II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1912

To facilitate the growth of electronic commerce and enable the electronic

commerce market to continue its current growth rate and realize its

full potential, to signal strong support of the electronic commerce market

by promoting its use within Federal Government agencies and smalland medium-sized businesses, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

NOVEMBER 10, 1999

Mr. FRIST (for himself, Mr. MCCAIN, and Mr. BINGAMAN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

A BILL

To facilitate the growth of electronic commerce and enable

the electronic commerce market to continue its current

growth rate and realize its full potential, to signal strong

support of the electronic commerce market by promoting

its use within Federal Government agencies and smalland medium-sized businesses, 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 ‘‘Electronic Commerce

5 Technology Promotion Act’’.
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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

2 The Congress makes the following findings:

3 (1) Electronic commerce has been widely em4 braced by industry, both in the United States and

5 abroad. The volume of commerce conducted over the

6 Internet, though almost nonexistent just a few years

7 ago, is expected to top $1 trillion by 2003, according

8 to market research reports. Continued growth of this

9 market is vital to the economy of the United States

10 as well as the global economy.

11 (2) United States industries are at the forefront

12 of this global revolution, continually evolving and in13 novating to respond to rapidly changing market

14 needs and conditions. Agility and flexibility are es15 sential elements in their abilities to compete and

16 adapt. These are also the elements required for the

17 electronic commerce market to sustain its current

18 phenomenal growth rate.

19 (3) The Federal Government should facilitate

20 the growth of electronic commerce by allowing the

21 private sector to continue to take the lead in devel22 oping this dynamic global market, and refraining

23 from undue regulatory measures whenever possible.

24 The Government should unambiguously support the

25 development of electronic commerce as a market26 driven phenomenon, yet also signal its strong desire
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1 to promote and facilitate the growth of the electronic

2 commerce market.

3 (4) An important enabler for global electronic

4 commerce is the ability of different systems to com5 municate and exchange data, referred to as system

6 interoperability. The continued growth of electronic

7 commerce depends on a fundamental set of technical

8 standards that enable essential technologies to inter9 operate, and on a policy and legal framework that

10 supports the development that the market demands

11 in a timely manner.

12 (5) Prompt adoption and deployment of rel13 evant electronic commerce technologies and systems

14 by Federal agencies allow the Government to share

15 in the benefits of the electronic commerce revolution,

16 which can result in reduced cost and increased effi17 ciency, as well as improved quality.

18 (6) Usage of the technologies will enable the

19 Government to participate more directly and effec20 tively as an active contributor in the collaborative ef21 forts spearheaded by the private sector to develop

22 the frameworks and standards necessary for systems

23 and components to interoperate. This has the added

24 benefit of allowing the Government to intercede as

25 necessary in a timely manner, either in failure condi-
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1 tions or to remove barriers erected by foreign gov2 ernments.

3 (7) In actively deploying such technologies, the

4 United States leadership in electronic commerce is

5 strengthened and, at the same time, establishes a

6 model for other governments and enables the growth

7 of the global electronic commerce market.

8 (8) Traditionally, small- and medium-sized en9 terprises play a critical role in enhancing the gross

10 domestic product associated with a growing eco11 nomic sector. Electronic commerce technologies have

12 the potential to enable these businesses to enter the

13 market with lower entry costs and compete more ef14 fectively. The United States Government has an in15 herent interest in ensuring that electronic commerce

16 technologies are deployed widely by these small- and

17 medium-sized businesses so that they can remain

18 competitive in the global economy.

19 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

20 In this Act:

21 (1) CENTER.—The term ‘‘Center’’ means the

22 Center of Excellence for Electronic Commerce.

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

24 the Director of the National Institute of Standards

25 and Technology.
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1 (3) INTEROPERABILITY.—The term ‘‘interoper2 ability’’ means the ability of different software sys3 tems, applications, and services to communicate and

4 exchange data in a predictable and consistent man5 ner.

6 (4) INTEROPERABILITY SPECIFICATION.—The

7 term ‘‘interoperability specification’’ means the tech8 nical documents developed by formal domestic and

9 international standard organizations, industry con10 sortia, and any other informal industry collabora11 tions, for the purpose of creating interoperable sys12 tems and technologies.

