II 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1468 

To require the Secretary of Commerce to establish the Network for 

Manufacturing Innovation and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

AUGUST 1, 2013 

Mr. BROWN (for himself and Mr. BLUNT) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 

Transportation 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of Commerce to establish the Network for Manufacturing Innovation 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 ‘‘Revitalize American 

5 Manufacturing and Innovation Act of 2013’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) In 2011, manufacturing contributed 

9 $1,800,000,000,000 to the Nation’s economy and 


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1 accounted for 47 percent of all United States ex2 ports. 

3 (2) If ranked as its own country, the United 

4 States manufacturing sector would be the 10th larg5 est economy in the world. 

6 (3) American manufacturers employ more than 

7 11,000,000,000 Americans in jobs with wages and 

8 benefits that are one-third higher than the wages 

9 and benefits in other sectors. 

10 (4) Manufacturing has the highest multiplier ef11 fect, with every dollar in final sales of manufactured 

12 products resulting in $1.34 in output from other sec13 tors. 

14 (5) As the source of nearly one-third of the 

15 United States investment in research and develop16 ment manufacturing, firms drive innovation in the 

17 United States. 

18 (6) Countries such as Korea, Japan, and Ger19 many have a larger share of the advanced manufac20 turing sector than the United States. Each of these 

21 countries has a positive trade balance in advanced 

22 manufacturing products. In contrast, the United 

23 States had an $81,000,000,000 trade deficit in 

24 2010. 


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1 (7) The United States share of research and 

2 development spending dropped from 43.1 percent in 

3 1998 to 37.3 percent in 2008, while China’s share 

4 of research and development spending increased 

5 from 3 percent to 11.4 percent during the same pe6 riod. 

7 (8) According to a survey by the Council on 

8 Competitiveness, chief executive officers view the 

9 quality and availability of scientists, researchers, and 

10 engineers and the quality and availability of skilled 

11 production workers as the first and second most im12 portant drivers of competitiveness. 

13 (9) According to the Organization for Economic 

14 Co-Operation and Development, the United States 

15 ranked 27th out of 29 developed countries in the 

16 percentage of students who earned bachelor’s de17 grees in science and engineering in 2009. 

18 (10) Colleges in China and India award more 4- 

19 year engineering bachelor’s degrees than United 

20 States colleges. 

21 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF NETWORK FOR MANUFAC22 TURING INNOVATION. 

23 The National Institute of Standards and Technology 

24 Act (15 U.S.C. 271 et seq.) is amended— 


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1 (1) by redesignating section 34 as section 35; 

2 and 

3 (2) by inserting after section 33 (15 U.S.C. 

4 278r) the following: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 34. NETWORK FOR MANUFACTURING INNOVATION. 

6 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF NETWORK FOR MANUFAC7 TURING INNOVATION PROGRAM.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Com9 merce shall establish within the Institute a program 

10 to be known as the ‘Network for Manufacturing In11 novation Program’ (referred to in this section as the 

12 ‘Program’). 

13 ‘‘(2) PURPOSES OF PROGRAM.—The purposes of 

14 the Program are— 

15 ‘‘(A) to improve the competitiveness of 

16 United States manufacturing and to increase 

17 domestic production; 

18 ‘‘(B) to stimulate United States leadership 

19 in advanced manufacturing research, innova20 tion, and technology; 

21 ‘‘(C) to facilitate the transition of innova22 tive technologies into scalable, cost-effective, 

23 and high-performing manufacturing capabili24 ties; 


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1 ‘‘(D) to facilitate access by manufacturing 

2 enterprises to capital-intensive infrastructure, 

3 including high-performance computing, in order 

4 to improve the speed with which such enter5 prises commercialize new processes and tech6 nologies; 

7 ‘‘(E) to accelerate the development of an 

8 advanced manufacturing workforce; 

9 ‘‘(F) to facilitate peer exchange of and the 

10 documentation of best practices in addressing 

11 advanced manufacturing challenges; and 

12 ‘‘(G) to leverage non-Federal sources of 

13 support to promote a stable and sustainable 

14 business model without the need for long-term 

15 Federal funding. 

16 ‘‘(3) SUPPORT.—The Secretary, acting through 

17 the Director, shall carry out the purposes set forth 

18 in paragraph (2) by supporting— 

19 ‘‘(A) the Network for Manufacturing Inno20 vation established under subsection (b); and 

21 ‘‘(B) the establishment of centers for man22 ufacturing innovation. 

