I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2397 

To amend the National Institute of Standards and Technology Act to make 

changes to the implementation of the network for manufacturing innovation, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 30, 2019 

Ms. STEVENS (for herself, Mr. BALDERSON, Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. REED, Ms. 

JOHNSON of Texas, and Mr. GONZALEZ of Ohio) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology 

A BILL 

To amend the National Institute of Standards and Technology Act to make changes to the implementation of 

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 ‘‘American Manufac5 turing Leadership Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. CHANGES IN IMPLEMENTATION OF NETWORK FOR 

2 MANUFACTURING INNOVATION. 

3 Section 34 of the National Institute of Standards and 

4 Technology Act (15 U.S.C. 278s) is amended— 

5 (1) in subsection (a)— 

6 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘Net7 work for Manufacturing Innovation Program’’ 

8 and inserting ‘‘Manufacturing USA Program’’; 

9 and 

10 (B) in paragraph (2)— 

11 (i) in subparagraph (G), by striking 

12 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

13 (ii) in subparagraph (H), by striking 

14 the period at the end and inserting ‘‘; 

15 and’’; and 

16 (iii) by adding at the end the fol17 lowing: 

18 ‘‘(I) to contribute to the development of re19 gional manufacturing innovation clusters across 

20 the Nation;’’; 

21 (2) in subsection (c)— 

22 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘Sec23 retary’’ each place it appears in subparagraph 

24 (C) and (D) and inserting ‘‘agency head’’; 

25 (B) in paragraph (2)— 

26 (i) by striking subparagraph (E); 


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1 (ii) by redesignating subparagraphs 

2 (A), (B), (C), and (D) as clauses (i), (ii), 

3 (iii), and (iv), respectively, and moving the 

4 margins of such clauses (as so redesig5 nated) two ems to the right; 

6 (iii) in the matter preceding clause (i) 

7 (as so redesignated), by striking ‘‘Activities 

8 of a center for manufacturing innovation 

9 may include’’ and inserting ‘‘(A) RE10 QUIRED ACTIVITIES.—Activities of a center 

11 for manufacturing innovation shall in12 clude’’; 

13 (iv) in clause (ii), as so redesignated, 

14 by inserting before the period at the end 

15 the following: ‘‘addressing workforce needs 

16 through training and education programs 

17 at all appropriate education levels’’; 

18 (v) in clause (iii), as so redesignated, 

19 by inserting before the period at the end 

20 the following: ‘‘, as appropriate’’; 

21 (vi) by inserting after clause (iv) (as 

22 so redesignated) the following: 

23 ‘‘(v) Development of roadmaps with 

24 respect to certain technology areas that 

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1 ment undertaken at other centers for man2 ufacturing innovation and Federal agencies 

3 with respect to such areas to avoid duplica4 tion of effort and to ensure that research 

5 and development undertaken at such other 

6 centers and Federal agencies may be used 

7 for future, later-stage work at the centers 

8 for manufacturing innovation.’’; and 

9 (vii) by adding at the end the fol10 lowing: 

11 ‘‘(B) PERMISSIBLE ACTIVITIES.—Activities 

12 of a center for manufacturing innovation may 

13 include such other activities as the agency head, 

14 in consultation with Federal departments and 

15 agencies whose missions contribute to, or are 

16 affected by, advanced manufacturing, considers 

17 consistent with the purposes described in sub18 section (a)(2).’’; and 

19 (C) in paragraph (3), by adding at the end 

20 the following: 

21 ‘‘(C) APPLICATION.—Effective beginning 

22 on the date of the enactment of the American 

23 Manufacturing Leadership Act, a manufac24 turing center shall be subject to subsections 

25 (a)(2), (c), and (d) in the same manner and to 


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1 the same extent as such provisions apply to a 

2 center for manufacturing innovation established 

3 pursuant to this section if such center— 

4 ‘‘(i)(I) is, as of such date of enact5 ment, considered a center for manufac6 turing innovation under subparagraph (A) 

7 or recognized as a center for manufac8 turing innovation under subparagraph (B); 

9 and 

10 ‘‘(II) as of such date of enactment, re11 ceives Federal financial assistance under 

12 subsection (d) or otherwise consistent with 

13 the purposes of this section; or 

14 ‘‘(ii) is under pending agency review 

15 for such recognition as of such date of en16 actment.’’; 

17 (3) in subsection (d)— 

18 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

19 (i) by striking ‘‘Secretary’’ and insert20 ing ‘‘agency head’’; and 

21 (ii) by inserting ‘‘for a period of not 

22 less than 5 and not more than 7 years’’ 

23 after ‘‘financial assistance’’; 


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1 (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘Sec2 retary’’ each place it appears and inserting 

3 ‘‘agency head’’; 

4 (C) in paragraph (4)— 

5 (i) by amending subparagraph (A) to 

6 read as follows: 

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

8 awarding financial assistance under paragraph 

9 (1), the agency head shall— 

10 ‘‘(i) use a competitive, merit review 

11 process that includes peer review by a di12 verse group of individuals with relevant ex13 pertise from both the private and public 

