II

105TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2173

To amend the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 to provide for research and development of assistive technology and universally designed technology, and

for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JUNE 16, 1998

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

the Committee on Labor and Human Resources

A BILL

To amend the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 to provide for

research and development of assistive technology and

universally designed technology, 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 ‘‘Assistive and Univer5 sally Designed Technology Improvement Act for Individ6 uals with Disabilities’’.

7 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

8 Congress finds the following:
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1 (1) The area of assistive technology is greatly

2 overlooked by the Federal Government and the pri3 vate sector. While assistive technology’s importance

4 spans age and disability classifications, assistive

5 technology does not maintain the recognition in the

6 Federal Government necessary to provide important

7 assistance for research and development programs or

8 to individuals with disabilities. The private sector

9 lacks adequate incentives to produce assistive tech10 nology, and end-users lack adequate resources to ac11 quire assistive technology.

12 (2) As technology has come to play an increas13 ingly important role in the lives of all persons in the

14 United States, in the conduct of business, in the

15 functioning of government, in the fostering of com16 munication, in the conduct of commerce, in the

17 transformation of employment, and in the provision

18 of education, technology’s impact upon the lives of

19 the more than 50,000,000 individuals with disabil20 ities in the United States has been comparable to

21 technology’s impact upon the remainder of our Na22 tion’s citizens. No development in mainstream tech23 nology can be imagined that will not have profound

24 implications for individuals with disabilities.
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1 (3) In a technological environment, the line of

2 demarcation between assistive and mainstream tech3 nology becomes ever more difficult to draw, and the

4 decisions made by the designers of mainstream

5 equipment and services will increasingly determine

6 whether and to what extent the equipment and serv7 ices can be accessed and used by individuals with

8 disabilities.

9 (4) A commitment to assistive technology, while

10 remaining important, cannot alone ensure access to

11 technology and communications networks by individ12 uals with disabilities. An agenda, including support

13 for universal design, represents the only effective

14 means for guaranteeing the benefits of technology to

15 all persons in the United States, regardless of dis16 ability or age, and for assuring for United States in17 dustry the continued growth in markets that will

18 warrant continued high levels of innovation and re19 search.

20 (5) The Federal Government needs to make im21 provements to peer review processes that affect as22 sistive technology research and development.

23 (6) There are insufficient links between feder24 ally funded assistive technology research and devel25 opment programs and the private sector entities re-
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1 sponsible for translating research and development

2 into significant new products in the marketplace for

3 end-users.

4 (7) The Federal Government does not provide

5 assistive technology that is universally designed and

6 targets older and rural assistive technology end7 users.

8 (8) The Federal Government does not coordi9 nate all Federal assistive technology research and

10 development.

11 (9) Small businesses, which provide many inno12 vative ideas for assistive technology and provide the

13 vast majority of research and development efforts

14 that lead to viable commercial assistive technology

15 products, are not utilized in Federal assistive tech16 nology research and development efforts to the ex17 tent that small businesses may play a key role in as18 sistive technology research and development. In ad19 dition, small businesses lack access to the resources

20 of the Federal laboratories and would benefit from

21 partnerships with the Federal laboratories.

22 (10) Many more individuals with disabilities

23 could secure and maintain employment and move

24 from income supports to competitive work if given

25 the ability to purchase assistive technology. Tax in-
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1 centives for businesses to purchase assistive tech2 nology for their employees, and micro loans for indi3 viduals to purchase assistive technology, help indi4 viduals with disabilities improve their quality of life.

5 Such incentives and loans lead to more productive

6 lives, while lessening the financial burdens on soci7 ety.

