II 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 315 

To establish a digital and wireless network technology program, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 17, 2007 

Mr. WARNER (for himself, Mr. WEBB, Mr. GRASSLEY, Mr. CORNYN, Mr. 

THUNE, and Mr. GRAHAM) introduced the following bill; which was read 

twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To establish a digital and wireless network technology 

program, 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 ‘‘Minority Serving Insti5 tution Digital and Wireless Technology Opportunity Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF OFFICE. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is established within the 

8 National Science Foundation an Office of Minority ServVerDate Aug 31 2005 18:31 Jan 18, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S315.IS S315

frosa on PROD1PC71 with BILLS
2 

•S 315 IS

1 ing Institution Digital and Wireless Technology to carry 

2 out the provisions of this Act. 

3 (b) PURPOSE.—The Office shall— 

4 (1) strengthen the ability of eligible institutions 

5 to provide capacity for instruction in digital and 

6 wireless network technologies by providing grants to, 

7 or executing contracts or cooperative agreements 

8 with, those institutions to provide such instruction; 

9 and 

10 (2) strengthen the national digital and wireless 

11 infrastructure by increasing national investment in 

12 telecommunications and technology infrastructure at 

13 eligible institutions. 

14 SEC. 3. ACTIVITIES SUPPORTED. 

15 An eligible institution shall use a grant, contract, or 

16 cooperative agreement awarded under this Act— 

17 (1) to acquire equipment, instrumentation, net18 working capability, hardware and software, digital 

19 network technology, wireless technology, and infra20 structure; 

21 (2) to develop and provide educational services, 

22 including faculty development, related to science, 

23 mathematics, engineering, or technology; 

24 (3) to provide teacher education, library and 

25 media specialist training, and preschool and teacher 


frosa on PROD1PC71 with BILLS
3 

•S 315 IS

1 aid certification to individuals who seek to acquire or 

2 enhance technology skills in order to use technology 

3 in the classroom or instructional process; 

4 (4) to implement joint projects and consortia to 

5 provide education regarding technology in the class6 room with a State or State education agency, local 

7 education agency, community-based organization, 

8 national non-profit organization, or business, includ9 ing minority businesses; 

10 (5) to provide professional development in 

11 science, mathematics, engineering, or technology to 

12 administrators and faculty of eligible institutions 

13 with institutional responsibility for technology edu14 cation; 

15 (6) to provide capacity-building technical assist16 ance to eligible institutions through remote technical 

17 support, technical assistance workshops, distance 

18 learning, new technologies, and other technological 

19 applications; 

20 (7) to foster the use of information communica21 tions technology to increase scientific, mathematical, 

22 engineering, and technology instruction and re23 search; and 


frosa on PROD1PC71 with BILLS
4 

•S 315 IS

1 (8) to develop proposals to be submitted under 

2 this Act and to develop strategic plans for informa3 tion technology investments. 

4 SEC. 4. APPLICATION AND REVIEW PROCEDURE. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to receive a grant, 

6 contract, or cooperative agreement under this Act, an eli7 gible institution shall submit an application to the Direc8 tor at such time, in such manner, and accompanied by 

9 such information as the Director may reasonably require. 

10 The Director, in consultation with the advisory council es11 tablished under subsection (b), shall establish a procedure 

12 by which to accept and review such applications and pub13 lish an announcement of such procedure, including a state14 ment regarding the availability of funds, in the Federal 

15 Register. 

16 (b) ADVISORY COUNCIL.—The Director shall estab17 lish an advisory council to advise the Director on the best 

18 approaches for involving eligible institutions in the activi19 ties described in section 3, and for reviewing and evalu20 ating proposals submitted to the program. In selecting the 

21 members of the advisory council, the Director may consult 

22 with representatives of appropriate organizations, includ23 ing representatives of eligible institutions, to ensure that 

24 the membership of the advisory council reflects participa25 tion by technology and telecommunications institutions, 


frosa on PROD1PC71 with BILLS
5 

•S 315 IS

1 minority businesses, eligible institution communities, Fed2 eral agency personnel, and other individuals who are 

3 knowledgeable about eligible institutions and technology 

4 issues. Any panel assembled to review a proposal sub5 mitted to the program shall include members from minor6 ity serving institutions. Program review criteria shall in7 clude consideration of— 

8 (1) demonstrated need for assistance under this 

9 Act; and 

10 (2) diversity among the types of institutions re11 ceiving assistance under this Act. 

12 (c) DATA COLLECTION.—An eligible institution that 

13 receives a grant, contract, or cooperative agreement under 

14 section 2 shall provide the Office with any relevant institu15 tional statistical or demographic data requested by the Of16 fice. 

