II 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3620 

To require the Secretary of Commerce to conduct a study on the economic 

competitiveness and innovative capacity of the United States and to 

develop a national economic competitiveness strategy, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 20, 2010 

Mr. WARNER (for himself, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. UDALL of New Mexico, and 

Mr. BEGICH) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of Commerce to conduct a study 

on the economic competitiveness and innovative capacity 

of the United States and to develop a national economic 

competitiveness strategy, 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 Competitive5 ness and Innovation Strategy Act of 2010’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

2 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find3 ings: 

4 (1) The United States has not undertaken a na5 tional economic competitiveness strategy since 1978. 

6 (2) Major economic competitors of the United 

7 States are engaged in nationally coordinated efforts 

8 to improve their own competitiveness. 

9 (3) The world economy is at a turning point in 

10 the face of economic challenges, energy constraints, 

11 infrastructure, and manufacturing sector changes. 

12 (4) The United States needs to position itself to 

13 take advantage of the turning point described in 

14 paragraph (3) to ensure the continued economic suc15 cess of the United States for the next 50 years. 

16 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con17 gress that the United States should engage the private 

18 sector in order to maximize Government efforts to improve 

19 national competitiveness and further innovation within 

20 specific economic sectors in order to reassert leadership 

21 in key sectors and to improve the quality of, and increase 

22 the quantity of, high-value jobs in the United States. 


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1 SEC. 3. STUDY ON ECONOMIC COMPETITIVENESS AND IN2 NOVATIVE CAPACITY OF UNITED STATES AND 

3 DEVELOPMENT OF NATIONAL ECONOMIC 

4 COMPETITIVENESS STRATEGY. 

5 (a) STUDY.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

7 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

8 of Commerce shall complete a comprehensive study 

9 of the economic competitiveness and innovative ca10 pacity of the United States. 

11 (2) MATTERS COVERED.—The study required 

12 by paragraph (1) shall include the following: 

13 (A) An analysis of the United States econ14 omy and innovation infrastructure. 

15 (B) An assessment of the following: 

16 (i) The current competitive and inno17 vation performance of the United States 

18 economy relative to other countries that 

19 compete economically with the United 

20 States. 

21 (ii) Economic competitiveness and do22 mestic innovation in the current business 

23 climate, including tax and Federal regu24 latory policy. 

25 (iii) The business climate of the 

26 United States and those of other countries 


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1 that compete economically with the United 

2 States. 

3 (iv) Regional issues that influence the 

4 economic competitiveness and innovation 

5 capacity of the United States, including— 

6 (I) the roles of State and local 

7 governments and institutions of high8 er education; and 

9 (II) regional factors that con10 tribute positively to innovation. 

11 (v) The effectiveness of the Federal 

12 Government in supporting and promoting 

13 economic competitiveness and innovation, 

14 including any duplicative efforts of, or 

15 gaps in coverage between, Federal agencies 

16 and departments. 

17 (vi) Barriers to competitiveness in 

18 newly emerging business or technology sec19 tors, factors influencing underperforming 

20 economic sectors, unique issues facing 

21 small and medium enterprises, and bar22 riers to the development and evolution of 

23 start-ups, firms, and industries. 

24 (vii) The effects of domestic and 

25 international trade policy on the competiVerDate Mar 15 2010 23:52 Jul 20, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3620.IS S3620

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1 tiveness of the United States and the 

2 United States economy. 

3 (viii) United States export promotion 

4 and export finance programs relative to ex5 port promotion and export finance pro6 grams of other countries that compete eco7 nomically with the United States, including 

8 Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, 

9 Korea, and the United Kingdom, with not10 ing of export promotion and export finance 

11 programs carried out by such countries 

12 that are not analogous to any programs 

13 carried out by the United States. 

14 (ix) The effectiveness of current poli15 cies and programs affecting exports, in16 cluding an assessment of Federal trade re17 strictions and State and Federal export 

18 promotion activities. 

