I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2731 

To establish a new Directorate for Technology and Innovation in the National 

Science Foundation, to establish a regional technology hub program, 

to require a strategy and report on economic security, science, research, 

innovation, manufacturing, and job creation, to establish a critical supply 

chain resiliency program, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 21, 2021 

Mr. KHANNA (for himself, Mr. GALLAGHER, Ms. WILD, Mr. TURNER, Mr. 

BOWMAN, Mr. FITZPATRICK, and Ms. SHERRILL) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and 

Technology, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, 

for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case 

for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the 

committee concerned 

A BILL 

To establish a new Directorate for Technology and Innovation in the National Science Foundation, to establish 

a regional technology hub program, to require a strategy 

and report on economic security, science, research, innovation, manufacturing, and job creation, to establish a 

critical supply chain resiliency 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 ‘‘Endless Frontier Act’’. 

3 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

4 Congress finds the following: 

5 (1) For over 70 years, the United States has 

6 been the unequivocal global leader in scientific and 

7 technological innovation, and as a result the people 

8 of the United States have benefitted through good9 paying jobs, economic prosperity, and a higher qual10 ity of life. 

11 (A) Today, however, this leadership posi12 tion is being eroded and challenged by foreign 

13 competitors, some of which are stealing intellec14 tual property and trade secrets of the United 

15 States and aggressively investing in research 

16 and commercialization to dominate the key ex17 isting and future technology fields. 

18 (B) While the United States once led the 

19 world in the share of our economy invested in 

20 research, our Nation now ranks 9th globally in 

21 total research and development and 12th in 

22 publicly financed research and development. 

23 (C) While wages for American workers 

24 rose in parallel with growth in national produc25 tivity from the end of World War II through 

26 most of the 1970s, since then wage growth has 


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1 been uneven and labor’s share in national in2 come has declined. 

3 (2) Without a significant increase in investment 

4 in research, education, technology transfer, intellec5 tual property, manufacturing, and other core 

6 strengths of the United States innovation ecosystem, 

7 it is only a matter of time before the global competi8 tors of the United States overtake the United States 

9 in terms of technological primacy. The country that 

10 wins the race in key technologies—such as artificial 

11 intelligence, quantum computing, advanced commu12 nications, and advanced manufacturing—and uses 

13 technological innovation to support high-quality jobs 

14 and incomes will be the superpower of the future. 

15 (3) The Federal Government must catalyze 

16 United States innovation by boosting research in17 vestments focused on discovering, creating, commer18 cializing, and demonstrating new technologies and 

19 manufacturing those technologies domestically 

20 throughout the country to ensure the leadership of 

21 the United States in the industries of the future. 

22 (4) The distribution of innovation jobs and in23 vestment in the United States has become largely 

24 concentrated in just a few locations, while much of 

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1 tion sector. More than 90 percent of the Nation’s in2 novation sector employment growth in the last 15 

3 years was generated in just 5 major metropolitan 

4 areas. The Federal Government must address this 

5 imbalance in opportunity by— 

6 (A) dramatically increasing funding for 

7 science and engineering research and expanding 

8 partnerships with the private sector to build 

9 new technology hubs across the country; 

10 (B) spreading high-quality innovation sec11 tor jobs more broadly; 

12 (C) increasing the participation of under13 represented populations, engaging workers, and 

14 collaborating with labor organizations in inno15 vation efforts to tap the talent and potential of 

16 the entire Nation to ensure the United States 

17 leads the industries of the future; and 

18 (D) building regional capacity in such crit19 ical areas as entrepreneurship, access to capital 

20 and other investment, and supply chain develop21 ment. 

22 (5) As President Franklin D. Roosevelt stated, 

23 ‘‘[N]ew frontiers of the mind are before us, and if 

24 they are pioneered with the same vision, boldness, 

25 and drive with which we have waged this war we can 


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1 create a fuller and more fruitful employment and a 

2 fuller and more fruitful life.’’ 

3 (6) As Vannevar Bush stated in his 1945 re4 port entitled Science, The Endless Frontier, ‘‘New 

5 products, new industries, and more jobs require con6 tinuous additions to knowledge of the laws of nature, 

7 and the application of that knowledge to practical 

8 purposes. Similarly, our defense against aggression 

9 demands new knowledge so that we can develop new 

10 and improved weapons. This essential, new knowl11 edge can be obtained only through basic scientific re12 search.’’ 

13 (7) Since their inception, the National Science 

14 Foundation and other key Federal agencies, like the 

15 Department of Energy, have carried out vital work 

16 supporting basic and applied research to create 

17 knowledge that is a key driver of the economy of the 

18 United States and enhances the Nation’s security. 

19 SEC. 3. IMPROVING TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION RE20 SEARCH AT THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUN21 DATION. 

22 (a) PROVIDING AUTHORITY TO DISSEMINATE INFOR23 MATION.—Section 11 of the National Science Foundation 

24 Act of 1950 (42 U.S.C. 1870) is amended— 


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1 (1) in subsection (j), by striking ‘‘and’’ after 

2 the semicolon; 

3 (2) in subsection (k), by striking the period at 

4 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

5 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(l) provide for the widest practicable and appro7 priate dissemination of information within the United 

8 States concerning the Foundation’s activities and the re9 sults thereof.’’. 

10 (b) ESTABLISHMENT OF DIRECTORATE FOR TECH11 NOLOGY AND INNOVATION.—The National Science Foun12 dation Act of 1950 (42 U.S.C. 1861 et seq.) is amended— 

13 (1) in section 8 (42 U.S.C. 1866), by inserting 

14 at the end the following: ‘‘Such divisions shall in15 clude the Directorate for Technology and Innovation 

16 established under section 8A.’’; and 

17 (2) by inserting after section 8 the following: 

18 ‘‘SEC. 8A. IMPROVING RESEARCH AND ESTABLISHING DI19 RECTORATE FOR TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVA20 TION. 

21 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

22 ‘‘(1) COMMUNITY COLLEGE.—The term ‘com23 munity college’ has the meaning given the term ‘jun24 ior or community college’ in section 312(f) of the 

25 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1058(f)). 


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1 ‘‘(2) DESIGNATED COUNTRY.—The term ‘des2 ignated country’ means a country that has been ap3 proved and designated in writing by the President 

4 for purposes of this section, after providing— 

5 ‘‘(A) not less than 30 days of advance noti6 fication and explanation to the relevant con7 gressional committees before the designation; 

8 and 

9 ‘‘(B) in-person briefings to such commit10 tees, if requested during the 30-day advance no11 tification period described in subparagraph (A). 

12 ‘‘(3) DIRECTORATE.—The term ‘Directorate’ 

13 means the Directorate for Technology and Innova14 tion established under subsection (b). 

15 ‘‘(4) EMERGING RESEARCH INSTITUTION.—The 

16 term ‘emerging research institution’ means an insti17 tution of higher education with an established under18 graduate student program that has, on average for 

19 the 3 years prior to an application for an award 

20 under this section, received less than $35,000,000 in 

21 Federal research funding. 

22 ‘‘(5) FEDERAL RESEARCH FACILITY.—The term 

23 ‘Federal research facility’ includes a research labora24 tory of the Department of Agriculture and any other 

25 Federally funded research and development center. 


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1 ‘‘(6) HISTORICALLY BLACK COLLEGE OR UNI2 VERSITY.—The term ‘historically Black college or 

3 university’ has the meaning given the term ‘part B 

4 institution’ in section 322 of the Higher Education 

5 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1061)). 

6 ‘‘(7) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.— 

7 The term ‘institution of higher education’ has the 

8 meaning given the term in section 101(a) of the 

9 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a)). 

10 ‘‘(8) KEY TECHNOLOGY FOCUS AREAS.—The 

11 term ‘key technology focus areas’ means the areas 

12 included on the most recent list under subsection 

13 (d)(2). 

14 ‘‘(9) LABOR ORGANIZATION.—The term ‘labor 

15 organization’ has the meaning given the term in sec16 tion 2(5) of the National Labor Relations Act (29 

17 U.S.C. 152(5)), except that such term shall also in18 clude— 

19 ‘‘(A) any organization composed of labor 

20 organizations, such as a labor union federation 

21 or a State or municipal labor body; and 

22 ‘‘(B) any organization which would be in23 cluded in the definition for such term under 

24 such section 2(5) but for the fact that the orga25 nization represents— 


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1 ‘‘(i) individuals employed by the 

2 United States, any wholly owned Govern3 ment corporation, any Federal Reserve 

4 Bank, or any State or political subdivision 

5 thereof; 

6 ‘‘(ii) individuals employed by persons 

7 subject to the Railway Labor Act (45 

8 U.S.C. 151 et seq.); or 

9 ‘‘(iii) individuals employed as agricul10 tural laborers. 

11 ‘‘(10) MINORITY-SERVING INSTITUTION.—The 

12 term ‘minority-serving institution’ means an institu13 tion described in section 371(a) of the Higher Edu14 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1067q(a)). 

15 ‘‘(11) NATIONAL LABORATORY.—The term ‘Na16 tional Laboratory’ has the meaning given the term 

17 in section 2 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 

18 U.S.C. 15801). 

19 ‘‘(12) RELEVANT CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT20 TEES.—The term ‘relevant congressional commit21 tees’ means— 

22 ‘‘(A) the Committee on Armed Services, 

23 the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 

24 Transportation, the Committee on Energy and 

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1 priations, the Committee on Foreign Relations, 

2 the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, 

3 and Pensions, and the Select Committee on In4 telligence of the Senate; and 

5 ‘‘(B) the Committee on Armed Services, 

6 the Committee on Science, Space, and Tech7 nology, the Committee on Appropriations, the 

8 Committee on Foreign Affairs, and the Perma9 nent Select Committee on Intelligence of the 

10 House of Representatives. 

11 ‘‘(13) STEM.—The term ‘STEM’ has the 

12 meaning given such term in section 2 of the America 

13 COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010 (Public 

14 Law 111–358; 42 U.S.C. 6621 note). 

15 ‘‘(14) TRIBAL COLLEGE OR UNIVERSITY.—The 

16 term ‘Tribal college or university’ has the meaning 

17 given the term in section 316(b)(3) of the Higher 

18 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1059c(b)(3)). 

19 ‘‘(15) UNDERREPRESENTED POPULATIONS.— 

20 The term ‘underrepresented populations’ means 

21 women, minorities, veterans, tribal populations, per22 sons with disabilities, and other populations that are 

23 underrepresented in STEM. 

24 ‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT OF DIRECTORATE FOR TECH25 NOLOGY AND INNOVATION.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days 

2 after the date of enactment of the Endless Frontier 

3 Act, the Director shall establish in the Foundation 

4 a Directorate for Technology and Innovation. The 

5 Directorate shall carry out the duties and respon6 sibilities described in this section, in order to further 

7 the following goals: 

8 ‘‘(A) Strengthening the leadership of the 

9 United States in critical technologies, as de10 scribed as a critical national need in section 

11 7018 of the America COMPETES Act (42 

12 U.S.C. 1862o–5), through basic research in the 

13 key technology focus areas and the commer14 cialization of those technologies to businesses in 

15 the United States. 

16 ‘‘(B) Addressing and mitigating technology 

17 challenges integral to the geostrategic position 

18 of the United States through the activities au19 thorized by this section. 

20 ‘‘(C) Enhancing the competitiveness of the 

21 United States in the key technology focus areas 

22 by improving education in the key technology 

23 focus areas and attracting more students to 

24 such areas at all levels of education. 


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1 ‘‘(D) Consistent with the mission and oper2 ations of the Foundation, fostering the eco3 nomic and societal impact of Federally funded 

4 research and development through an acceler5 ated translation of basic advances in the key 

6 technology focus areas into processes and prod7 ucts, known as technology transfer, that can 

8 help achieve national goals related to economic 

9 competitiveness, domestic manufacturing, na10 tional security, shared prosperity, energy and 

11 the environment, health, education and work12 force development, and transportation. 

13 ‘‘(E) Utilizing the full potential of the 

14 United States workforce by encouraging broad15 er participation in key technology focus areas 

16 by underrepresented populations. 

17 ‘‘(F) Ensuring the programmatic work of 

18 the Directorate and Foundation incorporates a 

19 workforce perspective from labor organizations 

20 and workforce training organizations. 

21 ‘‘(2) ORGANIZATION AND ADMINISTRATIVE

22 MATTERS.— 

23 ‘‘(A) PROGRAM MANAGERS.—The employ24 ees of the Directorate may include program 

25 managers for the key technology focus areas, 


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1 who may perform a role similar to program 

2 managers employed by the Defense Advanced 

3 Research Projects Agency for the oversight and 

4 selection of programs supported by the Direc5 torate. 

6 ‘‘(B) SELECTION OF RECIPIENTS.—Recipi7 ents of support under the programs and activi8 ties of the Directorate shall be selected by pro9 gram managers or other employees of the Di10 rectorate and the selection criteria for financial 

11 assistance awards shall include intellectual 

12 merit and broader impacts, including economic 

13 impacts on the advanced technology production 

14 system of the United States. The Directorate 

15 may use a peer review process or the authorities 

16 provided under subsection (c), or some com17 bination of such process and authorities, to in18 form the selection of award recipients. 

19 ‘‘(C) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year 

20 after the date of enactment of the Endless 

21 Frontier Act, the Director shall prepare and 

22 submit a report to the relevant congressional 

23 committees regarding the use of alternative 

24 methods for the selection of recipients and the 


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1 distribution of funding to recipients as com2 pared to the traditional peer review process. 

3 ‘‘(D) ASSISTANT DIRECTORS.—The Direc4 tor shall appoint an Assistant Director for the 

5 Directorate, in the same manner as other As6 sistant Directors of the Foundation are ap7 pointed. 

8 ‘‘(3) REPORT.—Not later than 120 days after 

9 the date of enactment of the Endless Frontier Act, 

10 the Director shall prepare and submit a report to 

11 the relevant congressional committees regarding the 

12 establishment of the Directorate. 

13 ‘‘(c) PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT AUTHORITIES FOR

14 THE FOUNDATION.—In addition to the authorities and re15 quirements of section 15, the Director shall have the fol16 lowing authorities: 

17 ‘‘(1) EXPERTS IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEER18 ING.—The Director shall have the authority to carry 

19 out a program of personnel management authority 

20 in the same manner, and subject to the same re21 quirements, as the program of personnel manage22 ment authority authorized for the Director of the 

23 Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency under 

24 section 1599h of title 10, United States Code, for 

25 the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. 


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1 ‘‘(2) HIGHLY QUALIFIED EXPERTS IN NEEDED

2 OCCUPATIONS.—In addition to the authority pro3 vided under paragraph (1), the Director shall have 

4 the authority to carry out a program of personnel 

5 management authority in the same manner, and 

6 subject to the same requirements, as the program to 

7 attract highly qualified experts carried out by the 

8 Secretary of Defense under section 9903 of title 5, 

9 United States Code. Individuals hired by the Direc10 tor through such authority shall include individuals 

11 with expertise in business creativity, innovation man12 agement, design thinking, entrepreneurship, venture 

13 capital, and related fields. 

14 ‘‘(3) ADDITIONAL HIRING AUTHORITY.—To the 

15 extent needed to carry out the duties in paragraph 

16 (1), the Director is authorized to utilize hiring au17 thorities under section 3372 of title 5, United States 

18 Code, to staff the Directorate with employees from 

19 other Federal agencies, State and local governments, 

20 Indian Tribes and Tribal organizations, institutions 

21 of higher education, and other organizations, as de22 scribed in that section, in the same manner and sub23 ject to the same conditions, that apply to such indi24 viduals utilized to accomplish other missions of the 

25 Foundation. 


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1 ‘‘(d) DUTIES AND FUNCTIONS OF THE DIREC2 TORATE.— 

3 ‘‘(1) DEVELOPMENT OF TECHNOLOGY FOCUS

4 OF THE DIRECTORATE.—The Director shall— 

5 ‘‘(A) through the Directorate, advance in6 novation in the key technology focus areas 

7 through basic and translational research and 

8 other activities described in this section; 

9 ‘‘(B) develop and implement strategies to 

10 ensure that the activities of the Directorate are 

11 directed toward the key technology focus areas 

12 in order to accomplish the goals described in 

13 subsection (b)(1) consistent with the most re14 cent report conducted under section 5(b) of the 

15 Endless Frontier Act; and 

16 ‘‘(C) develop and focus on innovation 

17 methods, processes, and promising practices 

18 that can affect the speed and effectiveness of 

19 innovation processes at scale. 

20 ‘‘(2) KEY TECHNOLOGY FOCUS AREAS.— 

21 ‘‘(A) INITIAL LIST.—The initial key tech22 nology focus areas are— 

23 ‘‘(i) artificial intelligence, machine 

24 learning, and other software advances; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) high performance computing, 

2 semiconductors, and advanced computer 

3 hardware; 

4 ‘‘(iii) quantum computing and infor5 mation systems; 

6 ‘‘(iv) robotics, automation, and ad7 vanced manufacturing; 

8 ‘‘(v) natural and anthropogenic dis9 aster prevention or mitigation; 

10 ‘‘(vi) advanced communications tech11 nology; 

12 ‘‘(vii) biotechnology, medical tech13 nology, genomics, and synthetic biology; 

14 ‘‘(viii) cybersecurity, data storage, and 

15 data management technologies; 

16 ‘‘(ix) advanced energy, batteries, and 

17 industrial efficiency; and 

18 ‘‘(x) advanced materials science, engi19 neering, and exploration relevant to the 

20 other key technology focus areas described 

21 in this subparagraph. 

22 ‘‘(B) REVIEW OF KEY TECHNOLOGY FOCUS

23 AREAS AND SUBSEQUENT LISTS.— 

24 ‘‘(i) ADDING OR DELETING KEY

25 TECHNOLOGY FOCUS AREAS.—Beginning 


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1 on the date that is 3 years after the date 

2 of enactment of the Endless Frontier Act, 

3 and every 3 years thereafter, the Director, 

4 in coordination with the Director of the 

5 Office of Science and Technology Policy, 

6 the Director of National Institute of 

7 Standards and Technology, the Secretary 

8 of Energy, the Secretary of Defense, the 

9 Director of the National Institutes of 

10 Health, and, as appropriate, the heads of 

11 other departments and agencies— 

12 ‘‘(I) shall review the list of key 

13 technology focus areas; 

14 ‘‘(II) may consider the challenges 

15 and recommendations identified in the 

16 report required by section 11 of the 

17 Endless Frontier Act; and 

18 ‘‘(III) as part of that review, may 

19 add or delete key technology focus 

20 areas if societal challenges or the com21 petitive threats to the United States 

22 have shifted (whether because the 

23 United States or other nations have 

24 advanced or fallen behind in a techno25 logical area), subject to clause (ii). 


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1 ‘‘(ii) LIMIT ON KEY TECHNOLOGY

2 FOCUS AREAS.—Not more than 10 key 

3 technology focus areas shall be included on 

4 the list of key technology focus areas at 

5 any time. 

6 ‘‘(iii) UPDATING FOCUS AREAS AND

7 DISTRIBUTION.—Prior to completion of 

8 each review under this subparagraph, the 

9 Director shall make the list of key tech10 nology focus areas readily available to the 

11 public and available for public comment, 

12 including, at a minimum, by publishing the 

13 list in the Federal Register even if no 

14 changes are expected to be made to the 

15 prior list. 

