II 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1373 

To provide grants and loan guarantees for the development and construction 

of science parks to promote the clustering of innovation through high 

technology activities. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 11, 2007 

Mr. PRYOR introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To provide grants and loan guarantees for the development 

and construction of science parks to promote the clustering of innovation through high technology activities. 

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 ‘‘Building a Stronger 

5 America Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEVELOPMENT OF SCIENCE PARKS. 

7 (a) FINDING.—Section 2 of the Stevenson-Wydler 

8 Technology Innovation Act of 1980 (15 U.S.C. 3701) is 

9 amended by adding at the end the following: 

mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with BILLS

2 

•S 1373 IS

1 ‘‘(12) It is in the best interests of the Nation 

2 to encourage the formation of science parks to pro3 mote the clustering of innovation through high tech4 nology activities.’’. 

5 (b) DEFINITION.—Section 4 of such Act (15 U.S.C. 

6 3703) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘(14) ‘Business or industrial park’ means a pri8 marily for-profit real estate venture of businesses or 

9 industries which do not necessarily reinforce each 

10 other through supply chain or technology transfer 

11 mechanisms. 

12 ‘‘(15) ‘Science park’— 

13 ‘‘(A) means a group of interrelated compa14 nies and institutions, including suppliers, serv15 ice providers, institutions of higher education, 

16 start-up incubators, and trade associations 

17 that— 

18 ‘‘(i) cooperate and compete with each 

19 other; 

20 ‘‘(ii) are located in a specific area or 

21 region that promotes real estate develop22 ment, technology transfer, and partner23 ships between such companies and institu24 tions; 

mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with BILLS

3 

•S 1373 IS

1 ‘‘(B) includes a science park, research 

2 park, technology park, research and develop3 ment park, research and technology park, and 

4 science and technology park; and 

5 ‘‘(C) does not include a business or indus6 trial park. 

7 ‘‘(16) ‘Science park infrastructure’ means facili8 ties that support the daily economic activity of a 

9 science park.’’. 

10 (c) SCIENCE PARKS.—The Stevenson-Wydler Tech11 nology Innovation Act of 1980 (15 U.S.C. 3701 et seq.) 

12 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘SEC. 24. SCIENCE PARKS. 

14 ‘‘(a) DEVELOPMENT OF PLANS FOR CONSTRUCTION

15 OF SCIENCE PARKS.— 

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall award 

17 grants for the development of feasibility studies and 

18 plans for the construction of new or expansion of ex19 isting science parks. 

20 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION ON AMOUNT OF GRANTS.— 

21 The amount of a grant awarded under this sub22 section may not exceed $750,000. 

23 ‘‘(3) AWARD.— 

mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with BILLS

4 

•S 1373 IS

1 ‘‘(A) COMPETITION REQUIRED.—The Sec2 retary shall award any grant under this sub3 section pursuant to a full and open competition. 

4 ‘‘(B) GEOGRAPHIC DISPERSION.—The Sec5 retary is encouraged to divide the grants award6 ed under this subsection among low, medium, 

7 and high population density States. 

8 ‘‘(C) ADVERTISING.—The Secretary shall 

9 advertise any competition under this paragraph 

10 in the Commerce Business Daily. 

11 ‘‘(D) SELECTION CRITERIA.—The Sec12 retary shall publish the criteria to be utilized in 

13 any competition under this paragraph for the 

14 selection of recipients of grants under this sub15 section, which shall include requirements relat16 ing to— 

17 ‘‘(i) the number of jobs to be created 

18 at the science park each year during its 

19 first 5 years; 

20 ‘‘(ii) the funding to be required to 

21 construct or expand the science park dur22 ing its first 5 years; 

23 ‘‘(iii) the amount and type of cost 

24 matching by the applicant; 

mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with BILLS

5 

•S 1373 IS

1 ‘‘(iv) the types of businesses and re2 search entities expected in the science park 

3 and surrounding community; 

4 ‘‘(v) letters of intent by businesses 

5 and research entities to locate in the 

6 science park; 

7 ‘‘(vi) the expansion capacity of the 

8 science park during a 25-year period; 

9 ‘‘(vii) the quality of life at the science 

10 park for employees at the science park; 

11 ‘‘(viii) the capability to attract a well 

12 trained workforce to the science park; 

13 ‘‘(ix) the management of the science 

14 park; 

15 ‘‘(x) expected risks in the construction 

16 and operation of the science park; 

17 ‘‘(xi) risk mitigation; 

18 ‘‘(xii) transportation and logistics; 

19 ‘‘(xiii) physical infrastructure, includ20 ing telecommunications; and 

21 ‘‘(xiv) ability to collaborate with other 

22 science parks throughout the world. 