8 SEC. 3. PURPOSE.

9 The purposes of this Act are—

10 (1) to improve the quality, functional capability,

11 distribution, and affordability of assistive technology

12 and universally designed technology, through feder13 ally supported incentives for all the participants in

14 need identification, research and development, prod15 uct evaluation, technology transfer, and commer16 cialization, for such technologies, to enhance quality

17 of life and ability to obtain employment for all indi18 viduals with disabilities;

19 (2) to clarify the role of the National Institute

20 on Disability and Rehabilitation Research at the De21 partment of Education so as to provide for better

22 peer reviews;

23 (3) to improve coordination of Federal assistive

24 technology research and development by strengthen-
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1 ing the Interagency Committee on Disability Re2 search;

3 (4) to prioritize assistive technology research,

4 development, and dissemination efforts to match the

5 needs of the underserved assistive technology end6 users such as older and rural end-users;

7 (5) to increase the use of universal design in

8 the commercial development of standard products;

9 (6) to incorporate the principles of universal de10 sign in the development of assistive technology;

11 (7) to increase usage of the Small Business In12 novative Research Program as defined in section

13 9(e) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638(e));

14 (8) to improve coordination between the Fed15 eral laboratories and the members of the Inter16 agency Committee on Disability Research;

17 (9) to improve the transfer of technology from

18 mission-oriented applications in Federal laboratories

19 to assistive technology applications in research and

20 development programs, and to transfer prototype as21 sistive technology products from federally sponsored

22 programs to the private sector;

23 (10) to increase the availability of assistive

24 technology products and universally designed tech-
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1 nology products in the marketplace for the end2 users; and

3 (11) to create tax incentives and micro loans to

4 assist individuals with disabilities to obtain assistive

5 technology and universally designed technology in

6 order to improve their quality of life and to secure

7 and maintain employment.

8 SEC. 4. PEER REVIEW PROCESS.

9 Title II of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C.

10 761a et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the follow11 ing:

12 ‘‘SEC. 206. PEER REVIEW PROCESS.

13 ‘‘(a) PEER REVIEW PANELS.—

14 ‘‘(1) COMPOSITION.—

15 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall es16 tablish a peer review process, involving peer re17 view panels composed of members appointed by

18 the Director, for the review of applications for

19 grants, contracts, or cooperative agreements

20 under this title for research and development of

21 assistive technology and universally designed

22 technology.

23 ‘‘(B) DURATION.—The members of such a

24 peer review panel shall serve for terms of 3
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1 years, except that the members initially ap2 pointed may serve for shorter terms.

3 ‘‘(C) MEMBER TERMS.—Members of a peer

4 review panel shall serve staggered terms so as

5 to provide for institutional memory and experi6 ence at all times.

7 ‘‘(D) SELECTION AND APPOINTMENT.—

8 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Members of peer

9 review panels shall be selected and ap10 pointed based upon their training and ex11 perience in relevant scientific or technical

12 fields, taking into account, among other

13 factors—

14 ‘‘(I) the level of formal scientific

15 or technical education completed or

16 experience acquired by an individual;

17 ‘‘(II) the extent to which the in18 dividual has engaged in relevant re19 search, the capacities (such as prin20 cipal investigator or assistant) in

21 which the individual has so engaged,

22 and the quality of such research;

23 ‘‘(III) the recognition of the indi24 vidual, as reflected by awards and

25 other honors received from scientific
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1 and professional organizations outside

2 the Department of Education; and

3 ‘‘(IV) the need for a panel to in4 clude experts from various areas or

5 specializations within the fields of as6 sistive technology and universally de7 signed technology.

8 ‘‘(ii) SPECIAL RULES.—To the extent

9 practicable, the peer review panels shall

10 have, collectively, a significant number of

11 members who are individuals with disabil12 ities, and the members of the panels shall

13 reflect the population of the United States

14 as a whole in terms of gender, race, and

15 ethnicity.

