II

Calendar No. 691

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1912

[Report No. 106–349]

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

JULY 19, 2000

Reported by Mr. MCCAIN, without amendment

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.
2

•S 1912 RS

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’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 The Congress makes the following findings:

8 (1) Electronic commerce has been widely em9 braced by industry, both in the United States and

10 abroad. The volume of commerce conducted over the

11 Internet, though almost nonexistent just a few years

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

13 to market research reports. Continued growth of this

14 market is vital to the economy of the United States

15 as well as the global economy.

16 (2) United States industries are at the forefront

17 of this global revolution, continually evolving and in18 novating to respond to rapidly changing market

19 needs and conditions. Agility and flexibility are es20 sential elements in their abilities to compete and

21 adapt. These are also the elements required for the

22 electronic commerce market to sustain its current

23 phenomenal growth rate.

24 (3) The Federal Government should facilitate

25 the growth of electronic commerce by allowing the
3

•S 1912 RS

1 private sector to continue to take the lead in devel2 oping this dynamic global market, and refraining

3 from undue regulatory measures whenever possible.

4 The Government should unambiguously support the

5 development of electronic commerce as a market6 driven phenomenon, yet also signal its strong desire

7 to promote and facilitate the growth of the electronic

8 commerce market.

9 (4) An important enabler for global electronic

10 commerce is the ability of different systems to com11 municate and exchange data, referred to as system

12 interoperability. The continued growth of electronic

13 commerce depends on a fundamental set of technical

14 standards that enable essential technologies to inter15 operate, and on a policy and legal framework that

16 supports the development that the market demands

17 in a timely manner.

18 (5) Prompt adoption and deployment of rel19 evant electronic commerce technologies and systems

20 by Federal agencies allow the Government to share

21 in the benefits of the electronic commerce revolution,

22 which can result in reduced cost and increased effi23 ciency, as well as improved quality.

24 (6) Usage of the technologies will enable the

25 Government to participate more directly and effec-
4

•S 1912 RS

1 tively as an active contributor in the collaborative ef2 forts spearheaded by the private sector to develop

3 the frameworks and standards necessary for systems

4 and components to interoperate. This has the added

5 benefit of allowing the Government to intercede as

6 necessary in a timely manner, either in failure condi7 tions or to remove barriers erected by foreign gov8 ernments.

9 (7) In actively deploying such technologies, the

10 United States leadership in electronic commerce is

11 strengthened and, at the same time, establishes a

12 model for other governments and enables the growth

13 of the global electronic commerce market.

14 (8) Traditionally, small- and medium-sized en15 terprises play a critical role in enhancing the gross

16 domestic product associated with a growing eco17 nomic sector. Electronic commerce technologies have

18 the potential to enable these businesses to enter the

19 market with lower entry costs and compete more ef20 fectively. The United States Government has an in21 herent interest in ensuring that electronic commerce

22 technologies are deployed widely by these small- and

23 medium-sized businesses so that they can remain

24 competitive in the global economy.
5

•S 1912 RS

1 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

2 In this Act:

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

4 Center of Excellence for Electronic Commerce.

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

6 the Director of the National Institute of Standards

7 and Technology.

8 (3) INTEROPERABILITY.—The term ‘‘interoper9 ability’’ means the ability of different software sys10 tems, applications, and services to communicate and

11 exchange data in a predictable and consistent man12 ner.

13 (4) INTEROPERABILITY SPECIFICATION.—The

14 term ‘‘interoperability specification’’ means the tech15 nical documents developed by formal domestic and

16 international standard organizations, industry con17 sortia, and any other informal industry collabora18 tions, for the purpose of creating interoperable sys19 tems and technologies.

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

21 the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

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

23 organization’’ means an organizational structure

24 that is built based on coordinating the needed re25 sources and expertise from other existing functional

26 organizations.
6

•S 1912 RS

1 SEC. 4. PURPOSES.

2 The purposes of this Act are—

3 (1) to enable the electronic commerce market to

4 continue its current growth rate and realize its full

5 potential by supporting the development of relevant

6 standards and interoperability specifications;

7 (2) to signal strong support of the electronic

8 commerce market by promoting the use of electronic

9 commerce technologies within Federal Government

10 agencies; and

11 (3) to establish a Center of Excellence in Elec12 tronic Commerce at the National Institute of Stand13 ards and Technology, which will act as a central re14 source for the Federal Government, promote the use

15 of electronic commerce technologies, and represent

16 the Government interest in private sector collabo17 rative efforts to develop electronic commerce tech18 nologies and interoperability specifications.

