II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1973 

To provide for Federal research grant reform. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 17, 2017 

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

the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To provide for Federal research grant reform. 

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 ‘‘BASIC Research Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. REVIEW PANELS. 

6 (a) INCLUSION ON REVIEW PANELS.—Notwith7 standing any other provision of law, each review panel for 

8 a specific Federal research grant shall include— 

9 (1) at least one individual who is not profes10 sionally affiliated with any academic or research in11 stitution, has not been professionally affiliated in the 

12 10 years preceding the date of inclusion on the 


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1 panel, and is an expert in a field unrelated to the 

2 field of research under which the grant proposal was 

3 submitted; and 

4 (2) at least one individual who shall serve pri5 marily as a ‘‘taxpayer advocate’’ (defined as some6 one whose main focus is on the value proposed re7 search delivers to the taxpayer). 

8 (b) PROHIBITION ON RECEIVING RECOMMENDATIONS

9 FROM GRANT APPLICANTS ON REVIEW PANEL.—Not10 withstanding any other provision of law, each agency that 

11 awards a Federal research grant shall not accept rec12 ommendations from an applicant for such grant as to who 

13 should or should not be on the grant review panel for such 

14 applicant. 

15 (c) NONDISCLOSURE OF MEMBERS OF GRANT RE16 VIEW PANEL.—Notwithstanding any other provision of 

17 law, each agency that awards a Federal research grant 

18 shall not disclose, either publicly or privately, to an appli19 cant for such grant the identity of any member of the 

20 grant review panel for such applicant. 

21 SEC. 3. SPECIAL INSPECTOR GENERAL AND TAXPAYER AD22 VOCATE FOR RESEARCH. 

23 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—There is established an Of2 fice of the Special Inspector General and Taxpayer 

3 Advocate for Research. 

4 (2) HEAD OF OFFICE.—There shall be at the 

5 head of the Office described in paragraph (1) the 

6 Special Inspector General and Taxpayer Advocate 

7 for Research, who shall be appointed by the Presi8 dent, by and with the advice and consent of the Sen9 ate. 

10 (b) TRANSFER OF FUNCTIONS AND SAVINGS.— 

11 (1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection, unless 

12 otherwise provided or indicated by the context— 

13 (A) the term ‘‘Federal agency’’ has the 

14 meaning given to the term ‘‘agency’’ by section 

15 551(1) of title 5, United States Code; 

16 (B) the term ‘‘function’’ means any duty, 

17 obligation, power, authority, responsibility, 

18 right, privilege, activity, or program; and 

19 (C) the term ‘‘office’’ includes any office, 

20 administration, agency, institute, unit, organi21 zational entity, or component thereof. 

22 (2) TRANSFER.—There are transferred to the 

23 Office of the Special Inspector General and Tax24 payer Advocate for Research all functions which the 

25 Office of Inspector General of the National Science 


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1 Foundation exercised before the date of enactment 

2 of this Act (including all related functions of any of3 ficer or employee of the Office of Inspector General 

4 of the National Science Foundation). 

5 (3) RULES.—The Office of the Special Inspec6 tor General and Taxpayer Advocate for Research is 

7 authorized to prescribe, in accordance with the pro8 visions of chapters 5 and 6 of title 5, United States 

9 Code, such rules and regulations as the Office of the 

10 Special Inspector General and Taxpayer Advocate 

11 for Research determines necessary or appropriate to 

12 administer and manage the functions of the Office 

13 of the Special Inspector General and Taxpayer Ad14 vocate for Research. 

15 (4) TRANSFER AND ALLOCATIONS OF APPRO16 PRIATIONS AND PERSONNEL.—Except as otherwise 

17 provided in this subsection, the personnel employed 

18 in connection with, and the assets, liabilities, con19 tracts, property, records, and unexpended balances 

20 of appropriations, authorizations, allocations, and 

21 other funds employed, used, held, arising from, 

22 available to, or to be made available in connection 

23 with the functions transferred by this subsection, 

24 subject to section 1531 of title 31, United States 

25 Code, shall be transferred to the Office of the SpeVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:59 Oct 18, 2017 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1973.IS S1973

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1 cial Inspector General and Taxpayer Advocate for 

2 Research. Unexpended funds transferred pursuant 

3 to this paragraph shall be used only for the purposes 

4 for which the funds were originally authorized and 

5 appropriated. 