16 ‘‘(iv) EXTRAORDINARY CIRCUMSTANCE

17 WAIVER.—In extraordinary circumstances, 

18 the Director of the Office of Science and 

19 Technology Policy may grant the Director 

20 the ability to add or delete key technology 

21 focus areas without acting in coordination 

22 as described in clause (i). If such an ability 

23 is determined to be necessary by the Direc24 tor of the Office of Science and Technology 

25 Policy, the Director and the Director of 


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1 the Office of Science and Technology Pol2 icy shall not later than 15 days ahead of 

3 such a waiver being granted submit a de4 tailed description and justification to the 

5 relevant congressional committees. 

6 ‘‘(3) ACTIVITIES.— 

7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the 

8 duties and functions of the Directorate, the Di9 rector— 

10 ‘‘(i) may make awards in a techno11 logically-neutral manner for key technology 

12 focus areas to— 

13 ‘‘(I) individual institutions of 

14 higher education for work at centers 

15 or by individual researchers or teams 

16 of researchers; 

17 ‘‘(II) not-for-profit entities; and 

18 ‘‘(III) consortia that— 

19 ‘‘(aa) shall include and be 

20 led by an institution of higher 

21 education, or by a not-for-profit 

22 entity designed to support tech23 nology development, and may in24 clude 1 or more additional insti25 tutions of higher education; 


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1 ‘‘(bb) shall include at least 

2 one of the following: 

3 ‘‘(AA) a historically 

4 Black college or university; 

5 ‘‘(BB) a Tribal College 

6 or University; 

7 ‘‘(CC) another minor8 ity-serving institution; 

9 ‘‘(DD) an institution 

10 that participates in the Es11 tablished Program to Stimu12 late Competitive Research 

13 under section 113 of the Na14 tional Science Foundation 

15 Authorization Act of 1988 

16 (42 U.S.C. 1862g); 

17 ‘‘(EE) an emerging re18 search institution that is not 

19 classified as a very high re20 search activity by the Car21 negie Classification of Insti22 tutions of Higher Education 

23 and that has an under24 graduate enrollment with a 

25 majority of students who are 


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1 from underrepresented pop2 ulations; or 

3 ‘‘(FF) a community 

4 college; and 

5 ‘‘(cc) may include 1 or 

6 more— 

7 ‘‘(AA) entities described 

8 in subclause (I) or (II) and 

9 industries, including 

10 startups, small businesses, 

11 and public-private partner12 ships; 

13 ‘‘(BB) economic devel14 opment organizations or 

15 venture development organi16 zations, as such term is de17 fined in section 28(a) of the 

18 Stevenson-Wydler Tech19 nology Innovation Act of 

20 1980; 

21 ‘‘(CC) National Labora22 tories; 

23 ‘‘(DD) Federal labora24 tories, as defined in section 

25 4 of the Stevenson-Wydler 


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1 Technology Innovation Act 

2 of 1980 (15 U.S.C. 3703); 

3 ‘‘(EE) Federal research 

4 facilities; 

5 ‘‘(FF) labor organiza6 tions; 

7 ‘‘(GG) entities de8 scribed in subclause (I) or 

9 (II) from allied or partner 

10 countries; 

11 ‘‘(HH) other entities if 

12 determined by the Director 

13 to be vital to the success of 

14 the program; and 

15 ‘‘(II) binational re16 search and development 

17 foundations and funds, ex18 cluding foreign entities of 

19 concern; 

20 ‘‘(ii) may partner with other direc21 torates of the Foundation for projects or 

22 research, including— 

23 ‘‘(I) to pursue basic questions 

24 about natural, human, and physical 

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1 vances in the key technology focus 

2 areas; 

3 ‘‘(II) to study questions that 

4 could affect the design (including 

5 human interfaces), operation, deploy6 ment, or the social and ethical con7 sequences of technologies in the key 

8 technology focus areas, including the 

9 development of technologies that com10 plement or enhance the abilities of 

11 workers and impact of specific innova12 tions on domestic jobs and equitable 

13 opportunity; and 

14 ‘‘(III) to further the creation of a 

15 domestic workforce capable of advanc16 ing, using, and adapting to key tech17 nology focus areas and understanding 

18 and improving the impact of key tech19 nology focus areas on STEM teaching 

20 and learning advancing the key tech21 nology focus areas, including engaging 

22 relevant partners in research and in23 novation programs; 

24 ‘‘(iii) may provide funds to any other 

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1 mural work in the key technology focus 

2 areas through research, manufacturing, or 

3 other means; 

4 ‘‘(iv) may make awards under the 

5 SBIR and STTR programs (as defined in 

6 section 9(e) of the Small Business Act (15 

7 U.S.C. 638(e)); and 

8 ‘‘(v) may enter into and perform such 

9 contracts, other transactions, or other ar10 rangements, or modifications thereof, as 

11 may be necessary in the conduct of the 

12 work of the Directorate and on such terms 

13 as the Director considers appropriate, in 

14 furtherance of the purposes of this Act. 

15 ‘‘(B) REPORTS.—Not later than 180 days 

16 after the date of enactment of the Endless 

17 Frontier Act, the Director, in coordination with 

18 the Secretary of State and the Director of the 

19 Office of Science and Technology Policy, shall 

20 prepare and submit to the relevant congres21 sional committees— 

22 ‘‘(i) a plan to seek out additional in23 vestments from— 

24 ‘‘(I) certain designated countries; 

25 and 


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1 ‘‘(II) entities other than institu2 tions of higher education; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) the planned activities of the Di4 rectorate to secure federally funded science 

5 and technology pursuant to section 1746 of 

6 the National Defense Authorization Act for 

7 Fiscal Year 2020 (Public Law 116–92) 

8 and section 223 of William M. (Mac) 

9 Thornberry National Defense Authoriza10 tion Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (Public Law 

11 116–283). 

12 ‘‘(C) ANNUAL BRIEFING.—Each year, the 

13 Director shall formally request a briefing from 

14 the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Com15 merce, the Director of the Federal Bureau of 

16 Investigation, the Director of National Intel17 ligence, and as appropriate other department or 

18 agency heads regarding their efforts to preserve 

19 the United States’ advantages generated by the 

20 activity of the Directorate. 

21 ‘‘(4) INTERAGENCY COOPERATION.— 

22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out this 

23 section, the Director and other Federal research 

24 agencies, in consultation with the United States 

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1 priate, shall work cooperatively with each other 

2 to further the goals of this section in the key 

3 technology focus areas. 

4 ‘‘(B) COORDINATION WITH NIST AND DE5 PARTMENT OF ENERGY.—In making research 

6 awards under this section, the Director shall, as 

7 appropriate, work in coordination with the Di8 rector of the National Institute of Standards 

9 and Technology and the Secretary of Energy. 

10 ‘‘(C) COMPTROLLER GENERAL REPORT.— 

11 Each year, the Comptroller General of the 

12 United States shall prepare and submit a report 

13 to Congress, and shall simultaneously submit 

14 the report to the Director and the Director of 

15 the Office of Science and Technology Policy, de16 scribing the interagency cooperation that oc17 curred during the preceding year pursuant to 

18 this paragraph, including a list of— 

19 ‘‘(i) any funds provided under para20 graph (3)(A)(ii) to other divisions of the 

21 Foundation; and 

22 ‘‘(ii) any funds provided under para23 graph (3)(A)(iii) to other Federal research 

24 agencies. 


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1 ‘‘(5) PROVIDING SCHOLARSHIPS, FELLOWSHIPS, 

2 AND OTHER STUDENT SUPPORT.— 

3 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Director, acting 

4 through the Directorate, shall fund under5 graduate scholarships (including at community 

6 colleges), graduate fellowships and traineeships, 

7 and postdoctoral awards in the key technology 

8 focus areas. 

9 ‘‘(B) IMPLEMENTATION.—The Director 

10 may carry out subparagraph (A) by providing 

11 funds— 

12 ‘‘(i) for making awards— 

13 ‘‘(I) directly to students; and 

14 ‘‘(II) to institutions of higher 

15 education or consortia of institutions 

16 of higher education, including those 

17 institutions or consortia involved in 

18 operating university technology cen19 ters established under paragraph (6); 

20 and 

21 ‘‘(ii) to programs in Federal research 

22 agencies that have experience awarding 

23 such scholarships, fellowships, traineeships, 

24 or postdoctoral awards. 


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1 ‘‘(C) BROADENING PARTICIPATION.—In 

2 carrying out this paragraph, the Director 

3 should work to increase the participation of 

4 underrepresented populations in fields related 

5 to the key technology focus areas. For that pur6 pose, the Director may take such steps as es7 tablishing or augmenting programs targeted at 

8 underrepresented populations, and supporting 

9 traineeships or other relevant programs at insti10 tutions of higher education with high enroll11 ments of underrepresented populations. 

12 ‘‘(D) INNOVATION.—In carrying out this 

13 paragraph, the Director shall encourage innova14 tion in graduate education, including through 

15 encouraging institutions of higher education to 

16 offer graduate students opportunities to gain 

17 experience in industry or government as part of 

18 their graduate training, and through support 

19 for students in professional masters programs 

20 related to the key technology focus areas. 

21 ‘‘(E) SUPPLEMENT, NOT SUPPLANT.—The 

22 Director shall ensure that funds made available 

23 under this paragraph shall be used to create ad24 ditional support for postsecondary students and 


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1 shall not displace funding for any other avail2 able support. 

3 ‘‘(6) UNIVERSITY TECHNOLOGY CENTERS.— 

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—From amounts made 

5 available to the Directorate, the Director shall, 

6 through a competitive application and selection 

7 process, make awards to institutions of higher 

8 education or consortia described in paragraph 

9 (3)(A)(i)(III) to establish university technology 

10 centers. 

11 ‘‘(B) USES OF FUNDS.— 

12 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—A center estab13 lished under an award under subparagraph 

14 (A)— 

15 ‘‘(I) shall use support provided 

16 under such subparagraph— 

17 ‘‘(aa) to carry out basic and 

18 translational research to advance 

19 innovation in the key technology 

20 focus areas; and 

21 ‘‘(bb) to further the develop22 ment and commercialization of 

23 innovations, including inventions, 

24 in the key technology focus areas, 

25 including— 


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1 ‘‘(AA) innovations de2 rived from research carried 

3 out under item (aa), through 

4 such activities as 

5 translational research, proof6 of-concept development, and 

7 prototyping, in order to re8 duce the cost, time, and risk 

9 of commercializing new tech10 nologies; 

11 ‘‘(BB) to promote pat12 enting and commercializa13 tion of inventions derived 

14 from research carried out 

15 under item (aa); and 

16 ‘‘(CC) through the use 

17 of public-private partner18 ships; and 

19 ‘‘(II) may use support provided 

20 under such subparagraph— 

21 ‘‘(aa) for the costs of equip22 ment; 

23 ‘‘(bb) for the costs associ24 ated with technology transfer and 


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1 commercialization, including pat2 enting and licensing; or 

3 ‘‘(cc) for other activities or 

4 costs necessary to accomplish the 

5 purposes of this section, includ6 ing for operations and staff. 

7 ‘‘(ii) SUPPORT OF REGIONAL TECH8 NOLOGY HUBS.—Each center established 

9 under subparagraph (A) may support and 

10 participate in, as appropriate, the activities 

11 of any regional technology hub designated 

12 under section 28(b)(1)(A) of the Steven13 son-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 

14 1980. 

15 ‘‘(C) SELECTION PROCESS.—In selecting 

16 recipients under this paragraph, the Director 

17 shall consider— 

18 ‘‘(i) the capacity of the applicant to 

19 pursue and advance basic and translational 

20 research; 

21 ‘‘(ii) the extent to which the appli22 cant’s proposed research would be likely to 

23 advance American competitiveness in 1 or 

24 more key technology focus areas; 


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1 ‘‘(iii) the extent to which the appli2 cant’s proposal would broaden participa3 tion by underrepresented populations in 

4 those areas; 

5 ‘‘(iv) the capacity of the applicant to 

6 engage industry, labor, and other appro7 priate organizations on any advances; 

8 ‘‘(v) whether the applicant’s proposed 

9 research will, where applicable, contribute 

10 to growth in domestic manufacturing ca11 pacity and job creation; 

12 ‘‘(vi) the quality of plans for dissemi13 nation of research and technology results, 

14 in accordance with relevant export control 

15 laws; 

16 ‘‘(vii) how the applicant will, where 

17 applicable, encourage the training and par18 ticipation of entrepreneurs and the trans19 lation of research results to practice, in20 cluding the development of new businesses; 

21 ‘‘(viii) how the applicant will encour22 age the participation of inventors and en23 trepreneurs and the development of new 

24 businesses, where applicable; 


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1 ‘‘(ix) regional and geographic diver2 sity; 

3 ‘‘(x) in the case of a consortium, the 

4 extent to which the proposal includes insti5 tutions listed in paragraph 

6 (3)(A)(i)(III)(bb); and 

7 ‘‘(xi) the amount of funds from indus8 try organizations described in subpara9 graph (D)(ii) the applicant would use to10 wards establishing the center under sub11 paragraph (A). 

12 ‘‘(D) REQUIREMENTS.—The Director shall 

13 ensure that any institution of higher education 

14 or consortium receiving an award under sub15 paragraph (A) has— 

16 ‘‘(i) the capacity or the ability to ac17 quire the capacity to advance the goals de18 scribed in subsection (b)(1); and 

19 ‘‘(ii) secured contributions for estab20 lishing the center under subparagraph (A) 

21 from industry organizations in an amount 

22 not less than 10 percent of the total 

23 amount of the award the institution or 

24 consortium would receive under subpara25 graph (A). 


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1 ‘‘(7) MOVING TECHNOLOGY FROM LABORATORY

2 TO MARKET.— 

3 ‘‘(A) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.— 

4 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Director, in 

5 coordination with the Director of the Na6 tional Institute of Standards and Tech7 nology, shall establish a program in the 

8 Directorate to make awards, on a competi9 tive basis, to institutions of higher edu10 cation or consortia described in paragraph 

11 (3)(A)(i)(III)— 

12 ‘‘(I) to build capacity at an insti13 tution of higher education or within 

14 the consortium and facilitate collabo15 ration with firms in the key tech16 nology focus areas to increase the 

17 likelihood that new technologies in the 

18 key technology focus areas will suc19 ceed in the commercial market; and 

20 ‘‘(II) with the goal of promoting 

21 experiments with a range of models 

22 that institutions of higher education 

23 or consortia could use to— 

24 ‘‘(aa) enable new tech25 nologies and inventions to mature 


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1 to the point where the tech2 nologies are more likely to suc3 ceed in the commercial market 

4 and promote the creation of high5 quality jobs in the United States; 

6 and 

7 ‘‘(bb) reduce the risks to 

8 commercial success for new tech9 nologies and inventions earlier in 

10 their development. 

11 ‘‘(ii) USE FOR TRAINING.—An award 

12 under this subparagraph for a purpose de13 scribed in subclause (I) or (II) of clause (i) 

14 may also enable the institution of higher 

15 education or consortium to provide train16 ing and support to scientists, engineers, 

17 and inventors who are interested in re18 search, technology transfer, and commer19 cialization, including patenting and licens20 ing, if the use is included in the proposal 

21 submitted under subparagraph (B). 

22 ‘‘(B) PROPOSALS.—An institution of high23 er education or consortium desiring an award 

24 under this paragraph shall submit a proposal to 

25 the Director at such time, in such manner, and 


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1 containing such information as the Director 

2 may require. The proposal shall include a de3 scription of— 

4 ‘‘(i) the broader impact of the pro5 posal; 

6 ‘‘(ii) the steps the applicant is study7 ing or will take to enable technology trans8 fer to reduce the risks for commercializa9 tion for new technologies, including how 

10 the applicant will collaborate with firms in 

11 the key technology focus areas; 

12 ‘‘(iii) why such steps are likely to be 

13 effective; 

14 ‘‘(iv) how such steps differ from pre15 vious efforts to reduce the risks for com16 mercialization for new technologies; 

17 ‘‘(v) whether the commercial viability 

18 of any new technologies will promote the 

19 creation of high-quality jobs in the United 

20 States; 

21 ‘‘(vi) how the applicant will, where ap22 plicable, encourage the participation of in23 ventors and entrepreneurs and the develop24 ment of new businesses; and 


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1 ‘‘(vii) how the applicant will, where 

2 applicable, encourage the training and par3 ticipation of entrepreneurs and the trans4 lation of research results to practice, in5 cluding the development of new businesses. 

6 ‘‘(C) USE OF FUNDS.—A recipient of an 

7 award under this paragraph shall use award 

8 funds to reduce the risks for commercialization 

9 for new technologies, which may include— 

10 ‘‘(i) creating and funding competitions 

11 to allow entrepreneurial ideas from institu12 tions of higher education or consortia de13 scribed in paragraph (3)(A)(i)(III) to illus14 trate their commercialization potential; 

15 ‘‘(ii) facilitating relationships among 

16 local and national business leaders, includ17 ing investors, and potential entrepreneurs 

18 to encourage successful commercialization; 

19 ‘‘(iii) creating or supporting entities 

20 that could enable researchers to further de21 velop new technology, through patient cap22 ital investment, advice, staff support, or 

23 other means; 


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1 ‘‘(iv) providing facilities for start-up 

2 companies where technology maturation 

3 could occur; 

4 ‘‘(v) covering legal and other fees as5 sociated with technology transfer and com6 mercialization, including patenting and li7 censing; and 

8 ‘‘(vi) revising institution policies, in9 cluding policies related to intellectual prop10 erty and faculty entrepreneurship, to ac11 complish the goals of this paragraph. 

12 ‘‘(D) REPORTING ON COMMERCIALIZATION

13 BASED ON METRICS.—The Director shall estab14 lish— 

15 ‘‘(i) metrics related to commercializa16 tion for an award under this paragraph; 

17 and 

18 ‘‘(ii) a reporting schedule for recipi19 ents of such awards that takes into ac20 count both short- and long-term goals of 

21 the program under this paragraph. 

22 ‘‘(8) TEST BEDS.— 

23 ‘‘(A) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.— 

24 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Director, in 

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1 tional Institute of Standards and Tech2 nology, shall establish a program in the 

3 Directorate to make awards, on a competi4 tive basis, to institutions of higher edu5 cation or consortia described in paragraph 

6 (3)(A)(i)(III) to establish and operate test 

7 beds and fabrication facilities to advance 

8 the operation, integration, deployment, 

9 and, as appropriate, manufacturing of new, 

10 innovative technologies in the key tech11 nology focus areas, which may include 

12 hardware or software. The goal of such 

13 test beds and facilities shall be to accel14 erate the movement of innovative tech15 nologies into the commercial market 

16 through the private sector. 

17 ‘‘(ii) COORDINATION.—In establishing 

18 the program under clause (i), the Director 

19 shall ensure coordination in establishing 

20 new test beds under this paragraph with 

21 other test beds supported by the Founda22 tion or established under Manufacturing 

23 USA to avoid duplication and maximize 

24 the use of Federal resources. 


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1 ‘‘(B) PROPOSALS.—A proposal submitted 

2 under this paragraph shall, at a minimum, de3 scribe— 

4 ‘‘(i)(I) the technology or technologies 

5 that will be the focus of the test bed or 

6 fabrication facility; 

7 ‘‘(II) the goals of the work to be done 

8 at the test bed or facility; and 

9 ‘‘(III) the expected schedule for com10 pleting that work; 

11 ‘‘(ii) how the applicant will assemble a 

12 workforce with the skills needed to operate 

13 the test bed or facility; 

14 ‘‘(iii) how the applicant will ensure 

15 broad access to the facility; 

16 ‘‘(iv) how the applicant will collabo17 rate with firms in the key technology focus 

18 areas, including through coordinated re19 search and development and funding, to 

20 ensure that work in the test bed or facility 

21 will contribute to the commercial viability 

22 of any technologies and will include col23 laboration from industry and labor organi24 zations; 


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1 ‘‘(v) how the applicant will encourage 

2 the participation of inventors and entre3 preneurs and the development of new busi4 nesses; 

5 ‘‘(vi) how the applicant will increase 

6 participation by underrepresented popu7 lations; 

8 ‘‘(vii) how the applicant will dem9 onstrate that the commercial viability of 

10 any new technologies will support the cre11 ation of high-quality domestic jobs; 

12 ‘‘(viii) how the test bed or facility will 

13 operate after Federal funding has ended; 

14 and 

15 ‘‘(ix) how the test bed will disseminate 

16 lessons and other technical information to 

17 United States firms or allied or partner 

18 country firms in the United States. 