23 ‘‘(4) DIRECTOR.—The Secretary shall carry out 

24 the Program through the Director. 


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1 ‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT OF NETWORK FOR MANUFAC2 TURING INNOVATION.— 

3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—As part of the Program, 

4 the Secretary of Commerce shall establish a network 

5 of centers for manufacturing innovation. 

6 ‘‘(2) DESIGNATION.—The network established 

7 under paragraph (1) shall be known as the ‘Network 

8 for Manufacturing Innovation’ (referred to in this 

9 section as the ‘Network’). 

10 ‘‘(c) CENTERS FOR MANUFACTURING INNOVATION.— 

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this sec12 tion, a ‘center for manufacturing innovation’ is a 

13 center that— 

14 ‘‘(A) has been established by a person to 

15 address challenges in advanced manufacturing 

16 and to assist manufacturers in retaining or ex17 panding industrial production and jobs in the 

18 United States; 

19 ‘‘(B) has a predominant focus on a manu20 facturing process, novel material, enabling tech21 nology, supply chain integration methodology, 

22 or another relevant aspect of advanced manu23 facturing, as determined by the Secretary, with 

24 the potential— 


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1 ‘‘(i) to improve the competitiveness of 

2 United States manufacturing; 

3 ‘‘(ii) to accelerate investment in ad4 vanced manufacturing production capacity 

5 in the United States; and 

6 ‘‘(iii) to enable the commercial appli7 cation of new technologies or industry-wide 

8 manufacturing processes; and 

9 ‘‘(C) includes active participation among 

10 representatives from multiple industrial entities, 

11 research universities, community colleges, and 

12 such other entities as the Secretary considers 

13 appropriate, which may include career and tech14 nical education schools, Federal laboratories, 

15 State, local, and tribal governments, businesses, 

16 educational institutions, and nonprofit organiza17 tions. 

18 ‘‘(2) ACTIVITIES.—Activities of a center for 

19 manufacturing innovation may include the following: 

20 ‘‘(A) Research, development, and dem21 onstration projects, including proof-of-concept 

22 development and prototyping, to reduce the 

23 cost, time, and risk of commercializing new 

24 technologies and improvements in existing tech25 nologies, processes, products, and research and 


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1 development of materials to solve pre-competi2 tive industrial problems with economic or na3 tional security implications. 

4 ‘‘(B) Development and implementation of 

5 education and training courses, materials, and 

6 programs. 

7 ‘‘(C) Development of innovative methodolo8 gies and practices for supply chain integration 

9 and introduction of new technologies into sup10 ply chains. 

11 ‘‘(D) Outreach and engagement with 

12 small- and medium-sized manufacturing enter13 prises, in addition to large manufacturing en14 terprises. 

15 ‘‘(E) Such other activities as the Sec16 retary, in consultation with Federal depart17 ments and agencies whose missions contribute 

18 to or are affected by advanced manufacturing, 

19 considers consistent with the purposes described 

20 in subsection (a)(2). 

21 ‘‘(3) ADDITIONAL CENTERS FOR MANUFAC22 TURING INNOVATION.—The National Additive Man23 ufacturing Innovation Institute and pending manu24 facturing centers under interagency review shall be 

25 considered centers for manufacturing innovation. 


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1 ‘‘(d) FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE TO ESTABLISH AND

2 SUPPORT CENTERS FOR MANUFACTURING INNOVA3 TION.— 

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the Pro5 gram, the Secretary of Commerce shall award finan6 cial assistance to a person to assist the person in 

7 planning, establishing, or supporting a center for 

8 manufacturing innovation. 

9 ‘‘(2) APPLICATION.—A person seeking financial 

10 assistance under paragraph (1) shall submit to the 

11 Secretary an application therefor at such time, in 

12 such manner, and containing such information as 

13 the Secretary may require. 

14 ‘‘(3) OPEN PROCESS.—In soliciting applications 

15 for financial assistance under paragraph (1), the 

16 Secretary shall ensure an open process that will 

17 allow for the consideration of all applications rel18 evant to advanced manufacturing regardless of tech19 nology area. 

