II 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 196

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

other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 17, 2003

Mr. ALLEN (for himself, Mr. MCCAIN, Mr. STEVENS, Mr. HOLLINGS, and Mr. 

MILLER) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Digital and Wireless 

5 Network Technology Program Act of 2003’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF OFFICE. 

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

8 National Science Foundation an Office of Digital and 

9 Wireless Network Technology to carry out the provisions 

10 of this Act. 
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1 (b) PURPOSE.—The Office shall—

2 (1) strengthen the ability of eligible institutions 

3 to provide capacity for instruction in digital and 

4 wireless network technologies by providing grants to, 

5 or executing contracts or cooperative agreements 

6 with, those institutions to provide such instruction; 

7 and 

8 (2) strengthen the national digital and wireless 

9 infrastructure by increasing national investment in 

10 telecommunications and technology infrastructure at 

11 eligible institutions. 

12 SEC. 3. ACTIVITIES SUPPORTED. 

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

14 cooperative agreement awarded under this Act—

15 (1) to acquire the equipment, instrumentation, 

16 networking capability, hardware and software, dig17 ital network technology, wireless technology, and in18 frastructure; 

19 (2) to develop and provide educational services, 

20 including faculty development, to prepare students 

21 or faculty seeking a degree or certificate that is ap22 proved by the State, or a regional accrediting body 

23 recognized by the Secretary of Education; 

24 (3) to provide teacher education, library and 

25 media specialist training, and preschool and teacher 
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1 aid certification to individuals who seek to acquire or 

2 enhance technology skills in order to use technology 

3 in the classroom or instructional process; 

4 (4) to implement joint projects and consortia to 

5 provide education regarding technology in the class6 room with a State or State education agency, local 

7 education agency, community-based organization, 

8 national non-profit organization, or business, includ9 ing minority businesses; 

10 (5) to provide leadership development to admin11 istrators, board members, and faculty of eligible in12 stitutions with institutional responsibility for tech13 nology education; 

14 (6) to provide capacity-building technical assist15 ance to eligible institutions through technical assist16 ance workshops, distance learning, new technologies, 

17 and other technological applications; and 

18 (7) to foster the use of information communica19 tions technology to increase scientific, mathematical, 

20 engineering, and technology instruction and re21 search. 

22 SEC. 4. APPLICATION AND REVIEW PROCEDURE. 

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

24 contract, or cooperative agreement under this Act, an eli25 gible institution shall submit an application to the Direc-
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1 tor at such time, in such manner, and accompanied by 

2 such information as the Director may reasonably require. 

3 The Director, in consultation with the advisory council es4 tablished under subsection (b), shall establish a procedure 

5 by which to accept such applications and publish an an6 nouncement of such procedure, including a statement re7 garding the availability of funds, in the Federal Register. 

8 (b) ADVISORY COUNCIL.—The Director shall estab9 lish an advisory council to advise the Director on the best 

10 approaches for involving eligible institutions in the activi11 ties described in section 3. In selecting the members of 

12 the advisory council, the Director may consult with rep13 resentatives of appropriate organizations, including rep14 resentatives of eligible institutions, to ensure that the 

15 membership of the advisory council reflects participation 

16 by technology and telecommunications institutions, minor17 ity businesses, eligible institution communities, Federal 

18 agency personnel, and other individuals who are knowl19 edgeable about eligible institutions and technology issues. 

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

21 receives a grant, contract, or cooperative agreement under 

22 section 2 shall provide the Office with any relevant institu23 tional statistical or demographic data requested by the Of24 fice. 
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1 (d) INFORMATION DISSEMINATION.—The Director 

2 shall convene an annual meeting of eligible institutions re3 ceiving grants, contracts, or cooperative agreements under 

4 section 2 for the purposes of—

5 (1) fostering collaboration and capacity-building 

6 activities among eligible institutions; and 

7 (2) disseminating information and ideas gen8 erated by such meetings.

