I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 6118 

To establish a National Manufacturing Extension Partnership Supply Chain 

Database, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 1, 2021 

Mrs. TORRES of California (for herself and Mr. FLEISCHMANN) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, 

and Technology 

A BILL 

To establish a National Manufacturing Extension 

Partnership Supply Chain Database, 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 ‘‘National MEP Supply 

5 Chain Database Act of 2021’’. 

6 SEC. 2. NATIONAL MANUFACTURING EXTENSION PARTNER7 SHIP SUPPLY CHAIN DATABASE. 

8 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

9 (1) CENTER.—The term ‘‘Center’’ has the 

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1 tional Institute of Standards and Technology Act 

2 (15 U.S.C. 278k(a)). 

3 (2) DATABASE.—The term ‘‘Database’’ means 

4 the National Manufacturing Extension Partnership 

5 Supply Chain Database established under subsection 

6 (b). 

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

8 the Director of the National Institute of Standards 

9 and Technology. 

10 (4) INSTITUTE.—The term ‘‘Institute’’ means 

11 the National Institute of Standards and Technology. 

12 (b) ESTABLISHMENT OF DATABASE.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the availability of 

14 appropriations, the Director shall establish a data15 base to assist the United States in minimizing dis16 ruptions in the supply chain by providing a resource 

17 for manufacturers in the United States. 

18 (2) DESIGNATION.—The database established 

19 under paragraph (1) shall be known as the ‘‘Na20 tional Manufacturing Extension Partnership Supply 

21 Chain Database’’. 

22 (c) CONSIDERATIONS.—In establishing the Database, 

23 the Director shall consider the findings and recommenda24 tions from the study required under section 9413 of the 

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1 ization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (Public Law 116–283), 

2 including measures to secure and protect the Database 

3 from adversarial attacks and vulnerabilities. 

4 (d) CONNECTIONS WITH HOLLINGS MANUFAC5 TURING EXTENSION PARTNERSHIPS CENTERS.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall create the 

7 infrastructure for the Database through the Hollings 

8 Manufacturing Extension Partnership, established 

9 under section 25 of the National Institute of Stand10 ards and Technology Act (15 U.S.C. 278k), by con11 necting information from the Centers through the 

12 Database. 

13 (2) NATIONAL VIEW.—The Director shall en14 sure that connections under paragraph (1)— 

15 (A) provide a national overview of the net16 works of supply chains of the United States; 

17 and 

18 (B) support understanding of whether 

19 there is a need for some manufacturers to re20 tool in some critical areas to meet the urgent 

21 need for key products, such as defense supplies, 

22 food, and medical devices, including personal 

23 protective equipment. 

24 (3) INDIVIDUAL HOLLINGS MANUFACTURING

25 EXTENSION PARTNERSHIP CENTER DATABASES.— 


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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall en2 sure that— 

3 (i) each Center is connected to the 

4 Database; and 

5 (ii) each supply chain database main6 tained by a Center is interoperable with 

7 the Database. 

8 (B) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 

9 this section shall be construed to require a 

10 State or territory of the United States to estab11 lish a new supply chain database through the 

12 Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership 

13 program. 

14 (e) MAINTENANCE OF NATIONAL SUPPLY CHAIN

15 DATABASE.—The Director, acting through the Hollings 

16 Manufacturing Extension Partnership program or a des17 ignee of the program— 

18 (1) shall maintain the Database as an integra19 tion of State-level databases from the Center of each 

20 State or territory of the United States; and 

21 (2) may populate the Database with informa22 tion from past, current, or potential clients of Cen23 ters. 

24 (f) DATABASE CONTENT.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Database may include 

2 the following: 

3 (A) Basic company information. 

4 (B) An overview of capabilities, accredita5 tions, and products. 

6 (C) Proprietary information. 

7 (D) Such other items as the Director con8 siders necessary. 

9 (2) STANDARD CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM.—The 

10 Database shall use the North American Industry 

11 Classification System (NAICS) Codes as follows: 

12 (A) Sector 31–33—Manufacturing. 