20 ‘‘(4) SELECTION.— 

21 ‘‘(A) COMPETITIVE, MERIT REVIEW.—In 

22 awarding financial assistance under paragraph 

23 (1), the Secretary shall use a competitive, merit 

24 review process. 


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1 ‘‘(B) COLLABORATION.—In awarding fi2 nancial assistance under paragraph (1), the 

3 Secretary shall, acting through the National 

4 Program Office established under subsection 

5 (e)(1), collaborate with Federal departments 

6 and agencies whose missions contribute to or 

7 are affected by advanced manufacturing. 

8 ‘‘(C) CONSIDERATIONS.—In selecting a 

9 person who submitted an application under 

10 paragraph (2) for an award of financial assist11 ance under paragraph (1) the Secretary shall 

12 consider, at a minimum, the following: 

13 ‘‘(i) The potential of the center for 

14 manufacturing innovation to advance do15 mestic manufacturing and the likelihood of 

16 economic impact in the predominant focus 

17 areas of the center for manufacturing in18 novation. 

19 ‘‘(ii) The commitment of continued fi20 nancial support, advice, participation, and 

21 other contributions from non-Federal 

22 sources, to provide leverage and resources 

23 to promote a stable and sustainable busi24 ness model without the need for long-term 

25 Federal funding. 


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1 ‘‘(iii) How the center for manufac2 turing innovation will engage with small3 and medium-sized manufacturing enter4 prises, to improve the capacity of such en5 terprises to commercialize new processes 

6 and technologies. 

7 ‘‘(iv) How the center for manufac8 turing innovation will carry out educational 

9 and workforce activities that meet indus10 trial needs related to the predominant 

11 focus areas of the center for manufac12 turing innovation. 

13 ‘‘(v) How the center for manufac14 turing innovation will advance economic 

15 competitiveness. 

16 ‘‘(vi) How the center for manufac17 turing innovation will strengthen and lever18 age the assets of a region. 

19 ‘‘(5) LIMITATION ON PERIOD FOR AWARDS.— 

20 No award of financial assistance may be made under 

21 paragraph (1) to a center of manufacturing innova22 tion after the 7-year period beginning on the date on 

23 which the Secretary first awards financial assistance 

24 to a center under such paragraph. 

25 ‘‘(e) NATIONAL PROGRAM OFFICE.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Com2 merce shall establish, within the Institute, the Na3 tional Office of the Network for Manufacturing In4 novation Program (referred to in this section as the 

5 ‘National Program Office’), which shall oversee and 

6 carry out the Program. 

7 ‘‘(2) FUNCTIONS.—The functions of the Na8 tional Program Office are— 

9 ‘‘(A) to oversee the planning, management, 

10 and coordination of the Program; 

11 ‘‘(B) to enter into memorandums of under12 standing with Federal departments and agen13 cies, whose missions contribute to or are af14 fected by advanced manufacturing, to carry out 

15 the purposes described in subsection (a)(2); 

16 ‘‘(C) to develop, not later than 1 year after 

17 the date of the enactment of the Revitalize 

18 American Manufacturing and Innovation Act of 

19 2013, and update not less frequently than once 

20 every 3 years thereafter, a strategic plan to 

21 guide the Program; 

22 ‘‘(D) to establish such procedures, proc23 esses, and criteria as may be necessary and ap24 propriate to maximize cooperation and coordi25 nate the activities of the Program with proVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:32 Aug 09, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1468.IS S1468

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1 grams and activities of other Federal depart2 ments and agencies whose missions contribute 

3 to or are affected by advanced manufacturing; 

4 ‘‘(E) to establish a clearinghouse of public 

5 information related to the activities of the Pro6 gram; and 

7 ‘‘(F) to act as a convener of the Network. 

8 ‘‘(3) RECOMMENDATIONS.—In developing and 

9 updating the strategic plan under paragraph (2)(C), 

10 the Secretary shall solicit recommendations and ad11 vice from a wide range of stakeholders, including in12 dustry, small- and medium-sized manufacturing en13 terprises, research universities, community colleges, 

14 and other relevant organizations and institutions. 

