II 

Calendar No. 557 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 1650 

[Report No. 110–257] 

To establish a digital and wireless network technology program, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 19, 2007 

Mr. KERRY (for himself, Mr. WARNER, Mr. PRYOR, Mr. SMITH, Mr. WEBB, 

Mrs. BOXER, Mr. LOTT, and Mr. STEVENS) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

JUNE 21, 2007 

Committee discharged; referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 

Transportation 

JANUARY 8, 2008 

Reported under authority of the order of the Senate of December 19, 2007, 

by Mr. INOUYE, with amendments 

[Omit the part struck through and insert the part printed in italic] 

A BILL 

To establish a digital and wireless network technology 

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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Max Cleland Minority 

3 Serving Institution Digital and Wireless Technology Op4 portunity Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF OFFICE. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is established within the 

7 National Science Foundation Department of Commerce an 

8 Office of Minority Serving Institution Digital and Wireless 

9 Technology to carry out the provisions of this Act. 

10 (b) PURPOSE.—The Office shall— 

11 (1) strengthen the ability of eligible institutions 

12 to provide capacity for instruction in digital and 

13 wireless network technologies by providing grants to, 

14 or executing contracts or cooperative agreements 

15 with, those institutions to provide such instruction; 

16 and 

17 (2) strengthen the national digital and wireless 

18 infrastructure by increasing national investment in 

19 telecommunications and technology infrastructure at 

20 eligible institutions. 

21 SEC. 3. ACTIVITIES SUPPORTED. 

22 An eligible institution shall use a grant, contract, or 

23 cooperative agreement awarded under this Act— 

24 (1) to acquire equipment, instrumentation, net25 working capability, hardware and software, digital 


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1 network technology, wireless technology, and infra2 structure; 

3 (2) to develop and provide educational services, 

4 including faculty development, related to science, 

5 mathematics, engineering, or technology; 

6 (3) to provide teacher education, library and 

7 media specialist training, and preschool and teacher 

8 aid certification to individuals who seek to acquire or 

9 enhance technology skills in order to use technology 

10 in the classroom or instructional process; 

11 (4) to implement joint projects and consortia to 

12 provide education regarding technology in the class13 room with a State or State education agency, local 

14 education agency, community-based organization, 

15 national non-profit organization, or business, includ16 ing minority businesses; 

17 (5) to provide professional development in 

18 science, mathematics, engineering, or technology to 

19 administrators and faculty of eligible institutions 

20 with institutional responsibility for technology edu21 cation; 

22 (6) to provide capacity-building technical assist23 ance to eligible institutions through remote technical 

24 support, technical assistance workshops, distance 


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1 learning, new technologies, and other technological 

2 applications; 

3 (7) to foster the use of information communica4 tions technology to increase scientific, mathematical, 

5 engineering, and technology instruction and re6 search; and 

7 (8) to develop proposals to be submitted under 

8 this Act and to develop strategic plans for informa9 tion technology investments. 

10 SEC. 4. APPLICATION AND REVIEW PROCEDURE. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to receive a grant, 

12 contract, or cooperative agreement under this Act, an eli13 gible institution shall submit an application to the Direc14 tor Secretary at such time, in such manner, and accom15 panied by such information as the Director Secretary may 

16 reasonably require. The Director, Secretary, in consulta17 tion with the advisory council established under subsection 

18 (b), shall establish a procedure by which to accept and 

19 review such applications and publish an announcement of 

20 such procedure, including a statement regarding the avail21 ability of funds, in the Federal Register. 

22 (b) ADVISORY COUNCIL.—The Director Secretary 

23 shall establish an advisory council to advise the Director 

24 Secretary on the best approaches for involving eligible in25 stitutions in the activities described in section 3, and for 


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1 reviewing and evaluating proposals submitted to the pro2 gram. In selecting the members of the advisory council, 

3 the Director Secretary may consult with representatives 

4 of appropriate organizations, including representatives of 

5 eligible institutions, to ensure that the membership of the 

6 advisory council reflects participation by technology and 

7 telecommunications institutions, minority businesses, eligi8 ble institution communities, Federal agency personnel, 

9 and other individuals who are knowledgeable about eligible 

10 institutions and technology issues. Any panel assembled 

11 to review a proposal submitted to the program shall in12 clude members from minority serving institutions. Pro13 gram review criteria shall include consideration of— 

14 (1) demonstrated need for assistance under this 

15 Act; and 

16 (2) diversity among the types of institutions re17 ceiving assistance under this Act. 

18 (c) DATA COLLECTION.—An eligible institution that 

19 receives a grant, contract, or cooperative agreement under 

20 section 2 shall provide the Office with any relevant institu21 tional statistical or demographic data requested by the Of22 fice. 