6 (5) SAVINGS PROVISIONS.— 

7 (A) CONTINUING EFFECT OF LEGAL DOCU8 MENTS.—All orders, determinations, rules, reg9 ulations, permits, agreements, grants, contracts, 

10 certificates, licenses, registrations, privileges, 

11 and other administrative actions— 

12 (i) which have been issued, made, 

13 granted, or allowed to become effective by 

14 the President, any Federal agency or offi15 cial thereof, or by a court of competent ju16 risdiction, in the performance of functions 

17 which are transferred under this sub18 section; and 

19 (ii) which are in effect at the time this 

20 subsection takes effect, or were final before 

21 the effective date of this subsection and 

22 are to become effective on or after the ef23 fective date of this subsection, 

24 shall continue in effect according to their terms 

25 until modified, terminated, superseded, set 


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1 aside, or revoked in accordance with law by the 

2 President, the Office of the Special Inspector 

3 General and Taxpayer Advocate for Research or 

4 other authorized official, a court of competent 

5 jurisdiction, or by operation of law. 

6 (B) PROCEEDINGS NOT AFFECTED.—The 

7 provisions of this subsection shall not affect any 

8 proceedings, including notices of proposed rule9 making, or any application for any license, per10 mit, certificate, or financial assistance pending 

11 before the Office of Inspector General of the 

12 National Science Foundation at the time this 

13 subsection takes effect, with respect to func14 tions transferred by this subsection but such 

15 proceedings and applications shall be continued. 

16 Orders shall be issued in such proceedings, ap17 peals shall be taken therefrom, and payments 

18 shall be made pursuant to such orders, as if 

19 this subsection had not been enacted, and or20 ders issued in any such proceedings shall con21 tinue in effect until modified, terminated, su22 perseded, or revoked by a duly authorized offi23 cial, by a court of competent jurisdiction, or by 

24 operation of law. Nothing in this subparagraph 

25 shall be deemed to prohibit the discontinuance 


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1 or modification of any such proceeding under 

2 the same terms and conditions and to the same 

3 extent that such proceeding could have been 

4 discontinued or modified if this subsection had 

5 not been enacted. 

6 (C) SUITS NOT AFFECTED.—The provi7 sions of this subsection shall not affect suits 

8 commenced before the effective date of this sub9 section, and in all such suits, proceedings shall 

10 be had, appeals taken, and judgments rendered 

11 in the same manner and with the same effect 

12 as if this subsection had not been enacted. 

13 (D) NONABATEMENT OF ACTIONS.—No 

14 suit, action, or other proceeding commenced by 

15 or against the Office of Inspector General of 

16 the National Science Foundation, or by or 

17 against any individual in the official capacity of 

18 such individual as an officer of the Office of In19 spector General of the National Science Foun20 dation, shall abate by reason of the enactment 

21 of this subsection. 

22 (E) ADMINISTRATIVE ACTIONS RELATING

23 TO PROMULGATION OF REGULATIONS.—Any ad24 ministrative action relating to the preparation 

25 or promulgation of a regulation by the Office of 


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1 Inspector General of the National Science 

2 Foundation relating to a function transferred 

3 under this subsection may be continued by the 

4 Office of the Special Inspector General and 

5 Taxpayer Advocate for Research with the same 

6 effect as if this subsection had not been en7 acted. 

