I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 937 

To support innovation and research in the United States textile and fiber 

products industry. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 4, 2013 

Mr. PRICE of North Carolina (for himself and Mr. COBLE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and 

Technology, and in addition to the Committees on Ways and Means and 

Foreign Affairs, 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 support innovation and research in the United States 

textile and fiber products industry. 

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 ‘‘American Textile 

5 Technology Innovation and Research for Exportation (AT6 TIRE) Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

8 The Congress finds that— 


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1 (1) the United States textile industry continues 

2 to thrive and evolve despite changing economic and 

3 labor conditions; 

4 (2) the United States textile industry employs 

5 over 500,000 workers nationwide and contributes 

6 nearly $60,000,000,000 to the gross domestic prod7 uct annually; 

8 (3) the United States textile industry is a pri9 mary supplier of domestic jobs to women and mi10 norities, with many of these jobs located in economi11 cally depressed rural and urban areas; 

12 (4) research and innovation are essential to the 

13 United States textile industry’s ability to maintain 

14 its competitive advantage and expand its export on 

15 an international scale; and 

16 (5) by working closely with the textile industry 

17 to improve existing technologies and to identify new 

18 market opportunities, university-based textile re19 search programs and not-for-profit textile research 

20 centers play a critical role in promoting innovation 

21 and growth in the textile industry and in the United 

22 States economy as a whole. 


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1 SEC. 3. GRANT PROGRAM TO SUPPORT TEXTILE RESEARCH 

2 AND INNOVATION THROUGH UNIVERSITY 

3 AND INDUSTRY-BASED RESEARCH. 

4 (a) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary of Com5 merce shall establish a competitive grant program (in this 

6 section referred to as the ‘‘grant program’’) to fund textile 

7 research and innovation and to promote increased textile 

8 exports. 

9 (b) ADMINISTRATION OF GRANT PROGRAM.— 

10 (1) ELIGIBLE RECIPIENTS.—The eligible recipi11 ents of grants under the grant program shall be lim12 ited to institutions of higher education and not-for13 profit research institutions, including not-for-profit 

14 industry associations whose core mission is to sup15 port textile research and innovation. 

16 (2) PREFERENCE.—Preference in awarding 

17 such grants shall be given to collaborative research 

18 organizations that emphasize peer-reviewed research 

19 by leading academic and industry experts. 

20 (3) APPLICATION PROCEDURE.—Applications 

21 for such a grant shall be submitted at such time and 

22 in such manner as determined by the Secretary of 

23 Commerce. 

24 (4) REVIEW PROCEDURE.—All such applica25 tions shall be subject to a rigorous and competitive 

26 peer review procedure. 


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1 (c) ELIGIBLE USES OF FUNDS.—The funds author2 ized to be appropriated for the grant program shall be 

3 used for research and development activities that achieve 

4 at least one of the following goals: 

5 (1) To build and sustain innovation, competi6 tiveness, and best practices in the United States tex7 tile industry. 

8 (2) To contribute to transforming the United 

9 States textile and apparel industry into a highly 

10 flexible supply chain, capable of responding to rap11 idly changing market demands including shifts to 

12 technologically advanced textile production. 

13 (3) To discover, design, and develop new mate14 rials, and innovative and improved manufacturing 

15 and integrated systems, essential to the success of a 

16 modern United States textile industry. 

17 (4) To train personnel, establish industrial 

18 partnerships, and create transfer mechanisms to en19 sure the utilization of technologies developed. 

20 (5) To strengthen the Nation’s textile research 

21 and educational efforts by uniting diverse experts 

22 and resources in unique collaborative projects. 

23 (6) To facilitate the creation of domestic jobs in 

24 the textile industry. 

25 (d) RESTRICTION ON FUNDS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), no 

2 more than 75 percent of total funding made avail3 able under the grant program in a fiscal year may 

4 be disbursed to institutions of higher education. 

5 (2) WAIVER AUTHORITY.—If the Secretary of 

6 Commerce determines that the limitation of para7 graph (1) would result in the failure to disburse all 

8 appropriated funds for a fiscal year, the Secretary 

9 may waive such limitation for such fiscal year. 

10 SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be appro12 priated to the Secretary of Commerce $5,000,000 for fis13 cal year 2014 to carry out section 3. Amounts appro14 priated under this subsection shall be available until ex15 pended. 

16 (b) OFFSETTING REDUCTION OF AUTHORIZATION OF

17 APPROPRIATIONS.—The amount authorized to be appro18 priated for operations and administration of the Inter19 national Trade Administration in the Department of Com20 merce for fiscal year 2014 is reduced by $5,000,000. 

Æ 


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