19 ‘‘(C) AWARDS.—Awards made under this 

20 paragraph shall be for 7 years, with the possi21 bility of 5-year extensions. 

22 ‘‘(D) AUTHORIZED USE OF FUNDS.—An 

23 awardee under this paragraph may, in order to 

24 achieve the purposes described in subparagraph 

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1 ment, the support of graduate students and 

2 postdoctoral researchers, and the salaries of 

3 staff. 

4 ‘‘(E) RESULTS.—An awardee under this 

5 paragraph may publish and share with the pub6 lic the results of the work conducted under this 

7 paragraph. 

8 ‘‘(F) INTERAGENCY SEMI-ANNUAL MEET9 INGS.—The Director, the Director of the Na10 tional Institute of Standards and Technology, 

11 and the heads of other departments and agen12 cies, or their designees, with test bed related eq13 uities shall hold an annual meeting to coordi14 nate their respective test bed related invest15 ments, future years plan, and other appropriate 

16 matters, to avoid conflicts and duplication of ef17 forts. Upon request by Congress, Congress shall 

18 be briefed on the results of the meetings. 

19 ‘‘(9) INAPPLICABILITY.—Section 5(e)(1) shall 

20 not apply to grants, contracts, awards, or other ar21 rangements made under this section. 

22 ‘‘(e) AREAS OF FUNDING SUPPORT.—Subject to the 

23 availability of funds to carry out this section, the Director 

24 shall endeavor, for each fiscal year, to use— 


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1 ‘‘(1) not less than 35 percent of funds provided 

2 to the Directorate for such year to carry out sub3 section (d)(6); 

4 ‘‘(2) not less than 15 percent of such funds to 

5 carry out the purpose of subsection (d)(5)— 

6 ‘‘(A) with the goal of awarding, across the 

7 key technology focus areas— 

8 ‘‘(i) not fewer than 1,000 postdoctoral 

9 awards; 

10 ‘‘(ii) not fewer than 2,000 graduate 

11 fellowships and traineeships; and 

12 ‘‘(iii) not fewer than 1,000 under13 graduate scholarships, including scholar14 ships to attend community colleges; 

15 ‘‘(B) of which not less than 10 percent of 

16 the funds designated under this paragraph shall 

17 be used to support additional awards to focus 

18 on community college training, education, and 

19 teaching programs that increase the participa20 tion of underrepresented populations in science, 

21 technology, engineering, and mathematics, in22 cluding technical programs through programs 

23 such as the Advanced Technological Education 

24 program; 


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1 ‘‘(C) of which not less than 20 percent of 

2 the funds designated under this paragraph shall 

3 be used to support awards for post-doctorate 

4 fellowships, graduate fellowships and 

5 traineeships, and undergraduate scholarships 

6 through institutions of higher education, and 

7 other institutions, located in jurisdictions that 

8 participate in the Established Program to Stim9 ulate Competitive Research under section 113 

10 of the National Science Foundation Authoriza11 tion Act of 1988 (42 U.S.C. 1862g); and 

12 ‘‘(D) if funds remain after carrying out 

13 subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C), awards to in14 stitutions of higher education to enable the in15 stitutions to fund the development and estab16 lishment of new or specialized courses of edu17 cation for graduate, undergraduate, or technical 

18 college students; 

19 ‘‘(3) not less than 5 percent of such funds to 

20 carry out subsection (d)(7); 

21 ‘‘(4) not less than 10 percent of such funds to 

22 carry out subsection (d)(8); 

23 ‘‘(5) not less than 15 percent of such funds to 

24 carry out research and related activities pursuant to 


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1 subclauses (I) and (II) of subsection (d)(3)(A)(ii); 

2 and 

3 ‘‘(6) not less than 20 percent of such funds to 

4 support research in the key technology focus areas 

5 through the Established Program to Stimulate Com6 petitive Research under section 113 of the National 

7 Science Foundation Authorization Act of 1988 (42 

8 U.S.C. 1862g). 

9 ‘‘(f) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE FOR AWARD RECIPI10 ENTS AND APPLICANTS.—The Director may— 

11 ‘‘(1) coordinate with other Federal agencies to 

12 establish interagency and multidisciplinary teams to 

13 provide technical assistance to recipients of, and pro14 spective applicants for, awards under this section; 

15 ‘‘(2) by Federal interagency agreement and not16 withstanding any other provision of law, transfer 

17 funds available to carry out this section to the head 

18 of another Federal agency to facilitate and support 

19 the provision of such technical assistance; and 

20 ‘‘(3) enter into contracts with third parties to 

21 provide such technical assistance. 

22 ‘‘(g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS AND LIM23 ITATIONS.— 

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1 priated for the Foundation for a fiscal year, there is 

2 authorized to be appropriated for necessary expenses 

3 of the Office of Inspector General of the Foundation 

4 an amount of not less than $10,000,000 in any fis5 cal year appropriation for the Foundation, for over6 sight of the programs and activities established 

7 under this section in accordance with the Inspector 

8 General Act of 1978. 

9 ‘‘(2) SUPPLEMENT AND NOT SUPPLANT.—The 

10 amounts authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

11 this section shall supplement, and not supplant, any 

12 other amounts already appropriated to the Founda13 tion or Office of Inspector General of the Founda14 tion, except with respect to transfers described in 

15 paragraph (3). 

16 ‘‘(3) TRANSFER OF FUNDS AUTHORITY.—For 

17 fiscal years 2022 through 2024, the Director shall 

18 transfer any funds appropriated to the Directorate 

19 to any other directorate or office of the Foundation 

20 for activities directly related to the key technology 

21 focus areas. 

22 ‘‘(4) NO NEW AWARDS.—The Director shall not 

23 make any new awards for the activities described in 

24 this section for any fiscal year in which the total 

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1 ing amounts appropriated for the Directorate) is less 

2 than the total amount appropriated to the Founda3 tion (not including such amounts), adjusted by the 

4 rate of inflation, for the previous fiscal year. 

5 ‘‘(5) NO FUNDS FOR CONSTRUCTION.—No 

6 funds provided under this section shall be used for 

7 construction. 

8 ‘‘(h) RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this 

9 section or any other amendments made to this Act by the 

10 Endless Frontier Act shall be construed to alter the mis11 sion of any directorate of the Foundation existing prior 

12 to the date of enactment of such Act, or to alter the award 

13 selection methods or criteria used by such directorates.’’. 

14 (c) CHIEF DIVERSITY OFFICER.—The National 

15 Science Foundation Act of 1950 (42 U.S.C. 1861 et seq.), 

16 as amended by subsection (b), is further amended by in17 serting after section 8A the following: 

18 ‘‘SEC. 8B. CHIEF DIVERSITY OFFICER. 

19 ‘‘(a) CHIEF DIVERSITY OFFICER.— 

20 ‘‘(1) APPOINTMENT.—The Director shall ap21 point a Chief Diversity Officer of the National 

22 Science Foundation. 

23 ‘‘(2) QUALIFICATIONS.—The Chief Diversity 

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1 sity and inclusion, in particular within the Federal 

2 Government and science community. 

3 ‘‘(3) OVERSIGHT.—The Chief Diversity Officer 

4 shall report directly to the Director in the perform5 ance of the duties of the Chief Diversity Officer 

6 under this section. 

7 ‘‘(b) DUTIES.—The Chief Diversity Officer is respon8 sible for providing advice on policy, oversight, guidance, 

9 and coordination with respect to matters of the National 

10 Science Foundation related to diversity and inclusion. 

11 Other duties may include— 

12 ‘‘(1) establishing and maintaining a strategic 

13 plan that publicly states a diversity definition, vision, 

14 and goals for the National Science Foundation; 

15 ‘‘(2) defining a set of strategic metrics that 

16 are— 

17 ‘‘(A) directly linked to key organizational 

18 priorities and goals; 

19 ‘‘(B) actionable; and 

20 ‘‘(C) actively used to implement the stra21 tegic plan under paragraph (1); 

22 ‘‘(3) advising in the establishment of a strategic 

23 plan for diverse participation by institutions of high24 er education, including community colleges, histori25 cally Black colleges and universities, Tribal colleges 


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1 or universities, and other minority-serving institu2 tions (as such terms are defined in section 8A(a)), 

3 and individuals; 

4 ‘‘(4) advising in the establishment of a strategic 

5 plan for outreach to, and recruiting from, untapped 

6 locations and underrepresented populations; and 

7 ‘‘(5) performing such additional duties and ex8 ercise such powers as the Director may prescribe.’’. 

9 (d) ANNUAL REPORT ON UNFUNDED PRIORITIES.— 

10 (1) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than 10 days 

11 after the date on which the budget of the President 

12 for a fiscal year is submitted to Congress pursuant 

13 to section 1105 of title 31, United States Code, the 

14 National Science Board shall submit to the Presi15 dent and to Congress a report on the unfunded pri16 orities of the National Science Foundation. 

17 (2) ELEMENTS.—Each report submitted under 

18 paragraph (1) shall provide— 

19 (A) for each directorate of the National 

20 Science Foundation for the most recent, fully 

21 completed fiscal year— 

22 (i) the proposal success rate; 

23 (ii) the percentage and total funding 

24 of proposals that were not funded and that 

25 met the criteria for funding; and 


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1 (iii) the most promising research 

2 areas covered by proposals described in 

3 clause (ii); and 

4 (B) a list, in order of priority, of the next 

5 activities approved by the National Science 

6 Board to be undertaken in the Major Research 

7 Equipment and Facilities Construction account. 

8 (e) PILOT PROGRAM.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Director, acting 

10 through the Directorate, shall establish a 5-year 

11 pilot program for awarding grants to eligible part12 nerships to build research and education capacity at 

13 emerging research institutions to enable such insti14 tutions to contribute to programs run by the Direc15 torate. 

16 (2) APPLICATIONS.—An eligible partnership 

17 seeking a grant under this subsection shall submit 

18 an application to the Director at such time, in such 

19 manner, and containing such information as the Di20 rector may reasonably require, including a statement 

21 of how the partnership will use the funds awarded 

22 through the grant to achieve a lasting increase in 

23 the research and education capacity of each emerg24 ing research institution included in the eligible part25 nership. 


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1 (3) ACTIVITIES.—An eligible partnership receiv2 ing a grant under this subsection may use the funds 

3 awarded through such grant for— 

4 (A) faculty salaries and training; 

5 (B) research experiences for undergraduate 

6 and graduate students; 

7 (C) maintenance and repair of research 

8 equipment and instrumentation; and 

9 (D) any other activities the Director deter10 mines appropriate. 

11 (4) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

12 (A) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ 

13 means the Director of the National Science 

14 Foundation. 

15 (B) DIRECTORATE; EMERGING RESEARCH

16 INSTITUTION.—The terms ‘‘Directorate’’ and 

17 ‘‘emerging research institution’’ have the mean18 ings given such terms in section 8A(a) of the 

19 National Science Foundation Act of 1950, ex20 cept that, with respect to the term ‘‘emerging 

21 research institution’’, the reference in para22 graph (4) of such section to an award under 

23 section 8A of that Act shall be deemed a ref24 erence to a grant under this subsection. 


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1 (C) ELIGIBLE PARTNERSHIP.—The term 

2 ‘‘eligible partnership’’ means a partnership of— 

3 (i) at least 1 emerging research insti4 tution; and 

5 (ii) at least 1 institution classified as 

6 a very high research activity by the Car7 negie Classification of Institutions of High8 er Education. 

9 SEC. 4. ENDLESS FRONTIER FUND. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be appro11 priated a total of $112,410,000,000 for fiscal years 2022 

12 through 2026 for the implementation of this Act and the 

13 amendments made by this Act. Such funds shall be avail14 able for the implementation of this Act and the amend15 ments made by this Act, and shall be administered by the 

16 Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy 

17 (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Director’’). 

18 (b) USE OF FUNDS.— 

19 (1) SUBMISSION OF ANNUAL ALLOCATION.— 

20 Until the date on which all of the amounts in the 

21 Fund described in subsection (a) are expended, the 

22 Director shall annually submit to Congress, together 

23 with the annual budget of the United States, a list 

24 of allocations to agencies and departments to imple25 ment this Act and the amendments made by this Act 


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1 that includes a detailed description of each program 

2 proposed to be funded, including the estimated ex3 penditures from the Fund for the program for the 

4 applicable fiscal year. 

5 (2) ALTERNATE ALLOCATION.— 

6 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Commerce, Jus7 tice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropria8 tions Act for the relevant fiscal year may pro9 vide for alternate allocation of amounts made 

10 available under this section. 

11 (B) ALLOCATION BY PRESIDENT.— 

12 (i) NO ALTERNATE ALLOCATIONS.—If 

13 Congress has not enacted legislation estab14 lishing alternate allocations as described in 

15 subparagraph (A) by the date on which the 

16 Act making full-year appropriations for 

17 Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related 

18 Agencies for the applicable fiscal year is 

19 enacted into law, amounts made available 

20 under this section shall be allocated by the 

21 Director. 

22 (ii) INSUFFICIENT ALTERNATE ALLO23 CATION.—If Congress enacts legislation es24 tablishing alternate allocations for amounts 

25 made available under this section that are 


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1 less than the full amount authorized to be 

2 appropriated to the Fund for that fiscal 

3 year under subsection (a), the difference 

4 between the amount authorized to be ap5 propriated and the alternate allocation 

6 shall be allocated by the Director. 

7 (c) LIMITATION.—No funds provided under this sec8 tion shall be used for construction, except in the case of 

9 infrastructure projects described in section 28(b)(1)(B) of 

10 the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980 

11 (Public Law 96–480), as added by section 7(a) of this Act. 

12 (d) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con13 gress that, during the period of fiscal years 2022 through 

14 2026, the Director shall make available, from amounts 

15 made available under subsection (a)— 

16 (1) $9,425,000,000 to the regional technology 

17 hub program under section 28 of the Stevenson18 Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980 (Public 

19 Law 96–480), as added by section 7 of this Act; 

20 (2) $575,000,000 to the comprehensive regional 

21 technology strategy grant program under section 29 

22 of the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act 

23 of 1980 (Public Law 96–480), as added by section 

24 8 of this Act, of which $100,000,000 shall be made 

25 available for each of fiscal years 2022 and 2023 and 


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1 $125,000,000 shall be made available for each of fis2 cal years 2024 through 2026; 

3 (3) $100,000,000,000 to the Directorate for 

4 Technology and Innovation of the National Science 

5 Foundation, of which $5,000,000,000 shall be made 

6 available for fiscal year 2022, $10,000,000,000 shall 

7 be made available for fiscal year 2023, 

8 $20,000,000,000 shall be made available for fiscal 

9 year 2024, $30,000,000,000 shall be made available 

10 for fiscal year 2025, and $35,000,000,000 shall be 

11 made available for fiscal year 2026; and 

12 (4) $2,410,000,000 for the period of fiscal 

13 years 2022 through 2026 to the Manufacturing 

14 USA Program for activities described under section 

15 9 of this Act. 

16 SEC. 5. STRATEGY AND REPORT ON ECONOMIC SECURITY, 

17 SCIENCE, RESEARCH, AND INNOVATION TO 

18 SUPPORT THE NATIONAL SECURITY STRAT19 EGY. 

20 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

21 (1) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CON22 GRESS.—The term ‘‘appropriate committees of Con23 gress’’ means— 

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1 priations, the Committee on Armed Services, 

2 the Committee on Banking, Housing, and 

3 Urban Affairs, the Committee on the Budget, 

4 the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 

5 Transportation, the Committee on Energy and 

6 Natural Resources, the Committee on Finance, 

7 the Committee on Foreign Relations, the Com8 mittee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pen9 sions, the Committee on Homeland Security 

10 and Governmental Affairs, the Committee on 

11 the Judiciary, and the Select Committee on In12 telligence of the Senate; and 

13 (B) the Committee on Agriculture, the 

14 Committee on Appropriations, the Committee 

15 on Armed Services, the Committee on the 

16 Budget, the Committee on Education and 

17 Labor, the Committee on Energy and Com18 merce, the Committee on Financial Services, 

19 the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Com20 mittee on Homeland Security, the Committee 

21 on the Judiciary, the Committee on Oversight 

22 and Reform, the Committee on Science, Space, 

23 and Technology, the Committee on Ways and 

24 Means, and the Permanent Select Committee 

25 on Intelligence of the House of Representatives. 


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1 (2) KEY TECHNOLOGY FOCUS AREA.—The term 

2 ‘‘key technology focus area’’ means an area included 

3 on the most recent list under section 8A(d)(2) of the 

4 National Science Foundation Act of 1950. 

5 (3) NATIONAL SECURITY STRATEGY.—The term 

6 ‘‘national security strategy’’ means the national se7 curity strategy required by section 108 of the Na8 tional Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3043). 

9 (b) STRATEGY AND REPORT.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—In 2021 and in each year 

11 thereafter before the applicable date set forth under 

12 paragraph (2), the Director of the Office of Science 

13 and Technology Policy, in coordination with the Di14 rector of the National Economic Council, the Direc15 tor of the National Science Foundation, the Sec16 retary of Commerce, the Secretary of Energy, the 

17 National Security Council, the United States Patent 

18 and Trademark Office, and the heads of other rel19 evant Federal agencies and in consultation with rel20 evant nongovernmental partners, shall— 

21 (A) review such strategy, programs, and 

22 resources as the Director of the Office of 

23 Science and Technology Policy determines per24 tain to United States national competitiveness 

25 in science, research, innovation, and technology 


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1 transfer, including patenting and licensing, to 

2 support the national security strategy; 

3 (B) develop or revise a strategy for the 

4 Federal Government to improve the national 

5 competitiveness of the United States in science, 

6 research, and innovation to support the national 

7 security strategy; and 

8 (C) submit to the appropriate committees 

9 of Congress— 

10 (i) a report on the findings of the Di11 rector with respect to the review conducted 

12 under subparagraph (A); and 

13 (ii) the strategy developed or revised 

14 under subparagraph (B). 

15 (2) APPLICABLE DATES.—In each year, the ap16 plicable date set forth under this paragraph is as fol17 lows: 

18 (A) In 2021, December 31, 2021. 

19 (B) In 2022 and every year thereafter— 

20 (i) in any year in which a new Presi21 dent is inaugurated, October 1 of that 

22 year; and 

23 (ii) in any other year, the date that is 

24 90 days after the date of the transmission 


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1 to Congress in that year of the national se2 curity strategy. 

3 (c) ELEMENTS.— 

4 (1) REPORT.—Each report submitted under 

5 subsection (b)(1)(C)(i) shall include the following: 

6 (A) An assessment of public and private 

7 investment in civilian and military science and 

8 technology and its implications for the 

9 geostrategic position and national security of 

10 the United States. 

11 (B) A description of the prioritized eco12 nomic security interests and objectives, includ13 ing domestic job creation, of the United States 

14 relating to science, research, and innovation 

15 and an assessment of how investment in civilian 

16 and military science and technology can ad17 vance those objectives. 