17 (d) INFORMATION DISSEMINATION.—The Director 

18 shall convene an annual meeting of eligible institutions re19 ceiving grants, contracts, or cooperative agreements under 

20 section 2 for the purposes of— 

21 (1) fostering collaboration and capacity-building 

22 activities among eligible institutions; and 

23 (2) disseminating information and ideas gen24 erated by such meetings. 


frosa on PROD1PC71 with BILLS
6 

•S 315 IS

1 SEC. 5. MATCHING REQUIREMENT. 

2 The Director may not award a grant, contract, or co3 operative agreement to an eligible institution under this 

4 Act unless such institution agrees that, with respect to the 

5 costs to be incurred by the institution in carrying out the 

6 program for which the grant, contract, or cooperative 

7 agreement was awarded, such institution will make avail8 able (directly or through donations from public or private 

9 entities) non-Federal contributions in an amount equal to 

10 25 percent of the amount of the grant, contract, or cooper11 ative agreement awarded by the Director, or $500,000, 

12 whichever is the lesser amount. The Director shall waive 

13 the matching requirement for any institution or consor14 tium with no endowment, or an endowment that has a cur15 rent dollar value lower than $50,000,000. 

16 SEC. 6. LIMITATIONS. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—An eligible institution that re18 ceives a grant, contract, or cooperative agreement under 

19 this Act that exceeds $2,500,000, shall not be eligible to 

20 receive another grant, contract, or cooperative agreement 

21 under this Act until every other eligible institution that 

22 has applied for a grant, contract, or cooperative agreement 

23 under this Act has received such a grant, contract, or co24 operative. 

25 (b) AWARDS ADMINISTERED BY ELIGIBLE INSTITU26 TION.—Each grant, contract, or cooperative agreement 


frosa on PROD1PC71 with BILLS
7 

•S 315 IS

1 awarded under this Act shall be made to, and adminis2 tered by, an eligible institution, even when it is awarded 

3 for the implementation of a consortium or joint project. 

4 SEC. 7. ANNUAL REPORT AND EVALUATION. 

5 (a) ANNUAL REPORT REQUIRED FROM RECIPI6 ENTS.—Each institution that receives a grant, contract, 

7 or cooperative agreement under this Act shall provide an 

8 annual report to the Director on its use of the grant, con9 tract, or cooperative agreement. 

10 (b) EVALUATION BY DIRECTOR.—The Director, in 

11 consultation with the Secretary of Education, shall— 

12 (1) review the reports provided under sub13 section (a) each year; and 

14 (2) evaluate the program authorized by section 

15 3 on the basis of those reports every 2 years. 

16 (c) CONTENTS OF EVALUATION.—The Director, in 

17 the evaluation, shall describe the activities undertaken by 

18 those institutions and shall assess the short-range and 

19 long-range impact of activities carried out under the 

20 grant, contract, or cooperative agreement on the students, 

21 faculty, and staff of the institutions. 

22 (d) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The Director shall sub23 mit a report to the Congress based on the evaluation. In 

24 the report, the Director shall include such recommenda25 tions, including recommendations concerning the conVerDate Aug 31 2005 18:31 Jan 18, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S315.IS S315

frosa on PROD1PC71 with BILLS
8 

•S 315 IS

1 tinuing need for Federal support of the program, as may 

2 be appropriate. 

3 SEC. 8. DEFINITIONS. 

4 In this Act: 

5 (1) ELIGIBLE INSTITUTION.—The term ‘‘eligi6 ble institution’’ means an institution that is— 

7 (A) a historically Black college or univer8 sity that is a part B institution, as defined in 

9 section 322(2) of the Higher Education Act of 

10 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1061(2)); 

11 (B) a Hispanic-serving institution, as de12 fined in section 502(a)(5) of the Higher Edu13 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1101a(a)(5)); 

14 (C) a tribally controlled college or univer15 sity, as defined in section 316(b)(3) of the 

16 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

17 1059c(b)(3)); 

18 (D) an Alaska Native-serving institution 

19 under section 317(b) of the Higher Education 

20 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1059d(b)); 

21 (E) a Native Hawaiian-serving institution 

22 under section 317(b) of the Higher Education 

23 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1059d(b)); or 

24 (F) an institution determined by the Direc25 tor, in consultation with the Secretary of EduVerDate Aug 31 2005 18:31 Jan 18, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S315.IS S315

frosa on PROD1PC71 with BILLS
9 

•S 315 IS

1 cation, to have enrolled a substantial number of 

2 minority, low-income students during the pre3 vious academic year who received assistance 

4 under subpart I of part A of title IV of the 

5 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

6 1070a et seq.) for that year. 

7 (2) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 

8 the Director of the National Science Foundation. 

9 (3) MINORITY BUSINESS.—The term ‘‘minority 

10 business’’ includes HUBZone small business con11 cerns (as defined in section 3(p) of the Small Busi12 ness Act (15 U.S.C. 632(p)). 

13 SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

14 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Direc15 tor of the National Science Foundation $250,000,000 for 

16 each of the fiscal years 2008 through 2012 to carry out 

17 this Act. 

Æ 


frosa on PROD1PC71 with BILLS