II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1427 

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

the Network for Manufacturing Innovation Program, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 13, 2019 

Mr. COONS (for himself, Mr. GARDNER, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Mr. TILLIS, Ms. 

HASSAN, Mr. PETERS, Mr. MORAN, and Mr. RUBIO) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To amend the National Institute of Standards and Technology Act to improve the Network for Manufacturing 

Innovation 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 ‘‘Global Leadership in 

5 Advanced Manufacturing Act of 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. IMPROVEMENTS TO NETWORK FOR MANUFAC7 TURING INNOVATION PROGRAM. 

8 (a) CENTERS FOR MANUFACTURING INNOVATION.— 

9 Subsection (c) of section 34 of the National Institute of 


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1 Standards and Technology Act (15 U.S.C. 278s) is 

2 amended— 

3 (1) in subparagraphs (B) and (C)(i) of para4 graph (1), by striking ‘‘and tool’’ both places it ap5 pears and inserting ‘‘tool development for microelec6 tronics, food manufacturing, superconductors, ad7 vanced battery technologies, robotics, advanced sen8 sors, quantum information science, supply chain 

9 water optimization, and aeronautics and advanced 

10 materials’’; 

11 (2) in paragraph (2)(D), by striking ‘‘and mi12 nority’’ and inserting ‘‘, minority, and veteran’’; and 

13 (3) in paragraph (3)(A), by striking ‘‘, but 

14 such’’ and all that follows through ‘‘under subsection 

15 (d)’’. 

16 (b) FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE TO ESTABLISH AND

17 SUPPORT CENTERS FOR MANUFACTURING INNOVA18 TION.—Subsection (d) of such section is amended— 

19 (1) in paragraph (4)— 

20 (A) in subparagraph (C)— 

21 (i) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘; and’’ 

22 and inserting a semicolon; 

23 (ii) in clause (ii)— 

24 (I) by inserting ‘‘, including ap25 propriate measures for assessing the 


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1 effectiveness of the activities funded 

2 with regards to the center’s success in 

3 advancing the current state of the ap4 plicable advanced manufacturing tech5 nology area such as technology readi6 ness level and manufacturing readi7 ness level,’’ after ‘‘measures’’; and 

8 (II) by striking the period at the 

9 end; and 

10 (iii) by adding at the end the fol11 lowing: 

12 ‘‘(iii) establish standards for the per13 formance of centers for manufacturing in14 novation that are based on the measures 

15 developed under clause (ii); and 

16 ‘‘(iv) for each center for manufac17 turing innovation supported by the award, 

18 if any, once every 5 years, conduct an as19 sessment of the center to confirm whether 

20 the performance of the center is meeting 

21 the standards for performance established 

22 under clause (iii).’’; 

23 (B) in subparagraph (D), by inserting ‘‘, 

24 including the Department of Agriculture, the 

25 Department of Defense, the Department of 


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1 Education, the Department of Energy, the De2 partment of Labor, the Food and Drug Admin3 istration, the National Aeronautics and Space 

4 Administration, the National Institutes of 

5 Health, and the National Science Foundation’’ 

6 after ‘‘manufacturing’’; and 

7 (C) in subparagraph (E)— 

8 (i) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘without 

9 the need for long-term Federal funding’’; 

10 (ii) in clause (iii), by striking ‘‘signifi11 cantly’’; 

12 (iii) in clause (v), by inserting ‘‘and to 

13 improve the domestic supply chain’’ after 

14 ‘‘technologies’’; and 

15 (iv) in clause (ix), by inserting ‘‘indus16 trial, research, entrepreneurship, and 

17 other’’ after ‘‘leverage the’’; 

18 (2) in paragraph (5)— 

19 (A) by striking subparagraph (A) and in20 serting the following: 

21 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—No award of financial 

22 assistance may be made under paragraph (1) to 

23 support a center for manufacturing innovation 

24 that the Secretary finds under paragraph 

25 (4)(C) does not meet the standards for perVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:09 May 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1427.IS S1427

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1 formance established under paragraph 

2 (4)(C)(iii).’’; 

3 (B) in subparagraph (B)— 

4 (i) in the first sentence, by striking 

5 ‘‘large capital facilities or equipment pur6 chases’’ and inserting ‘‘large capital facili7 ties, equipment purchases, workforce devel8 opment, or general operations’’; and 

9 (ii) by striking the second sentence; 

10 and 

11 (C) by striking subparagraph (C); and 

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

13 ‘‘(6) USE OF FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.—Finan14 cial assistance awarded under paragraph (1) may be 

15 used— 

16 ‘‘(A) for the purposes described in such 

17 paragraph; or 

18 ‘‘(B) to carry out Program-wide activities 

19 directed by the Secretary, such as activities tar20 geting workforce development.’’. 