23 ‘‘(4) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

24 There are authorized to be appropriated $7,500,000 

mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with BILLS

6 

•S 1373 IS

1 for each of the fiscal years 2008 through 2012 to 

2 carry out this subsection. 

3 ‘‘(b) LOAN GUARANTEES FOR SCIENCE PARK INFRA4 STRUCTURE.— 

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may guar6 antee up to 80 percent of the loan amount for loans 

7 exceeding $10,000,000 for projects for the construc8 tion of science park infrastructure. 

9 ‘‘(2) LIMITATIONS ON GUARANTEE AMOUNTS.— 

10 The maximum amount of loan principal guaranteed 

11 under this subsection may not exceed— 

12 ‘‘(A) $50,000,000 with respect to any sin13 gle project; and 

14 ‘‘(B) $500,000,000 with respect to all 

15 projects. 

16 ‘‘(3) SELECTION OF GUARANTEE RECIPI17 ENTS.—The Secretary shall select recipients of loan 

18 guarantees under this subsection based upon the 

19 ability of the recipient to collateralize the loan 

20 amount through bonds, equity, property, and other 

21 such criteria as the Secretary shall prescribe. Enti22 ties receiving a grant under subsection (a) are not 

23 eligible for a loan guarantee during the period of 

24 such grant. 

mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with BILLS

7 

•S 1373 IS

1 ‘‘(4) TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR LOAN GUAR2 ANTEES.—The loans guaranteed under this sub3 section shall be subject to such terms and conditions 

4 as the Secretary may prescribe, except that— 

5 ‘‘(A) the final maturity of such loans made 

6 or guaranteed may not exceed the lesser of— 

7 ‘‘(i) 30 years and 32 days; or 

8 ‘‘(ii) 90 percent of the useful life of 

9 any physical asset to be financed by such 

10 loan; 

11 ‘‘(B) a loan made or guaranteed under this 

12 subsection may not be subordinated to another 

13 debt contracted by the borrower or to any other 

14 claims against the borrowers in the case of de15 fault; 

16 ‘‘(C) a loan may not be guaranteed under 

17 this subsection unless the Secretary determines 

18 that the lender is responsible and that adequate 

19 provision is made for servicing the loan on rea20 sonable terms and protecting the financial in21 terest of the United States; 

22 ‘‘(D) a loan may not be guaranteed under 

23 this subsection if— 

24 ‘‘(i) the income from such loan is ex25 cluded from gross income for purposes of 

mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with BILLS

8 

•S 1373 IS

1 chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 

2 1986; or 

3 ‘‘(ii) the guarantee provides signifi4 cant collateral or security, as determined 

5 by the Secretary, for other obligations the 

6 income from which is so excluded; 

7 ‘‘(E) any guarantee provided under this 

8 subsection shall be conclusive evidence that— 

9 ‘‘(i) the guarantee has been properly 

10 obtained; 

11 ‘‘(ii) the underlying loan qualified for 

12 such guarantee; and 

13 ‘‘(iii) absent fraud or material mis14 representation by the holder, the guarantee 

15 is presumed to be valid, legal, and enforce16 able; 

17 ‘‘(F) the Secretary shall prescribe explicit 

18 standards for use in periodically assessing the 

19 credit risk of new and existing direct loans or 

20 guaranteed loans; 

21 ‘‘(G) the Secretary may not extend credit 

22 assistance unless the Secretary has determined 

23 that there is a reasonable assurance of repay24 ment; and 

mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with BILLS

9 

•S 1373 IS

1 ‘‘(H) new loan guarantees may not be com2 mitted except to the extent that appropriations 

3 of budget authority to cover their costs are 

4 made in advance, as required under section 504 

5 of the Federal Credit Reform Act of 1990 (2 

6 U.S.C. 661c). 

7 ‘‘(5) PAYMENT OF LOSSES.— 

8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If, as a result of a de9 fault by a borrower under a loan guaranteed 

10 under this subsection, after the holder has 

11 made such further collection efforts and insti12 tuted such enforcement proceedings as the Sec13 retary may require, the Secretary determines 

14 that the holder has suffered a loss, the Sec15 retary shall pay to such holder the percentage 

16 of such loss specified in the guarantee contract. 

