II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 747 

To prioritize funding for an expanded and sustained national investment 

in basic science research. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 16, 2015 

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

to the Committee on the Budget 

A BILL 

To prioritize funding for an expanded and sustained national 

investment in basic science research. 

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 ‘‘American Innovation 

5 Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. CAP ADJUSTMENT. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 251(b)(2) of the Balanced 

8 Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (2 

9 U.S.C. 901(b)(2)) is amended— 


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1 (1) by redesignating subparagraph (D) as sub2 paragraph (E); and 

3 (2) by inserting after subparagraph (C), the fol4 lowing: 

5 ‘‘(D) BASIC SCIENCE RESEARCH.— 

6 ‘‘(i) NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDA7 TION.—If a bill or joint resolution making 

8 appropriations for a fiscal year is enacted 

9 that specifies amounts for the National 

10 Science Foundation, then the adjustments 

11 for that fiscal year shall be the amount of 

12 additional new budget authority provided 

13 in that Act for such programs for that fis14 cal year, but shall not exceed— 

15 ‘‘(I) for fiscal year 2016, 

16 $397,000,000 in additional new budg17 et authority; 

18 ‘‘(II) for fiscal year 2017, 

19 $831,000,000 in additional new budg20 et authority; 

21 ‘‘(III) for fiscal year 2018, 

22 $1,275,000,000 in additional new 

23 budget authority; 


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1 ‘‘(IV) for fiscal year 2019, 

2 $1,765,000,000 in additional new 

3 budget authority; 

4 ‘‘(V) for fiscal year 2020, 

5 $2,290,000,000 in additional new 

6 budget authority; and 

7 ‘‘(VI) for fiscal year 2021, 

8 $2,867,000,000 in additional new 

9 budget authority. 

10 ‘‘(ii) DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY OF11 FICE OF SCIENCE.—If a bill or joint reso12 lution making appropriations for a fiscal 

13 year is enacted that specifies amounts for 

14 the Office of Science of the Department of 

15 Energy, then the adjustments for that fis16 cal year shall be the amount of additional 

17 new budget authority provided in that Act 

18 for such programs for that fiscal year, but 

19 shall not exceed— 

20 ‘‘(I) for fiscal year 2016, 

21 $275,000,000 in additional new budg22 et authority; 

23 ‘‘(II) for fiscal year 2017, 

24 $566,000,000 in additional new budg25 et authority; 


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1 ‘‘(III) for fiscal year 2018, 

2 $867,000,000 in additional new budg3 et authority; 

4 ‘‘(IV) for fiscal year 2019, 

5 $1,198,000,000 in additional new 

6 budget authority; 

7 ‘‘(V) for fiscal year 2020, 

8 $1,555,000,000 in additional new 

9 budget authority; and 

10 ‘‘(VI) for fiscal year 2021, 

11 $1,946,000,000 in additional new 

12 budget authority. 

13 ‘‘(iii) DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

14 SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY PROGRAMS.— 

15 If a bill or joint resolution making appro16 priations for a fiscal year is enacted that 

17 specifies amounts for the Department of 

18 Defense science and technology programs, 

19 then the adjustments for that fiscal year 

20 shall be the amount of additional new 

21 budget authority provided in that Act for 

22 such programs for that fiscal year, but 

23 shall not exceed— 


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1 ‘‘(I) for fiscal year 2016, 

2 $636,000,000 in additional new budg3 et authority; 

4 ‘‘(II) for fiscal year 2017, 

5 $1,309,000,000 in additional new 

6 budget authority; 

7 ‘‘(III) for fiscal year 2018, 

8 $2,007,000,000 in additional new 

9 budget authority; 

10 ‘‘(IV) for fiscal year 2019, 

11 $2,773,000,000 in additional new 

12 budget authority; 

13 ‘‘(V) for fiscal year 2020, 

14 $3,603,000,000 in additional new 

15 budget authority; and 

16 ‘‘(VI) for fiscal year 2021, 

17 $4,512,000,000 in additional new 

18 budget authority. 

