I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2996 

To require the Secretary of Commerce to establish the Network for 

Manufacturing Innovation and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

AUGUST 2, 2013 

Mr. REED (for himself and Mr. KENNEDY) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, and 

in addition to the Committee on Appropriations, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 

provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

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: 


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1 (1) In 2011, manufacturing contributed 

2 $1,800,000,000,000 to the Nation’s economy and 

3 accounted for 47 percent of all United States ex4 ports. 

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

6 States manufacturing sector would be the 10th larg7 est economy in the world. 

8 (3) American manufacturers employ more than 

9 11,000,000,000 Americans in jobs with wages and 

10 benefits that are one-third higher than the wages 

11 and benefits in other sectors. 

12 (4) Manufacturing has the highest multiplier ef13 fect, with every dollar in final sales of manufactured 

14 products resulting in $1.34 in output from other sec15 tors. 

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

17 United States investment in research and develop18 ment manufacturing, firms drive innovation in the 

19 United States. 

20 (6) Countries such as Korea, Japan, and Ger21 many have a larger share of the advanced manufac22 turing sector than the United States. Each of these 

23 countries has a positive trade balance in advanced 

24 manufacturing products. In contrast, the United 


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

2 2010. 

3 (7) The United States share of research and 

4 development spending dropped from 43.1 percent in 

5 1998 to 37.3 percent in 2008, while China’s share 

6 of research and development spending increased 

7 from 3 percent to 11.4 percent during the same pe8 riod. 

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

10 Competitiveness, chief executive officers view the 

11 quality and availability of scientists, researchers, and 

12 engineers and the quality and availability of skilled 

13 production workers as the first and second most im14 portant drivers of competitiveness. 

15 (9) According to the Organization for Economic 

16 Co-Operation and Development, the United States 

17 ranked 27th out of 29 developed countries in the 

18 percentage of students who earned bachelor’s de19 grees in science and engineering in 2009. 

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

21 year engineering bachelor’s degrees than United 

22 States colleges. 


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1 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF NETWORK FOR MANUFAC2 TURING INNOVATION. 

3 The National Institute of Standards and Technology 

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

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

6 and 

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

8 278r) the following: 

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

10 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF NETWORK FOR MANUFAC11 TURING INNOVATION PROGRAM.— 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Com13 merce shall establish within the Institute a program 

14 to be known as the ‘Network for Manufacturing In15 novation Program’ (referred to in this section as the 

16 ‘Program’). 

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

18 the Program are— 

19 ‘‘(A) to improve the competitiveness of 

20 United States manufacturing and to increase 

21 domestic production; 

22 ‘‘(B) to stimulate United States leadership 

23 in advanced manufacturing research, innova24 tion, and technology; 

25 ‘‘(C) to facilitate the transition of innova26 tive technologies into scalable, cost-effective, 


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1 and high-performing manufacturing capabili2 ties; 

3 ‘‘(D) to facilitate access by manufacturing 

4 enterprises to capital-intensive infrastructure, 

5 including high-performance computing, in order 

6 to improve the speed with which such enter7 prises commercialize new processes and tech8 nologies; 

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

10 advanced manufacturing workforce; 

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

12 documentation of best practices in addressing 

13 advanced manufacturing challenges; and 

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

15 support to promote a stable and sustainable 

16 business model without the need for long-term 

17 Federal funding. 

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

19 the Director, shall carry out the purposes set forth 

20 in paragraph (2) by supporting— 

21 ‘‘(A) the Network for Manufacturing Inno22 vation established under subsection (b); and 

23 ‘‘(B) the establishment of centers for man24 ufacturing innovation. 


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

2 the Program through the Director. 

3 ‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT OF NETWORK FOR MANUFAC4 TURING INNOVATION.— 

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

6 the Secretary of Commerce shall establish a network 

7 of centers for manufacturing innovation. 

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

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

10 for Manufacturing Innovation’ (referred to in this 

11 section as the ‘Network’). 

