II

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1200

To amend the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980 to establish the National Quality Commitment Award with the objective of encouraging American universities to teach total quality management, to

emphasize the importance of process manufacturing, and for other

purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JULY 1 (legislative day, JUNE 30), 1993

Mr. DOMENICI introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred

to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

A BILL

To amend the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act

of 1980 to establish the National Quality Commitment

Award with the objective of encouraging American universities to teach total quality management, to emphasize

the importance of process manufacturing, 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 ‘‘National Quality Com5 mitment Award Act of 1993’’.
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1 SEC. 2. PURPOSE.

2 It is the purpose of this Act to provide for the estab3 lishment and conduct of a national commitment to quality

4 award program under which awards are given to institu5 tions of higher education that—

6 (1) teach effective total quality management;

7 (2) reorient their education programs to empha8 size the value and prestige of pursuing careers in

9 process manufacturing engineering;

10 (3) apply total quality management to the oper11 ations of their institution of higher education; and

12 (4) apply total quality management in their

13 joint research and development contracts with pri14 vate industry.

15 SEC. 3. AWARD PROGRAM.

16 The Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of

17 1980 (15 U.S.C. 3701 et seq.) is amended by adding at

18 the end the following new section:

19 ‘‘SEC. 22. NATIONAL COMMITMENT TO QUALITY AWARD

20 PROGRAM.

21 ‘‘(a) PROGRAM ESTABLISHED.—

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall carry

23 out an award program to be known as the National

24 Commitment to Quality Award Program.

25 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—In carrying out the award

26 program described in paragraph (1), the Secretary—
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1 ‘‘(A) shall conduct a competition and make

2 monetary awards in accordance with subsection

3 (b)(1);

4 ‘‘(B) may make special awards in accord5 ance with subsection (b)(2); and

6 ‘‘(C) shall provide each recipient of such a

7 monetary or special award with a medal de8 scribed in paragraph (3).

9 ‘‘(3) MEDAL.—Each recipient of an award

10 under this section shall receive a medal bearing the

11 inscriptions ‘National Commitment to Quality

12 Award’ and ‘The Quest for Excellence’. The medal

13 shall be of such design and materials and bear such

14 additional inscriptions as the Secretary may pre15 scribe.

16 ‘‘(4) DESIGNATION.—Awards under this section

17 shall be known as National Commitment to Quality

18 Awards.

19 ‘‘(b) AWARDS.—

20 ‘‘(1) COMPETITION FOR MONETARY AWARDS.—

21 (A) From amounts appropriated pursuant to the au22 thority of subsection (j), the Secretary shall periodi23 cally conduct a competition and make at least 3

24 monetary awards to institutions of higher education

25 in accordance with the provisions of this section.
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1 ‘‘(B) The monetary awards described in sub2 paragraph (A) shall be in an amount equal to—

3 ‘‘(i) $3,000,000 for the institution of high4 er education receiving first place in the competi5 tion described in subparagraph (A);

6 ‘‘(ii) $2,000,000 for the institution receiv7 ing second place in such competition;

8 ‘‘(iii) $1,000,000 for the institution receiv9 ing third place in such competition; and

10 ‘‘(iv) not more than $1,000,000 for any

11 other such institution receiving an award pursu12 ant to such competition.

13 ‘‘(2) SPECIALIZED AWARDS.—(A) From

14 amounts appropriated pursuant to the authority of

15 subsection (j), the Secretary may award to any insti16 tution of higher education that excels in teaching or

17 practicing either total quality management or proc18 ess manufacturing engineering services productivity

19 improvement a specialized award.

20 ‘‘(B) The specialized award described in sub21 paragraph (A) shall be in an amount which is not

22 more than $500,000.

23 ‘‘(3) APPLICATION FEE PROHIBITED.—The Sec24 retary shall not charge an institution of higher edu-
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1 cation a fee in order to apply for or receive an award

2 under this section.