23 (d) INFORMATION DISSEMINATION.—The Director 

24 Secretary shall convene an annual meeting of eligible instiVerDate Aug 31 2005 22:01 Jan 08, 2008 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1650.RS S1650

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1 tutions receiving grants, contracts, or cooperative agree2 ments under section 2 for the purposes of— 

3 (1) fostering collaboration and capacity-building 

4 activities among eligible institutions; and 

5 (2) disseminating information and ideas gen6 erated by such meetings. 

7 SEC. 5. MATCHING REQUIREMENT. 

8 The Director Secretary may not award a grant, con9 tract, or cooperative agreement to an eligible institution 

10 under this Act unless such institution agrees that, with 

11 respect to the costs to be incurred by the institution in 

12 carrying out the program for which the grant, contract, 

13 or cooperative agreement was awarded, such institution 

14 will make available (directly or through donations from 

15 public or private entities) non-Federal contributions in an 

16 amount equal to 25 percent of the amount of the grant, 

17 contract, or cooperative agreement awarded by the Direc18 tor, Secretary, or $500,000, whichever is the lesser 

19 amount. The Director Secretary shall waive the matching 

20 requirement for any institution or consortium with no en21 dowment, or an endowment that has a current dollar value 

22 lower than $50,000,000. 

23 SEC. 6. LIMITATIONS. 

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—An eligible institution that re25 ceives a grant, contract, or cooperative agreement under 


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1 this Act that exceeds $2,500,000, shall not be eligible to 

2 receive another grant, contract, or cooperative agreement 

3 under this Act until every other eligible institution that 

4 has applied for a grant, contract, or cooperative agreement 

5 under this Act has received such a grant, contract, or co6 operative. 

7 (b) AWARDS ADMINISTERED BY ELIGIBLE INSTITU8 TION.—Each grant, contract, or cooperative agreement 

9 awarded under this Act shall be made to, and adminis10 tered by, an eligible institution, even when it is awarded 

11 for the implementation of a consortium or joint project. 

12 SEC. 7. ANNUAL REPORT AND EVALUATION. 

13 (a) ANNUAL REPORT REQUIRED FROM RECIPI14 ENTS.—Each institution that receives a grant, contract, 

15 or cooperative agreement under this Act shall provide an 

16 annual report to the Director Secretary on its use of the 

17 grant, contract, or cooperative agreement. 

18 (b) EVALUATION BY DIRECTOR SECRETARY.—The 

19 Director, Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of 

20 Education, shall— 

21 (1) review the reports provided under sub22 section (a) each year; and 

23 (2) evaluate the program authorized by section 

24 3 on the basis of those reports every 2 years. 


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1 (c) CONTENTS OF EVALUATION.—The Director, Sec2 retary, in the evaluation, shall describe the activities un3 dertaken by those institutions and shall assess the short4 range and long-range impact of activities carried out 

5 under the grant, contract, or cooperative agreement on the 

6 students, faculty, and staff of the institutions. 

7 (d) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The Director Secretary 

8 shall submit a report to the Congress based on the evalua9 tion. In the report, the Director Secretary shall include 

10 such recommendations, including recommendations con11 cerning the continuing need for Federal support of the 

12 program, as may be appropriate. 

13 SEC. 8. DEFINITIONS. 

14 In this Act: 

15 (1) ELIGIBLE INSTITUTION.—The term ‘‘eligi16 ble institution’’ means an institution that is— 

17 (A) a historically Black college or univer18 sity that is a part B institution, as defined in 

19 section 322(2) of the Higher Education Act of 

20 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1061(2)); 

21 (B) a Hispanic-serving institution, as de22 fined in section 502(a)(5) of the Higher Edu23 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1101a(a)(5)); 

24 (C) a tribally controlled college or univer25 sity, as defined in section 316(b)(3) of the 


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1 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

2 1059c(b)(3)); 

3 (D) an Alaska Native-serving institution 

4 under section 317(b) of the Higher Education 

5 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1059d(b)); 

6 (E) a Native Hawaiian-serving institution 

7 under section 317(b) of the Higher Education 

8 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1059d(b)); or 

9 (F) an institution determined by the Direc10 tor, Secretary, in consultation with the Sec11 retary of Education, to have enrolled a substan12 tial number of minority, low-income students 

13 during the previous academic year who received 

14 assistance under subpart I of part A of title IV 

15 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 

16 U.S.C. 1070a et seq.) for that year. 

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

18 the Director of the National Science Foundation. 

19 (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

20 the Secretary of Commerce or the Secretary’s designee. 

21 SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

22 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Direc23 tor of the National Science Foundation Secretary 

24 $250,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2008 through 

25 2012 to carry out this Act. 


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Calendar No. 557 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 1650 

[Report No. 110

–257] 

A BILL 

To establish a digital and wireless network 

technology program, and for other purposes. 

JANUARY 8, 2008 

Reported with amendments 


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