19 ‘‘(iv) NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF

20 STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY SCIENTIFIC

21 AND TECHNICAL RESEARCH AND SERV22 ICES.—If a bill or joint resolution making 

23 appropriations for a fiscal year is enacted 

24 that specifies amounts for the Scientific 

25 and Technical Research and Services withVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:57 Mar 20, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S747.IS S747

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1 in the National Institute of Standards and 

2 Technology of the Department of Com3 merce, then the adjustments for that fiscal 

4 year shall be the amount of additional new 

5 budget authority provided in that Act for 

6 such programs for that fiscal year, but 

7 shall not exceed— 

8 ‘‘(I) for fiscal year 2016, 

9 $31,000,000 in additional new budget 

10 authority; 

11 ‘‘(II) for fiscal year 2017, 

12 $62,000,000 in additional new budget 

13 authority; 

14 ‘‘(III) for fiscal year 2018, 

15 $96,000,000 in additional new budget 

16 authority; 

17 ‘‘(IV) for fiscal year 2019, 

18 $132,000,000 in additional new budg19 et authority; 

20 ‘‘(V) for fiscal year 2020, 

21 $173,000,000 in additional new budg22 et authority; and 

23 ‘‘(VI) for fiscal year 2021, 

24 $216,000,000 in additional new budg25 et authority. 


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1 ‘‘(v) NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND

2 SPACE ADMINISTRATION SCIENCE DIREC3 TORATE.—If a bill or joint resolution mak4 ing appropriations for a fiscal year is en5 acted that specifies amounts for the 

6 Science Mission Directorate of the Na7 tional Aeronautics and Space Administra8 tion, then the adjustments for that fiscal 

9 year shall be the amount of additional new 

10 budget authority provided in that Act for 

11 such program for that fiscal year, but shall 

12 not exceed— 

13 ‘‘(I) for fiscal year 2016, 

14 $267,000,000 in additional new budg15 et authority; 

16 ‘‘(II) for fiscal year 2017, 

17 $559,000,000 in additional new budg18 et authority; 

19 ‘‘(III) for fiscal year 2018, 

20 $876,000,000 in additional new budg21 et authority; 

22 ‘‘(IV) for fiscal year 2019, 

23 $1,222,000,000 in additional new 

24 budget authority; 


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1 ‘‘(V) for fiscal year 2020, 

2 $1,598,000,000 in additional new 

3 budget authority; and 

4 ‘‘(VI) for fiscal year 2021, 

5 $2,006,000,000 in additional new 

6 budget authority. 

7 ‘‘(vi) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this 

8 subparagraph: 

9 ‘‘(I) ADDITIONAL NEW BUDGET

10 AUTHORITY.—The term ‘additional 

11 new budget authority’ means— 

12 ‘‘(aa) with respect to the 

13 National Science Foundation, the 

14 amount provided for a fiscal 

15 year, in excess of the amount 

16 provided in fiscal year 2015, in 

17 an appropriation Act and speci18 fied to support the National 

19 Science Foundation; 

20 ‘‘(bb) with respect to the 

21 Department of Energy Office of 

22 Science, the amount provided for 

23 a fiscal year, in excess of the 

24 amount provided in fiscal year 

25 2015, in an appropriation Act 


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1 and specified to support the De2 partment of Energy Office of 

3 Science; 

4 ‘‘(cc) with respect to the De5 partment of Defense Science and 

6 Technology Programs, the 

7 amount provided for a fiscal 

8 year, in excess of the amount 

9 provided in fiscal year 2015, in 

10 an appropriation Act and speci11 fied to support the Department 

12 of Defense Science and Tech13 nology Programs; 

14 ‘‘(dd) with respect to the 

15 National Institute of Standards 

16 and Technology Scientific and 

17 Technical Research Services, the 

18 amount provided for a fiscal 

19 year, in excess of the amount 

20 provided in fiscal year 2015, in 

21 an appropriation Act and speci22 fied to support the National In23 stitute of Standards and Tech24 nology Scientific and Technical 

25 Research Services; and 


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1 ‘‘(ee) with respect to the 

2 National Aeronautics and Space 

3 Administration Science Direc4 torate, the amount provided for a 

5 fiscal year, in excess of the 

6 amount provided in fiscal year 

7 2015, in an appropriation Act 

8 and specified to support the Na9 tional Aeronautics and Space Ad10 ministration Science Directorate. 