21 (c) FUNDING.—Subsection (e)(2) of such section is 

22 amended— 

23 (1) by amending subparagraph (A) to read as 

24 follows: 


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1 ‘‘(A) NIST INDUSTRIAL TECHNICAL SERV2 ICES ACCOUNT.—To the extent provided for in 

3 advance by appropriations Acts, the Secretary 

4 may use amounts appropriated to the Institute 

5 for Industrial Technical Services account to 

6 carry out this section as follows: 

7 ‘‘(i) For each of the fiscal years 2015 

8 through 2019, an amount not to exceed 

9 $5,000,000. 

10 ‘‘(ii) For each of fiscal years 2020 

11 through 2030, such amounts as may be 

12 necessary to carry out this section.’’; and 

13 (2) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘through 

14 2024’’ and inserting ‘‘through 2019’’. 

15 (d) NATIONAL PROGRAM OFFICE.—Subsection (f) of 

16 such section is amended— 

17 (1) in paragraph (2)— 

18 (A) in subparagraph (B)— 

19 (i) by inserting ‘‘coordinate with and, 

20 as appropriate,’’ before ‘‘enter’’; and 

21 (ii) by inserting ‘‘including the De22 partment of Agriculture, the Department 

23 of Defense, the Department of Education, 

24 the Department of Energy, the Depart25 ment of Labor, the Food and Drug AdminVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:09 May 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1427.IS S1427

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1 istration, the National Aeronautics and 

2 Space Administration, the National Insti3 tutes of Health, and the National Science 

4 Foundation,’’ after ‘‘manufacturing,’’; 

5 (B) in subparagraph (E), by striking ‘‘; 

6 and’’ and inserting a semicolon; 

7 (C) by redesignating subparagraph (F) as 

8 subparagraph (J); and 

9 (D) by inserting after subparagraph (E) 

10 the following: 

11 ‘‘(F) to carry out pilot programs in col12 laboration with the centers for manufacturing 

13 innovation such as a laboratory-embedded en14 trepreneurship program; 

15 ‘‘(G) to provide support services and fund16 ing as necessary to promote workforce develop17 ment activities; 

18 ‘‘(H) to coordinate with centers for manu19 facturing innovation to develop best practices 

20 for the membership agreements and coordina21 tion of similar project solicitations; 

22 ‘‘(I) to collaborate with the Department of 

23 Labor, the Department of Education, industry, 

24 career and technical education schools, local 

25 community colleges, universities, and labor orVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:09 May 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1427.IS S1427

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1 ganizations to provide input for the develop2 ment of national certifications for advanced 

3 manufacturing workforce skills in the tech4 nology areas of the centers for manufacturing 

5 innovation; and’’; 

6 (2) in paragraph (3), by inserting ‘‘State and 

7 local governments,’’ after ‘‘community colleges,’’; 

8 and 

9 (3) in paragraph (5)— 

10 (A) by striking ‘‘The Secretary’’ and in11 serting the following: 

12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary’’; and 

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

14 ‘‘(B) LIAISONS.— 

15 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary 

16 may provide financial assistance to a man17 ufacturing extension center established as 

18 part of the Hollings Manufacturing Exten19 sion Partnership to detail a liaison of the 

20 center to a center for manufacturing inno21 vation to facilitate the support by the Part22 nership of at least the following: 

23 ‘‘(I) Cybersecurity awareness and 

24 support services for small- and me25 dium-sized manufacturers. 


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1 ‘‘(II) Assistance with workforce 

2 development. 

3 ‘‘(III) Technology transfer for 

4 small and medium-sized manufactur5 ers. 

6 ‘‘(ii) SELECTION OF LIAISONS.—Selec7 tion of a liaison under this subparagraph 

8 shall be made in coordination with the ap9 plicable center for manufacturing innova10 tion.’’. 

11 (e) REPORTING AND AUDITING.—Subsection (g) of 

12 such section is amended— 

13 (1) in paragraph (2)(A), by striking ‘‘December 

14 31, 2024’’ and inserting ‘‘December 31, 2030’’; and 

15 (2) in paragraph (3)— 

16 (A) in subparagraph (A)— 

17 (i) by striking ‘‘2 years’’ and inserting 

18 ‘‘3 years’’; and 

19 (ii) by striking ‘‘2-year’’ and inserting 

20 ‘‘3-year’’; and 

21 (B) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘De22 cember 31, 2024’’ and inserting ‘‘December 31, 

23 2030’’. 

24 (f) EXPANSION.—Subject to the availability of appro25 priations, the Secretary of Commerce shall increase the 


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1 number of centers for manufacturing innovation that par2 ticipate in the Network for Manufacturing Innovation Pro3 gram. 

Æ 


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