i) the recommendation of the Com18 mittee as to whether the grant program 

19 should be continued or terminated; 

20 (ii) quantitative data related to the ef21 fect, if any, that the grant program has 

22 had on faculty research commercialization; 

23 and 

24 (iii) a description of lessons learned in 

25 administering the grant program, and how 


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1 those lessons could be applied to future ef2 forts to accelerate commercialization of 

3 faculty research. 

4 (C) AVAILABILITY.—Upon completion of 

5 the evaluation, the evaluation shall be made 

6 available on a public website and submitted to 

7 Congress. The Secretary shall notify all institu8 tions of higher education when the evaluation is 

9 published and how it can be accessed. 

10 SEC. 8. CONDITIONAL PERMANENT RESIDENT STATUS FOR 

11 ALIENS WITH AN ADVANCED DEGREE IN A 

12 STEM FIELD. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title II of the Immigration and 

14 Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1151 et seq.) is amended by 

15 inserting after section 216A the following: 

16 ‘‘SEC. 216B. CONDITIONAL PERMANENT RESIDENT STATUS 

17 FOR ALIENS WITH AN ADVANCED DEGREE IN 

18 A STEM FIELD. 

19 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other pro20 vision of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security 

21 may adjust the status of not more than 50,000 aliens who 

22 have earned a master’s degree or a doctorate degree at 

23 an institution of higher education in a STEM field to that 

24 of an alien conditionally admitted for permanent residence 


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1 and authorize each alien granted such adjustment of sta2 tus to remain in the United States— 

3 ‘‘(1) for up to 1 year after the expiration of the 

4 alien’s student visa under section 101(a)(15)(F)(i) if 

5 the alien is diligently searching for an opportunity to 

6 become actively engaged in a STEM field; and 

7 ‘‘(2) indefinitely if the alien remains actively en8 gaged in a STEM field. 

9 ‘‘(b) APPLICATION FOR CONDITIONAL PERMANENT

10 RESIDENT STATUS.—Every alien applying for a condi11 tional permanent resident status under this section shall 

12 submit an application to the Secretary of Homeland Secu13 rity before the expiration of the alien’s student visa in 

14 such form and manner as the Secretary shall prescribe 

15 by regulation. 

16 ‘‘(c) INELIGIBILITY FOR FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AS17 SISTANCE.—An alien granted conditional permanent resi18 dent status under this section shall not be eligible, while 

19 in such status, for— 

20 ‘‘(1) any unemployment compensation (as de21 fined in section 85(b) of the Internal Revenue Code 

22 of 1986); or 

23 ‘‘(2) any form of assistance or benefit described 

24 in section 403(a) of the Personal Responsibility and 


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1 Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (8 

2 U.S.C. 1613(a)). 

3 ‘‘(d) EFFECT ON NATURALIZATION RESIDENCY RE4 QUIREMENT.—An alien granted conditional permanent 

5 resident status under this section shall be deemed to have 

6 been lawfully admitted for permanent residence for pur7 poses of meeting the 5-year residency requirement set 

8 forth in section 316(a)(1). 

9 ‘‘(e) REMOVAL OF CONDITION.—The Secretary of 

10 Homeland Security shall remove the conditional basis of 

11 an alien’s conditional permanent resident status under 

12 this section on the date that is 5 years after the date such 

13 status was granted if the alien maintained his or her eligi14 bility for such status during the entire 5-year period. 

15 ‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

16 ‘‘(1) The term ‘actively engaged in a STEM 

17 field’— 

18 ‘‘(A) means— 

19 ‘‘(i) gainfully employed in a for-profit 

20 business or nonprofit organization in the 

21 United States in a STEM field; 

22 ‘‘(ii) teaching 1 or more STEM field 

23 courses at an institution of higher edu24 cation; or 


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1 ‘‘(iii) employed by a Federal, State, or 

2 local government entity; and 

3 ‘‘(B) includes any period of up to 6 

4 months during which the alien does not meet 

5 the requirement under subparagraph (A) if 

6 such period was immediately preceded by a 1- 

7 year period during which the alien met the re8 quirement under subparagraph (A). 