18 (C) An assessment of how regional efforts 

19 are contributing and could contribute to the in20 novation capacity of the United States, includ21 ing— 

22 (i) programs run by State and local 

23 governments; and 


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1 (ii) regional factors that are contrib2 uting or could contribute positively to inno3 vation. 

4 (D) An assessment of— 

5 (i) workforce needs for competitive6 ness and national security in key tech7 nology areas; and 

8 (ii) Federal support needed— 

9 (I) to expand domestic and inter10 national student pathways into key 

11 technology areas; and 

12 (II) to improve workforce devel13 opment and employment systems, as 

14 well as programs and practices to 

15 upskill incumbent workers. 

16 (E) An assessment of barriers to competi17 tiveness in key technology focus areas and bar18 riers to the development and evolution of start19 ups, small and mid-sized business entities, and 

20 industries in key technology focus areas. 

21 (F) An assessment of the effectiveness of 

22 the Federal Government, federally funded re23 search and development centers, and national 

24 labs in supporting and promoting technology 

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1 cluding an assessment of the adequacy of Fed2 eral research and development funding in pro3 moting competitiveness and the development of 

4 new technologies. 

5 (G) An assessment of manufacturing ca6 pacity, logistics, and supply chain dynamics of 

7 major export sectors, including access to a 

8 skilled workforce, physical infrastructure, and 

9 broadband network infrastructure. 

10 (H) An assessment of how the Federal 

11 Government is increasing the participation of 

12 underrepresented populations in science, re13 search, innovation, and manufacturing. 

14 (I) An assessment of the effectiveness of 

15 the Federal Government, Federally funded re16 search and development centers, and national 

17 laboratories in transitioning technologies and 

18 processes that emerge from Federally funded 

19 research to new domestic manufacturing growth 

20 and job creation across sectors in the United 

21 States. 

22 (2) STRATEGY.—Each strategy submitted 

23 under subsection (b)(1)(C)(ii) shall include the fol24 lowing: 


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1 (A) A plan to utilize available tools to ad2 dress or minimize the leading threats and chal3 lenges and to take advantage of the leading op4 portunities, particularly in regards to tech5 nology areas central to competition between the 

6 United States and China, including the fol7 lowing: 

8 (i) Specific objectives, tasks, metrics, 

9 and milestones for each relevant Federal 

10 agency. 

11 (ii) Specific plans to support public 

12 and private sector investment in research, 

13 technology development, education and 

14 workforce development, and domestic man15 ufacturing in key technology focus areas 

16 supportive of the national economic com17 petitiveness of the United States and to 

18 foster the prudent use of public-private 

19 partnerships. 

20 (iii) Specific plans to promote environ21 mental stewardship and fair competition 

22 for United States workers. 

23 (iv) A description of— 

24 (I) how the strategy submitted 

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1 ports the national security strategy; 

2 and 

3 (II) how the strategy submitted 

4 under such subsection is integrated 

5 and coordinated with the most recent 

6 national defense strategy under sec7 tion 113(g) of title 10, United States 

8 Code. 

9 (v) A plan to encourage the govern10 ments of countries that are allies or part11 ners of the United States to cooperate with 

12 the execution of the strategy submitted 

13 under subsection (b)(1)(C)(ii), where ap14 propriate. 

15 (vi) A plan to encourage certain inter16 national and multilateral organizations to 

17 support the implementation of such strat18 egy. 

19 (vii) A plan for how the United States 

20 should develop local and regional capacity 

21 for building innovation ecosystems across 

22 the Nation by providing Federal support. 

23 (viii) A plan for strengthening the in24 dustrial base of the United States. 


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1 (B) An identification of additional re2 sources, administrative action, or legislative ac3 tion recommended to assist with the implemen4 tation of such strategy. 

5 (d) FORM OF REPORTS AND STRATEGIES.—Each re6 port and strategy submitted under subsection (b)(1)(C) 

7 shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may include 

8 a classified annex. 

9 SEC. 6. SUPPLY CHAIN RESILIENCY PROGRAM. 

10 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

11 (1) CRITICAL INDUSTRY.—The term ‘‘critical 

12 industry’’ means— 

13 (A) key technology focus areas, as defined 

14 in section 8A(a) of the National Science Foun15 dation Act of 1950, as added by section 3(b) of 

16 this Act; and 

17 (B) areas identified by the report in sub18 section (f). 

19 (2) CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE.—The term 

20 ‘‘critical infrastructure’’ has the meaning given the 

21 term in the Critical Infrastructures Protection Act 

22 of 2001 (42 U.S.C. 5195c). 

23 (3) FOREIGN ENTITY.—The term ‘‘foreign enti24 ty’’— 

25 (A) means— 


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1 (i) the government of a foreign coun2 try; 

3 (ii) a foreign political party; 

4 (iii) an individual who is not a pro5 tected individual (as defined in section 

6 274B(a)(3) of the Immigration and Na7 tionality Act (8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3))); or 

8 (iv) a partnership, association, cor9 poration, organization, or other combina10 tion of persons organized under the laws 

11 of, or having its principal place of business 

12 in, a foreign country; and 

13 (B) includes— 

14 (i) any person owned by, controlled 

15 by, or subject to the jurisdiction or direc16 tion of, a person described in subpara17 graph (A); 

18 (ii) any person, wherever located, that 

19 acts as an agent, representative, or em20 ployee of a person described in subpara21 graph (A); 

22 (iii) any person that acts in any other 

23 capacity at the order or request, or under 

24 the direction or control, of— 


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1 (I) a person described in sub2 paragraph (A); or 

3 (II) a person, the activities of 

4 which are directly or indirectly super5 vised, directed, controlled, financed, or 

6 subsidized in whole or in majority 

7 part by a person described in subpara8 graph (A); 

9 (iv) any person that directly or indi10 rectly through any contract, arrangement, 

11 understanding, relationship, or otherwise 

12 owns not less than 25 percent of the equity 

13 interests of a person described in subpara14 graph (A); 

15 (v) any person with significant re16 sponsibility to control, manage, or direct a 

17 person described in subparagraph (A); 

18 (vi) any individual, wherever located, 

19 who is a citizen or resident of a country 

20 controlled by a person described in sub21 paragraph (A); and 

22 (vii) any corporation, partnership, as23 sociation, or other organization organized 

24 under the laws of a country controlled by 

25 a person described in subparagraph (A). 


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1 (4) FOREIGN ENTITY OF CONCERN.—The term 

2 ‘‘foreign entity of concern’’ means a foreign entity 

3 that is— 

4 (A) designated as a foreign terrorist orga5 nization by the Secretary of State under section 

6 219(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act 

7 (8 U.S.C. 1189(a)); 

8 (B) included on the list of specially des9 ignated nationals and blocked persons main10 tained by the Office of Foreign Assets Control 

11 of the Department of the Treasury (commonly 

12 known as the ‘‘SDN list’’); 

13 (C) owned by, controlled by, or subject to 

14 the jurisdiction or direction of a government of 

15 a foreign country that is a covered nation (as 

16 defined in section 2533c(d) of title 10, United 

17 States Code); 

18 (D) alleged by the Attorney General to 

19 have been involved in activities for which a con20 viction was obtained under— 

21 (i) chapter 37 of title 18, United 

22 States Code (commonly known as the ‘‘Es23 pionage Act’’); 

24 (ii) section 951 or 1030 of title 18, 

25 United States Code; 


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1 (iii) chapter 90 of title 18, United 

2 States Code (commonly known as the 

3 ‘‘Economic Espionage Act of 1996’’); 

4 (iv) the Arms Export Control Act (22 

5 U.S.C. 2751 et seq.); 

6 (v) section 224, 225, 226, 227, or 236 

7 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 

8 U.S.C. 2274, 2275, 2276, 2277, and 

9 2284); 

10 (vi) the Export Control Reform Act of 

11 2018 (50 U.S.C. 4801 et seq.); or 

12 (vii) the International Emergency 

13 Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et 

14 seq.); or 

15 (E) determined by the Secretary, in con16 sultation with the Secretary of Defense and the 

17 Director of National Intelligence, to be engaged 

18 in unauthorized conduct that is detrimental to 

19 the national security or foreign policy of the 

20 United States. 

21 (5) LABOR ORGANIZATION.—The term ‘‘labor 

22 organization’’ has the meaning given such term in 

23 section 8A(a) of the National Science Foundation 

24 Act of 1950. 


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1 (6) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘program’’ means 

2 the supply chain resiliency and crisis response pro3 gram established under subsection (b). 

4 (7) RELEVANT COMMITTEES OF CONGRESS.— 

5 The term ‘‘relevant committees of Congress’’ 

6 means— 

7 (A) the Committee on Commerce, Science, 

8 and Transportation of the Senate; 

9 (B) the Committee on Appropriations of 

10 the Senate; 

11 (C) the Committee on Finance of the Sen12 ate; 

13 (D) the Committee on Homeland Security 

14 and Governmental Affairs of the Senate; 

15 (E) the Committee on Armed Services of 

16 the Senate; 

17 (F) the Select Committee on Intelligence of 

18 the Senate; 

19 (G) the Committee on Science, Space, and 

20 Technology of the House of Representatives; 

21 (H) the Committee on Energy and Com22 merce of the House of Representatives; 

23 (I) the Committee on Appropriations of the 

24 House of Representatives; 


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1 (J) the Committee on Ways and Means of 

2 the House of Representatives; 

3 (K) the Committee on Homeland Security 

4 of the House of Representatives; 

5 (L) the Committee on Armed Services of 

6 the House of Representatives; and 

7 (M) the Permanent Select Committee on 

8 Intelligence of the House of Representatives. 

9 (8) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

10 the Secretary of Commerce. 

11 (b) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall establish 

12 in the Department of Commerce a supply chain resiliency 

13 and crisis response program to carry out the activities de14 scribed in subsection (d). 

15 (c) MISSION AND PRIORITIES.— 

16 (1) MISSION.—The mission of the program is 

17 to— 

18 (A) ensure the leadership of the United 

19 States with respect to industries that are essen20 tial to mid-term and long-term national security 

21 and economic competitiveness; 

22 (B) promote, in partnership with the pri23 vate sector and other relevant stakeholders, the 

24 resiliency of supply chains of the United States 

25 and allied or partner countries; and 


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1 (C) encourage partnerships between the 

2 Federal Government and industry, labor organi3 zations, and State, local, territorial, and Tribal 

4 governments in order to better respond to sup5 ply chain crises. 

6 (2) PRIORITIES.—The program shall— 

7 (A) in partnership with the private sector, 

8 build resilient and secure supply chains (includ9 ing through the mid-term and long-term diver10 sification of key supply chains, which shall in11 clude the support of small- and medium-sized 

12 businesses) that can ensure the access of the 

13 United States to critical goods and services in 

14 the face of shocks, including pandemic and bio15 logical threats, cyberattacks, extreme weather 

16 events, terrorist and geopolitical attacks, great 

17 power conflict, and other threats to national se18 curity, with key parts of such resilience being— 

19 (i) the diversification of key supply 

20 chains with allies or key partners; and 

21 (ii) working with allies or key partners 

22 through agreements and other commit23 ments; and 

24 (B) support collaboration with allies or key 

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1 silient global supply chains, including through 

2 identifying supply chain vulnerabilities, expand3 ing productive capacity, and stockpiling essen4 tial goods. 

5 (d) ACTIVITIES.—Under the program, the Secretary, 

6 acting through 1 or more bureaus or other divisions of 

7 the Department of Commerce as appropriate, shall carry 

8 out activities— 

9 (1) to map and monitor key supply chains and 

10 to identify current and future key supply chain gaps 

11 and vulnerabilities in critical industries; 

12 (2) to develop or identify opportunities to build 

13 domestic capacity, and cooperate with allies or key 

14 partners, to address supply chain gaps and 

15 vulnerabilities in critical industries; 

16 (3) to consult and collaborate with the Director 

17 of the Office of Management and Budget, the Sec18 retary of Defense, the Secretary of Homeland Secu19 rity, the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of 

20 Energy, the Secretary of Transportation, the Sec21 retary of Agriculture, the Secretary of State, the Di22 rector of National Intelligence, the Director of the 

23 Office of Science and Technology Policy, and, as ap24 propriate, the heads of other Federal departments 

25 and agencies to invest in urgent supply chain gaps; 


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1 (4) to encourage partnerships between the Fed2 eral Government and industry, labor organizations, 

3 and State, local, territorial, and Tribal governments 

4 to better respond to crises; 

5 (5) to support the distribution of critical re6 sources to areas that have the greatest needs during 

7 crises; 

8 (6) to develop contingency plans to ensure a re9 silient supply chain response for potential crises; 

10 (7) to ensure that allies and key partners have 

11 supply chains that are capable of supporting critical 

12 industries; and 

13 (8) to enter into agreements and partnerships 

14 with allied or partner governments to promote diver15 sified and resilient supply chains that ensure supply 

16 of critical goods to both the United States and allied 

17 companies. 

18 (e) AUTHORITIES.—The Secretary may— 

19 (1) establish a unified coordination group to 

20 serve as the primary method for coordinating be21 tween and among Federal departments and agencies 

22 in response to known supply chain risks as well as 

23 for integrating private sector partners into efforts, 

24 as appropriate, to— 


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1 (A) study technical, engineering, and oper2 ational data acquired on a voluntary basis from 

3 the private sector, in a manner that ensures 

4 any data provided by the private sector is kept 

5 confidential and as required under section 552 

6 of title 5, United States Code (commonly known 

7 as the ‘‘Freedom of Information Act’’); 

8 (B) directly receive whistleblower com9 plaints with appropriate protection; and 

10 (C) identify key competitiveness challenges 

11 in critical industries; 

12 (2) enter into agreements with allied or partner 

13 governments regarding supply chain security assur14 ances; 

15 (3) coordinate with other divisions of the De16 partment of Commerce and other Federal depart17 ments and agencies to leverage existing authorities, 

18 as of the date of enactment of this Act, to strength19 en supply chain resilience; and 

20 (4) with the approval of the Committee on Ap21 propriations of the Senate and the Committee on 

22 Appropriations of the House of Representatives, 

23 transfer funds to, or receive funds from, other de24 partments and agencies to implement the program. 


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1 (f) REPORT ON SUPPLY CHAIN RESILIENCY AND DO2 MESTIC MANUFACTURING.—Not later than 180 days after 

3 the date of enactment of this Act, and not less frequently 

4 than every 2 years thereafter, the Secretary shall submit 

5 to the relevant committees of Congress a review, in coordi6 nation with other relevant Federal departments and agen7 cies— 

8 (1) identifying— 

9 (A) technologies critical to economic com10 petitiveness and national security; and 

11 (B) supplies critical to the crisis prepared12 ness of the United States, such as medical sup13 plies, personal protective equipment, disaster 

14 response necessities, electrical generation tech15 nology, materials essential to critical infrastruc16 ture operation or repair and renovation, and 

17 other supplies identified by the Secretary; 

18 (2) describing— 

19 (A) the current domestic manufacturing 

20 base and supply chains for those technologies 

21 and supplies, including raw materials, produc22 tion equipment, and other goods essential to the 

23 production of those technologies and supplies; 

24 and 


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1 (B) the ability of the United States to 

2 maintain readiness and to surge produce those 

3 technologies and supplies in response to an 

4 emergency; 

5 (3) identifying defense, intelligence, homeland, 

6 economic, domestic labor supply, natural, geo7 political, or other contingencies that may disrupt, 

8 strain, compromise, or eliminate the supply chain for 

9 those technologies and supplies; 

10 (4) assessing the resiliency and capacity of the 

11 domestic, allied, and partner manufacturing base, 

12 supply chains, and workforce to support the need for 

13 those technologies and supplies, including any single 

14 points of failure in those supply chains; 

15 (5) assessing flexible manufacturing capacity 

16 available in the United States in cases of emergency; 

17 (6) making specific recommendations to im18 prove the security and resiliency of manufacturing 

19 capacity and supply chains by— 

20 (A) developing long-term strategies; 

21 (B) increasing visibility throughout mul22 tiple supplier tiers; 

23 (C) identifying and mitigating risks, in24 cluding the financial and operational risks of a 

25 supply chain, vulnerabilities to extreme weather 


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1 events, cyberattacks, pandemic and biological 

2 threats, terrorist and geopolitical attacks, and 

3 other emergencies, and exposure to gaps in do4 mestic sourcing and import exposure; 

5 (D) identifying enterprise resource plan6 ning systems that are compatible across supply 

7 chain tiers and are affordable for small and me8 dium-sized businesses; 

9 (E) understanding the total cost of owner10 ship, total value contribution, and other best 

11 practices that encourage strategic partnerships 

12 throughout the supply chain; 

13 (F) understanding Federal procurement 

14 opportunities to increase resiliency of supply 

15 chains for goods and services and fill gaps in 

16 domestic purchasing; 

17 (G) identifying policies to maximize domes18 tic job retention and creation, including work19 force development programs; 

20 (H) identifying and mitigating risks associ21 ated with allied or key partner countries in 

22 building more resilient supply chains; and 

23 (I) identifying such other services as the 

24 Secretary considers necessary; 


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1 (7) providing guidance on technologies and sup2 plies to be prioritized for assistance and other activi3 ties under the Department of Commerce, the Na4 tional Science Foundation, and other relevant Fed5 eral agencies; 

6 (8) reviewing and, if appropriate, expanding the 

7 sourcing of goods associated with critical technology 

8 areas from allies or key partners, including rec9 ommendations for coordination with allies or key 

10 partners on sourcing critical products; and 

11 (9) monitoring and strengthening the financial 

12 and operational health of small and medium enter13 prises in domestic, allied, and partner supply chains 

14 to mitigate risks and ensure diverse, competitive 

15 supplier markets that are less vulnerable to single 

16 points of failure. 

17 (g) ADDITIONAL HIRING AUTHORITY.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—To the extent needed to 

19 carry out the program, the Secretary may— 

20 (A) utilize hiring authorities under section 

21 3372 of title 5, United States Code, to staff the 

22 program with employees from other Federal 

23 agencies, institutions of higher education, and 

24 other organizations as described in that section 

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1 agement and investment in the same manner 

2 and subject to the same conditions that apply 

3 to such individuals utilized to accomplish other 

4 missions of the Department of Commerce; 

5 (B) appoint and fix the compensation of 

6 such temporary personnel as may be necessary 

7 to implement the requirements of this section 

8 relating to the program, without regard to the 

9 provisions of title 5, United States Code, gov10 erning appointments in the competitive service; 

11 and 

12 (C) appoint an individual appointed under 

13 subparagraph (B), after serving continuously 

14 for not less than 2 years, to a position in the 

15 Department of Commerce in the same manner 

16 that an employee serving in a position in the 

17 competitive service may be transferred, reas18 signed, or promoted. 

19 (2) NO REIMBURSEMENT.—Any assignment 

20 provided under paragraph (1)(A) shall be made 

21 without reimbursement. 

22 (3) EFFECT OF APPOINTMENT.—An individual 

23 appointed as described in paragraph (1)(C) shall be 

24 considered to be appointed under a career-condi25 tional appointment, unless the individual, as of the 


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1 date on which the individual is appointed, has com2 pleted a sufficient amount of creditable service to at3 tain a permanent career appointment. 

4 (h) SEMICONDUCTOR INCENTIVES.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall carry 

6 out the program established under section 9902 of 

7 the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense 

8 Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (Public Law 

9 116–283) as part of the program. 