16 ‘‘(E) OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES OF THE

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.—Not more than 1 17 ⁄4 of

18 the members of any peer review panel may be

19 officers or employees of the Federal Govern20 ment. For purposes of the preceding sentence,

21 an individual who is a member of a peer review

22 panel shall not, by virtue of such service, be

23 considered to be an officer or employee of the

24 Federal Government.

25 ‘‘(2) CONFLICT OF INTEREST.—
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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—No member of a peer

2 review panel may participate in or be present

3 during any review by the peer review panel of

4 an application for a grant, contract, or coopera5 tive agreement, in which, to the member’s

6 knowledge, any of the following has a financial

7 interest:

8 ‘‘(i) The member of the panel or the

9 member’s spouse, parent, child, or business

10 partner.

11 ‘‘(ii) Any organization with which the

12 member or the member’s spouse, parent,

13 child, or business partner is negotiating or

14 has any arrangement concerning employ15 ment or any other similar association.

16 ‘‘(B) DISQUALIFIED PANEL.—In the event

17 any member of a peer review panel or the mem18 ber’s spouse, parent, child, or business partner

19 is currently, or is expected to be, the principal

20 investigator or a member of the staff respon21 sible for carrying out any research or develop22 ment activities described in an application for a

23 grant, contract, or cooperative agreement, the

24 Secretary shall disqualify the panel from re25 viewing the application and ensure that the re-
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1 view will be conducted by another peer review

2 panel with the expertise to conduct the review.

3 If there is no other panel with the requisite ex4 pertise, the Secretary shall ensure that the re5 view will be conducted by an ad hoc panel of

6 members of the peer review panels, not more

7 than 50 percent of whom may be from the dis8 qualified panel.

9 ‘‘(C) PROHIBITION.—No member of a peer

10 review panel may participate in or be present

11 during any review under this title of a specific

12 application for a grant, contract, or cooperative

13 agreement for an activity for which the member

14 has had or is expected to have any other re15 sponsibility or involvement (either before or

16 after the grant, contract, or cooperative agree17 ment was awarded for the activity) as an officer

18 or employee of the Federal Government.

19 ‘‘(3) AVAILABILITY OF INFORMATION.—Tran20 scripts, minutes, and other documents made avail21 able to or prepared for or by a peer review panel

22 shall be available for public inspection and copying

23 to the extent provided in section 552 of title 5,

24 United States Code (commonly known as the ‘Free25 dom of Information Act’), the Federal Advisory
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1 Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.), and section 552a of

2 title 5, United States Code (commonly known as the

3 ‘Privacy Act of 1974’).

4 ‘‘(4) EVALUATION OF APPLICATION.—A peer

5 review panel shall—

6 ‘‘(A) evaluate applications for grants, con7 tracts, or cooperative agreements under this

8 title with respect to research and development

9 of assistive technology and universally designed

10 technology to assure duplication of such re11 search and development does not occur across

12 Federal departments and agencies; and

13 ‘‘(B) evaluate the applications with respect

14 to meeting immediate needs for research and

15 development of assistive technology and univer16 sally designed technology in the disabled com17 munity (as identified in data collected by the

18 Interagency Committee on Disability Research),

19 through criteria that will ensure the effective20 ness of the priorities of the Interagency Com21 mittee for such research and development.

22 ‘‘(5) APPLICATION REVIEW CRITERIA.—In car23 rying out a review of an application for a grant, con24 tract, or cooperative agreement with respect to re25 search and development of assistive technology or
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1 universally designed technology under this section,

2 the peer review panel, among other factors, shall

3 take into account—

4 ‘‘(A) the need for research and develop5 ment of assistive technology and universally de6 signed technology that facilitates individuals

7 with disabilities obtaining employment;

8 ‘‘(B) the need to allocate amounts of as9 sistance through grants, contracts, or coopera10 tive agreements for research and development

11 of assistive technology and universally designed

12 technology in a manner proportionate to need

13 for assistive technology and universally designed

14 technology, and proportionate to the population

15 of disability groups, including individuals with

16 physical disabilities, individuals with cognitive

17 disabilities, older individuals with disabilities,

18 and rural assistive technology and universally

19 designed technology end-users;