19 (x) The effectiveness of the Federal 

20 Government and federally funded research 

21 and development centers in supporting and 

22 promoting technology commercialization 

23 and technology transfer. 

24 (xi) Domestic and international intel25 lectual property policies and practices. 


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1 (xii) Manufacturing capacity, logistics, 

2 and supply chain dynamics of major export 

3 sectors, including access to a skilled work4 force, physical infrastructure, and 

5 broadband network infrastructure. 

6 (xiii) Federal and State policies relat7 ing to science, technology, and education 

8 and other relevant Federal and State poli9 cies designed to promote commercial inno10 vation, including immigration policies. 

11 (C) Development of recommendations on 

12 the following: 

13 (i) How the United States should in14 vest in human capital. 

15 (ii) How the United States should fa16 cilitate entrepreneurship and innovation. 

17 (iii) How best to develop opportunities 

18 for locally and regionally driven innovation 

19 by providing Federal support. 

20 (iv) How best to strengthen the eco21 nomic infrastructure and industrial base of 

22 the United States. 

23 (v) How to improve the international 

24 competitiveness of the United States. 

25 (3) CONSULTATION.— 


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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—The study required by 

2 paragraph (1) shall be conducted in consulta3 tion with the National Economic Council of the 

4 Office of Policy Development, such Federal 

5 agencies as the Secretary considers appropriate, 

6 and the Innovation Advisory Board established 

7 under subparagraph (B). The Secretary shall 

8 also establish a process for obtaining comments 

9 from the public. 

10 (B) INNOVATION ADVISORY BOARD.— 

11 (i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

12 establish an Innovation Advisory Board for 

13 purposes of obtaining advice with respect 

14 to the conduct of the study required by 

15 paragraph (1). 

16 (ii) COMPOSITION.—The Advisory 

17 Board established under clause (i) shall be 

18 comprised of 15 members, appointed by 

19 the Secretary— 

20 (I) who shall represent all major 

21 industry sectors; 

22 (II) a majority of whom should 

23 be from private industry, including 

24 large and small firms, representing 

25 advanced technology sectors and more 


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1 traditional sectors that use tech2 nology; and 

3 (III) who may include economic 

4 or innovation policy experts, State and 

5 local government officials active in 

6 technology-based economic develop7 ment, and representatives from higher 

8 education. 

9 (iii) EXEMPTION FROM FACA.—The 

10 Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. 

11 App.) shall not apply to the advisory board 

12 established under clause (i). 

13 (b) STRATEGY.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

15 the completion of the study required by subsection 

16 (a), the Secretary shall develop, based on the study 

17 required by subsection (a)(1), a national 10-year 

18 strategy to strengthen the innovative and competi19 tive capacity of the Federal Government, State and 

20 local governments, United States institutions of 

21 higher education, and the private sector of the 

22 United States. 

23 (2) ELEMENTS.—The strategy required by 

24 paragraph (1) shall include the following: 


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1 (A) Actions to be taken by individual Fed2 eral agencies and departments to improve com3 petitiveness. 

4 (B) Proposed legislative actions for consid5 eration by Congress. 

6 (C) Annual goals and milestones for the 

7 10-year period of the strategy. 

8 (D) A plan for monitoring the progress of 

9 the Federal Government with respect to improv10 ing conditions for innovation and the competi11 tiveness of the United States. 

12 (c) REPORT.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—Upon the completion of the 

14 strategy required by subsection (b), the Secretary of 

15 Commerce shall submit to Congress and the Presi16 dent a report on the study conducted under sub17 section (a) and the strategy developed under sub18 section (b). 

19 (2) ELEMENTS.—The report required by para20 graph (1) shall include the following: 

21 (A) The findings of the Secretary with re22 spect to the study conducted under subsection 

23 (a). 


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1 (B) The strategy required by subsection 

2 (b). 

Æ 


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