10 (2) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMEND11 MENT.—Section 9902(a)(1) of the William M. (Mac) 

12 Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for 

13 Fiscal Year 2021 (Public Law 116–283) is amended 

14 by striking ‘‘in the Department of Commerce’’ and 

15 inserting ‘‘as part of the program established under 

16 section 6 of the Endless Frontier Act’’. 

17 (i) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Concurrent with the an18 nual submission by the President of a budget under sec19 tion 1105 of title 31, United States Code, the Secretary 

20 shall submit to the relevant committees of Congress a re21 port that contains a summary of all activities carried out 

22 under this section for the year covered by the report. 

23 (j) COORDINATION.—The Secretary of Commerce 

24 shall, as appropriate, coordinate with the heads of other 

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1 retary of State and the United States Trade Representa2 tive, in the implementation of this program. 

3 (k) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION REGARDING PRIVATE

4 ENTITIES.—Nothing in this section shall be construed to 

5 require any private entity— 

6 (1) to request assistance from the Secretary; or 

7 (2) that requested such assistance from the 

8 Secretary to implement any measure or rec9 ommendation suggested by the Secretary. 

10 (l) FUNDING.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be 

12 appropriated to the Secretary such sums as may be 

13 necessary to carry out this section, which shall re14 main available until expended. 

15 (2) INSPECTOR GENERAL FUNDING.—Of the 

16 amounts made available in a fiscal year to carry out 

17 this section, not more than 2 percent of those 

18 amounts shall be available to the Inspector General 

19 of the Department of Commerce to conduct over20 sight activities with respect to the program. 

21 (3) TRANSFERS.—Of the amounts made avail22 able in a fiscal year to carry out this section, the 

23 Secretary may transfer not more than 5 percent of 

24 those amounts to the account under the heading 

25 ‘‘Department of Commerce—Salaries and Expenses’’ 


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1 to provide for administration and oversight activities 

2 relating to the program. 

3 SEC. 7. REGIONAL TECHNOLOGY HUB PROGRAM. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Stevenson-Wydler Tech5 nology Innovation Act of 1980 (Public Law 96–480; 15 

6 U.S.C. 3701 et seq.) is amended— 

7 (1) by redesignating section 28 as section 30; 

8 and 

9 (2) by inserting after section 27 the following: 

10 ‘‘SEC. 28. REGIONAL TECHNOLOGY HUB PROGRAM. 

11 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

12 ‘‘(1) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CON13 GRESS.—The term ‘appropriate committees of Con14 gress’ means— 

15 ‘‘(A) the Committee on Commerce, 

16 Science, and Transportation, the Committee on 

17 Environment and Public Works, and the Com18 mittee on Appropriations of the Senate; and 

19 ‘‘(B) the Committee on Science, Space, 

20 and Technology, the Committee on Transpor21 tation and Infrastructure, and the Committee 

22 on Appropriations of the House of Representa23 tives. 

24 ‘‘(2) COOPERATIVE EXTENSION.—The term ‘co25 operative extension’ has the meaning given the term 


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1 ‘extension’ in section 1404 of the Food and Agri2 culture Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 3103). 

3 ‘‘(3) KEY TECHNOLOGY FOCUS AREAS.—The 

4 term ‘key technology focus areas’ means the areas 

5 included on the most recent list under section 

6 8A(d)(2) of the National Science Foundation Act of 

7 1950. 

8 ‘‘(4) LABOR ORGANIZATION.—The term ‘labor 

9 organization’ has the meaning given such term in 

10 section 8A(a) of the National Science Foundation 

11 Act of 1950. 

12 ‘‘(5) LARGE METROPOLITAN COMMUNITIES.— 

13 The term ‘large metropolitan community’ means a 

14 metropolitan statistical area with a population of 

15 more than 500,000. 

16 ‘‘(6) MANUFACTURING EXTENSION CENTER.— 

17 The term ‘manufacturing extension center’ has the 

18 meaning given the term ‘Center’ in section 25(a) of 

19 the National Institute of Standards and Technology 

20 Act (15 U.S.C. 278k(a)). 

21 ‘‘(7) MANUFACTURING USA INSTITUTE.—The 

22 term ‘Manufacturing USA institute’ means an Man23 ufacturing USA institute described in section 34(d) 

24 of the National Institute of Standards and Tech25 nology Act (15 U.S.C. 278s(d)). 


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1 ‘‘(8) MID-SIZED METROPOLITAN COMMU2 NITIES.—The term ‘mid-sized metropolitan commu3 nity’ means a metropolitan statistical area with a 

4 population of more than 200,000 and not more than 

5 500,000. 

6 ‘‘(9) OTHER TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION

7 SECTORS CRITICAL TO NATIONAL AND ECONOMIC SE8 CURITY.—The term ‘other technology and innovation 

9 sectors critical to national and economic security’ 

10 means other technology and innovation sectors that 

11 the Secretary determines are critical to national and 

12 economic security. 

13 ‘‘(10) SMALL AND RURAL COMMUNITIES.—The 

14 term ‘small and rural community’ means a noncore 

15 area, a micropolitan area, or a small metropolitan 

16 statistical area with a population of not more than 

17 200,000. 

18 ‘‘(11) VENTURE DEVELOPMENT ORGANIZA19 TION.—The term ‘venture development organization’ 

20 means a State or nonprofit organization focused pri21 marily toward strengthening regional economic de22 velopment through innovation by— 

23 ‘‘(A) accelerating the commercialization of 

24 research and technology; 


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1 ‘‘(B) strengthening the competitive posi2 tion of startups and industry through the devel3 opment, commercial adoption, or deployment of 

4 technology; 

5 ‘‘(C) providing financial grants, loans, or 

6 direct investment to commercialize technology; 

7 ‘‘(D) pairing direct financial assistance 

8 under subparagraph (C) with entrepreneurship, 

9 technological, or business assistance to maxi10 mize the likelihood of success for a venture and 

11 increased employment growth for the region or 

12 a sector; and 

13 ‘‘(E) returning any proceeds gained from 

14 direct financial assistance made using organiza15 tion funds to the organization for future rein16 vestment, entrepreneurial assistance, and sup17 port of operations. 

18 ‘‘(b) REGIONAL TECHNOLOGY HUB PROGRAM.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall carry 

20 out a program— 

21 ‘‘(A) to designate eligible consortia as re22 gional technology hubs that create the condi23 tions, within a region, to facilitate activities 

24 that— 


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1 ‘‘(i) enable United States leadership 

2 in a key technology focus area, comple3 menting the Federal research and develop4 ment investments under section 8A of the 

5 National Science Foundation Act of 1950, 

6 or other technology and innovation sectors 

7 critical to national and economic security; 

8 ‘‘(ii) support regional economic devel9 opment that diffuses innovation around the 

10 United States, enabling better broad-based 

11 growth and competitiveness in key tech12 nology focus areas; 

13 ‘‘(iii) support domestic job creation; 

14 and 

15 ‘‘(iv) otherwise support the purposes 

16 set forth under paragraph (2); 

17 ‘‘(B) to support regional technology hubs 

18 designated under subparagraph (A); and 

19 ‘‘(C) to conduct ongoing research, evalua20 tion, analysis, and dissemination of best prac21 tices for regional development and competitive22 ness in technology and innovation. 

23 ‘‘(2) PURPOSES.—The purposes of the program 

24 carried out under paragraph (1) are as follows: 


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1 ‘‘(A) To designate eligible consortia as re2 gional technology hubs throughout the United 

3 States that create the conditions within a re4 gion to facilitate activities that establish the 

5 global competitive edge of the United States in 

6 the 21st century across a range of technology 

7 and innovation sectors critical to national and 

8 economic security, including to encourage lower9 cost but economically viable technology hubs in 

10 the United States to reduce technology 

11 offshoring. 

12 ‘‘(B) To encourage new and constructive 

13 collaboration among local, State, and Federal 

14 government entities, academia, private industry, 

15 and labor organizations to mobilize investment, 

16 talent, entrepreneurship, and innovation for re17 search, development, deployment, and manufac18 turing in a range of technology and innovation 

19 sectors critical to national and economic secu20 rity. 

21 ‘‘(C) To assist regions across the United 

22 States, including small cities and rural areas— 

23 ‘‘(i) to develop and implement strate24 gies through technology-based economic 

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1 structure and workforce development, en2 trepreneurship and commercialization sup3 port, increasing access to capital, and 

4 building networks and systems to help 

5 bring ideas and businesses to market, and 

6 other relevant activities; 

7 ‘‘(ii) to improve domestic supply 

8 chains in technology and innovation sec9 tors; and 

10 ‘‘(iii) to enable broad-based economic 

11 growth, job creation and competitiveness in 

12 the United States. 

13 ‘‘(3) ADMINISTRATION.—The Secretary shall 

14 carry out this section through the Assistant Sec15 retary of Commerce for Economic Development, in 

16 coordination with the Under Secretary of Commerce 

17 for Standards and Technology. 

18 ‘‘(c) ELIGIBLE CONSORTIA.—For purposes of this 

19 section, an eligible consortium is a consortium that— 

20 ‘‘(1) includes 1 or more— 

21 ‘‘(A) institutions of higher education; 

22 ‘‘(B) local or Tribal governments or other 

23 political subdivisions of a State; 

24 ‘‘(C) State governments represented by an 

25 agency designated by the governor of the State 


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1 or States that is representative of the geo2 graphic area served by the consortia; 

3 ‘‘(D) economic development organizations 

4 or similar entities that are focused primarily on 

5 improving science, technology, innovation, or 

6 entrepreneurship; 

7 ‘‘(E) industry or firms in relevant tech8 nology or innovation sectors; 

9 ‘‘(F) labor organizations; and 

10 ‘‘(G) workforce training organizations, in11 cluding State and local workforce development 

12 boards as established under section 101 of the 

13 Workforce Investment and Opportunity Act (29 

14 U.S.C. 3111); and 

15 ‘‘(2) may include 1 or more— 

16 ‘‘(A) nonprofit economic development enti17 ties with relevant expertise, including a district 

18 organization (as defined in section 300.3 of title 

19 13, Code of Federal Regulations, or successor 

20 regulation); 

21 ‘‘(B) for-profit entities with relevant exper22 tise; 

23 ‘‘(C) venture development organizations; 

24 ‘‘(D) financial institutions and investment 

25 funds; 


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1 ‘‘(E) primary and secondary educational 

2 institutions, including career and technical edu3 cation schools; 

4 ‘‘(F) industry and industry associations; 

5 ‘‘(G) National Laboratories (as defined in 

6 section 2 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 

7 U.S.C. 15801)); 

8 ‘‘(H) Federal laboratories; 

9 ‘‘(I) manufacturing extension centers; 

10 ‘‘(J) Manufacturing USA institutes; 

11 ‘‘(K) institutions receiving an award under 

12 paragraph (6) or (7) of section 8A(d) of the 

13 National Science Foundation Act of 1950; and 

14 ‘‘(L) a cooperative extension. 

15 ‘‘(d) DESIGNATION OF REGIONAL TECHNOLOGY

16 HUBS.— 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall use a 

18 competitive process for the designation of regional 

19 technology hubs under subsection (b)(1)(A). 

20 ‘‘(2) NUMBER OF REGIONAL TECHNOLOGY

21 HUBS.—During the 5-year period beginning on the 

22 date of the enactment of the Endless Frontier Act, 

23 the Secretary shall designate not fewer than 10 and 

24 not more than 15 eligible consortia as regional tech25 nology hubs under subsection (b)(1)(A), if the SecVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:50 Jun 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00091 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2731.IH H2731

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1 retary has received a sufficient number of qualified 

2 applications and appropriations to carry out this sec3 tion. 

4 ‘‘(3) GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION.—In con5 ducting the competitive process under paragraph 

6 (1), the Secretary shall ensure geographic distribu7 tion in the designation of regional technology hubs 

8 by— 

9 ‘‘(A) aiming to designate regional tech10 nology hubs in as many regions of the United 

11 States as possible; and 

12 ‘‘(B) focusing on localities that have clear 

13 potential and relevant assets for developing a 

14 self-sustaining competitive position in a tech15 nology or innovation sector but have not yet be16 come leading technology centers. 

17 ‘‘(4) ELIGIBLE CONSORTIA THAT SERVE SMALL

18 AND RURAL COMMUNITIES.—Under subsection 

19 (b)(1)(A), the Secretary shall designate at least 3 el20 igible consortia that— 

21 ‘‘(A) serve small and rural communities; 

22 and 

23 ‘‘(B) have received a grant under section 

24 29. 


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1 ‘‘(5) EPSCOR.—The Secretary shall ensure 

2 that, of the eligible consortia designated as regional 

3 technology hubs under subsection (b)(1)(A), not 

4 fewer than 5 of such consortia include at least 1 

5 State that is eligible to receive funding from the Es6 tablished Program to Stimulate Competitive Re7 search of the National Science Foundation. 

8 ‘‘(6) RELATION TO CERTAIN GRANT AWARDS.— 

9 The Secretary may not require an eligible consor10 tium to receive a grant under section 29 in order to 

11 be designated as a regional technology hub under 

12 subsection (b)(1)(A) of this section. 

13 ‘‘(e) GRANTS AND COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS.— 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall carry 

15 out subparagraph (B) of subsection (b)(1) through 

16 the award of grants or cooperative agreements to eli17 gible consortia designated under subparagraph (A) 

18 of such subsection. 

19 ‘‘(2) TERM.— 

20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term of a grant 

21 or cooperative agreement awarded under para22 graph (1) shall be for such period as the Sec23 retary considers appropriate. 

24 ‘‘(B) RENEWAL.—The Secretary may 

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1 ed to an eligible consortia under paragraph (1) 

2 as the Secretary considers appropriate if the 

3 Secretary determines pursuant to subsection (i) 

4 that the performance of the eligible consortia is 

5 satisfactory. 

6 ‘‘(3) MATCHING REQUIRED.— 

7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except in the case of 

8 an eligible consortium described in subpara9 graph (B), the total Federal financial assistance 

10 awarded in a given year to an eligible consor11 tium in support of the eligible consortium’s op12 eration as a regional technology hub under this 

13 section shall not exceed amounts as follows: 

14 ‘‘(i) In first year of the grant or coop15 erative agreement, 90 percent of the total 

16 operating and maintenance costs of the re17 gional technology hub in that fiscal year. 

18 ‘‘(ii) In second year of the grant or 

19 cooperative agreement, 85 percent of the 

20 total operating and maintenance costs of 

21 the regional technology hub in that fiscal 

22 year. 

23 ‘‘(iii) In third year of the grant or co24 operative agreement, 80 percent of the 

25 total operating and maintenance costs of 


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1 the regional technology hub in that fiscal 

2 year. 

3 ‘‘(iv) In fourth year of the grant or 

4 cooperative agreement and each year there5 after, 75 percent of the total operating and 

6 maintenance costs of the regional tech7 nology hub in that fiscal year. 

8 ‘‘(B) SMALL AND RURAL COMMUNITIES

9 AND INDIAN TRIBES.— 

10 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The total Federal 

11 financial assistance awarded in a given 

12 year to an eligible consortium in support of 

13 the eligible consortium’s operation as a re14 gional technology hub under this section 

15 shall not exceed amounts as follows: 

16 ‘‘(I) In the case of an eligible 

17 consortium that represents a small 

18 and rural community, in a fiscal year, 

19 90 percent of the total funding of the 

20 regional technology hub in that fiscal 

21 year. 

22 ‘‘(II) In the case of an eligible 

23 consortium that is led by a Tribal 

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1 gional technology hub in that fiscal 

2 year. 

3 ‘‘(ii) MINIMUM THRESHOLD OR RURAL

4 REPRESENTATION.—The Secretary shall 

5 establish a minimum threshold of rural 

6 representation for purposes of clause (i)(I). 

7 ‘‘(C) IN-KIND CONTRIBUTIONS.—For pur8 poses of this paragraph, in-kind contributions 

9 may be used for part of the non-Federal share 

10 of the total funding of a regional technology 

11 hub in a fiscal year. 

12 ‘‘(4) USE OF GRANT AND COOPERATIVE AGREE13 MENT FUNDS.—The recipient of a grant or coopera14 tive agreement awarded under paragraph (1) shall 

15 use the grant or cooperative agreement for multiple 

16 activities determined appropriate by the Secretary, 

17 including— 

18 ‘‘(A) the permissible activities set forth 

19 under section 27(c)(2); and 

20 ‘‘(B) activities in support of key technology 

21 focus areas and other technology and innova22 tion sectors critical to national and economic se23 curity— 

24 ‘‘(i) to develop regional strategies for 

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1 port of the regional technology hub’s plans 

2 and programs; 

3 ‘‘(ii) to support business activity that 

4 makes domestic supply chain more resilient 

5 and encourages the growth of coordinated 

6 multiparty systems in the United States 

7 and creation and growth of business enti8 ties; 

9 ‘‘(iii) to attract new private, public, 

10 and philanthropic investment in the region 

11 for developing innovation capacity, includ12 ing establishing regional venture and loan 

13 funds, including through venture develop14 ment organizations, for financing tech15 nology commercialization, new business 

16 formation, and business expansions; 

17 ‘‘(iv) to further the development, de18 ployment, and domestic manufacturing of 

19 technologies in the key technology focus 

20 areas and other technology and innovation 

21 sectors critical to national and economic 

22 security, including innovations derived 

23 from research conducted at institutions of 

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1 funded research and development centers, 

2 National Laboratories, Federal labora3 tories, Manufacturing USA institutes, uni4 versity technology centers established 

5 under paragraph (6) of section 8A(d) of 

6 the National Science Foundation Act of 

7 1950, the program established under para8 graph (7) of such section 8A(d), test beds 

9 established and operated under paragraph 

10 (8) of such section 8A(d), or other Federal 

11 research entities, through activities that 

12 may include— 

13 ‘‘(I) proof-of-concept development 

14 and prototyping; 

15 ‘‘(II) technology transfer and 

16 commercialization, including patenting 

17 and licensing; 

18 ‘‘(III) public-private partnerships 

19 in order to reduce the cost, time, and 

20 risk of commercializing new tech21 nologies; 

22 ‘‘(IV) creating and funding com23 petitions to allow entrepreneurial 

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1 tion and domestic job creation poten2 tial; 

3 ‘‘(V) facilitating relationships be4 tween local and national business 

5 leaders and potential entrepreneurs to 

6 encourage successful commercializa7 tion; 

8 ‘‘(VI) creating and funding not9 for-profit entities that could enable re10 searchers at institutions of higher 

11 education and other research entities 

12 to further develop new technology, 

13 through patient funding, advice, staff 

14 support, or other means; 

15 ‘‘(VII) providing facilities for 

16 start-up companies where technology 

17 maturation could occur; and 

18 ‘‘(VIII) commercialization, de19 ployment, and adoption of the tech20 nologies that lead to domestic manu21 facturing of such technologies; 

22 ‘‘(v) to develop the region’s skilled 

23 workforce through the training and re24 training of workers, partnerships with 

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1 cation, including the alignment of career 

2 technical training and educational pro3 grams in the region’s elementary and sec4 ondary schools and institutions of higher 

5 education; and 

6 ‘‘(vi) to carry out such other activities 

7 as the Secretary considers appropriate to 

8 improve United States competitiveness and 

9 regional economic development to support 

10 a key technology focus area and that would 

11 further the purposes of this section. 

12 ‘‘(5) GRANTS FOR INFRASTRUCTURE.—Any 

13 grant or cooperative agreement awarded under para14 graph (1) to support the construction of physical in15 frastructure shall be awarded pursuant to section 

16 201 of the Public Works and Economic Development 

17 Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3141) and subject to the 

18 provisions of such Act, except that subsection (b) of 

19 such section and sections 204 and 301 of such Act 

20 (42 U.S.C. 3144, 3161) shall not apply. 