13 (5) INSTITUTE.—The term ‘‘Institute’’ means

14 the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

15 (6) MATRIX ORGANIZATION.—The term ‘‘matrix

16 organization’’ means an organizational structure

17 that is built based on coordinating the needed re18 sources and expertise from other existing functional

19 organizations.

20 SEC. 4. PURPOSES.

21 The purposes of this Act are—

22 (1) to enable the electronic commerce market to

23 continue its current growth rate and realize its full

24 potential by supporting the development of relevant

25 standards and interoperability specifications;
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1 (2) to signal strong support of the electronic

2 commerce market by promoting the use of electronic

3 commerce technologies within Federal Government

4 agencies; and

5 (3) to establish a Center of Excellence in Elec6 tronic Commerce at the National Institute of Stand7 ards and Technology, which will act as a central re8 source for the Federal Government, promote the use

9 of electronic commerce technologies, and represent

10 the Government interest in private sector collabo11 rative efforts to develop electronic commerce tech12 nologies and interoperability specifications.

13 SEC. 5. CENTER OF EXCELLENCE FOR ELECTRONIC COM14 MERCE.

15 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Director shall establish

16 an office within the Institute to be known as the Center

17 of Excellence for Electronic Commerce. The Center shall

18 be organized as a matrix organization built upon existing

19 expertise and resources at the Institute.

20 (b) FUNCTIONS.—The Center shall—

21 (1) act as the centralized resource of informa22 tion for Federal agencies in electronic commerce

23 technologies and issues;
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1 (2) provide guidance to the Office of Manage2 ment and Budget in developing policies pertaining to

3 electronic commerce;

4 (3) promote the use of electronic commerce

5 technologies within Federal agencies and small- and

6 medium-sized businesses; and

7 (4) ensure that the interests of the United

8 States Government are appropriately represented at

9 both domestic and international meetings pertaining

10 to the setting of interoperability specifications for

11 electronic commerce technologies.

12 (c) ACTIVITIES.—In carrying out subsection (b), the

13 Center shall—

14 (1) work with all the affected parts of the Insti15 tute, develop a plan for all efforts related to elec16 tronic commerce at the Institute, and coordinate

17 these activities on an ongoing basis to achieve the

18 stated functions;

19 (2) coordinate and lead an inter-agency working

20 group to address issues related to the introduction

21 and deployment of electronic commerce technologies

22 and systems in the Federal Government;

23 (3) develop systems guidelines and reference

24 implementations for use by Federal agencies which

25 utilize electronic commerce interoperability specifica-
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1 tions, consistent with section 2(b)(13) of the Na2 tional Institute of Standards and Technology Act

3 (15 U.S.C. 272(b)(13)) and section 12(d) of the Na4 tional Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of

5 1995 (15 U.S.C. 272 nt);

6 (4) advise the Secretary of Commerce upon en7 countering abusive uses of standards as barriers to

8 trade or as unfair commercial practices in the do9 mestic and international arenas in the areas of elec10 tronic commerce; and

11 (5) lead a coordinated effort with the Depart12 ment of Commerce’s Manufacturing Extension Pro13 gram and with the Small Business Administration,

14 consistent with the respective agencies’ missions, to

15 provide technical assistance to small- and medium16 sized businesses on issues related to the deployment

17 and use of electronic commerce technologies, includ18 ing developing training modules and software tool19 kits.

20 SEC. 6. REPORTS.

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Within 6 months after the enact22 ment of this Act, the Undersecretary of Technology shall

23 submit a report to the Committee on Commerce, Science,

24 and Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on
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1 Science of the House of Representatives on the following

2 issues concerning electronic commerce:

3 (1) Current efforts and activities on electronic

4 commerce in the Institute.

5 (2) The current status of deployment of elec6 tronic commerce technologies in the Federal agen7 cies, including any future plans.

8 (3) Issues Federal agencies are expected to en9 counter in widespread deployment of electronic com10 merce technologies.

11 (4) Any legislative revisions to existing Federal

12 programs necessary to support the advancement of

13 electronic commerce in both the Federal Government

14 and industry.

15 (b) REPORT.—Within 1 year after the date of enact16 ment of this Act, the Director of the Institute, in collabo17 ration with the inter-agency working group referred to in

18 section 5(c)(2), shall submit a report to the Committee

19 on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate

20 and the Committee on Science of the House of Represent21 atives detailing the plan, proposed schedule, and associ22 ated costs and benefits for the deployment of electronic

23 commerce technologies in the Federal agencies.

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