20 ‘‘(C) the significance and originality from

21 a scientific or technical standpoint of the goals

22 of the proposed research and development;

23 ‘‘(D) the adequacy of the methodology pro24 posed to carry out the research and develop25 ment;
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1 ‘‘(E) the qualifications and experience of

2 the proposed principal investigator and staff for

3 the research and development;

4 ‘‘(F) the reasonable availability of re5 sources necessary to the research and develop6 ment;

7 ‘‘(G) the reasonableness of the proposed

8 budget and the duration in relation to the pro9 posed research and development;

10 ‘‘(H) if an application involves activities

11 that may have an adverse effect upon humans,

12 animals, or the environment, the adequacy of

13 the proposed means for protecting against or

14 minimizing such effects;

15 ‘‘(I) the extent to which appropriate meas16 ures will be taken to advance the cause of uni17 versal design through proposed assistive tech18 nology research and development, including the

19 extent to which the applicant has reviewed a va20 riety of existing measures (as of the date of the

21 review) on the part of the designers and pro22 ducers of assistive technology and the providers

23 of related services to produce universally de24 signed technology;
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1 ‘‘(J) the extent to which efforts shall be

2 made to include small businesses in the pro3 posed research and development of assistive

4 technology or universally designed technology

5 through increased usage of the Small Business

6 Innovative Research Program as defined in sec7 tion 9(e) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C.

8 638(e));

9 ‘‘(K) the extent to which the proposed re10 search and development of assistive technology

11 or universally designed technology will result in

12 the production of actual products for the mar13 ketplace for assistive technology or universally

14 designed technology end-users;

15 ‘‘(L) the extent to which the applicant

16 identifies secondary benefits or applications of

17 the assistive technology or universally designed

18 technology involved, or agrees to make match19 ing contributions (in cash or in kind, fairly

20 evaluated) toward the cost of the research and

21 development, in partnership with representa22 tives of industry, government, and educational

23 institutions; and

24 ‘‘(M) the extent to which proposed re25 search and development of universally designed
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1 technology will result in a change in design of

2 standard products, so that the products are

3 more usable by a broad range of individuals

4 with disabilities or older individuals.

5 ‘‘(6) COMPENSATION.—Each member of a peer

6 review panel who is not an officer or employee of the

7 Federal Government shall be compensated at a rate

8 equal to the daily equivalent of the annual rate of

9 basic pay prescribed for level IV of the Executive

10 Schedule under section 5315 of title 5, United

11 States Code, for each day (including travel time)

12 during which such member is engaged in the per13 formance of the duties of the panel. All members of

14 the panel who are officers or employees of the Fed15 eral Government shall serve without compensation in

16 addition to compensation received for their services

17 as officers or employees of the Federal Government.

18 ‘‘(7) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—The members of the

19 panel shall be allowed travel expenses, including per

20 diem in lieu of subsistence, at rates authorized for

21 employees of agencies under subchapter I of chapter

22 57 of title 5, United States Code, while away from

23 their homes or regular places of business in the per24 formance of services for the panel.
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1 ‘‘(8) TERMINATION.—Section 14 of the Federal

2 Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) shall not

3 apply to the peer review panels.

4 ‘‘SEC. 207. DEFINITIONS.

5 ‘‘In this title:

6 ‘‘(1) ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY.—The term ‘as7 sistive technology’ means technology designed to be

8 utilized in an assistive technology device or assistive

9 technology service.

10 ‘‘(2) ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY AND UNIVER11 SALLY DESIGNED TECHNOLOGY END-USER.—The

12 term ‘assistive technology and universally designed

13 technology end-user’ means any individual with a

14 disability who uses assistive technology or univer15 sally designed technology to improve the quality of

16 life of the individual or to obtain employment, in17 cluding an individual with a physical disability, a

18 cognitive disability, or a sensory disability, or an

19 older individual.