21 ‘‘(f) APPLICATIONS.—An eligible consortium seeking 

22 designation as a regional technology hub under subpara23 graph (A) of subsection (b)(1) and support under subpara24 graph (B) of such subsection shall submit to the Secretary 


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1 an application therefor at such time, in such manner, and 

2 containing such information as the Secretary may specify. 

3 ‘‘(g) CONSIDERATIONS FOR DESIGNATION AND

4 AWARD OF GRANTS AND COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS.— 

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In selecting an eligible con6 sortium that submitted an application under sub7 section (f) for designation and support under sub8 section (b)(1), the Secretary shall consider, at a 

9 minimum, the following: 

10 ‘‘(A) The potential of the eligible consor11 tium to advance the research, development, de12 ployment, and domestic manufacturing of tech13 nologies in a key technology focus area or other 

14 technology or innovation sector critical to na15 tional and economic security. 

16 ‘‘(B) The likelihood of positive regional 

17 economic effect, including increasing the num18 ber of high wage domestic jobs, and creating 

19 new economic opportunities for economically 

20 disadvantaged and underrepresented popu21 lations. 

22 ‘‘(C) How the eligible consortium plans to 

23 integrate with and leverage the resources of 1 

24 or more federally-funded research and develop25 ment centers, National Laboratories, Federal 


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1 laboratories, Manufacturing USA institutes, 

2 Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership 

3 centers, university technology centers estab4 lished under paragraph (6) of section 8A(d) of 

5 the National Science Foundation Act of 1950, 

6 the program established under paragraph (7) of 

7 such section 8A(d), test beds established and 

8 operated under paragraph (8) of such section 

9 8A(d), or other Federal research entities. 

10 ‘‘(D) How the eligible consortium will en11 gage with the private sector, including small12 and medium-sized businesses to commercialize 

13 new technologies and improve the resiliency of 

14 domestic supply chains in a key technology 

15 focus area or other technology or innovation 

16 sector critical to national and economic secu17 rity. 

18 ‘‘(E) How the eligible consortium will 

19 carry out workforce development and skills ac20 quisition programming, including through part21 nerships with entities that include State and 

22 local workforce development boards, institutions 

23 of higher education, including community col24 leges, historically Black colleges and univer25 sities, Tribal colleges and universities, and miVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:50 Jun 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00102 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2731.IH H2731

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1 nority serving institutions, labor organizations, 

2 and workforce development programs, and other 

3 related activities authorized by the Secretary, to 

4 support the development of a key technology 

5 focus area or other technology or innovation 

6 sector critical to national and economic secu7 rity. 

8 ‘‘(F) How the eligible consortium will im9 prove science, technology, engineering, and 

10 mathematics education programs in the identi11 fied region in elementary and secondary school 

12 and higher education institutions located in the 

13 identified region to support the development of 

14 a key technology focus area or other technology 

15 or innovation sector critical to national and eco16 nomic security. 

17 ‘‘(G) How the eligible consortium plans to 

18 develop partnerships with venture development 

19 organizations and sources of private investment 

20 in support of private sector activity, including 

21 launching new or expanding existing companies, 

22 in a key technology focus area or other tech23 nology or innovation sector critical to national 

24 and economic security. 


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1 ‘‘(H) How the eligible consortium plans to 

2 organize the activities of regional partners 

3 across sectors in support of the proposed re4 gional technology hub, including the develop5 ment of necessary infrastructure improvements 

6 and site preparation. 

7 ‘‘(I) How the eligible consortium will en8 sure that growth in technology and innovation 

9 sectors produces broadly shared opportunity 

10 across the identified region, including for eco11 nomic disadvantaged and underrepresented pop12 ulations and rural areas. 

13 ‘‘(J) The likelihood that the region served 

14 by the eligible consortium will be able to become 

15 a self-sustaining globally leading technology hub 

16 once Federal support ends. 

17 ‘‘(2) FINDINGS BASED ON COMPREHENSIVE RE18 GIONAL TECHNOLOGY STRATEGIES.—The Secretary 

19 may use a comprehensive regional technology strat20 egy supported by a grant under section 29 as the 

21 basis for making findings under paragraph (1) of 

22 this subsection. 

23 ‘‘(h) COORDINATION AND COLLABORATION.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) COORDINATION WITH NATIONAL INSTI2 TUTE OF STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY PRO3 GRAMS.— 

4 ‘‘(A) COORDINATION REQUIRED.—The 

5 Secretary shall coordinate the activities of re6 gional technology hubs designated under this 

7 title, the Hollings Manufacturing Extension 

8 Partnership, and the Manufacturing USA Pro9 gram with each other to the degree that doing 

10 so does not diminish the effectiveness of the on11 going activities of a manufacturing extension 

12 center or a Manufacturing USA institute. 

13 ‘‘(B) ELEMENTS.—Coordination by the 

14 Secretary under subparagraph (A) may include 

15 the following: 

16 ‘‘(i) The alignment of activities of the 

17 Hollings Manufacturing Extension Part18 nership with the activities of regional tech19 nology hubs designated under this sub20 section, if applicable. 

21 ‘‘(ii) The alignment of activities of the 

22 Manufacturing USA Program and the 

23 Manufacturing USA institutes with the ac24 tivities of regional technology hubs des25 ignated under this subsection, if applicable. 


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1 ‘‘(2) COORDINATION WITH DEPARTMENT OF

2 ENERGY PROGRAMS.—The Secretary shall, in coordi3 nation with the Secretary of Energy, coordinate the 

4 activities and selection of regional technology hubs 

5 designated under subsection (b)(1)(A) with activities 

6 at the Department of Energy and the National Lab7 oratories that were in effect on the day before the 

8 date of the enactment of the Endless Frontier Act, 

9 to the degree that doing so does not diminish the ef10 fectiveness of the ongoing activities or mission of the 

11 Department of Energy and the National Labora12 tories. 

13 ‘‘(3) INTERAGENCY COLLABORATION.— 

14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In selecting and as15 sisting regional technology hubs designated 

16 under subsection (b)(1)(A), the Secretary— 

17 ‘‘(i) shall collaborate, to the extent 

18 possible, with the interagency advisory 

19 committee established under subparagraph 

20 (B); 

21 ‘‘(ii) shall collaborate with Federal de22 partments and agencies whose missions 

23 contribute to the goals of the regional tech24 nology hub; and 


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1 ‘‘(iii) may accept funds from other 

2 Federal agencies to support grants and ac3 tivities under this title. 

4 ‘‘(B) INTERAGENCY COORDINATING COUN5 CIL.— 

6 ‘‘(i) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary 

7 shall establish an interagency coordinating 

8 council to coordinate with the Secretary in 

9 the designation of regional technology hubs 

10 under subparagraph (A) of subsection 

11 (b)(1) and in the selection of eligible con12 sortia to receive support under subpara13 graph (B) of such subsection. 

14 ‘‘(ii) COMPOSITION.—The interagency 

15 coordinating council established under 

16 clause (i) shall be composed of the fol17 lowing (or their designees): 

18 ‘‘(I) The Secretary of Commerce. 

19 ‘‘(II) The Secretary of Edu20 cation. 

21 ‘‘(III) The Administrator of the 

22 Small Business Administration. 

23 ‘‘(IV) The Deputy Secretary for 

24 Housing and Urban Development. 


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1 ‘‘(V) The Director of the Com2 munity Development Financial Insti3 tution Fund. 

4 ‘‘(VI) The Director of the Na5 tional Science Foundation. 

6 ‘‘(VII) The Director of the Na7 tional Institute of Standards and 

8 Technology. 

9 ‘‘(VIII) The Director of the Na10 tional Economic Council. 

11 ‘‘(IX) The Assistant Secretary of 

12 Commerce for Economic Development. 

13 ‘‘(X) The Assistant Secretary for 

14 Employment and Training. 

15 ‘‘(XI) The Director of the Office 

16 of Science and Technology Policy. 

17 ‘‘(XII) The Under Secretary of 

18 Defense for Research and Engineer19 ing. 

20 ‘‘(XIII) The Under Secretary of 

21 Defense for Acquisition and 

22 Sustainment. 

23 ‘‘(XIV) The Under Secretary for 

24 Science of the Department of Energy. 


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1 ‘‘(XV) The Director of the Na2 tional Institutes of Health. 

3 ‘‘(XVI) The Under Secretary for 

4 Science and Technology of the De5 partment of Homeland Security. 

6 ‘‘(XVII) The Administrator of 

7 the National Aeronautics and Space 

8 Administration. 

9 ‘‘(XVIII) The Director of the Of10 fice of Management and Budget. 

11 ‘‘(XIX) Such other Federal offi12 cials as the Secretary of Commerce 

13 considers appropriate. 

14 ‘‘(iii) CHAIRPERSON.—The Secretary 

15 shall be the chairperson of the interagency 

16 coordinating council established under 

17 clause (i). 

18 ‘‘(4) SETTING GOALS FOR FEDERALLY FUNDED

19 REGIONS SERVED BY RESEARCH IN REGIONAL TECH20 NOLOGY HUBS.— 

21 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the 

22 Office of Science and Technology Policy and the 

23 Director of the Office of Management and 

24 Budget shall coordinate with the each head of 

25 a Federal agency that conducts research to set 


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1 goals for at least doubling the amount of Feder2 ally-funded research awarded, as in effect on 

3 the day before the date of the enactment of the 

4 Endless Frontier Act, to regions served by re5 gional technology hubs designated under sub6 section (b)(1)(A). 

7 ‘‘(B) ANNUAL REPORTS.—Not less fre8 quently than once each year, the Director of the 

9 Office of Science and Technology Policy and the 

10 Director of the Office of Management and 

11 Budget shall submit to the appropriate commit12 tees of Congress an annual report on progress 

13 made relating to the goals set under subpara14 graph (A). 

15 ‘‘(i) PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT, TRANS16 PARENCY, AND ACCOUNTABILITY.— 

17 ‘‘(1) METRICS, STANDARDS, AND ASSESS18 MENT.—For each grant and cooperative agreement 

19 awarded under subsection (e)(1) for a regional tech20 nology hub, the Secretary shall— 

21 ‘‘(A) develop metrics to assess the effec22 tiveness of the activities funded in making 

23 progress toward the purposes set forth under 

24 subsection (b)(2), which may include— 


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1 ‘‘(i) research supported in a key tech2 nology focus area; 

3 ‘‘(ii) commercialization activities un4 dertaken by each regional technology hub 

5 that is designated and supported under 

6 subsection (b)(1); 

7 ‘‘(iii) educational and workforce devel8 opment improvements undertaken by each 

9 regional technology hub that is designated 

10 and supported under subsection (b)(1); 

11 ‘‘(iv) sources of matching funds for 

12 each regional technology hub that is des13 ignated and supported under subsection 

14 (b)(1); and 

15 ‘‘(v) domestic job creation, patent 

16 awards, and business formation and expan17 sion relating to the activities of the re18 gional technology hub that is designated 

19 and supported under subsection (b)(1); 

20 ‘‘(B) establish standards for the perform21 ance of the regional technology hub that are 

22 based on the metrics developed under subpara23 graph (A); and 

24 ‘‘(C) 4 years after the initial award under 

25 subsection (e)(1) and every 2 years thereafter 


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1 until Federal financial assistance under this 

2 section for the regional technology hub is dis3 continued, conduct an assessment of the re4 gional technology hub to confirm whether the 

5 performance of the regional technology hub is 

6 meeting the standards for performance estab7 lished under subparagraph (B) of this para8 graph. 

9 ‘‘(2) FINAL REPORTS BY RECIPIENTS OF AS10 SISTANCE.— 

11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

12 require each eligible consortium that receives a 

13 grant or cooperative agreement under sub14 section (e)(1) for support of a regional tech15 nology hub, as a condition of receipt of such 

16 grant or cooperative agreement, submit to the 

17 Secretary, not later than 90 days after the last 

18 day of the term of the grant or cooperative 

19 agreement, a report on the activities of the re20 gional technology hub supported by the grant or 

21 cooperative agreement. 

22 ‘‘(B) CONTENTS OF REPORT.—Each report 

23 submitted by an eligible consortium under sub24 paragraph (A) shall include the following: 


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1 ‘‘(i) A detailed description of the ac2 tivities carried out by the eligible consor3 tium using the assistance described in sub4 paragraph (A), including the following: 

5 ‘‘(I) A description of each project 

6 the eligible consortium completed 

7 using such assistance. 

8 ‘‘(II) An explanation of how each 

9 project described in subclause (I) 

10 achieves a specific goal under this sec11 tion in the region of the regional tech12 nology hub of the eligible consortium 

13 with respect to— 

14 ‘‘(aa) the resiliency of a sup15 ply chain; 

16 ‘‘(bb) research, development, 

17 and deployment of a critical tech18 nology; 

19 ‘‘(cc) workforce training and 

20 development; 

21 ‘‘(dd) domestic job creation; 

22 or 

23 ‘‘(ee) entrepreneurship. 

24 ‘‘(ii) A discussion of any obstacles en25 countered by the eligible consortium in the 


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1 implementation of the regional technology 

2 hub and how the eligible entity overcame 

3 those obstacles. 

4 ‘‘(iii) An evaluation of the success of 

5 the projects supported by the eligible con6 sortium to implement the regional tech7 nology hub using the performance stand8 ards and measures established under para9 graph (1), including an evaluation of the 

10 planning process and how the project con11 tributes to carrying out the comprehensive 

12 strategy for the regional technology hub if 

13 the regional technology hub has such a 

14 strategy. 

15 ‘‘(iv) The effectiveness of the eligible 

16 consortium in ensuring that, in the region 

17 of the eligible consortium’s regional tech18 nology hub, growth in technology and inno19 vation sectors produces broadly shared op20 portunity across the region, including for 

21 economic disadvantaged and underrep22 resented populations and rural areas. 

23 ‘‘(v) Information regarding such other 

24 matters as the Secretary may require. 


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1 ‘‘(3) INTERIM REPORTS BY RECIPIENTS OF AS2 SISTANCE.—In addition to requiring submittal of 

3 final reports under paragraph (2)(A), the Secretary 

4 may require an eligible consortium described in such 

5 paragraph to submit to the Secretary such interim 

6 reports as the Secretary considers appropriate. 

7 ‘‘(4) ANNUAL REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—Not 

8 less frequently than once each year, the Secretary 

9 shall submit to the appropriate committees of Con10 gress an annual report on the results of the assess11 ments conducted by the Secretary under paragraph 

12 (1)(C) during the period covered by the report. 

13 ‘‘(j) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

14 is authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry 

15 out this section $9,425,000,000 for the period of fiscal 

16 years 2022 through 2026.’’. 

17 (b) INITIAL DESIGNATIONS AND AWARDS.— 

18 (1) COMPETITION REQUIRED.—Not later than 

19 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, 

20 the Secretary of Commerce shall commence a com21 petition under subsection (d)(1) of section 28 of the 

22 Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 

23 1980 (Public Law 96–480), as added by subsection 

24 (a). 


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1 (2) DESIGNATION AND AWARD.—Not later than 

2 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, 

3 if the Secretary has received at least 1 application 

4 under subsection (f) of such section from an eligible 

5 consortium whom the Secretary considers suitable 

6 for designation under subsection (b)(1)(A) of such 

7 section, the Secretary shall— 

8 (A) designate at least 1 regional tech9 nology hub under subsection (b)(1)(A) of such 

10 section; and 

11 (B) award a grant or cooperative agree12 ment under subsection (e)(1) of such section to 

13 each regional technology hub designated pursu14 ant to subparagraph (A) of this paragraph. 

15 SEC. 8. COMPREHENSIVE REGIONAL TECHNOLOGY STRAT16 EGY GRANT PROGRAM. 

17 The Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 

18 1980 (Public Law 96–480; 15 U.S.C. 3701 et seq.), as 

19 amended by section 7, is further amended, by inserting 

20 after section 28, as added by such section, the following: 

21 ‘‘SEC. 29. COMPREHENSIVE REGIONAL TECHNOLOGY 

22 STRATEGY GRANT PROGRAM. 

23 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

24 ‘‘(1) LABOR ORGANIZATION.—The term ‘labor 

25 organization’ has the meaning given such term in 


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1 section 8A(a) of the National Science Foundation 

2 Act of 1950. 

3 ‘‘(2) REGIONAL TECHNOLOGY HUB.—The term 

4 ‘regional technology hub’ means a consortium des5 ignated as a regional technology hub under section 

6 28(b)(1)(A). 

7 ‘‘(3) SMALL AND RURAL COMMUNITIES; MID8 SIZED METROPOLITAN COMMUNITIES; LARGE MET9 ROPOLITAN COMMUNITIES.—The terms ‘small and 

10 rural communities’, ‘mid-sized metropolitan commu11 nities’, and ‘large metropolitan communities’ have 

12 the meanings given such terms in section 28(a). 

13 ‘‘(4) TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION SECTORS

14 CRITICAL TO NATIONAL AND ECONOMIC SECURITY.— 

15 The term ‘technology and innovation sectors critical 

16 to national and economic security’ means technology 

17 and innovation sectors that the Secretary determines 

18 are critical to national and economic security. 

19 ‘‘(b) GRANT PROGRAM REQUIRED.—The Secretary 

20 shall establish a program to award grants to eligible con21 sortia to carry out projects— 

22 ‘‘(1) to coordinate locally defined planning proc23 esses, across jurisdictions and agencies, relating to 

24 developing a comprehensive regional technology 

25 strategy; 


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1 ‘‘(2) to identify regional partnerships for devel2 oping and implementing a comprehensive regional 

3 technology strategy; 

4 ‘‘(3) to conduct or update assessments to deter5 mine regional needs and promote economic and com6 munity development related to the resiliency of a do7 mestic supply chains, competitiveness of the region, 

8 and domestic job creation in technology and innova9 tion sectors critical to national and economic secu10 rity; 

11 ‘‘(4) to develop or update goals and strategies 

12 to implement an existing comprehensive regional 

13 plan related to enhancing the resiliency of domestic 

14 supply chains, competitiveness of the region, and do15 mestic job creation in technology and innovation sec16 tors critical to national and economic security; and 

17 ‘‘(5) to identify local zoning and other code 

18 changes necessary to implement a comprehensive re19 gional technology strategy, including promoting sus20 tainable development within the identified region. 

21 ‘‘(c) ELIGIBLE CONSORTIA.—For purposes of this 

22 section, an eligible consortium is any consortium described 

23 by section 28(c). 

24 ‘‘(d) GRANTS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) DIVERSITY OF RECIPIENTS.—In awarding 

2 grants under this section, the Secretary shall ensure 

3 geographic diversity among, and adequate represen4 tation from, each of the following: 

5 ‘‘(A) Small and rural communities. 

6 ‘‘(B) Mid-sized metropolitan communities. 

7 ‘‘(C) Large metropolitan communities. 

8 ‘‘(2) AWARDS TO SMALL AND RURAL COMMU9 NITIES.— 

10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

11 subparagraph (B), the Secretary shall— 

12 ‘‘(i) award not less than 25 percent of 

13 the funds under this section to eligible con14 sortia that represent all or part of a small 

15 and rural community; and 

16 ‘‘(ii) ensure diversity among the geo17 graphic regions and the size of the popu18 lation of the communities served by recipi19 ents of grants that are eligible consortia 

20 that represent all or part of a small and 

21 rural community. 

22 ‘‘(B) INSUFFICIENT APPLICATIONS.—If 

23 the Secretary determines that an insufficient 

24 number of sufficient quality applications for 

25 grants under this section have been submitted 


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1 by eligible consortia that represent all or part 

2 of a small and rural community, the Secretary 

3 may reduce the percentage threshold set forth 

4 in subparagraph (A)(i). 