8 (c) POWERS AND AUTHORITIES.— 

9 (1) DUTIES.—In addition to the duties other10 wise described in this section, the Special Inspector 

11 General and Taxpayer Advocate for Research shall 

12 also have the duties and responsibilities of inspectors 

13 general under the Inspector General Act of 1978 (5 

14 U.S.C. App.). 

15 (2) AUTHORITIES.—In carrying out the duties 

16 described in paragraph (1) and otherwise described 

17 in this section, the Special Inspector General and 

18 Taxpayer Advocate for Research shall have the au19 thorities provided in section 6 of the Inspector Gen20 eral Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.). 

21 (d) FOCUS AND REVIEW.—The focus of the Office 

22 of the Special Inspector General and Taxpayer Advocate 

23 for Research shall be to review Federal grant projects to 

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1 payers by randomly selecting Federal grants for review 

2 after awards are made but prior to distribution of funds. 

3 (e) GRANT SUPPORT.—For a Federal grant reviewed 

4 under subsection (d) to receive the grant funds, the grant 

5 shall receive the support of the Office of the Special In6 spector General and Taxpayer Advocate for Research. 

7 SEC. 4. PUBLIC ACCESSIBILITY OF RESEARCH FUNDED BY 

8 TAXPAYERS. 

9 (a) DEFINITION OF FEDERAL AGENCY.—In this sec10 tion, the term ‘‘Federal agency’’ means an Executive 

11 agency, as defined under section 105 of title 5, United 

12 States Code. 

13 (b) FEDERAL RESEARCH PUBLIC ACCESS POLICY.— 

14 (1) REQUIREMENT TO DEVELOP POLICY.— 

15 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year 

16 after the date of enactment of this section, each 

17 Federal agency with annual extramural re18 search expenditures of over $100,000,000 shall 

19 develop a Federal research public access policy 

20 that is consistent with and advances the pur21 poses of the Federal agency. 

22 (B) COMMON PROCEDURES.—To the ex23 tent practicable, Federal agencies required to 

24 develop a policy under subparagraph (A) shall 


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1 follow common procedures for the collection and 

2 depositing of research papers. 

3 (2) CONTENT.—Each Federal research public 

4 access policy shall provide for— 

5 (A) submission to a digital repository des6 ignated or maintained by the Federal agency of 

7 an electronic version of the author’s final manu8 script of original research papers that have 

9 been accepted for publication in peer-reviewed 

10 journals and that result from research sup11 ported, in whole or in part, from funding by the 

12 Federal Government; 

13 (B) the incorporation of all changes result14 ing from the peer review publication process in 

15 the manuscript described under subparagraph 

16 (A); 

17 (C) the replacement of the final manu18 script with the final published version if— 

19 (i) the publisher consents to the re20 placement; and 

21 (ii) the goals of the Federal agency 

22 for functionality and interoperability are 

23 retained; 

24 (D) free online public access to such final 

25 peer-reviewed manuscripts or published versions 


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1 within a time period that is appropriate for 

2 each type of research conducted or sponsored 

3 by the Federal agency, not later than 12 

4 months after publication in peer-reviewed jour5 nals, preferably sooner, or as adjusted under es6 tablished mechanisms; 

7 (E) a means, using established mecha8 nisms for making requests to the applicable 

9 Federal agency, for members of the public and 

10 other stakeholders to request to adjust the pe11 riod before such a final peer-reviewed manu12 script or published version is made publicly 

13 available by presenting evidence demonstrating 

14 that the period is inconsistent with the objec15 tives of the Federal research public access pol16 icy or the needs of the public, industry, or the 

17 scientific community; 

18 (F) providing research papers as described 

19 in subparagraph (D) in formats and under 

20 terms that enable productive reuse of the re21 search and computational analysis by state-of22 the-art technologies; 

23 (G) improving the ability of the public to 

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1 sible under the Federal research public access 

2 policy; and 

3 (H) long-term preservation of, and free 

4 public access to, published research findings— 

5 (i) in a stable digital repository main6 tained by the Federal agency; or 

7 (ii) if consistent with the purposes of 

8 the Federal agency, in any repository 

9 meeting conditions determined favorable by 

10 the Federal agency, including free public 

11 access, interoperability, and long-term 

12 preservation. 