20 ‘‘(3) TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER.—The term

21 ‘technology transfer’ means the transmittal of devel22 oped ideas, products, and techniques—

23 ‘‘(A) from a research environment to an

24 environment of practical application; or
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1 ‘‘(B) from application in a prototype inven2 tion to mass production in a commercial prod3 uct.

4 ‘‘(4) UNIVERSAL DESIGN.—The term ‘universal

5 design’ means the design, development, fabrication,

6 marketing, and technical support of products, serv7 ices, and environments designed to be usable, to the

8 greatest extent possible, by the largest number of

9 persons, including individuals with disabilities and

10 individuals without disabilities. No product, service,

11 or environment shall be considered to have a univer12 sal design if use of the product, service, or environ13 ment is substantially limited or prevented by reason

14 of—

15 ‘‘(A) a disability related to hearing, vision,

16 learning, strength, reach, or movement; or

17 ‘‘(B) the existence of any other limitation

18 of a major life function.’’.

19 SEC. 5. TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER.

20 (a) AMENDMENTS TO PROVISIONS RELATING TO THE

21 INTERAGENCY COMMITTEE ON DISABILITY RESEARCH.—

22 Section 203 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C.

23 761b) is amended—

24 (1) in subsection (a), by adding at the end the

25 following:
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1 ‘‘(3) Each member of the Committee shall attend all

2 meetings of the Committee or delegate the responsibility

3 for attending the meetings to a designee with the authority

4 to commit the department or agency represented to par5 ticipate in a joint project, the authority to comment on

6 issues on behalf of the department or agency, and the ex7 pertise to participate in Committee discussions.’’;

8 (2) in subsection (b)—

9 (A) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ before ‘‘After receiv10 ing’’; and

11 (B) by adding at the end the following:

12 ‘‘(2) The Committee shall—

13 ‘‘(A) monitor the range of research and de14 velopment of assistive technology and univer15 sally designed technology carried out by the

16 Federal departments and agencies represented

17 on the Committee;

18 ‘‘(B) ensure that the highest quality re19 search and development of assistive technology

20 and universally designed technology (through

21 methods such as peer review) is carried out by

22 the departments and agencies;

23 ‘‘(C) identify and establish clear research

24 priorities for research and development of as25 sistive technology and universally designed tech-
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1 nology that will benefit individuals with disabil2 ities, and permit joint ventures concerning re3 search and development of assistive technology

4 and universally designed technology among the

5 department needs and agencies;

6 ‘‘(D) ensure interagency collaboration and

7 joint research activities and reduce unnecessary

8 duplication of effort by the departments and

9 agencies;

10 ‘‘(E) develop effective technology transfer

11 activities for the departments and agencies, in12 cluding activities resulting from increased sup13 ply of assistive technology and universally de14 signed technology or increased demand of as15 sistive technology and universally designed tech16 nology end-users;

17 ‘‘(F) help establish and maintain the use

18 of consistent definitions and terminologies

19 among the departments and agencies, which

20 definitions shall contribute to the production of

21 comparable research and to the development of

22 reliable statistical data across departments and

23 agencies;
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1 ‘‘(G) optimize the productivity of the de2 partments and agencies through resource shar3 ing and other cost-saving activities;

4 ‘‘(H) identify gaps in needed research and

5 development and make efforts to ensure that

6 the gaps are filled by a Federal department or

7 agency represented on the Committee; and

8 ‘‘(I) collaborate with member agencies on

9 specific projects that need additional funding

10 beyond the capacity of 1 Federal department or

11 agency represented on the Committee.’’;

12 (3) by redesignating subsection (c) as sub13 section (d);

14 (4) by inserting after subsection (b) the follow15 ing:

16 ‘‘(c)(1) The Director shall establish special task

17 forces and subcommittees of the Committee for research

18 and development of assistive technology and universally

19 designed technology, including task forces and subcommit20 tees related to medical rehabilitation, technology (includ21 ing universal design), and the employment of individuals

22 with disabilities.