17 Upon making any such payment, the Secretary 

18 shall be subrogated to all the rights of the re19 cipient of the payment. The Secretary shall be 

20 entitled to recover from the borrower the 

21 amount of any payments made pursuant to any 

22 guarantee entered into under this section. 

23 ‘‘(B) ENFORCEMENT OF RIGHTS.—The At24 torney General shall take such action as may be 

25 appropriate to enforce any right accruing to the 

mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with BILLS

10 

•S 1373 IS

1 United States as a result of the issuance of any 

2 guarantee under this section. 

3 ‘‘(C) FORBEARANCE.—Nothing in this sec4 tion may be construed to preclude any forbear5 ance for the benefit of the borrower which may 

6 be agreed upon by the parties to the guaranteed 

7 loan and approved by the Secretary, if budget 

8 authority for any resulting subsidy costs (as de9 fined under the Federal Credit Reform Act of 

10 1990) is available. 

11 ‘‘(D) MANAGEMENT OF PROPERTY.—Not12 withstanding any other provision of law relating 

13 to the acquisition, handling, or disposal of prop14 erty by the United States, the Secretary may 

15 complete, recondition, reconstruct, renovate, re16 pair, maintain, operate, or sell any property ac17 quired by the Secretary pursuant to the provi18 sions of this section. 

19 ‘‘(6) REVIEW.—The Comptroller General of the 

20 United States shall, not later than 2 years after the 

21 date of the enactment of this section— 

22 ‘‘(A) conduct a review of the subsidy esti23 mates for the loan guarantees under this sub24 section; and 

mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with BILLS

11 

•S 1373 IS

1 ‘‘(B) submit to Congress a report on the 

2 review conducted under this paragraph. 

3 ‘‘(7) TERMINATION.—A loan may not be guar4 anteed under this subsection after September 30, 

5 2012. 

6 ‘‘(8) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

7 There are authorized to be appropriated— 

8 ‘‘(A) $35,000,000 for the cost, as defined 

9 in section 502(5) of the Federal Credit Reform 

10 Act of 1990, of guaranteeing $500,000,000 of 

11 loans under this subsection; and 

12 ‘‘(B) $6,000,000 for administrative ex13 penses for fiscal year 2008, and such sums as 

14 necessary for administrative expenses in subse15 quent years. 

16 ‘‘(c) NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES EVALUA17 TION.— 

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall enter 

19 into an agreement with the National Academy of 

20 Sciences under which the Academy shall evaluate, 

21 every 3 years, the activities under this section. 

22 ‘‘(2) TRI-ANNUAL REPORT.—Under the agree23 ment entered into under paragraph (1), the Acad24 emy shall submit to the Secretary a report on its 

25 evaluation of science park development under that 

mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with BILLS

12 

•S 1373 IS

1 paragraph. Each report may include such rec2 ommendations as the Academy considers appropriate 

3 for additional activities to promote and facilitate the 

4 development of science parks in the United States. 

5 ‘‘(d) TRI-ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than March 

6 31 of every third year, the Secretary shall submit to Con7 gress a report on the activities under this section during 

8 the preceding 3 years, including any recommendations 

9 made by the National Academy of Sciences under sub10 section (c)(2) during such period. Each report may include 

11 such recommendations for legislative or administrative ac12 tion as the Secretary considers appropriate to further pro13 mote and facilitate the development of science parks in 

14 the United States. 

15 ‘‘(e) RULEMAKING.—Not later than 1 year after the 

16 date of the enactment of this section, the Secretary shall 

17 prescribe regulations to carry out this section in accord18 ance with Office of Management and Budget Circular A– 

19 129, ‘Policies for Federal Credit Programs and Non-Tax 

20 Receivables’.’’. 

Æ 

mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with BILLS