5 ‘‘(3) FEDERAL SHARE.— 

6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

7 subparagraph (B), the Federal share of the cost 

8 of a project carried out using a grant awarded 

9 under this section may not exceed 80 percent. 

10 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTIONS.— 

11 ‘‘(i) SMALL AND RURAL COMMU12 NITIES.—In the case of an eligible consor13 tium that represents all or part of a small 

14 and rural community, the Federal share of 

15 the cost of a project carried out using a 

16 grant awarded under this section may be 

17 up to 90 percent of the total cost of the 

18 project. 

19 ‘‘(ii) INDIAN TRIBES.—In the case of 

20 an eligible consortium that is led by a 

21 Tribal government, the Federal share of 

22 the cost of a project carried out using a 

23 grant under the grant awarded under this 

24 section may be up to 100 percent of the 

25 total cost of the project. 


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1 ‘‘(C) NON-FEDERAL SHARE.— 

2 ‘‘(i) IN-KIND CONTRIBUTIONS.—For 

3 the purposes of this paragraph, in-kind 

4 contributions may be used for all or part 

5 of the non-Federal share of the cost of a 

6 project carried out using a grant awarded 

7 under this section. 

8 ‘‘(ii) OTHER FEDERAL FUNDING.— 

9 Federal funding from sources other than a 

10 grant awarded under this section may not 

11 be used for the non-Federal share of the 

12 cost of a project carried out using a grant 

13 under this section. 

14 ‘‘(4) AVAILABILITY AND OBLIGATION OF GRANT

15 AMOUNTS.— 

16 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—An eligible consortium 

17 that receives a grant under this section shall, as 

18 a condition on receipt of grant amounts— 

19 ‘‘(i) obligate any grant amounts re20 ceived under this section not later than 1 

21 year after the date on which the eligible 

22 consortium enters into an agreement under 

23 subsection (g); and 

24 ‘‘(ii) expend any grant amounts re25 ceived under this section not later than 2 


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1 years after the date on which the eligible 

2 consortium enters into an agreement under 

3 subsection (g). 

4 ‘‘(B) UNOBLIGATED AMOUNTS.—After the 

5 date described in subparagraph (A)(i), any 

6 amounts awarded to an eligible consortium 

7 under this section that remain unobligated by 

8 the eligible consortium shall be returned to the 

9 Secretary and made available to the Secretary 

10 for the award of grants to other eligible con11 sortia under this section. 

12 ‘‘(e) APPLICATION.— 

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible consortium 

14 seeking a grant under this section shall submit to 

15 the Secretary an application therefor at such time 

16 and in such manner as the Secretary shall prescribe. 

17 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—Each application submitted 

18 under paragraph (1) shall include the following: 

19 ‘‘(A) A description of the boundaries of the 

20 region served by the eligible consortium. 

21 ‘‘(B) A description of the research, tech22 nology development, or manufacturing con23 centration of the eligible consortium. 

24 ‘‘(C) A general assessment of the local in25 dustrial ecosystem of the region described in 


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1 subparagraph (A), which may include assess2 ment of workforce and training, including part3 nerships with labor organizations, supplier net4 work, research and innovation, infrastructure 

5 and site development, trade and international 

6 investment, operational improvements, and cap7 ital access components needed for manufac8 turing activities in such region. 

9 ‘‘(D) A description of how a grant under 

10 this section may assist in developing compo11 nents of such local industrial ecosystem (se12 lected by the consortium), including descrip13 tions of— 

14 ‘‘(i) investments to address gaps in 

15 such ecosystem; and 

16 ‘‘(ii) how to make the research, tech17 nology development, and manufacturing of 

18 the region of the consortium uniquely com19 petitive. 

20 ‘‘(E) A description of the process by which 

21 a comprehensive regional technology strategy 

22 will be developed by the eligible consortium to 

23 address gaps in such local industrial ecosystem 

24 and to strengthen the resiliency of supply 

25 chains, competitiveness of the identified region, 


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1 and domestic job creation in technology and in2 novation sectors critical to national and eco3 nomic security. 

4 ‘‘(F) A budget for the projects that the eli5 gible consortium plans to carry out using grant 

6 amounts awarded under this section, including 

7 the anticipated Federal share of the cost of 

8 each project and a description of the sources of 

9 the non-Federal share. 

10 ‘‘(G) The designation of a lead agency or 

11 organization, which may be the eligible consor12 tium, to receive and manage any funds received 

13 by the eligible consortium under this section. 

14 ‘‘(H) A signed copy of a memorandum of 

15 understanding among members of the eligible 

16 consortium that demonstrates— 

17 ‘‘(i) the creation of an eligible consor18 tium; 

19 ‘‘(ii) a description of the nature and 

20 extent of planned collaboration between 

21 members of the eligible consortium; and 

22 ‘‘(iii) a commitment to develop a com23 prehensive regional technology strategy. 

24 ‘‘(I) Such other matters as the Secretary 

25 considers appropriate. 


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1 ‘‘(3) EVALUATION OF APPLICATIONS.—The 

2 Secretary shall evaluate each application received 

3 under paragraph (1) to determine whether the appli4 cant demonstrates— 

5 ‘‘(A) a significant level of regional coopera6 tion in their proposal; 

7 ‘‘(B) a focus on building a regional eco8 system to attract and build upon research in9 vestment to develop, deploy, and manufacture 

10 domestically critical technologies that improve 

11 the resiliency of supply chains, competitiveness 

12 of the identified region, and the creation of 

13 quality jobs; 

14 ‘‘(C) the extent to which the consortium 

15 has developed partnerships throughout an en16 tire region, including, as appropriate, partner17 ships with federally funded research and devel18 opment centers, National Laboratories, Federal 

19 laboratories, Manufacturing USA institutes de20 scribed in section 34(d) of the National Insti21 tute of Standards and Technology Act (15 

22 U.S.C. 278s(d)), university technology centers 

23 established under paragraph (6) of section 

24 8A(d) of the National Science Foundation Act 

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1 graph (7) of such section 8A(d), test beds es2 tablished and operated under paragraph (8) of 

3 such section 8A(d), or other Federal research 

4 entities; 

5 ‘‘(D) integration with local efforts in inclu6 sive economic development and job creation; 

7 ‘‘(E) a plan for implementing a com8 prehensive regional technology strategy through 

9 regional infrastructure, workforce, and supply 

10 chain investment plans and local land use plans; 

11 ‘‘(F) diversity among the geographic re12 gions and the size of the population of the com13 munities served by recipients of grants under 

14 this section; 

15 ‘‘(G) a commitment to seeking substantial 

16 public input during the planning process and 

17 public participation in the development of the 

18 comprehensive regional plan; 

19 ‘‘(H) a plan to support the creation and 

20 growth of new companies; and 

21 ‘‘(I) such other qualities as the Secretary 

22 considers appropriate. 

23 ‘‘(f) USE OF GRANT FUNDS.—An eligible consortium 

24 that receives a grant under this section shall use the 


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1 amount of such grant to carry out a project that includes 

2 1 or more of the following activities: 

3 ‘‘(1) Coordinating locally defined planning proc4 esses across jurisdictions and agencies. 

5 ‘‘(2) Identifying potential regional partnerships 

6 for developing and implementing a comprehensive 

7 regional technology strategy. 

8 ‘‘(3) Conducting or updating assessments to de9 termine regional needs, which may include— 

10 ‘‘(A) workforce development; 

11 ‘‘(B) supply chain development; 

12 ‘‘(C) increasing innovation readiness, in13 cluding expanding research and technology de14 velopment facilities and developing the local 

15 science, technology, engineering, and mathe16 matics workforce; 

17 ‘‘(D) site preparation; 

18 ‘‘(E) community and economic develop19 ment to start new companies and to attract and 

20 support workers and firms; and 

21 ‘‘(F) and other such needs as determined 

22 by the consortium. 

23 ‘‘(4) Developing or updating— 

24 ‘‘(A) a comprehensive regional plan; or 


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1 ‘‘(B) goals and strategies to implement an 

2 existing comprehensive regional plan for the 

3 purposes of strengthening domestic supply 

4 chain resiliency, competitiveness, and job cre5 ation in critical technology and innovation sec6 tors for national and economic security. 

7 ‘‘(5) Implementing local zoning and other code 

8 changes necessary to implement a comprehensive re9 gional plan and promote sustainable development. 

10 ‘‘(g) GRANT AGREEMENT.—Each eligible consortium 

11 that receives a grant under this section shall, as a condi12 tion on receipt of grant amounts, agree to establish, in 

13 coordination with the Secretary, performance measures, 

14 reporting requirements, and such other requirements as 

15 the Secretary determines are necessary, that must be met 

16 at the end of each year in which the eligible consortium 

17 receives funds under this section. 

18 ‘‘(h) REPORTS BY RECIPIENTS OF GRANTS.— 

19 ‘‘(1) FINAL REPORTS.—Not later than 90 days 

20 after the date on which a grant agreement into 

21 which an eligible consortium entered under sub22 section (g) expires, the eligible consortium shall sub23 mit to the Secretary a final report on the project the 

24 eligible consortium carried out under subsection (f) 


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1 using the amounts of the grant awarded to the eligi2 ble consortium under this section. 

3 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—Each report submitted under 

4 paragraph (1) shall include the following: 

5 ‘‘(A) A detailed explanation of the activi6 ties undertaken using the grant, including an 

7 explanation of how the comprehensive regional 

8 technology strategy of the eligible consortium 

9 may achieve specific improvements in domestic 

10 supply chain resiliency, research, development, 

11 and deployment of critical technologies, work12 force development, domestic job creation, and 

13 entrepreneurship goals within the region served 

14 by the eligible consortium. 

15 ‘‘(B) A discussion of any obstacles encoun16 tered in the planning process of the eligible con17 sortium and how the eligible consortium over18 came the obstacles. 

19 ‘‘(C) An evaluation of the success of the 

20 project using the performance standards and 

21 measures established under subsection (g), in22 cluding an evaluation of the planning process 

23 and how the project contributes to carrying out 

24 the comprehensive regional technology strategy. 


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1 ‘‘(D) The progress of the region identified 

2 by the consortium toward becoming a regional 

3 technology hub. 

4 ‘‘(E) The effectiveness of the region identi5 fied by the consortium in ensuring that growth 

6 in innovation sectors produces broadly shared 

7 opportunity in the region. 

8 ‘‘(F) Such other information as the Sec9 retary may require. 

10 ‘‘(3) INTERIM REPORTS.—The Secretary may 

11 require, as a condition on receipt of a grant under 

12 this section, an eligible consortium to submit an in13 terim report, before the date on which a project for 

14 which a grant is awarded under this section is com15 pleted. 

16 ‘‘(i) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE FOR GRANT RECIPI17 ENTS AND APPLICANTS.—The Secretary may— 

18 ‘‘(1) coordinate with other Federal agencies to 

19 establish interagency and multidisciplinary teams to 

20 provide technical assistance to recipients of, and pro21 spective applicants for, grants under this section; 

22 ‘‘(2) by Federal interagency agreement, trans23 fer funds to another Federal agency to facilitate and 

24 support the provision of such technical assistance; 

25 and 


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1 ‘‘(3) enter into contracts with third parties to 

2 provide technical assistance to grant recipients and 

3 prospective applicants for grants under this section. 

4 ‘‘(j) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

5 ‘‘(1) AUTHORIZATION.—There are authorized to 

6 be appropriated to the Secretary for the award of 

7 grants under this section, to remain available until 

8 expended, amounts as follows: 

9 ‘‘(A) $100,000,000 for each of fiscal years 

10 2022 and 2023. 

11 ‘‘(B) $125,000,000 for each of fiscal years 

12 2024 through 2026. 

13 ‘‘(2) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary 

14 may use not more than 5 percent of the amounts 

15 made available under this subsection for a fiscal 

16 year for technical assistance under subsection (i).’’. 

17 SEC. 9. MANUFACTURING USA PROGRAM. 

18 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

19 (1) HISTORICALLY BLACK COLLEGE OR UNI20 VERSITY.—The term ‘‘historically Black college or 

21 university’’ has the meaning given the term ‘‘part B 

22 institution’’ in section 322 of the Higher Education 

23 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1061). 

24 (2) LABOR ORGANIZATION.—The term ‘‘labor 

25 organization’’ has the meaning given such term in 


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1 section 8A(a) of the National Science Foundation 

2 Act of 1950. 

3 (3) MANUFACTURING USA CENTER.—The term 

4 ‘‘Manufacturing USA center’’ means an institute de5 scribed in section 34(d)(3)(B) of the National Insti6 tute of Standards and Technology Act (15 U.S.C. 

7 278s(d)(3)(B)) and recognized by the Secretary 

8 under such section for purposes of participation in 

9 the Manufacturing USA Network. 

10 (4) MANUFACTURING USA INSTITUTE.—The 

11 term ‘‘Manufacturing USA institute’’ means an in12 stitute described in section 34(d) of the National In13 stitute of Standards and Technology Act (15 U.S.C. 

14 278s(d)) that is not a Manufacturing USA center. 

15 (5) MANUFACTURING USA NETWORK.—The 

16 term ‘‘Manufacturing USA Network’’ means the 

17 network established under section 34(c) of the Na18 tional Institute of Standards and Technology Act 

19 (15 U.S.C. 278s(c)). 

20 (6) MANUFACTURING USA PROGRAM.—The 

21 term ‘‘Manufacturing USA Program’’ means the 

22 program established under section 34(b)(1) of the 

23 National Institute of Standards and Technology Act 

24 (15 U.S.C. 278s(b)(1)). 


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1 (7) MINORITY-SERVING INSTITUTION.—The 

2 term ‘‘minority-serving institution’’ means an eligi3 ble institution described in section 371(a) of the 

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

5 1067q(a)). 

6 (8) NATIONAL PROGRAM OFFICE.—The term 

7 ‘‘National Program Office’’ means the National Pro8 gram Office established under section 34(h)(1) of 

9 the National Institute of Standards and Technology 

10 Act (15 U.S.C. 278s(h)(1)). 

11 (9) TRIBAL COLLEGE OR UNIVERSITY.—The 

12 term ‘‘Tribal college or university’’ has the meaning 

13 given the term in section 316(b)(3) of the Higher 

14 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1059c(b)(3)). 

15 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS TO EN16 HANCE AND EXPAND MANUFACTURING USA PROGRAM

17 AND SUPPORT INNOVATION AND GROWTH IN DOMESTIC

18 MANUFACTURING.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be 

20 appropriated $2,410,000,000 for the period of fiscal 

21 years 2022 through 2026 for the Secretary of Com22 merce, acting through the Director of the National 

23 Institute of Standards and Technology and in co24 ordination with the Secretary of Energy, the Sec25 retary of Defense, and the heads of such other FedVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:50 Jun 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00133 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2731.IH H2731

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1 eral agencies as the Secretary of Commerce con2 siders relevant, to carry out the Manufacturing USA 

3 Program and to expand such program to support in4 novation and growth in domestic manufacturing. 

5 (2) MANUFACTURING USA INSTITUTES.— 

6 (A) IN GENERAL.—Of the amounts appro7 priated pursuant to the authorization of appro8 priations in paragraph (1), $1,190,000,000 

9 shall be available to support the establishment 

10 of new Manufacturing USA institutes during 

11 the period described in such paragraph. 

12 (B) FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.—The Sec13 retary shall support the establishment of Manu14 facturing USA institutes under subparagraph 

15 (A) through the award of financial assistance 

16 under section 34(e) of the National Institute of 

17 Standards and Technology Act (15 U.S.C. 

18 278s(e)). 

19 (C) ASSIGNMENT OF MANUFACTURING USA

20 INSTITUTES TO FEDERAL AGENCY SPONSORS.— 

21 Following an open topic competition organized 

22 by the Director of the National Institute of 

23 Standards and Technology, the Secretary of 

24 Commerce, in consultation with the Secretary of 

25 Energy, the Secretary of Defense, and other 


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1 relevant Federal agencies, may select an alter2 native Federal agency to sponsor a selected 

3 Manufacturing USA institute based on its tech4 nology and may transfer the appropriate funds 

5 to that alternative Federal agency for operation 

6 and programming of the selected Manufac7 turing USA institute. 

8 (D) COORDINATION WITH EXISTING MANU9 FACTURING USA INSTITUTES.— 

10 (i) COORDINATION REQUIRED.—In es11 tablishing new Manufacturing USA insti12 tutes under subparagraph (A), the Sec13 retary of Commerce shall coordinate with 

14 the Secretary of Energy and the Secretary 

15 of Defense to ensure there is no duplica16 tion of effort or technology focus between 

17 new Manufacturing USA institutes and 

18 Manufacturing USA institutes that were in 

19 effect before the establishment of the new 

20 Manufacturing USA institutes. 

21 (ii) CONSULTATION WITH EXISTING

22 MANUFACTURING USA INSTITUTES AU23 THORIZED.—In carrying out coordination 

24 under clause (i), the Secretary of Com25 merce may consult with Manufacturing 


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1 USA institutes that were in effect before 

2 the establishment of new Manufacturing 

3 USA institutes under subparagraph (A) to 

4 inform the Department of Commerce of 

5 additional new Manufacturing USA insti6 tutes necessary to fill gaps in the support 

7 of innovation and growth in domestic man8 ufacturing. 

9 (iii) INVOLVEMENT OF EXISTING MAN10 UFACTURING USA INSTITUTES AUTHOR11 IZED.—In coordination with the Secretary 

12 of Energy and the Secretary of Defense, 

13 the Secretary of Commerce may involve 

14 Manufacturing USA institutes that were in 

15 effect before the establishment of new 

16 Manufacturing USA institutes under sub17 paragraph (A) in the planning and execu18 tion of the new Manufacturing USA insti19 tutes. 

20 (3) MANUFACTURING USA CENTERS AND PUB21 LIC SERVICE GRANTS.—Of the amounts appropriated 

22 pursuant to the authorization of appropriations in 

23 paragraph (1), $375,000,000 shall be available for 

24 the period described in such paragraph— 


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1 (A) for the Secretary, acting through the 

2 Director and in consultation with the Secretary 

3 of Energy, the Secretary of Defense, and the 

4 heads of such other Federal agencies as the 

5 Secretary of Commerce considers relevant, to 

6 recognize additional institutes as Manufacturing 

7 USA institutes under section 34(d)(3)(B) of the 

8 National Institute of Standards and Technology 

9 Act (15 U.S.C. 278s(d)(3)(B)), giving par10 ticular consideration to partnerships and coordi11 nation with the Manufacturing USA institutes 

12 that were already in effect, when practicable; 

13 and 

14 (B) to support the activities of Manufac15 turing USA institutes and Manufacturing USA 

16 centers through the award of grants under sec17 tion 34(f) of the National Institute of Stand18 ards and Technology Act (15 U.S.C. 278s(f)). 

19 (4) COMMERCIALIZATION, WORKFORCE TRAIN20 ING, AND SUPPLY CHAIN INVESTMENT.—Of the 

21 amounts appropriated pursuant to the authorization 

22 of appropriations in paragraph (1), $100,000,000 

23 shall be available for the period described in such 

24 paragraph to support such programming for com25 mercialization, workforce training, and supply chain 


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1 activities across the Manufacturing USA Network as 

2 the Secretary considers appropriate in consultation 

3 with the Secretary of Energy, the Secretary of De4 fense, and the heads of such other Federal agencies 

5 as the Secretary of Commerce considers relevant. 