23 ‘‘(2) The Director shall appoint 2 full-time staff

24 members to assist the Director in the operation of the

25 Committee.’’;
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1 (5) in subsection (d) (as redesignated by para2 graph (3))—

3 (A) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ before ‘‘The Com4 mittee’’; and

5 (B) by adding at the end the following:

6 ‘‘(2) The Director shall issue a biannual report an7 nouncing the availability of the grants, contracts, or coop8 erative agreements made available through Federal de9 partments and agencies represented on the Committee for

10 research and development of assistive technology and uni11 versally designed technology.

12 ‘‘(3) The Director shall submit to the Commissioner

13 for inclusion in the annual report to Congress described

14 in section 13—

15 ‘‘(A) the results and an analysis of the activities

16 conducted under grants, contracts, or cooperative

17 agreements awarded by departments and agencies

18 represented on the Interagency Committee on Dis19 ability Research for research and development of as20 sistive technology and universally designed tech21 nology;

22 ‘‘(B) a detailed summary of the activities and

23 the effectiveness of the Committee in expanding re24 search opportunities that lead to direct development
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1 of assistive technology devices and assistive tech2 nology services; and

3 ‘‘(C) results of periodic surveys of manufactur4 ers and suppliers of assistive technology and univer5 sally designed technology, and of assistive technology

6 and universally designed technology end-users.’’.

7 (b) AMENDMENTS TO THE STEVENSON-WYDLER

8 TECHNOLOGY INNOVATION ACT OF 1980.—Section 11(e)

9 of the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of

10 1980 (15 U.S.C. 3710(e)) is amended—

11 (1) in paragraph (1)—

12 (A) in subparagraph (I), by striking ‘‘and’’

13 after the semicolon;

14 (B) in subparagraph (J), by striking the

15 period and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

16 (C) by adding at the end the following:

17 ‘‘(K) develop and disseminate, including

18 through accessible electronic formats, to all Federal,

19 State, and local agencies and instrumentalities in20 volved in assistive technology and universally de21 signed technology, in order to maximize research

22 and development of assistive technology and univer23 sally designed technology, information that indi24 cates—
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1 ‘‘(i) the extent of all activities undertaken

2 by the Federal laboratories in the previous year

3 having an intended or a recognized potential

4 impact upon individuals with disabilities;

5 ‘‘(ii) the degree to which ongoing or pro6 jected activities of the Federal laboratories are

7 expected to have an impact upon the available

8 range of, or applications for, assistive tech9 nology and universally designed technology;

10 ‘‘(iii) the extent to which expert resources

11 within the Consortium are made available or

12 can be accessed for the purpose of meeting

13 needs related to assistive technology and univer14 sally designed technology in the communities

15 where the Federal laboratories operate; and

16 ‘‘(iv) the extent to which each Federal lab17 oratory has attempted to involve, and succeeded

18 in involving, individuals with disabilities in the

19 development of priorities, plans, and prototypes

20 with respect to assistive technology and univer21 sally designed technology.’’; and

22 (2) by adding at the end the following:

23 ‘‘(8)(A) The Director of the National Institute on

24 Disability and Rehabilitation Research shall participate
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1 annually in the national meeting and interagency meeting

2 of the Consortium.

3 ‘‘(B) The Director, in collaboration with other mem4 bers of the Interagency Committee on Disability Research,

5 where appropriate, shall coordinate the activities of the

6 Federal laboratories, with respect to research and develop7 ment of assistive technology and universally designed tech8 nology.

9 ‘‘(C) In conjunction with members of the Interagency

10 Committee on Disability Research, the Director shall uti11 lize the resources of the Consortium to identify potential

12 public and private sector partners for research and devel13 opment collaboration regarding assistive technology and

14 universally designed technology.

15 ‘‘(9) In this section:

16 ‘‘(A) The terms ‘individual with a disability’

17 and ‘individuals with disabilities’ have the meanings

18 given the terms in section 3 of the Technology-Re19 lated Assistance for Individuals With Disabilities Act

20 of 1988 (29 U.S.C. 2202).