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

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this sec14 tion, a ‘center for manufacturing innovation’ is a 

15 center that— 

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

17 address challenges in advanced manufacturing 

18 and to assist manufacturers in retaining or ex19 panding industrial production and jobs in the 

20 United States; 

21 ‘‘(B) has a predominant focus on a manu22 facturing process, novel material, enabling tech23 nology, supply chain integration methodology, 

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1 facturing, as determined by the Secretary, with 

2 the potential— 

3 ‘‘(i) to improve the competitiveness of 

4 United States manufacturing; 

5 ‘‘(ii) to accelerate investment in ad6 vanced manufacturing production capacity 

7 in the United States; and 

8 ‘‘(iii) to enable the commercial appli9 cation of new technologies or industry-wide 

10 manufacturing processes; and 

11 ‘‘(C) includes active participation among 

12 representatives from multiple industrial entities, 

13 research universities, community colleges, and 

14 such other entities as the Secretary considers 

15 appropriate, which may include career and tech16 nical education schools, Federal laboratories, 

17 State, local, and tribal governments, businesses, 

18 educational institutions, and nonprofit organiza19 tions. 

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

21 manufacturing innovation may include the following: 

22 ‘‘(A) Research, development, and dem23 onstration projects, including proof-of-concept 

24 development and prototyping, to reduce the 

25 cost, time, and risk of commercializing new 


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1 technologies and improvements in existing tech2 nologies, processes, products, and research and 

3 development of materials to solve pre-competi4 tive industrial problems with economic or na5 tional security implications. 

6 ‘‘(B) Development and implementation of 

7 education and training courses, materials, and 

8 programs. 

9 ‘‘(C) Development of innovative methodolo10 gies and practices for supply chain integration 

11 and introduction of new technologies into sup12 ply chains. 

13 ‘‘(D) Outreach and engagement with 

14 small- and medium-sized manufacturing enter15 prises, in addition to large manufacturing en16 terprises. 

17 ‘‘(E) Such other activities as the Sec18 retary, in consultation with Federal depart19 ments and agencies whose missions contribute 

20 to or are affected by advanced manufacturing, 

21 considers consistent with the purposes described 

22 in subsection (a)(2). 

23 ‘‘(3) ADDITIONAL CENTERS FOR MANUFAC24 TURING INNOVATION.—The National Additive Man25 ufacturing Innovation Institute and pending manuVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:15 Aug 10, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2996.IH H2996

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1 facturing centers under interagency review shall be 

2 considered centers for manufacturing innovation. 

3 ‘‘(d) FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE TO ESTABLISH AND

4 SUPPORT CENTERS FOR MANUFACTURING INNOVA5 TION.— 

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the Pro7 gram, the Secretary of Commerce shall award finan8 cial assistance to a person to assist the person in 

9 planning, establishing, or supporting a center for 

10 manufacturing innovation. 

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

12 assistance under paragraph (1) shall submit to the 

13 Secretary an application therefor at such time, in 

14 such manner, and containing such information as 

15 the Secretary may require. 

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

17 for financial assistance under paragraph (1), the 

18 Secretary shall ensure an open process that will 

19 allow for the consideration of all applications rel20 evant to advanced manufacturing regardless of tech21 nology area. 

22 ‘‘(4) SELECTION.— 

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

24 awarding financial assistance under paragraph 


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

2 review process. 

3 ‘‘(B) COLLABORATION.—In awarding fi4 nancial assistance under paragraph (1), the 

5 Secretary shall, acting through the National 

6 Program Office established under subsection 

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

8 and agencies whose missions contribute to or 

9 are affected by advanced manufacturing. 

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

11 person who submitted an application under 

12 paragraph (2) for an award of financial assist13 ance under paragraph (1) the Secretary shall 

14 consider, at a minimum, the following: 

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

16 manufacturing innovation to advance do17 mestic manufacturing and the likelihood of 

18 economic impact in the predominant focus 

19 areas of the center for manufacturing in20 novation. 