3 ‘‘(c) MAKING AND PRESENTATION OF AWARDS.—

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The President (on the

5 basis of recommendations received from the Sec6 retary), or the Secretary, shall periodically make

7 awards to institutions of higher education which in

8 the judgment of the President or the Secretary have

9 substantially benefited the economic and social well

10 being of the United States through activities that—

11 ‘‘(A) teach effective total quality manage12 ment techniques and approaches;

13 ‘‘(B) demonstrate continuous improvement

14 in the institution’s total quality management

15 curriculum;

16 ‘‘(C) emphasize the value and prestige of

17 pursuing careers in process manufacturing en18 gineering;

19 ‘‘(D) demonstrate continuous improvement

20 in the institution’s education program through

21 application of total quality management prin22 ciples within the institution; and

23 ‘‘(E) demonstrate commitment and appli24 cation of total quality management principles in
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1 joint research relationships that the institution

2 maintains with private industry.

3 ‘‘(2) PRESENTATION CEREMONY.—The presen4 tation of the awards under this section shall be

5 made by the President or the Secretary with such

6 ceremonies as the President or the Secretary may

7 deem proper.

8 ‘‘(3) PUBLICATION AND INELIGIBILITY.—An in9 stitution of higher education to which an award is

10 made under this section, and which agrees to help

11 other institutions of higher education improve their

12 total quality management curriculum may publicize

13 its receipt of such award, but such institution shall

14 be ineligible to receive another such award for a

15 period of 5 years.

16 ‘‘(4) USE OF AWARD.—An institution of higher

17 education receiving an award under this section shall

18 use the proceeds of such award to further improve

19 the total quality management and process manufac20 turing engineering curriculum of such institution.

21 ‘‘(d) AWARD CRITERIA.—

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Awards under this section

23 shall be made to qualifying institutions of higher

24 education that place an emphasis on—
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1 ‘‘(A) total quality management, includ2 ing—

3 ‘‘(i) leadership in teaching how to cre4 ate a quality culture;

5 ‘‘(ii) leadership in teaching informa6 tion and analysis such as statistical proc7 ess contracts for quality improvement;

8 ‘‘(iii) the effectiveness of the institu9 tion’s quality improvement program to

10 teach integration of quality requirements

11 into businesses’ plans;

12 ‘‘(iv) the success of the institution’s

13 efforts to teach students how to realize the

14 full potential of the work force for quality;

15 ‘‘(v) teaching quality awareness;

16 ‘‘(vi) emphasis on customer satisfac17 tion;

18 ‘‘(vii) leadership in teaching how to

19 integrate the total quality management

20 philosophy; and

21 ‘‘(viii) demonstrated success in teach22 ing students how to instill the full potential

23 total quality management philosophy in the

24 work force;
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1 ‘‘(B) the importance of process manufac2 turing, including—

3 ‘‘(i) leadership in teaching a better

4 understanding of market forces and indus5 try needs, industrial processes, and manu6 facturing and quality practices that are

7 driven by market pull, not science push;

8 ‘‘(ii) leadership in developing and

9 teaching a more accelerated approach to

10 research, development, and manufacturing

11 in order to teach students how to move

12 products more quickly from the basic re13 search phase to the commercialization

14 phase with an emphasis on teamwork;

15 ‘‘(iii) leadership in teaching better in16 tegration of design and production, includ17 ing teaching students how to design with

18 manufacturability in mind, and to focus on

19 cost-effectiveness, quality reliability, sim20 plicity, flexibility, and modularity; and

21 ‘‘(iv) leadership in teaching students

22 to give greater consideration to potential

23 commercial applications in the planning

24 and conduct of research and development

25 through input from potential users, and
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1 closer working relationship between the na2 tional research laboratories, industry, and

3 universities.

4 ‘‘(e) CRITERIA FOR QUALIFICATION.—

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—(A) An institution of high6 er education may qualify for an award under this

7 section only if such institution—

8 ‘‘(i) applies to the Secretary in writing, for

9 the award;

10 ‘‘(ii) permits a rigorous evaluation in ac11 cordance with subparagraphs (B) and (C) of

12 the success of the institution’s curriculum for

13 total quality management and process manufac14 turing engineering; and

15 ‘‘(iii) meets such requirements and speci16 fications as the Secretary, after receiving rec17 ommendations from the board of overseers, de18 termines to be appropriate to achieve the pur19 poses of this section.