21 ‘‘(B) The terms ‘universal design’ and ‘assistive

22 technology’ have the meaning given the term in sec23 tion 207 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.’’.
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1 SEC. 6. MICRO LOANS.

2 (a) TERRITORIES.—Section 301 of the Technology3 Related Assistance for Individuals With Disabilities Act

4 of 1988 (29 U.S.C. 2281) is amended—

5 (1) by redesignating subsection (b) as sub6 section (c); and

7 (2) by inserting after subsection (a) the follow8 ing:

9 ‘‘(b) AWARD BASIS.—The Secretary shall award

10 grants to States under this section on the basis of the pop11 ulation of the States.’’.

12 (b) MECHANISMS.—Subsection (d) of section 301 of

13 the Technology-Related Assistance for Individuals With

14 Disabilities Act of 1988 (as redesignated by subsection

15 (a)(1)) is amended to read as follows:

16 ‘‘(c) MECHANISMS.—

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The alternative financing

18 mechanisms shall include—

19 ‘‘(A) an interest buy-down loan program;

20 ‘‘(B) a revolving loan fund program; or

21 ‘‘(C) a loan guarantee program.

22 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS.—Each program de23 scribed in paragraph (1) shall—

24 ‘‘(A) provide assistance for assistive tech25 nology devices, assistive technology services,
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1 and universally designed technology products

2 and services; and

3 ‘‘(B) maximize consumer participation in

4 all aspects of the program.

5 ‘‘(3) DEFINITIONS.—

6 ‘‘(A) INTEREST BUY-DOWN LOAN PRO7 GRAM.—The term ‘interest buy-down loan pro8 gram’ means a loan program that involves an

9 organization, using the organization’s funds, to

10 reduce the interest rate of a loan made by a

11 lending institution to a borrower.

12 ‘‘(B) LOAN GUARANTEE PROGRAM.—The

13 term ‘loan guarantee program’ means a loan

14 program that provides loans that are backed by

15 a promise or guarantee that, if there is a de16 fault on a loan made under the program, the

17 loan will be paid back.

18 ‘‘(C) REVOLVING LOAN FUND PROGRAM.—

19 The term ‘revolving loan fund program’ means

20 a loan program in which individuals borrow

21 money from a loan fund, loan repayments are

22 dedicated to the recapitalization of the loan

23 fund, and the repayments are used to make ad24 ditional loans.’’.
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1 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section

2 308(a) of the Technology-Related Assistance for Individ3 uals With Disabilities Act of 1988 (29 U.S.C. 2288(a))

4 is amended by striking ‘‘this title’’ and all that follows and

5 inserting ‘‘this title, such sums as may be necessary for

6 each of fiscal years 1999 through 2001.’’.

7 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

8 Section 201(a) of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29

9 U.S.C. 761(a)) is amended to read as follows:

10 ‘‘(a) There are authorized to be appropriated—

11 ‘‘(1) such sums as may be necessary for each

12 of fiscal years 1999 through 2001, for the purpose

13 of providing for the expenses of the National Insti14 tute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research under

15 section 202, which—

16 ‘‘(A) shall include the expenses of the

17 Interagency Committee on Disability Research

18 under section 203, the Rehabilitation Research

19 Advisory Council under section 205, and the

20 peer review panels under section 206; and

21 ‘‘(B) shall not include the expenses of such

22 Institute to carry out section 204; and

23 ‘‘(2)(A) such sums as may be necessary for

24 each of fiscal years 1999 through 2001 to carry out

25 section 204, including providing financial assistance
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1 for research and development on assistive technology

2 and universally designed technology at the level of

3 assistance provided for fiscal year 1998; and

4 ‘‘(B) $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 1999

5 through 2001, to provide, under section 204, such fi6 nancial assistance (in addition to the level of assist7 ance provided for fiscal year 1998).’’.

Æ