9 ‘‘(2) The term ‘institution of higher education’ 

10 has the meaning given the term in section 101(a) of 

11 the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

12 1001(a)). 

13 ‘‘(3) The term ‘STEM field’ means any field of 

14 study or occupation included on the most recent 

15 STEM-Designated Degree Program List published 

16 in the Federal Register by the Department of Home17 land Security (as described in section 

18 214.2(f)(11)(C)(2) of title 8, Code of Federal Regu19 lations).’’. 

20 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

21 for the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 

22 et seq.) is amended by inserting after the item relating 

23 to section 216A the following: 

‘‘Sec. 216B. Conditional permanent resident status for aliens with an advanced 

degree in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics.’’. 


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1 (c) GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE

2 STUDY.— 

3 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 3 years after 

4 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Comp5 troller General of the United States shall submit a 

6 report to Congress on the alien college graduates 

7 granted immigrant status under section 216B of the 

8 Immigration and Nationality Act, as added by sub9 section (a). 

10 (2) CONTENTS.—The report described in para11 graph (1) shall include— 

12 (A) the number of aliens described in para13 graph (1) who have earned a master’s degree, 

14 broken down by the number of such degrees in 

15 science, technology, engineering, and mathe16 matics; 

17 (B) the number of aliens described in 

18 paragraph (1) who have earned a doctorate de19 gree, broken down by the number of such de20 grees in science, technology, engineering, and 

21 mathematics; 

22 (C) the number of aliens described in para23 graph (1) who have founded a business in the 

24 United States in a STEM field; 


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1 (D) the number of aliens described in 

2 paragraph (1) who are employed in the United 

3 States in a STEM field, broken down by em4 ployment sector (for profit, nonprofit, or gov5 ernment); and 

6 (E) the number of aliens described in para7 graph (1) who are employed by an institution of 

8 higher education. 

9 (3) DEFINITIONS.—The terms ‘‘institution of 

10 higher education’’ and ‘‘STEM field’’ have the 

11 meaning given such terms in section 216B(f) of the 

12 Immigration and Nationality Act, as added by sub13 section (a). 

14 SEC. 9. ALIEN ENTREPRENEURS. 

15 (a) QUALIFIED ALIEN ENTREPRENEURS.— 

16 (1) ADMISSION AS IMMIGRANTS.—Chapter 1 of 

17 title II of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 

18 U.S.C. 1151 et seq.) is amended by adding at the 

19 end the following: 

20 ‘‘SEC. 210A. QUALIFIED ALIEN ENTREPRENEURS. 

21 ‘‘(a) ADMISSION AS IMMIGRANTS.—The Secretary of 

22 Homeland Security, in accordance with the provisions of 

23 this section and section 216A, may issue a conditional im24 migrant visa to not more than 75,000 qualified alien en25 trepreneurs. 


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1 ‘‘(b) APPLICATION FOR CONDITIONAL PERMANENT

2 RESIDENT STATUS.—Every alien applying for a condi3 tional immigrant visa under this section shall submit an 

4 application to the Secretary of Homeland Security in such 

5 form and manner as the Secretary shall prescribe by regu6 lation. 

7 ‘‘(c) REVOCATION.—If, during the 4-year period be8 ginning on the date that an alien is granted a visa under 

9 this section, the Secretary of Homeland Security deter10 mines that such alien is no longer a qualified alien entre11 preneur, the Secretary shall— 

12 ‘‘(1) revoke such visa; and 

13 ‘‘(2) notify the alien that the alien— 

14 ‘‘(A) may voluntarily depart from the 

15 United States in accordance to section 240B; or 

16 ‘‘(B) will be subject to removal proceedings 

17 under section 240 if the alien does not depart 

18 from the United States not later than 6 months 

19 after receiving such notification. 