21 ‘‘(ii) The commitment of continued fi22 nancial support, advice, participation, and 

23 other contributions from non-Federal 

24 sources, to provide leverage and resources 

25 to promote a stable and sustainable busiVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:15 Aug 10, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2996.IH H2996

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1 ness model without the need for long-term 

2 Federal funding. 

3 ‘‘(iii) How the center for manufac4 turing innovation will engage with small5 and medium-sized manufacturing enter6 prises, to improve the capacity of such en7 terprises to commercialize new processes 

8 and technologies. 

9 ‘‘(iv) How the center for manufac10 turing innovation will carry out educational 

11 and workforce activities that meet indus12 trial needs related to the predominant 

13 focus areas of the center for manufac14 turing innovation. 

15 ‘‘(v) How the center for manufac16 turing innovation will advance economic 

17 competitiveness. 

18 ‘‘(vi) How the center for manufac19 turing innovation will strengthen and lever20 age the assets of a region. 

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

22 No award of financial assistance may be made under 

23 paragraph (1) to a center of manufacturing innova24 tion after the 7-year period beginning on the date on 


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1 which the Secretary first awards financial assistance 

2 to a center under such paragraph. 

3 ‘‘(e) NATIONAL PROGRAM OFFICE.— 

4 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Com5 merce shall establish, within the Institute, the Na6 tional Office of the Network for Manufacturing In7 novation Program (referred to in this section as the 

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

9 carry out the Program. 

10 ‘‘(2) FUNCTIONS.—The functions of the Na11 tional Program Office are— 

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

13 and coordination of the Program; 

14 ‘‘(B) to enter into memorandums of under15 standing with Federal departments and agen16 cies, whose missions contribute to or are af17 fected by advanced manufacturing, to carry out 

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

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

20 the date of the enactment of the Revitalize 

21 American Manufacturing and Innovation Act of 

22 2013, and update not less frequently than once 

23 every 3 years thereafter, a strategic plan to 

24 guide the Program; 


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1 ‘‘(D) to establish such procedures, proc2 esses, and criteria as may be necessary and ap3 propriate to maximize cooperation and coordi4 nate of the activities of the Program with pro5 grams and activities of other Federal depart6 ments and agencies whose missions contribute 

7 to or are affected by advanced manufacturing; 

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

9 information related to the activities of the Pro10 gram; and 

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

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

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

14 the Secretary shall solicit recommendations and ad15 vice from a wide range of stakeholders, including in16 dustry, small- and medium-sized manufacturing en17 terprises, research universities, community colleges, 

18 and other relevant organizations and institutions. 

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

20 shall transmit the strategic plan required under 

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

22 Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the 

23 Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the 

24 House of Representatives. 


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1 ‘‘(5) HOLLINGS MANUFACTURING EXTENSION

2 PARTNERSHIP.—The Secretary shall ensure that the 

3 National Program Office incorporates the Hollings 

4 Manufacturing Extension Partnership into Program 

5 planning to ensure that the results of the Program 

6 reach small- and medium-sized entities. 

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

8 employee may be detailed to the National Program 

9 Office without reimbursement. Such detail shall be 

10 without interruption or loss of civil service status or 

11 privilege. 

12 ‘‘(f) REPORTING AND AUDITING.— 

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

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

15 Commerce shall require recipients of financial 

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

17 submit a report to the Secretary that describes 

18 the finances and performance of the center for 

19 manufacturing innovation for which such assist20 ance was awarded. 

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

22 under subparagraph (A) shall include— 

23 ‘‘(i) an accounting of expenditures of 

24 amounts awarded to the recipient under 

25 subsection (d)(1); and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) a description of the performance 

2 of the center for manufacturing innovation 

3 with respect to— 

4 ‘‘(I) its goals, plans, financial 

5 support, and accomplishments; and 

6 ‘‘(II) how the center for manu7 facturing innovation has furthered the 

8 purposes described in subsection 

9 (a)(2). 

10 ‘‘(2) ANNUAL REPORTS TO CONGRESS.— 

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

12 than once each year, the Secretary shall submit 

13 a report to Congress that describes the per14 formance of the Program during the most re15 cent 1-year period. 