14 sectors; and 

15 ‘‘(ii) ensure that the technology focus 

16 of a center for manufacturing innovation 

17 does not substantially duplicate the tech18 nology focus of any other center for manu19 facturing innovation.’’; 

20 (ii) in subparagraphs (B)(i), by strik21 ing ‘‘Secretary’’ each place it appears and 

22 inserting ‘‘agency head’’; 

23 (iii) by amending subparagraph (C) to 

24 read as follows: 


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1 ‘‘(C) PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT, 

2 TRANSPARENCY, AND ACCOUNTABILITY.—For 

3 each award of financial assistance under para4 graph (1), the agency head shall develop and 

5 implement metrics-based performance standards 

6 to assess the effectiveness of activities funded in 

7 making progress toward the purposes of the 

8 Program.’’; 

9 (iv) in subparagraph (D), by striking 

10 ‘‘the Secretary shall’’ and all that follows 

11 through ‘‘collaborate’’ and inserting the 

12 following: ‘‘agency head, in coordination 

13 with the National Program Office, as ap14 propriate, shall collaborate’’; and 

15 (v) in subparagraph (E), by striking 

16 ‘‘Secretary’’ each place it appears and in17 serting ‘‘agency head’’; and 

18 (D) in paragraph (5)— 

19 (i) by amending subparagraph (A) to 

20 read as follows: 

21 ‘‘(A) TERM OF AWARD.— 

22 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Subject to clause 

23 (ii), an award made to a center for manu24 facturing innovation may be renewed for 

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1 ration of the original funding award, sub2 ject to a rigorous merit review. In award3 ing additional funds, the agency head shall 

4 consider the extent to which the center has 

5 made progress in achieving the purposes 

6 described in subsection (a) and carrying 

7 out the activities specified in subsection 

8 (c)(2). 

9 ‘‘(ii) EXISTING CENTERS.—Notwith10 standing clause (i), a center already in ex11 istence or undergoing a renewal process on 

12 the date of enactment of the llll 

13 Act— 

14 ‘‘(I) may continue to receive sup15 port for the duration of the original 

16 funding award beginning on the date 

17 of establishment of that center; and 

18 ‘‘(II) shall be eligible for renewal 

19 of that funding pursuant to clause 

20 (i).’’; and 

21 (ii) in subparagraphs (B) and (C), by 

22 striking ‘‘Secretary’’ each place it appears 

23 and inserting ‘‘agency head’’; 

24 (4) by striking subsection (e); 


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1 (5) by redesignating subsections (f), (g), (h), 

2 and (i) as subsections (e), (f), (g), and (h), respec3 tively; 

4 (6) in subsection (e) (as so redesignated)— 

5 (A) in paragraph (2)— 

6 (i) in subparagraph (E), by striking 

7 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

8 (ii) in subparagraph (F), by striking 

9 the period at the end and inserting a semi10 colon; and 

11 (iii) by adding at the end the fol12 lowing: 

13 ‘‘(H) to work with non-sponsoring Federal 

14 agencies to explore and develop options for 

15 sponsoring centers for manufacturing innova16 tion at such agencies; 

17 ‘‘(I) to work with sponsoring Federal agen18 cies to develop and implement network-wide 

19 performance goals with measurable targets and 

20 timelines; 

21 ‘‘(J) to help develop pilot programs that 

22 may be implemented by the centers for manu23 facturing innovation such to address specific 

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1 erate technology transfer to the private sector; 

2 and 

3 ‘‘(K) to identify and disseminate best 

4 workforce education and training practices 

5 across centers for manufacturing innovation 

6 and further enhance collaboration among cen7 ters for manufacturing innovation in developing 

8 and implementing such programs.’’; and 

9 (B) by amending paragraph (5) to read as 

10 follows: 

11 ‘‘(5) HOLLINGS MANUFACTURING EXTENSION

12 PARTNERSHIP.—The Secretary shall ensure that the 

13 National Program Office incorporates the Hollings 

14 Manufacturing Extension Partnership into Program 

15 planning to ensure— 

16 ‘‘(A) significant outreach to, participation 

17 of, and engagement of small- and medium-sized 

18 manufacturers in centers for manufacturing in19 novation across the entirety of the manufac20 turing supply chain; and 

21 ‘‘(B) that the results of the Program, in22 cluding technologies developed by the Program, 

23 reach small- and medium-sized manufacturers 

24 and that such entities have access to technical 


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1 assistance, as appropriate, in deploying those 

2 technologies.’’; 

3 (7) in subsection (f) (as so redesignated)— 

4 (A) in paragraph (1)(A)— 

5 (i) by striking ‘‘The Secretary’’ and 

6 all that follows through ‘‘report to the Sec7 retary’’ and inserting the following: ‘‘Each 

8 agency head shall require each recipient of 

9 financial assistance from that agency 

10 under subsection (d)(1) and any other 

11 manufacturing centers considered to be 

12 centers for manufacturing innovation pur13 suant to subsection (c)(3) to annually sub14 mit to the appropriate agency head a re15 port’’; and 