20 ‘‘(d) REMOVAL OF CONDITIONAL BASIS.—The Sec21 retary shall remove the conditional basis of the status of 

22 an alien issued an immigrant visa under this section on 

23 that date that is 4 years after the date on which such 

24 visa was issued if such visa was not revoked pursuant to 

25 subsection (c). 


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1 ‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

2 ‘‘(1) The term ‘full-time employee’ means a 

3 United States citizen or legal permanent resident 

4 who is paid by the new business entity registered by 

5 a qualified alien entrepreneur at a rate that is com6 parable to the median income of employees in the re7 gion. 

8 ‘‘(2) The term ‘institution of higher education’ 

9 has the meaning given the term in section 101(a) of 

10 the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

11 1001(a)). 

12 ‘‘(3) The term ‘qualified alien entrepreneur’ 

13 means an alien who— 

14 ‘‘(A) at the time the alien applies for an 

15 immigrant visa under this section— 

16 ‘‘(i) is lawfully present in the United 

17 States; 

18 ‘‘(ii)(I) holds a nonimmigrant visa 

19 pursuant to section 101(a)(15)(H)(i)(b); or 

20 ‘‘(II) has completed or will complete a 

21 graduate level degree in a STEM field 

22 from an institution of higher education; 

23 ‘‘(B) during the 1-year period beginning on 

24 the date the alien is granted a visa under this 

25 section— 


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1 ‘‘(i) registers at least 1 new business 

2 entity in a State; 

3 ‘‘(ii) employs, at such business entity 

4 in the United States, at least 2 full-time 

5 employees who are not relatives of the 

6 alien; and 

7 ‘‘(iii) invests, or raises capital invest8 ment of, not less than $100,000 in such 

9 business entity; and 

10 ‘‘(C) during the 3-year period beginning on 

11 the last day of the 1-year period described in 

12 paragraph (2), employs, at such business entity 

13 in the United States, an average of at least 5 

14 full-time employees who are not relatives of the 

15 alien. 

16 ‘‘(4) The term ‘STEM field’ means any field of 

17 study or occupation included on the most recent 

18 STEM-Designated Degree Program List published 

19 in the Federal Register by the Department of Home20 land Security (as described in section 

21 214.2(f)(11)(C)(2) of title 8, Code of Federal Regu22 lations).’’. 

23 (2) TABLE OF CONTENTS AMENDMENT.—The 

24 table of contents in the first section of the Immigra25 tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.) is 


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1 amended by adding after the item relating to section 

2 210 the following: 

‘‘Sec. 210A. Qualified alien entrepreneurs.’’. 

3 (b) CONDITIONAL PERMANENT RESIDENT STA4 TUS.—Section 216A of the Immigration and Nationality 

5 Act (8 U.S.C. 1186b) is amended— 

6 (1) by striking ‘‘Attorney General’’ each place 

7 such term appears and inserting ‘‘Secretary of 

8 Homeland Security’’; 

9 (2) in subsection (b)(1)(C), by striking 

10 ‘‘203(b)(5),’’ and inserting ‘‘203(b)(5) or 210A, as 

11 appropriate,’’; 

12 (3) in subsection (c)(1), by striking ‘‘alien en13 trepreneur must’’ each place such term appears and 

14 inserting ‘‘alien entrepreneur shall’’; 

15 (4) in subsection (d)(1)(B), by striking the pe16 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘or 210A, as appro17 priate.’’; and 

18 (5) in subsection (f)(1), by striking the period 

19 at the end and inserting ‘‘or 210A.’’. 

20 (c) GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE

21 STUDY.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 3 years after 

23 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Comp24 troller General of the United States shall submit a 

25 report to Congress on the qualified alien entreVerDate Mar 15 2010 04:42 Dec 09, 2011 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00036 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1965.IS S1965

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1 preneurs granted immigrant status under section 

2 210A of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as 

3 added by subsection (a). 