15 ‘‘(4) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The Secretary 

16 shall transmit the strategic plan required under 

17 paragraph (2)(C) to the Committee on Commerce, 

18 Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the 

19 Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the 

20 House of Representatives. 

21 ‘‘(5) HOLLINGS MANUFACTURING EXTENSION

22 PARTNERSHIP.—The Secretary shall ensure that the 

23 National Program Office incorporates the Hollings 

24 Manufacturing Extension Partnership into Program 


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1 planning to ensure that the results of the Program 

2 reach small- and medium-sized entities. 

3 ‘‘(6) DETAILEES.—Any Federal Government 

4 employee may be detailed to the National Program 

5 Office without reimbursement. Such detail shall be 

6 without interruption or loss of civil service status or 

7 privilege. 

8 ‘‘(f) REPORTING AND AUDITING.— 

9 ‘‘(1) ANNUAL REPORTS TO THE SECRETARY.— 

10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of 

11 Commerce shall require recipients of financial 

12 assistance under subsection (d)(1) to annually 

13 submit a report to the Secretary that describes 

14 the finances and performance of the center for 

15 manufacturing innovation for which such assist16 ance was awarded. 

17 ‘‘(B) ELEMENTS.—Each report submitted 

18 under subparagraph (A) shall include— 

19 ‘‘(i) an accounting of expenditures of 

20 amounts awarded to the recipient under 

21 subsection (d)(1); and 

22 ‘‘(ii) a description of the performance 

23 of the center for manufacturing innovation 

24 with respect to— 


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1 ‘‘(I) its goals, plans, financial 

2 support, and accomplishments; and 

3 ‘‘(II) how the center for manu4 facturing innovation has furthered the 

5 purposes described in subsection 

6 (a)(2). 

7 ‘‘(2) ANNUAL REPORTS TO CONGRESS.— 

8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not less frequently 

9 than once each year, the Secretary shall submit 

10 a report to Congress that describes the per11 formance of the Program during the most re12 cent 1-year period. 

13 ‘‘(B) ELEMENTS.—Each report submitted 

14 under subparagraph (A) shall include, for the 

15 period covered by the report— 

16 ‘‘(i) a summary and assessment of the 

17 reports received by the Secretary under 

18 paragraph (1); 

19 ‘‘(ii) an accounting of the funds ex20 pended by the Secretary under the Pro21 gram; and 

22 ‘‘(iii) an assessment of the Program 

23 with respect to the purposes described in 

24 subsection (a)(2). 

25 ‘‘(3) TRIENNIAL ASSESSMENT BY GAO.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not less frequently 

2 than once every 3 years, the Comptroller Gen3 eral of the United States shall submit to Con4 gress an assessment of the operation of the 

5 Program during the most recent 3-year period. 

6 ‘‘(B) ELEMENTS.—Each assessment sub7 mitted under subparagraph (A) shall include, 

8 for the period covered by the report— 

9 ‘‘(i) a review of the management, co10 ordination, and industry utility of the Pro11 gram; 

12 ‘‘(ii) an assessment of the extent to 

13 which the Program has furthered the pur14 poses described in subsection (a)(2); and 

15 ‘‘(iii) such recommendations for legis16 lative and administrative action as the 

17 Comptroller General considers appropriate 

18 to improve the Program. 

19 ‘‘(g) ADDITIONAL AUTHORITIES.— 

20 ‘‘(1) APPOINTMENT OF PERSONNEL AND CON21 TRACTS.—The Secretary of Commerce may appoint 

22 such personnel and enter into such contracts, finan23 cial assistance agreements, and other agreements as 

24 the Secretary considers necessary or appropriate to 

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1 search and development activities involving a center 

2 for manufacturing innovation. 

3 ‘‘(2) TRANSFER OF FUNDS.—The Secretary 

4 may transfer to other Federal agencies such sums as 

5 the Secretary considers necessary or appropriate to 

6 carry out the Program. 

7 ‘‘(3) AUTHORITY OF OTHER AGENCIES.—In the 

8 event that the Secretary exercises the authority to 

9 transfer funds to another agency under paragraph 

10 (2), such agency may award and administer all as11 pects of financial assistance awards under this sec12 tion. 

13 ‘‘(4) USE OF RESOURCES.—In furtherance of 

14 the purposes of the Program, the Secretary may use, 

15 with the consent of a covered entity and with or 

16 without reimbursement, the land, services, equip17 ment, personnel, and facilities of such covered entity. 