13 (B) Sector 54—Professional, Scientific, 

14 and Technical Services. 

15 (C) Sector 48–49—Transportation and 

16 Warehousing. 

17 (3) LEVELS.—The Database shall be multi-lev18 eled as follows: 

19 (A) Level 1 shall have basic company in20 formation and shall be available to the public. 

21 (B) Level 2 shall have a deeper, nonpropri22 etary overview into capabilities, products, and 

23 accreditations and shall be available to all com24 panies that contribute to the Database and 

25 agree to terms of mutual disclosure. 


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1 (C) Level 3 shall hold proprietary informa2 tion. 

3 (4) MATTERS RELATING TO DISCLOSURE AND

4 ACCESS.— 

5 (A) FOIA EXEMPTION.—The Database, 

6 and any information contained therein that is 

7 not publicly released by the Institute, shall be 

8 exempt from public disclosure under section 

9 552(b)(3) of title 5, United States Code. 

10 (B) LIMITATION ON ACCESS TO CON11 TENT.—Access to a contributing company’s 

12 nonpublic content in the Database shall be lim13 ited to the contributing company, the Institute, 

14 and staff from a Center who sign such non15 disclosure agreement as the Director considers 

16 appropriate. 

17 (C) AGGREGATED INFORMATION.—The Di18 rector may make aggregated, de-identified in19 formation available to contributing companies, 

20 Centers, or the public, as the Director considers 

21 appropriate, in support of the purposes of this 

22 section. 

23 (g) COORDINATION WITH NATIONAL TECHNOLOGY

24 AND INDUSTRIAL BASE.—The Director, acting through 

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1 gram, may work with the National Defense Technology 

2 and Industrial Base Council established by section 

3 2502(a) of title 10, United States Code, as the Director 

4 considers appropriate, to include in the Database informa5 tion regarding the defense manufacturing supply chain. 

6 (h) PROTECTIONS.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Supply chain information 

8 that is voluntarily and lawfully submitted by a pri9 vate entity and accompanied by an express state10 ment described in paragraph (2)— 

11 (A) shall be exempt from disclosure under 

12 section 552(b)(3) of title 5, United States Code; 

13 (B) shall not be made available pursuant 

14 to any Federal, State, local, or Tribal authority 

15 pursuant to any Federal, State, local, or Tribal 

16 law requiring public disclosure of information or 

17 records; and 

18 (C) shall not, without the written consent 

19 of the person or entity submitting such infor20 mation, be used directly by the Director, or any 

21 other Federal, State, or local authority in any 

22 civil enforcement action brought by a Federal, 

23 State, or local authority. 


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1 (2) EXPRESS STATEMENT.—The express state2 ment described in this paragraph, with respect to in3 formation or records, is— 

4 (A) in the case of written information or 

5 records, a written marking on the information 

6 or records substantially similar to the following: 

7 ‘‘This information is voluntarily submitted to 

8 the Federal Government in expectation of pro9 tection from disclosure as provided by the provi10 sions of section 2(h) of the National MEP Sup11 ply Chain Database Act of 2021.’’; or 

12 (B) in the case of oral information, a writ13 ten statement similar to the statement de14 scribed in subparagraph (A) submitted within a 

15 reasonable period following the oral communica16 tion. 

17 (i) RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.— 

18 (1) PRIVATE ENTITIES.—Nothing in this sec19 tion shall be construed to require any private entity 

20 to share data with the Director specifically for the 

21 Database. 

22 (2) PROHIBITION ON NEW REGULATORY AU23 THORITY.—Nothing in this section shall be con24 strued to grant the Director, or the head of any 

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1 gate regulations or set standards on manufacturers, 

2 based on data within the Database, that was not in 

3 effect on the day before the date of enactment of 

4 this section. 

5 (j) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

6 are authorized to be appropriated— 

7 (1) $31,000,000 for fiscal year 2022 to develop 

8 and launch the Database; and 

9 (2) $26,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2023 

10 through 2026 to maintain, update, and support Fed11 eral coordination of the State supply chain databases 

12 maintained by the Centers. 

Æ 


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