I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1289 

To provide a Federal charter to the Fab Foundation for the National Fab 

Lab Network, a national network of local digital fabrication facilities 

providing community access to advanced manufacturing tools for learning 

skills, developing inventions, creating businesses, and producing personalized products. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 20, 2013 

Mr. FOSTER (for himself, Mr. HULTGREN, Mr. MASSIE, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, 

Mr. CAPUANO, Mr. CARNEY, Mr. CICILLINE, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mr. DANNY

K. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. LOEBSACK, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. PETERS of 

Michigan, Mr. POCAN, Mr. RUSH, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, and Ms. SHEAPORTER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To provide a Federal charter to the Fab Foundation for 

the National Fab Lab Network, a national network of 

local digital fabrication facilities providing community 

access to advanced manufacturing tools for learning 

skills, developing inventions, creating businesses, and 

producing personalized products. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Fab Lab Net3 work Act of 2013’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress finds the following: 

6 (1) Scientific discoveries and technical innova7 tions are critical to the economic and national secu8 rity of the United States. 

9 (2) Maintaining the leadership of the United 

10 States in science, technology, engineering, and math11 ematics will require a diverse population with the 

12 skills, interest, and access to tools required to ad13 vance these fields. 

14 (3) Just as earlier digital revolutions in commu15 nications and computation provided individuals with 

16 the Internet and personal computers, a digital revo17 lution in fabrication will allow anyone to make al18 most anything, anywhere. 

19 (4) The Center for Bits and Atoms of the Mas20 sachusetts Institute of Technology (CBA) has con21 tributed significantly to the advancement of these 

22 goals through its work in creating and advancing 

23 digital fab labs in the United States and abroad. 

24 (5) CBA’s fab labs provide a model for a new 

25 kind of national laboratory that links local facilities 


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1 for advanced manufacturing to expand access and 

2 empower communities. 

3 (6) A coordinated national public-private part4 nership will be the most effective way to accelerate 

5 the provision of this infrastructure for learning 

6 skills, developing inventions, creating businesses, and 

7 producing personalized products. 

8 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF NATIONAL FAB LAB NETWORK. 

9 (a) FEDERAL CHARTER.—The Fab Foundation is 

10 hereby granted a Federal charter as the National Fab Lab 

11 Network (in this Act referred to as the ‘‘NFLN’’). The 

12 NFLN shall exist as a nonprofit entity whose purpose is 

13 to facilitate the creation of a national network of local fab 

14 labs, and to serve as a resource to assist stakeholders with 

15 their effective operation. 

16 (b) MEMBERSHIP AND ORGANIZATION.—Eligibility 

17 for membership in the NFLN and the rights and privi18 leges of members are as provided in the constitution and 

19 bylaws of the NFLN. Directors, officers, and other staff 

20 of the NFLN, and their powers and duties are as provided 

21 in the bylaws of the NFLN. 

22 (c) FUNCTIONS.—The functions of the NFLN shall 

23 be the following: 


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1 (1) To serve as the coordinating body for the 

2 creation of a national network of local fab labs in 

3 the United States. 

4 (2) To provide a first point of contact for orga5 nizations and communities seeking to create fab 

6 labs, providing information, assessing suitability, ad7 vising on the lab lifecycle, and maintaining descrip8 tions of prospective and operating sites. 

9 (3) To link funders and sites with operational 

10 entities that can source and install fab labs, provide 

11 training, assist with operations, account for spend12 ing, and assess impact. 

13 (4) To perform outreach for individuals and 

14 communities on the benefits available through the 

15 NFLN. 

16 (5) To facilitate use of the NFLN in synergistic 

17 programs, such as workforce training, job creation, 

18 research broader impacts, and the production of 

19 civic infrastructure. 

20 (6) To offer transparency in the management, 

21 governance, and operation of the NFLN. 

22 (d) PURPOSES.—In carrying out its functions, the 

23 NFLN’s purposes and goals shall be— 


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1 (1) to create a national network of connected 

2 local fab labs to empower individuals and commu3 nities in the United States; 

4 (2) to foster the use of distributed digital fab5 rication tools to promote science, technology, engi6 neering and math skills, increase invention and inno7 vation, create businesses and jobs, and fulfill needs; 

8 and 

9 (3) to seek to establish at least one fab lab per 

10 every 700,000 individuals in the United States in 

11 the first ten years of its operation, corresponding to 

12 availability in all 435 Congressional districts. 

13 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the term ‘‘fab 

14 lab’’ shall refer to a facility equipped with an integrated 

15 suite of fabrication tools to convert digital designs into 

16 functional physical things, and scanning tools to convert 

17 physical things into digital designs, as exemplified by 

18 CBA’s fab labs. These labs shall be available for a range 

19 of individual and collaborative educational, commercial, 

20 creative, and social purposes, with the NFLN to provide 

21 guidelines for their sustainable operation. 

22 (f) FUNDING.—The NFLN may accept funds from 

23 private individuals, corporations, government agencies, or 

24 other organizations. 

Æ 


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