13 (3) APPLICATION OF POLICY.—Each Federal 

14 research public access policy shall— 

15 (A) apply to— 

16 (i) researchers employed by the Fed17 eral agency whose works remain in the 

18 public domain; and 

19 (ii) researchers funded by the Federal 

20 agency; 

21 (B) provide that works described under 

22 subparagraph (A)(i) shall be— 

23 (i) marked as being public domain 

24 material when published; and 


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1 (ii) made available at the same time 

2 such works are made available under para3 graph (2)(D); and 

4 (C) make effective use of any law or guid5 ance relating to the creation and reservation of 

6 a Government license that provides for the re7 production, publication, release, or other uses of 

8 a final manuscript for Federal purposes. 

9 (4) EXCLUSIONS.—Each Federal research pub10 lic access policy shall not apply to— 

11 (A) research progress reports presented at 

12 professional meetings or conferences; 

13 (B) laboratory notes, preliminary data 

14 analyses, notes of the author, phone logs, or 

15 other information used to produce final manu16 scripts; 

17 (C) classified research, research resulting 

18 in works that generate revenue or royalties for 

19 authors (such as books) or patentable discov20 eries, to the extent necessary to protect a copy21 right or patent; or 

22 (D) authors who do not submit their work 

23 to a journal or works that are rejected by jour24 nals. 


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1 (5) PATENT OR COPYRIGHT LAW.—Nothing in 

2 this section shall be construed to affect any right 

3 under the provisions of title 17 or 35, United States 

4 Code. 

5 (6) GAO REPORT.—Not later than 3 years 

6 after the date of enactment of this section, and every 

7 5 years thereafter, the Comptroller General of the 

8 United States shall submit to Congress a report 

9 that— 

10 (A) includes an analysis of the period be11 tween the date on which each paper becomes 

12 publicly available in a journal and the date on 

13 which the paper is in the online repository of 

14 the applicable Federal agency; and 

15 (B) examines the effectiveness of the Fed16 eral research public access policy in providing 

17 the public with free online access to papers on 

18 research funded by each Federal agency re19 quired to develop a policy under paragraph 

20 (1)(A), including— 

21 (i) whether the terms of use applicable 

22 to such research papers in effect are effec23 tive in enabling productive reuse of the re24 search and computational analysis by 

25 state-of-the-art technologies; and 


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1 (ii) examines whether such research 

2 papers should include a royalty-free copy3 right license that is available to the public 

4 and that permits the reuse of those re5 search papers, on the condition that attri6 bution is given to the author or authors of 

7 the research and any others designated by 

8 the copyright owner. 

9 SEC. 5. DOWNSTREAM REPORTING. 

10 Any person or institution awarded a Federal grant 

11 shall submit a statement to the head of the agency that 

12 awarded the Federal grant certifying that— 

13 (1) no funds derived from the grant will be 

14 made available through a subgrant or subsequent 

15 grant (including to an employee or subdivision of the 

16 grant recipient’s organization) unless the name of 

17 such recipient, their organization of affiliation, the 

18 intended uses and purposes of such funds, and spe19 cific amounts subgranted or subsequently granted 

20 funds are disclosed to the head of the agency that 

21 awarded the Federal grant for publication on a pub22 licly accessible website; and 

23 (2) each subgrant or subsequent grant award 

24 (including to an employee or subdivision of the grant 

25 recipient’s organization) funded with funds derived 


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1 from the Federal grant is within the scope of the 

2 Federal grant award. 

3 SEC. 6. GRANT APPLICATIONS PUBLICLY AVAILABLE. 

4 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, each ap5 plication for a Federal grant shall be made publicly avail6 able. 

7 SEC. 7. IMPARTIALITY IN FUNDING SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH. 

8 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, each 

9 Federal agency, in awarding grants for scientific research, 

10 shall be impartial and shall not seek to advance any polit11 ical position or fund a grant to reach a predetermined con12 clusion. 

Æ 


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