11 ‘‘(II) NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUN12 DATION.—The term ‘National Science 

13 Foundation’ means the appropriations 

14 accounts that support the various in15 stitutes, offices, and centers that 

16 make up the National Science Foun17 dation. 

18 ‘‘(III) DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

19 OFFICE OF SCIENCE.—The term ‘De20 partment of Energy Office of Science’ 

21 means the appropriations accounts 

22 that support the various institutes, of23 fices, and centers that make up the 

24 Department of Energy Office of 

25 Science. 


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1 ‘‘(IV) DEPARTMENT OF DE2 FENSE SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

3 PROGRAMS.—The term ‘Department 

4 of Defense Science and Technology 

5 programs’ means the appropriations 

6 accounts that support the various in7 stitutes, offices, and centers that 

8 make up the Department of Defense 

9 Science and Technology programs. 

10 ‘‘(V) NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF

11 STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY SCI12 ENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL RESEARCH

13 AND SERVICES.—The term ‘National 

14 Institute of Standards and Tech15 nology Scientific and Technical Re16 search and Services’ means the appro17 priations accounts that support the 

18 various institutes, offices, and centers 

19 that make up the National Institute 

20 of Standards and Technology Sci21 entific and Technical Research and 

22 Services. 

23 ‘‘(VI) NATIONAL AERONAUTICS

24 AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION SCIENCE

25 DIRECTORATE.—The term ‘National 


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1 Aeronautics and Space Administration 

2 Science Directorate’ means the appro3 priations accounts that support the 

4 various institutes, offices, and centers 

5 that make up the National Aero6 nautics and Space Administration 

7 Science Directorate.’’. 

8 (b) FUNDING.—There are hereby authorized to be 

9 appropriated— 

10 (1) for the National Science Foundation, the 

11 amounts provided for under clause (i) of such sec12 tion 251(b)(2)(D) in each of fiscal years 2016 

13 through 2021, and such sums as may be necessary 

14 for each subsequent fiscal year; 

15 (2) for the Department of Energy Office of 

16 Sciences, the amounts provided for under clause (ii) 

17 of such section 251(b)(2)(D) in each of fiscal years 

18 2016 through 2021, and such sums as may be nec19 essary for each subsequent fiscal year; 

20 (3) for the Department of Defense Science and 

21 Technology programs, the amounts provided for 

22 under clause (iii) of such section 251(b)(2)(D) in 

23 each of fiscal years 2016 through 2021, and such 

24 sums as may be necessary for each subsequent fiscal 

25 year; 


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1 (4) for the National Institute of Standards and 

2 Technology Scientific and Technical Research and 

3 Services, the amounts provided for under clause (iv) 

4 of such section 251(b)(2)(D) in each of fiscal years 

5 2016 through 2021, and such sums as may be nec6 essary for each subsequent fiscal year; and 

7 (5) for the National Aeronautics and Space Ad8 ministration Science Directorate, the amounts pro9 vided for under clause (iv) of such section 

10 251(b)(2)(D) in each of fiscal years 2016 through 

11 2021, and such sums as may be necessary for each 

12 subsequent fiscal year. 

13 (c) MINIMUM CONTINUED FUNDING REQUIRE14 MENT.—Amounts appropriated for each of the programs 

15 and agencies described in section 251(b)(2)(D) of the Bal16 anced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 

17 (as added by subsection (a)) for each of fiscal years 2016 

18 through 2021, and each subsequent fiscal year, shall not 

19 be less than the amounts appropriated for such programs 

20 and agencies for fiscal year 2015. 

21 (d) EXEMPTION OF CERTAIN APPROPRIATIONS FROM

22 SEQUESTRATION.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 255(g)(1)(A) of the 

24 Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control 

25 Act (2 U.S.C. 905(g)(1)(A)) is amended by inserting 


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1 after ‘‘Advances to the Unemployment Trust Fund 

2 and Other Funds (16–0327–0–1–600).’’ the fol3 lowing: 

4 ‘‘Appropriations under the American 

5 Innovation Act.’’. 

6 (2) APPLICABILITY.—The amendment made by 

7 this section shall apply to any sequestration order 

8 issued under the Balanced Budget and Emergency 

9 Deficit Control Act of 1985 (2 U.S.C. 900 et seq.) 

10 on or after the date of enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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