II

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1445

To authorize appropriations for the National Science Foundation, and for

other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

DECEMBER 5, 1995

Mr. PRESSLER (for himself and Mr. BURNS) introduced the following bill;

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Labor and

Human Resources pursuant to the order of March 3, 1988, with instructions that, if reported, the bill then be referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation for a period not to exceed 30 session

days

A BILL

To authorize appropriations for the National Science

Foundation, 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 Science

5 Foundation Authorization Act of 1995.’’.

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

7 For purposes of this Act—
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1 (1) the term ‘‘Director’’ means the Director of

2 the Foundation;

3 (2) the term ‘‘Foundation’’ means the National

4 Science Foundation; and

5 (3) the term ‘‘United States’’ means the several

6 States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth

7 of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American

8 Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana

9 Islands, and any other territory or possession of the

10 United States.

11 TITLE I—NATIONAL SCIENCE

12 FOUNDATION AUTHORIZATION

13 SEC. 101. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

14 (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds that—

15 (1) the programs of the Foundation are impor16 tant for the Nation to strengthen basic research and

17 develop human resources in science and engineering

18 and that those programs should be funded at an

19 adequate level;

20 (2) the primary mission of the Foundation con21 tinues to be the support of basic scientific research

22 and science education and the support of research

23 fundamental to the engineering process and engi24 neering education;
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1 (3) the Foundation’s efforts to contribute to the

2 economic competitiveness of the United States

3 should be in accord with that primary mission; and

4 (4) it is in the national interest that all states

5 and regions of the country, including the Nation’s

6 rural and sparsely populated states and regions, be

7 encouraged to contribute and participate in the fed8 eral science and technology enterprise.

9 (b) AUTHORIZATIONS.—For each of fiscal years

10 1996, 1997, and 1998, there are authorized to be appro11 priated to the Foundation the following amounts for the

12 accounts listed:

13 (1) Research and Related Activities,

14 $2,294,000,000 (of which $19,000,000 are author15 ized to be used for joint activities between the Foun16 dation’s research directorates and the Experimental

17 Program to Stimulate Competitive Research, includ18 ing the pilot program authorized by section 102 of

19 this Act).

20 (2) Education and Human Resources Activities,

21 $599,000,000 (of which $37,000,000 are authorized

22 to be used for the Experimental Program to Stimu23 late Competitive Research).

24 (3) Major Research Equipment, $70,000,000.
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1 (4) Academic Research Facilities Moderniza2 tion, $100,000,000.

3 (5) Salaries and Expenses, $127,310,000.

4 (6) Office of Inspector General, $4,500,000.

5 (7) Headquarters Relocation, $5,200,000.

6 SEC. 102. PILOT PROGRAM TO ENCOURAGE PARTNERSHIPS

7 FOR RESEARCH.

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—For each of fiscal years 1996,

9 1997, and 1998, there are authorized $10 million for the

10 initiation of a pilot program at the Foundation to fund

11 grants for science research and outreach proposals submit12 ted by consortia of research institutions led by institutions

13 from states eligible to compete in the Foundation’s exist14 ing Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Re15 search (EPSCoR). The program shall be aimed at encour16 aging EPSCoR institutions to enter into consortia with

17 non-EPSCoR institutions, including private sector institu18 tions, to develop grant proposals to support research,

19 science education, community outreach, technology trans20 fer, and any other activities consistent with the goals and

21 missions of the Foundation.

22 (b) GRANTS.—The grants shall be awarded by the

23 Foundation to such consortia on a competitive, peer-re24 viewed basis. In its selection process, the Foundation shall

25 give favorable consideration to proposals involving in-kind
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1 or financial contributions from non-federal sources, in2 cluding state and local governments, consortium members,

3 other research institutions, or industry, but cost-sharing

4 shall not be a required feature of a proposal. In establish5 ing requirements for the grant proposals, the Foundation

6 shall require that the funds granted to a consortium must

7 be administered by a member thereof that is an institution

8 from an EPSCoR State and shall further require that

9 such institution have primary responsibility for the man10 agement and oversight of the activities funded by the

11 grant award.

12 (c) IMPLEMENTATION OF PROGRAM.—The Founda13 tion shall implement the pilot program in a manner that

14 will complement the Foundation’s existing EPSCoR pro15 gram and advance the common goal of both programs to

16 enhance the capability of quality research groups and in17 stitutions in rural and sparsely populated States to con18 tribute to the vast federal research enterprise. Projects

19 may be funded for up to three years through grants

20 awarded under this program, with the potential for an21 other two-year extension following the review and approval

22 of the Foundation. At the time of the Foundation’s budget

23 submission to Congress for fiscal year 1997, the Founda24 tion shall provide to the Committee on Commerce, Science,

25 and Transportation and the Committee on Labor and
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1 Human Resources of the Senate and the Committee on

2 Science of the House of Representatives a strategic plan

3 for the implementation of the pilot program authorized in

4 this section.