19 SEC. 5. CENTER OF EXCELLENCE FOR ELECTRONIC COM20 MERCE.

21 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Director shall establish

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

23 of Excellence for Electronic Commerce. The Center shall

24 be organized as a matrix organization built upon existing

25 expertise and resources at the Institute.

26 (b) FUNCTIONS.—The Center shall—
7

•S 1912 RS

1 (1) act as the centralized resource of informa2 tion for Federal agencies in electronic commerce

3 technologies and issues;

4 (2) provide guidance to the Office of Manage5 ment and Budget in developing policies pertaining to

6 electronic commerce;

7 (3) promote the use of electronic commerce

8 technologies within Federal agencies and small- and

9 medium-sized businesses; and

10 (4) ensure that the interests of the United

11 States Government are appropriately represented at

12 both domestic and international meetings pertaining

13 to the setting of interoperability specifications for

14 electronic commerce technologies.

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

16 Center shall—

17 (1) work with all the affected parts of the Insti18 tute, develop a plan for all efforts related to elec19 tronic commerce at the Institute, and coordinate

20 these activities on an ongoing basis to achieve the

21 stated functions;

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

23 group to address issues related to the introduction

24 and deployment of electronic commerce technologies

25 and systems in the Federal Government;
8

•S 1912 RS

1 (3) develop systems guidelines and reference

2 implementations for use by Federal agencies which

3 utilize electronic commerce interoperability specifica4 tions, consistent with section 2(b)(13) of the Na5 tional Institute of Standards and Technology Act

6 (15 U.S.C. 272(b)(13)) and section 12(d) of the Na7 tional Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of

8 1995 (15 U.S.C. 272 nt);

9 (4) advise the Secretary of Commerce upon en10 countering abusive uses of standards as barriers to

11 trade or as unfair commercial practices in the do12 mestic and international arenas in the areas of elec13 tronic commerce; and

14 (5) lead a coordinated effort with the Depart15 ment of Commerce’s Manufacturing Extension Pro16 gram and with the Small Business Administration,

17 consistent with the respective agencies’ missions, to

18 provide technical assistance to small- and medium19 sized businesses on issues related to the deployment

20 and use of electronic commerce technologies, includ21 ing developing training modules and software tool22 kits.

23 SEC. 6. REPORTS.

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—Within 6 months after the enact25 ment of this Act, the Undersecretary of Technology shall
9

•S 1912 RS

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

2 and Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on

3 Science of the House of Representatives on the following

4 issues concerning electronic commerce:

5 (1) Current efforts and activities on electronic

6 commerce in the Institute.

7 (2) The current status of deployment of elec8 tronic commerce technologies in the Federal agen9 cies, including any future plans.

10 (3) Issues Federal agencies are expected to en11 counter in widespread deployment of electronic com12 merce technologies.

13 (4) Any legislative revisions to existing Federal

14 programs necessary to support the advancement of

15 electronic commerce in both the Federal Government

16 and industry.

17 (b) REPORT.—Within 1 year after the date of enact18 ment of this Act, the Director of the Institute, in collabo19 ration with the inter-agency working group referred to in

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

21 on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate

22 and the Committee on Science of the House of Represent23 atives detailing the plan, proposed schedule, and associ24 ated costs and benefits for the deployment of electronic

25 commerce technologies in the Federal agencies.
Calendar No. 691

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1912

[Report No. 106–349]

A BILL

To facilitate the growth of electronic commerce and

enable the electronic commerce market to continue its current growth rate and realize its fullpotential, to signal strong support of the electronic commerce market by promoting its usewithin Federal Government agencies and smalland medium-sized businesses, and for other purposes.

JULY 19, 2000

Reported without amendment