20 ‘‘(B) In carrying out the provisions of clause

21 (ii) of subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall develop

22 evaluation criteria and procedures.

23 ‘‘(C) In applying the provisions of clause (iii) of

24 subparagraph (A) with respect to any institution of

25 higher education, the Secretary shall rely upon in-
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1 tensive evaluation by the board of overseers which

2 shall—

3 ‘‘(i) review the information submitted by

4 the institution of higher education, and through

5 a site visit verify the achievements of—

6 ‘‘(I) the total quality management

7 curriculum and process manufacturing en8 gineering programs of such institution; and

9 ‘‘(II) such institution in practicing

10 total quality management;

11 ‘‘(ii) encompass all aspects of the institu12 tion of higher education’s total quality manage13 ment and process manufacturing engineering

14 program, as well as such institution’s future

15 goals for its total quality management and

16 process manufacturing engineering curriculum;

17 and

18 ‘‘(iii) include an analysis of whether the in19 stitution of higher education in practicing or

20 applying total quality management to its rela21 tionships with industry and in its day-to-day

22 administration of the institution.

23 ‘‘(2) CONTRACTUAL ARRANGEMENTS.—The

24 Secretary may, under appropriate contractual ar25 rangements, carry out the Secretary’s responsibil-
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1 ities under subparagraphs (A) and (B) of paragraph

2 (1) through one or more broadbased nonprofit enti3 ties which are leaders in the field of quality improve4 ment programs and which have a history of service

5 to society.

6 ‘‘(3) RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE BOARD OF

7 OVERSEERS.—The board of overseers shall meet an8 nually to review the work of the Secretary or the

9 contractor and make such suggestions for the im10 provement of the award process as such board

11 deems necessary. The board of overseers shall report

12 the results of the award activities to the Secretary

13 each fiscal year, along with its recommendations for

14 improvement of the award process.

15 ‘‘(f) INFORMATION AND EVALUATION.—The Sec16 retary shall ensure that each applicant for an award under

17 this section receives the complete results of the evaluation

18 of such institution conducted pursuant to subsection

19 (e)(1)(ii) as well as detailed explanations of all suggestions

20 for improvements. The Secretary shall also provide infor21 mation about the awards and successful total quality man22 agement and process manufacturing engineering curricu23 lum of the award-winning institutions of higher education

24 to each applicant for an award under this section and

25 other appropriate groups.
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1 ‘‘(g) FUNDING.—The Secretary is authorized to seek

2 and accept gifts and donations of property or services

3 from public and private sources to carry out the award

4 program assisted under this section.

5 ‘‘(h) REPORT.—The Secretary shall prepare and sub6 mit to the President and the Congress, within 3 years

7 after the date of the enactment of this section, a report

8 on the progress, findings, and conclusions of activities con9 ducted pursuant to this section along with a recommenda10 tion for possible modifications thereof.

11 ‘‘(i) DEFINITIONS.—For the purpose of this sec12 tion—

13 ‘‘(1) the term ‘board of overseers’ means the

14 board of overseers established pursuant to section

15 17(d)(2)(B) of this Act for the year in which the de16 termination is made;

17 ‘‘(2) the term ‘manufacturing process tech18 nology’ means engineering training which specializes

19 in understanding and implementing a manufacturing

20 process under which a high quality product is pro21 duced in a timely fashion, including simulative engi22 neering and the skills necessary for rapid represent23 ative prototyping;

24 ‘‘(3) the term ‘Secretary’ means the Secretary

25 of Commerce; and
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1 ‘‘(4) the term ‘total quality management’ means

2 a management approach which includes—

3 ‘‘(A) systems thinking; and

4 ‘‘(B) statistical proces control, theories of

5 human behavior, leadership, and planning that

6 is quality-driven, customer-oriented, and com7 mitted to teamwork.

8 ‘‘(j) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

9 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be

10 necessary for each fiscal year to carry out this section.’’.

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