5 SEC. 103. SUPPORT FOR COMPUTING ACTIVITIES AT TRIB6 AL COLLEGES.

7 The Director of the National Science foundation shall

8 design and implement a pilot program to provide financial

9 assistance, through competitive selection processes, to

10 States in which are located 2 or more tribally-controlled

11 community colleges. The objective of the pilot program

12 shall be to establish interactive telecommunications sys13 tems among such tribally-controlled community colleges in

14 such States in order to assist the tribal community in edu15 cation, job training, and other appropriate activities.

16 SEC. 104. CONSULTATION AND REPRESENTATION EX17 PENSES.

18 From appropriations made under authorizations pro19 vided in this Act, not more than $10,000 may be used

20 in each fiscal year for official consultation, representation,

21 or other extraordinary expenses at the discretion of the

22 Director. The determination of the Director shall be final

23 and conclusive upon the accounting officers of the Govern24 ment.
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1 SEC. 105. REPROGRAMMING.

2 (a) $500,000 OR LESS.—In any given fiscal year, the

3 Director may transfer appropriated funds among the

4 subcategories of Research and Related Activities, so long

5 as the net funds transferred to or from any subcategory

6 do not exceed $500,000.

7 (b) GREATER THAN $500,000.—The Director may

8 propose transfers to or from any subcategory exceeding

9 $500,000. An explanation of any proposed transfer under

10 this subsection must be transmitted in writing to the Com11 mittee on Science of the House of Representatives, and

12 the Committees on Labor and Human Resources and

13 Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate.

14 The proposed transfer may be made only when 30 cal15 endar days have passed after transmission of such written

16 explanation.

17 TITLE II—GENERAL PROVISIONS

18 SEC. 201. ANNUAL REPORT.

19 Section 3(f) of the National Science Foundation Act

20 of 1950 (42 U.S.C. 1862(f)) is amended to read as fol21 lows:

22 ‘‘(f) The Foundation shall provide an annual report

23 to the President which shall be submitted by the Director

24 to the Congress at the time of the President’s annual

25 budget submission. The report shall—
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1 ‘‘(1) contain a strategic plan, or an update to

2 a previous strategic plan, which—

3 ‘‘(A) defines for a three-year period the

4 overall goals for the Foundation and specific

5 goals for each major activity of the Foundation,

6 including each scientific directorate, the edu7 cation directorate, and the polar programs of8 fice; and

9 ‘‘(B) describe how the identified goals re10 late to national needs and will exploit new op11 portunities in science and technology;

12 ‘‘(2) identify the criteria and describe the proce13 dures which the Foundation will use to assess

14 progress toward achieving the goals identified in ac15 cordance with paragraph (1);

16 ‘‘(3) review the activities of the Foundation

17 during the preceding year which have contributed to18 ward achievement of goals identified in accordance

19 with paragraph (1) and summarize planned activities

20 for the coming three years in the context of the

21 identified goals, with particular emphasis on the

22 Foundation’s planned contributions to major multi23 agency research and education initiatives;

24 ‘‘(4) contain such recommendations as the

25 Foundation considers appropriate; and
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1 ‘‘(5) include information on the acquisition and

2 disposition by the Foundation of any patents and

3 patent rights.’’.

4 SEC. 202. ADMINISTRATIVE AMENDMENTS.

5 (a) NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION ACT OF 1950

6 AMENDMENTS.—The National Science Foundation Act of

7 1950 (42 U.S.C. 1861 et seq.) is amended—

8 (1) by redesignating the subsection (k) of sec9 tion 4 (42 U.S.C. 1863(k)) that was added by sec10 tion 108 of the National Science Foundation Au11 thorization Act of 1988 as subsection (l); and

12 (2) by striking ‘‘Atomic Energy Commission’’ in

13 section 15(a) (42 U.S.C. 1874(a)) and inserting

14 ‘‘Secretary of Energy’’.

15 (b) NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION AUTHORIZA16 TION ACT, 1976 AMENDMENTS.—Section 6(a) of the Na17 tional Science Foundation Authorization Act, 1976 (42

18 U.S.C. 1881a(a)) is amended by striking ‘‘social,’’ the

19 first place it appears.

20 (c) TECHNICAL AMENDMENT.—The second sub21 section (g) of section 3 of the National Science Foundation

22 Act of 1950 (42 U.S.C. 1862(g)) is repealed.

23 SEC. 203. FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE.

24 Persons temporarily employed by or at the Founda25 tion shall be subject to the same financial disclosure re-
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1 quirements and related sanctions under the Ethics in Gov2 ernment Act of 1978 as are permanent employees of the

3 Foundation in equivalent positions.

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