4 (2) CONTENTS.—The report described in para5 graph (1) shall include information regarding— 

6 (A) the number of qualified alien entre7 preneurs who have received immigrant status 

8 under section 210A of the Immigration and Na9 tionality Act, as added by subsection (a), listed 

10 by country of origin; 

11 (B) the localities in which such qualified 

12 alien entrepreneurs have initially settled; 

13 (C) whether such qualified alien entre14 preneurs generally remain in the localities in 

15 which they initially settle; 

16 (D) the types of commercial enterprises 

17 that such qualified alien entrepreneurs have es18 tablished; and 

19 (E) the types and number of jobs created 

20 by such qualified alien entrepreneurs. 

21 SEC. 10. BIENNIAL STATE STARTUP BUSINESS REPORT. 

22 (a) DATA COLLECTION.—The Secretary of Com23 merce shall regularly compile information from each of the 

24 50 States and the District of Columbia on State laws that 


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1 affect the formation and growth of new businesses within 

2 the State or District. 

3 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 18 months after the 

4 date of the enactment of this Act, and every 2 years there5 after, the Secretary, using data compiled under subsection 

6 (a), shall prepare a report that— 

7 (1) analyzes the economic effect of State and 

8 District laws that either encourage or inhibit busi9 ness formation and growth; and 

10 (2) ranks the States and the District based on 

11 the effectiveness with which their laws foster new 

12 business creation and economic growth. 

13 (c) DISTRIBUTION.—The Secretary shall— 

14 (1) submit each report prepared under sub15 section (b) to Congress; and 

16 (2) make each report available to the public on 

17 the Department of Commerce’s website. 

18 (d) INCLUSION OF LARGE METROPOLITAN AREAS.— 

19 Not later than 90 days after the submission of the first 

20 report under this section, the Secretary of Commerce shall 

21 submit to Congress a study on the feasibility and advis22 ability of including, in future reports, information about 

23 the effect of local laws and ordinances on the formation 

24 and growth of new businesses in large metropolitan areas 

25 within the United States. 


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1 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

2 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 

3 necessary to carry out this section. 

4 SEC. 11. NEW BUSINESS FORMATION REPORT. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Commerce shall 

6 regularly compile quantitative and qualitative information 

7 on businesses in the United States that are not more than 

8 1 year old. 

9 (b) DATA COLLECTION.—The Secretary shall— 

10 (1) regularly compile information from the Bu11 reau of the Census’ business register on new busi12 ness formation in the United States; and 

13 (2) conduct quarterly surveys of business own14 ers who start a business during the 1-year period 

15 ending on the date on which such survey is con16 ducted to gather qualitative information about the 

17 factors that influenced their decision to start the 

18 business. 

19 (c) RANDOM SAMPLING.—In conducting surveys 

20 under subsection (b)(2), the Secretary may use random 

21 sampling to identify a group of business owners who are 

22 representative of all the business owners described in sub23 section (b)(2). 

24 (d) BENEFITS.—The Secretary shall inform business 

25 owners selected to participate in a survey conducted under 


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1 this section of the benefits they would receive from partici2 pating in the survey. 

3 (e) VOLUNTARY PARTICIPATION.—Business owners 

4 selected to participate in a survey conducted under this 

5 section may decline to participate without penalty. 

6 (f) REPORT.—Not later than 18 months after the 

7 date of the enactment of this Act, and every 3 months 

8 thereafter, the Secretary shall use the data compiled under 

9 subsection (b) to prepare a report that— 

10 (1) lists the aggregate number of new busi11 nesses formed in the United States; 

12 (2) lists the aggregate number of persons em13 ployed by new businesses formed in the United 

14 States; 

15 (3) analyzes the payroll of new businesses 

16 formed in the United States; 

17 (4) summarizes the data collected under sub18 section (b); and 

19 (5) identifies the most effective means by which 

20 government officials can encourage the formation 

21 and growth of new businesses in the United States. 

22 (g) DISTRIBUTION.—The Secretary shall— 

23 (1) submit each report prepared under sub24 section (f) to Congress; and 


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1 (2) make each report available to the public on 

2 the Department of Commerce’s website. 

3 (h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

4 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 

5 necessary to carry out this section. 

Æ 


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