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

17 under subparagraph (A) shall include, for the 

18 period covered by the report— 

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

20 reports received by the Secretary under 

21 paragraph (1); 

22 ‘‘(ii) an accounting of the funds ex23 pended by the Secretary under the Pro24 gram; and 


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1 ‘‘(iii) an assessment of the Program 

2 with respect to the purposes described in 

3 subsection (a)(2). 

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

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

6 than once every 3 years, the Comptroller Gen7 eral of the United States shall submit to Con8 gress an assessment of the operation of the 

9 Program during the most recent 3-year period. 

10 ‘‘(B) ELEMENTS.—Each assessment sub11 mitted under subparagraph (A) shall include, 

12 for the period covered by the report— 

13 ‘‘(i) a review of the management, co14 ordination, and industry utility of the Pro15 gram; 

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

17 which the Program has furthered the pur18 poses described in subsection (a)(2); and 

19 ‘‘(iii) such recommendations for legis20 lative and administrative action as the 

21 Comptroller General considers appropriate 

22 to improve the Program. 

23 ‘‘(g) ADDITIONAL AUTHORITIES.— 

24 ‘‘(1) APPOINTMENT OF PERSONNEL AND CON25 TRACTS.—The Secretary of Commerce may appoint 


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1 such personnel and enter into such contracts, finan2 cial assistance agreements, and other agreements as 

3 the Secretary considers necessary or appropriate to 

4 carry out the Program including support for re5 search and development activities involving a center 

6 for manufacturing innovation. 

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

8 may transfer to other Federal agencies such sums as 

9 the Secretary considers necessary or appropriate to 

10 carry out the Program. 

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

12 event that the Secretary exercises the authority to 

13 transfer funds to another agency under paragraph 

14 (2), such agency may award and administer all as15 pects of financial assistance awards under this sec16 tion. 

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

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

19 with the consent of a covered entity and with or 

20 without reimbursement, the land, services, equip21 ment, personnel, and facilities of such covered entity. 

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

23 to amounts appropriated to carry out the Program, 

24 the Secretary may accept funds, services, equipment, 


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1 personnel, and facilities from any covered entity to 

2 carry out the Program. 

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

4 subsection, a covered entity is any Federal depart5 ment, Federal agency, instrumentality of the United 

6 States, State, local government, tribal government, 

7 Territory or possession of the United States, or of 

8 any political subdivision thereof, or international or9 ganization, or any public or private entity or indi10 vidual. 

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

12 States Code, shall not apply if financial assistance is 

13 awarded under this section solely for the purpose of plan14 ning, establishing, or supporting new or existing centers 

15 for manufacturing innovation. 

16 ‘‘(i) FUNDING.— 

17 ‘‘(1) NETWORK FOR MANUFACTURING INNOVA18 TION FUND.— 

19 ‘‘(A) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is estab20 lished in the Treasury of the United States a 

21 fund to be known as the ‘Network for Manufac22 turing Innovation Fund’ (referred to in this 

23 paragraph as the ‘Fund’). 

24 ‘‘(B) ELEMENTS.—There shall be depos25 ited in the Fund, which shall constitute the asVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:15 Aug 10, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00018 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2996.IH H2996

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1 sets of the Fund, amounts appropriated or oth2 erwise made available to carry out the Program. 

3 ‘‘(C) AVAILABILITY.—Amounts deposited 

4 in the Fund shall be available to the Secretary 

5 of Commerce, at the discretion of the Secretary, 

6 or the Secretary’s delegee, to carry out the Pro7 gram without further appropriation and without 

8 fiscal year limitation. 

9 ‘‘(2) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

10 There is authorized to be appropriated 

11 $600,000,000 to the Secretary of Commerce to carry 

12 out this section. 

13 ‘‘(3) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—The Sec14 retary of Commerce may use not more than 5 per15 cent of the amounts appropriated pursuant to para16 graph (2) to pay the salaries, expenses, and other 

17 administrative costs incurred by the Secretary under 

18 this section. 

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

20 from appropriated discretionary funds that remain 

21 available for obligation as of the date of the enact22 ment of this Act, $600,000,000.’’. 

Æ 


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