16 (ii) by adding at the end the fol17 lowing: ‘‘Each agency head shall submit 

18 such reports to the Secretary.’’; and 

19 (B) by amending paragraph (3) to read as 

20 follows: 

21 ‘‘(3) ASSESSMENTS BY GAO.— 

22 ‘‘(A) ASSESSMENTS.—Not less frequently 

23 than once every 3 years, the Comptroller Gen24 eral shall submit to Congress an assessment of 

25 the operation of the Program during the most 


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1 recent 3-year period, including an assessment of 

2 the progress made towards achieving the goals 

3 specified in the national strategic plan for ad4 vanced manufacturing under section 102(b)(7) 

5 of the America COMPETES Reauthorization 

6 Act of 2010 (42 U.S.C. 6622(b)(7)). 

7 ‘‘(B) ELEMENTS.—Each assessment sub8 mitted under subparagraph (A) shall include, 

9 for the period covered by the report— 

10 ‘‘(i) a review of the management, co11 ordination, and industry utility of the Pro12 gram; 

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

14 which the Program has furthered the pur15 poses described in subsection (a)(2); 

16 ‘‘(iii) such recommendations for legis17 lative and administrative action as the 

18 Comptroller General considers appropriate 

19 to improve the Program; and 

20 ‘‘(iv) an assessment as to whether any 

21 prior recommendations for improvement 

22 made by the Comptroller General have 

23 been implemented or adopted.’’; 

24 (8) in subsection (g) (as so redesignated)— 


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1 (A) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘sub2 section (e)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection (j)’’; and 

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

4 ‘‘(6) COLLABORATIONS WITH OTHER FEDERAL

5 AGENCIES.—The Secretary shall collaborate with 

6 Federal agencies whose missions contribute to, or 

7 are affected by, advanced manufacturing to identify 

8 and leverage existing resources at such Federal 

9 agencies to assist centers of manufacturing innova10 tion in carrying out the purposes of the program 

11 specified in subsection (a)(2). Such existing re12 sources may include programs— 

13 ‘‘(A) at the Department of Labor relating 

14 to labor and apprenticeships; 

15 ‘‘(B) at the Economic Development Ad16 ministration relating to regional innovation, 

17 such as the Regional Innovation Strategies pro18 gram; 

19 ‘‘(C) at the Department of Education re20 lating to workforce development, education, 

21 training, and retraining; 

22 ‘‘(D) at the Department of Defense relat23 ing to procurement and other authorities of the 

24 Department of Defense; 


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1 ‘‘(E) at the Food and Drug Administration 

2 relating to biopharmaceutical manufacturing; 

3 ‘‘(F) at the National Science Foundation, 

4 including the Advanced Technological Edu5 cation program; and 

6 ‘‘(G) additional programs that the Sec7 retary determines are appropriate to support 

8 the activities of existing centers for manufac9 turing innovation.’’; and 

10 (9) by adding at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘(i) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

12 ‘‘(1) AGENCY HEAD.—The term ‘agency head’ 

13 means the head of a Federal agency that is pro14 viding financial assistance for a center of manufac15 turing innovation, including the Secretary of Com16 merce and the Secretary of Energy. 

17 ‘‘(2) REGIONAL INNOVATION CLUSTER.—The 

18 term ‘regional innovation cluster’ has the meaning 

19 given such term in section 27(f)(1) of the Stevenson20 Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980 (15 

21 U.S.C. 3722(f)(1)). 

22 ‘‘(j) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

23 ‘‘(1) NIST.—There are authorized to be appro24 priated to the Secretary to carry out this section 


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1 $25,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2020 through 

2 2024. 

3 ‘‘(2) RESERVATION.—Of the amount made 

4 available under paragraph (1) the Secretary shall re5 serve not less than $5,000,000 for the National Of6 fice of the Network for Manufacturing Innovation 

7 Program established under subsection (e). 

8 ‘‘(3) DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY.—For centers 

9 of manufacturing innovation operated by the De10 partment of Energy, there are authorized to be ap11 propriated to the Secretary of Energy— 

12 ‘‘(A) $70,000,000 for each of fiscal years 

13 2020 and 2021; and 

14 ‘‘(B) $84,000,000 for each of fiscal years 

15 2022 and 2023.’’. 

16 SEC. 3. INCREASED EMPHASIS ON REGIONAL INNOVATION 

17 WITHIN AND EXTENSION OF REGIONAL INNO18 VATION PROGRAM. 

19 Section 27 of the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Inno20 vation Act of 1980 (15 U.S.C. 3722) is amended— 

21 (1) in subsection (b)(2) by adding at the end 

22 the following new subparagraph: 

23 ‘‘(I) Developing relationships at the local 

24 level to build supply chains and use existing ca25 pabilities of entities operating on that level to 


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1 bring economic growth to suburban and rural 

2 areas.’’; and 

3 (2) in subsection (d)(2) by striking ‘‘2019’’ and 

4 inserting ‘‘2024’’. 

Æ 


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