18 ‘‘(5) ACCEPTANCE OF RESOURCES.—In addition 

19 to amounts appropriated to carry out the Program, 

20 the Secretary may accept funds, services, equipment, 

21 personnel, and facilities from any covered entity to 

22 carry out the Program. 

23 ‘‘(6) COVERED ENTITY.—For purposes of this 

24 subsection, a covered entity is any Federal depart25 ment, Federal agency, instrumentality of the United 


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1 States, State, local government, tribal government, 

2 Territory or possession of the United States, or of 

3 any political subdivision thereof, or international or4 ganization, or any public or private entity or indi5 vidual. 

6 ‘‘(h) PATENTS.—Chapter 18 of title 35, United 

7 States Code, shall not apply if financial assistance is 

8 awarded under this section solely for the purpose of plan9 ning, establishing, or supporting new or existing centers 

10 for manufacturing innovation. 

11 ‘‘(i) FUNDING.— 

12 ‘‘(1) NETWORK FOR MANUFACTURING INNOVA13 TION FUND.— 

14 ‘‘(A) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is estab15 lished in the Treasury of the United States a 

16 fund to be known as the ‘Network for Manufac17 turing Innovation Fund’ (referred to in this 

18 paragraph as the ‘Fund’). 

19 ‘‘(B) ELEMENTS.—There shall be depos20 ited in the Fund, which shall constitute the as21 sets of the Fund, amounts appropriated or oth22 erwise made available to carry out the Program. 

23 ‘‘(C) AVAILABILITY.—Amounts deposited 

24 in the Fund shall be available to the Secretary 

25 of Commerce, at the discretion of the Secretary, 


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1 or the Secretary’s delegee, to carry out the Pro2 gram without further appropriation and without 

3 fiscal year limitation. 

4 ‘‘(2) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

5 There is authorized to be appropriated 

6 $600,000,000 to the Secretary of Commerce to carry 

7 out this section. 

8 ‘‘(3) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—The Sec9 retary of Commerce may use not more than 5 per10 cent of the amounts appropriated pursuant to para11 graph (2) to pay the salaries, expenses, and other 

12 administrative costs incurred by the Secretary under 

13 this section. 

14 ‘‘(4) RESCISSION.—There is hereby rescinded, 

15 from appropriated discretionary funds that remain 

16 available for obligation as of the date of the enact17 ment of this Act, $600,000,000.’’. 

18 SEC. 4. REPORT. 

19 (a) DEFINED TERM.—In this section, the term ‘‘rare 

20 earth monopoly’’ means the domination of the market for 

21 rare earth elements, including— 

22 (1) rare earth oxides, metals, alloys, and 

23 magnets; 

24 (2) integrated systems that include rare earth 

25 components, including wind turbines, motors, and 


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1 catalysts for green technology lighting and transpor2 tation in commercial products; and 

3 (3) oxide, metal, or alloy-based rare earth mate4 rials, magnets, components and systems for guided 

5 ordinance, stealth and drone technologies, interro6 gating and targeting lasers, radar, sonar, and weap7 ons systems used by the United States military. 

8 (b) SURVEY.—The Secretary of Commerce shall con9 duct a survey that— 

10 (1) measures the economic impact of China’s 

11 rare earth monopoly on the United States and other 

12 affected nations to determine the magnitude of eco13 nomic and intellectual property loss resulting from 

14 China’s rare earth monopoly; and 

15 (2) looks beyond gross economic figures of 

16 value added goods and identifies specific tech17 nologies, industries, and defense systems that are 

18 now primarily produced in, or are likely to relocate 

19 or migrate to, China. 

20 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

21 of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Commerce 

22 shall submit a report to Congress that contains the results 

23 of the survey conducted under subsection (a). The report 

24 shall contain recommendations on how the United States 

25 should— 


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1 (1) initiate direct dialogue with affected nations 

2 to assess the short- and long-term economic con3 sequences of China’s rare earth monopoly and re4 lated trade practices; and 

5 (2) promote cooperative resolutions to facilitate 

6 partnership structures that will offset imbalances 

7 caused by China’s rare earth monopoly. 

Æ 


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