9 SEC. 5. MATCHING REQUIREMENT. 

10 The Director may not award a grant, contract, or co11 operative agreement to an eligible institution under this 

12 Act unless such institution agrees that, with respect to the 

13 costs to be incurred by the institution in carrying out the 

14 program for which the grant, contract, or cooperative 

15 agreement was awarded, such institution will make avail16 able (directly or through donations from public or private 

17 entities) non-Federal contributions in an amount equal to 

1 18 ⁄4 of the amount of the grant, contract, or cooperative 

19 agreement awarded by the Director, or $500,000, which20 ever is the lesser amount. The Director shall waive the 

21 matching requirement for any institution or consortium 

22 with no endowment, or an endowment that has a current 

23 dollar value lower than $50,000,000.
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1 SEC. 6. LIMITATIONS. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—An eligible institution that re3 ceives a grant, contract, or cooperative agreement under 

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

5 receive another grant, contract, or cooperative agreement 

6 under this Act until every other eligible institution that 

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

8 under this Act has received such a grant, contract, or co9 operative. 

10 (b) AWARDS ADMINISTERED BY ELIGIBLE INSTITU11 TION.—Each grant, contract, or cooperative agreement 

12 awarded under this Act shall be made to, and adminis13 tered by, an eligible institution, even when it is awarded 

14 for the implementation of a consortium or joint project. 

15 SEC. 7. ANNUAL REPORT AND EVALUATION. 

16 (a) ANNUAL REPORT REQUIRED FROM RECIPI17 ENTS.—Each institution that receives a grant, contract, 

18 or cooperative agreement under this Act shall provide an 

19 annual report to the Director on its use of the grant, con20 tract, or cooperative agreement. 

21 (b) EVALUATION BY DIRECTOR.—The Director, in 

22 consultation with the Secretary of Education, shall—

23 (1) review the reports provided under sub24 section (a) each year; and 

25 (2) evaluate the program authorized by section 

26 3 on the basis of those reports every 2 years. 
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1 (c) CONTENTS OF EVALUATION.—The Director, in 

2 the evaluation, shall describe the activities undertaken by 

3 those institutions and shall assess the short-range and 

4 long-range impact of activities carried out under the 

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

6 faculty, and staff of the institutions. 

7 (d) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The Director shall sub8 mit a report to the Congress based on the evaluation. In 

9 the report, the Director shall include such recommenda10 tions, including recommendations concerning the con11 tinuing need for Federal support of the program, as may 

12 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)), an institution de21 scribed in section 326(e)(1)(A), (B), or (C) of 

22 that Act (20 U.S.C. 1063b(e)(1)(A), (B), or 

23 (C)), or a consortium of institutions described 

24 in this subparagraph; 
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1 (B) a Hispanic-serving institution, as de2 fined in section 502(a)(5) of the Higher Edu3 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1101a(a)(5)); 

4 (C) a tribally controlled college or univer5 sity, as defined in section 316(b)(3) of the 

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

7 1059c(b)(3)); 

8 (D) an Alaska Native-serving institution 

9 under section 317(b) of the Higher Education 

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

11 (E) a Native Hawaiian-serving institution 

12 under section 317(b) of the Higher Education 

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

14 (F) an institution determined by the Direc15 tor, in consultation with the Secretary of Edu16 cation, to have enrolled a substantial number of 

17 minority, low-income students during the pre18 vious academic year who received assistance 

19 under subpart I of part A of title IV of the 

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

21 1070a et seq.) for that year. 

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

23 the Director of the National Science Foundation. 

24 (3) MINORITY BUSINESS.—The term ‘‘minority 

25 business’’ includes HUBZone small business con-
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1 cerns (as defined in section 3(p) of the Small Busi2 ness Act (15 U.S.C. 632(p)). 

3 SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

4 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Direc5 tor of the National Science Foundation $250,000,000 for 

6 each of the fiscal years 2004 through 2008 to carry out 

7 this Act.

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