6 (5) ONGOING SUPPORT FOR EXISTING MANU7 FACTURING USA INSTITUTES.— 

8 (A) IN GENERAL.—Of the amounts appro9 priated pursuant to the authorization of appro10 priations in paragraph (1), $725,000,000 shall 

11 be available for the period described in such 

12 paragraph to support Manufacturing USA in13 stitutes that were in effect on the day before 

14 the date of the enactment of this Act, of which 

15 $5,000,000 shall be available (without cost 

16 share) to each such Manufacturing USA insti17 tute each year for such period for ongoing oper18 ation of the institutes, including operational 

19 overhead, workforce training, and supply chain 

20 activities. 

21 (B) ADDITIONAL SUPPORT.— 

22 (i) IN GENERAL.—Of the amounts 

23 specified in subparagraph (A), amounts 

24 shall be available for financial assistance 

25 awards to conduct projects as follows: 


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1 (I) $100,000,000 shall be avail2 able for Manufacturing USA insti3 tutes that were established under sec4 tion 34(e) of the National Institute of 

5 Standards and Technology Act (15 

6 U.S.C. 278s(e)) and that were in ef7 fect on the day before the date of the 

8 enactment of this Act. 

9 (II) $10,000,000 shall be avail10 able each year for the period described 

11 in such paragraph for each Manufac12 turing USA institute that is not re13 ceiving Manufacturing USA Program 

14 funding from any other Federal agen15 cy. 

16 (ii) FEDERAL FUNDS MATCHING RE17 QUIREMENT.—A recipient of financial as18 sistance for a project under clause (i) shall 

19 agree to make available to carry out the 

20 project an amount of non-Federal funds 

21 that is equal to or greater than 20 percent 

22 of the total cost of the project. 

23 (C) RENEWAL REQUIREMENTS.—Receipt 

24 of ongoing support under subparagraph (A) 

25 shall be subject to the requirements of section 


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1 34(e)(2)(B) of the National Institute of Stand2 ards and Technology Act (15 U.S.C. 

3 278s(e)(2)(B)). 

4 (D) NO COST SHARE REQUIREMENT.—The 

5 Secretary shall not impose any cost share or 

6 matching requirement on receipt of ongoing 

7 support under subparagraph (A). 

8 (6) MANAGEMENT OF INTERAGENCY SOLICITA9 TIONS AND ONGOING MANAGEMENT.—Of the 

10 amounts appropriated pursuant to the authorization 

11 of appropriations in paragraph (1), $20,000,000 

12 shall be available annually for the period described 

13 in such paragraph for the National Program Office 

14 to coordinate the activities of the Manufacturing 

15 USA Network and manage interagency solicitations. 

16 (c) COORDINATION BETWEEN MANUFACTURING

17 USA PROGRAM AND HOLLINGS MANUFACTURING EXTEN18 SION PARTNERSHIP.—The Secretary shall coordinate the 

19 activities of the Manufacturing USA Program and the ac20 tivities of Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership 

21 with each other to the degree that doing so does not dimin22 ish the effectiveness of the ongoing activities of a Manu23 facturing USA institute or a Center (as the term is de24 fined in section 25(a) of the National Institute of Stand25 ards and Technology Act (15 U.S.C. 278k(a)), including 


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1 Manufacturing USA institutes entering into agreements 

2 with a Center (as so defined) that the Secretary considers 

3 appropriate to provide services relating to the mission of 

4 the Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership, in5 cluding outreach, technical assistance, workforce develop6 ment, and technology transfer and adoption assistance to 

7 small- and medium-sized manufacturers. 

8 (d) WORKER ADVISORY COUNCIL FOR MANUFAC9 TURING USA PROGRAM.— 

10 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

11 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Com12 merce shall, in coordination with the Secretary 

13 of Labor, the Secretary of Defense, the Sec14 retary of Energy, and the Secretary of Edu15 cation, establish an advisory council for the 

16 Manufacturing USA Program on the develop17 ment and dissemination of techniques, policies, 

18 and investments for high-road labor practices, 

19 worker adaptation and success with techno20 logical change, and increased worker participa21 tion across the Manufacturing USA Network. 

22 (B) MEMBERSHIP.—The council estab23 lished under subparagraph (A) shall be com24 posed of not fewer than 15 members appointed 

25 by the Secretary of Commerce, of whom— 


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1 (i) four shall be from labor organiza2 tions; 

3 (ii) four shall be from educational in4 stitutions; 

5 (iii) four shall be from labor-manage6 ment training, workforce development, and 

7 nonprofit organizations, including those 

8 that focus on workforce diversity and in9 clusion; and 

10 (iv) three shall be from industry orga11 nizations or manufacturing firms, includ12 ing small- and medium-sized manufactur13 ers. 

14 (C) PERIOD OF APPOINTMENT; VACAN15 CIES.— 

16 (i) IN GENERAL.—Each member of 

17 the council established under subparagraph 

18 (A) shall be appointed for a term of 3 

19 years with the ability to renew the appoint20 ment for no more than 2 terms. 

21 (ii) VACANCIES.—Any member ap22 pointed to fill a vacancy occurring before 

23 the expiration of the term for which the 

24 member’s predecessor was appointed shall 

25 be appointed only for the remainder of that 


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1 term. A member may serve after the expi2 ration of that term until a successor has 

3 been appointed. 

4 (D) MEETINGS.— 

5 (i) INITIAL MEETING.—Not later than 

6 180 days after the date of enactment of 

7 this Act, the council established under sub8 paragraph (A) shall hold the first meeting. 

9 (ii) ADDITIONAL MEETINGS.—After 

10 the first meeting of the council, the council 

11 shall meet upon the call of the Secretary, 

12 and at least once every 180 days there13 after. 

14 (iii) QUORUM.—A majority of the 

15 members of the council shall constitute a 

16 quorum, but a lesser number of members 

17 may hold hearings. 

18 (E) CHAIRPERSON AND VICE CHAIR19 PERSON.—The Secretary shall elect 1 member 

20 of the council established under subparagraph 

21 (A) to serve as the chairperson of the council 

22 and 1 member of the council to serve as the 

23 vice chairperson of the council. 

24 (2) DUTIES OF THE COUNCIL.—The council es25 tablished under paragraph (1)(A) shall provide adVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:50 Jun 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00143 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2731.IH H2731

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1 vice and recommendations to the Secretary of Com2 merce on matters concerning investment in and sup3 port of the manufacturing workforce relating to the 

4 following: 

5 (A) Worker participation, including 

6 through labor organizations, in the planning 

7 and deployment of new technologies across an 

8 industry and within workplaces. 

9 (B) Policies to help workers adapt to tech10 nological change, including training and edu11 cation priorities for the Federal Government 

12 and for employer investments in workers. 

13 (C) Assessments of impact on workers of 

14 development of new technologies and processes 

15 by the Manufacturing USA institutes. 

16 (D) Management practices that prioritize 

17 job quality, worker protection, worker participa18 tion and power in decision making, and invest19 ment in worker career success. 

20 (E) Policies and procedures to prioritize 

21 diversity and inclusion in the manufacturing 

22 and technology workforce by expanding access 

23 to job, career advancement, and management 

24 opportunities for underrepresented populations. 


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1 (F) Assessments of technology improve2 ments achieved by the Manufacturing USA in3 stitutes and the degree of domestic deployment 

4 of each new technology. 

5 (G) Such other matters as the Secretary 

6 considers appropriate. 

7 (3) REPORT.— 

8 (A) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CON9 GRESS DEFINED.—In this paragraph, the term 

10 ‘‘appropriate committees of Congress’’ means— 

11 (i) the Committee on Health, Edu12 cation, Labor, and Pensions, the Com13 mittee on Commerce, Science, and Trans14 portation, the Committee on Energy and 

15 Natural Resources, the Committee on 

16 Armed Services, and the Committee on Ap17 propriations of the Senate; and 

18 (ii) the Committee on Education and 

19 Labor, the Committee on Science, Space, 

20 and Technology, the Committee on Energy 

21 and Commerce, the Committee on Armed 

22 Services, and the Committee on Appropria23 tions of the House of Representatives. 

24 (B) REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than 

25 180 days after the date on which the council esVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:50 Jun 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00145 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2731.IH H2731

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1 tablished under paragraph (1)(A) holds its ini2 tial meeting under paragraph (1)(D)(i) and an3 nually thereafter, the council shall submit to 

4 the appropriate committees of Congress a re5 port containing a detailed statement of the ad6 vice and recommendations of the council pursu7 ant to paragraph (2). 

8 (4) COMPENSATION.— 

9 (A) PROHIBITION OF COMPENSATION.— 

10 Members of the Council may not receive addi11 tional pay, allowances, or benefits by reason of 

12 their service on the Council. 

13 (B) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—Each member 

14 shall receive travel expenses, including per diem 

15 in lieu of subsistence, in accordance with appli16 cable provisions under subchapter I of chapter 

17 57 of title 5, United States Code. 

18 (5) FACA APPLICABILITY.— 

19 (A) IN GENERAL.—In discharging its du20 ties under this subsection, the council estab21 lished under paragraph (1)(A) shall function 

22 solely in an advisory capacity, in accordance 

23 with the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 

24 U.S.C. App.). 


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1 (B) EXCEPTION.—Section 14 of the Fed2 eral Advisory Committee Act shall not apply to 

3 the Council. 

4 (e) PARTICIPATION OF MINORITY-SERVING INSTITU5 TIONS, HISTORICALLY BLACK COLLEGES AND UNIVER6 SITIES, AND TRIBAL COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Commerce, 

8 in coordination with the Secretary of Energy, the 

9 Secretary of Defense, and the heads of such other 

10 Federal agencies as the Secretary of Commerce con11 siders relevant, shall coordinate with existing and 

12 new Manufacturing USA institutes to integrate cov13 ered entities as active members of the Manufac14 turing USA institutes, including through the devel15 opment of preference criteria for proposals to create 

16 new Manufacturing USA institutes or renew existing 

17 Manufacturing USA institutes that include meaning18 ful participation from a covered entity or that are 

19 led by a covered entity. 

20 (2) COVERED ENTITIES.—For purposes of this 

21 subsection, a covered entity is— 

22 (A) a minority-serving institution; 

23 (B) an historically Black college or univer24 sity; or 

25 (C) a Tribal college or university. 


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1 (f) DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE POLICIES TO PRO2 MOTE DOMESTIC PRODUCTION OF TECHNOLOGIES DE3 VELOPED UNDER MANUFACTURING USA PROGRAM.— 

4 (1) DEFINITION OF DOMESTIC.—In this sub5 section, the term ‘‘domestic’’, with respect to devel6 opment or production means development or produc7 tion by, or with respect to source means the source 

8 is, a person incorporated or formed in the United 

9 States— 

10 (A) that is not under foreign ownership, 

11 control, or influence (FOCI) as defined in sec12 tion 847 of the National Defense Authorization 

13 Act for Fiscal Year 2020 (Public Law 116–92); 

14 (B) whose beneficial owners, as defined in 

15 section 847 of the National Defense Authoriza16 tion Act for Fiscal Year 2020 (Public Law 

17 116–92), are United States persons; 

18 (C) whose management are United States 

19 citizens; 

20 (D) whose principal place of business is in 

21 the United States; and 

22 (E) who is not— 

23 (i) a foreign incorporated entity that 

24 is an inverted domestic corporation or any 

25 subsidiary of such entity; or 


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1 (ii) any joint venture if more than 10 

2 percent of the joint venture (by vote or 

3 value) is held by a foreign incorporated en4 tity that is an inverted domestic corpora5 tion or any subsidiary of such entity. 

6 (2) POLICIES.— 

7 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Com8 merce, in consultation with the Secretary of En9 ergy, the Secretary of Defense, and the heads 

10 of such other Federal agencies as the Secretary 

11 of Commerce considers relevant, shall establish 

12 policies to promote the domestic production of 

13 technologies developed by the Manufacturing 

14 USA Network. 

15 (B) ELEMENTS.—The policies developed 

16 under subparagraph (A) shall include the fol17 lowing: 

18 (i) Measures to partner domestic de19 velopers of goods, services, or technologies 

20 by Manufacturing USA Network activities 

21 with domestic manufacturers and sources 

22 of financing. 

23 (ii) Measures to develop and provide 

24 incentives to promote transfer of intellec25 tual property and goods, services, or techVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:50 Jun 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00149 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2731.IH H2731

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1 nologies developed by Manufacturing USA 

2 Network activities to domestic manufactur3 ers. 

4 (iii) Measures to assist with supplier 

5 scouting and other supply chain develop6 ment, including the use of the Hollings 

7 Manufacturing Extension Partnership to 

8 carry out such measures. 

9 (iv) A process to review and approve 

10 or deny membership in a Manufacturing 

11 USA institute by foreign-owned companies, 

12 especially from countries of concern, in13 cluding the People’s Republic of China. 

14 (v) Measures to prioritize Federal pro15 curement of goods, services, or technologies 

16 developed by the Manufacturing USA Net17 work activities from domestic sources, as 

18 appropriate. 

19 (C) PROCESSES FOR WAIVERS.—The poli20 cies established under this paragraph shall in21 clude processes to permit waivers, on a case by 

22 case basis, for policies that promote domestic 

23 production based on cost, availability, severity 

24 of technical and mission requirements, emer25 gency requirements, operational needs, other 


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1 legal or international treaty obligations, or 

2 other factors deemed important to the success 

3 of the Manufacturing USA Program. 

4 (3) PROHIBITION.— 

5 (A) COMPANY DEFINED.—In this para6 graph, the term ‘‘company’’ has the meaning 

7 given such term in section 847(a) of the Na8 tional Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal 

9 Year 2020 (Public Law 116–92; 10 U.S.C. 

10 2509 note). 

11 (B) IN GENERAL.—A company of the Peo12 ple’s Republic of China may not participate in 

13 the Manufacturing USA Program or the Manu14 facturing USA Network without a waiver, as 

15 described in paragraph (2)(C). 

16 SEC. 10. TECHNOLOGY COMMERCIALIZATION REVIEW. 

17 (a) KEY TECHNOLOGY FOCUS AREAS DEFINED.—In 

18 this section, the term ‘‘key technology focus areas’’ means 

19 the areas included on the most recent list under section 

20 8A(d)(2) of the National Science Foundation Act of 1950. 

21 (b) REVIEW AND RECOMMENDATIONS REQUIRED.— 

22 Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment 

23 of this Act, the Director of the Office of Science and Tech24 nology Policy, in consultation with the Director of the NaVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:50 Jun 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00151 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2731.IH H2731

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1 tional Science Foundation and the Director of the Na2 tional Institute of Standards and Technology, shall— 

3 (1) review— 

4 (A) the structure of current technology re5 search and commercialization arrangements 

6 with regard to public-private partnerships; and 

7 (B) the extent to which intellectual prop8 erty developed with Federal funding— 

9 (i) has been used by foreign business 

10 entities; 

11 (ii) is being used to manufacture in 

12 the United States rather than in other 

13 countries; and 

14 (iii) is being used by foreign business 

15 entities domiciled or by foreign business 

16 entities affiliated with or subsidiary to for17 eign business entities in the People’s Re18 public of China. 

19 (2) develop recommendations for such legisla20 tive or administrative action as may be necessary— 

21 (A) to further incentivize industry partici22 pation in public-private partnerships for the 

23 purposes of accelerating technology research 

24 and commercialization, including alternate ways 


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1 of accounting for in-kind contributions and 

2 value of partially manufactured products; 

3 (B) to ensure that intellectual property de4 veloped with Federal funding is commercialized 

5 in the United States; and 

6 (C) to ensure that intellectual property de7 veloped with Federal funding is not being used 

8 by foreign business entities or by foreign busi9 ness entities affiliated with or subsidiary to for10 eign business entities domiciled in the People’s 

11 Republic of China; and 

12 (3) submit to the Secretary of Commerce and 

13 Congress— 

14 (A) the findings of the Director of the Of15 fice of Science and Technology Policy with re16 spect to the reviews conducted under paragraph 

17 (1); and 

18 (B) the recommendations developed under 

19 paragraph (2). 


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1 SEC. 11. STUDY ON EMERGING SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 

2 CHALLENGES FACED BY THE UNITED STATES 

3 AND RECOMMENDATIONS TO ADDRESS 

4 THEM. 

5 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This section may be cited as the 

6 ‘‘National Strategy to Ensure American Leadership Act 

7 of 2021’’ or the ‘‘National SEAL Act of 2021’’. 

8 (b) STUDY.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Commerce 

10 (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall 

11 seek to enter into an agreement with the National 

12 Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to 

13 conduct a study— 

14 (A) to identify the 10 most critical emerg15 ing science and technology challenges facing the 

16 United States; and 

17 (B) to develop recommendations for legis18 lative or administrative action to ensure United 

19 States leadership in matters relating to such 

20 challenges. 

21 (2) ELEMENTS.—The study conducted under 

22 paragraph (1) shall include identification, review, 

23 and evaluation of the following: 

24 (A) Matters pertinent to identification of 

25 the challenges described in paragraph (1)(A). 


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1 (B) Matters relating to the recommenda2 tions developed under paragraph (1)(B), includ3 ing with respect to education and workforce de4 velopment necessary to address each of the 

5 challenges identified under paragraph (1)(A). 

6 (C) Matters related to the review of key 

7 technology areas by the Directorate for Tech8 nology and Innovation of the National Science 

9 Foundation under section 8A(d) of the National 

10 Science Foundation Act of 1950. 

11 (D) An assessment of the current relative 

12 balance in leadership in addressing the chal13 lenges identified in paragraph (1)(A) between 

14 the United States, allies or key partners of the 

15 United States, and the People’s Republic of 

16 China. 

17 (3) TIMEFRAME.— 

18 (A) AGREEMENT.—The Secretary shall 

19 seek to enter into the agreement required by 

20 paragraph (1) on or before the date that is 60 

21 days after the date of enactment of this Act. 

22 (B) FINDINGS.—Under an agreement en23 tered into under paragraph (1), the National 

24 Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medi25 cine shall, not later than 1 year after the date 


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1 on which the Secretary and the National Acad2 emies enter into such agreement, transmit to 

3 the Secretary the findings of the National 

4 Academies with respect to the study conducted 

5 pursuant to such agreement. 

6 (c) REPORT.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days after 

8 the date on which the Secretary receives the findings 

9 of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, 

10 and Medicine with respect to the study conducted 

11 under subsection (b), the Secretary shall submit to 

12 Congress a ‘‘Strategy to Ensure American Leader13 ship’’ report on such study. 

14 (2) CONTENTS.—The report submitted under 

15 paragraph (1) shall include the following: 

16 (A) The findings of the National Acad17 emies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine 

18 with respect to the study conducted under sub19 section (b). 

20 (B) The conclusions of the Secretary with 

21 respect to such findings. 

22 (C) The recommendations developed under 

23 subsection (b)(1)(B). 

24 (D) Such other recommendations for legis25 lative or administrative action as the Secretary 


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1 may have with respect to such findings and con2 clusions. 

3 (3) CLASSIFIED ANNEX.—The report submitted 

4 under paragraph (1) shall be submitted in unclassi5 fied form, but may include a classified annex if the 

6 Secretary determines appropriate. 

7 (d) INFORMATION FROM FEDERAL AGENCIES.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—The National Academies of 

9 Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine may secure di10 rectly from a Federal department or agency such in11 formation as the National Academies of Sciences, 

12 Engineering, and Medicine consider necessary to 

13 carry out the study under subsection (b). 

14 (2) FURNISHING INFORMATION.—On request of 

15 the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, 

16 and Medicine for information, the head of the de17 partment or agency shall furnish such information to 

18 the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, 

19 and Medicine. 

20 (e) CONSULTATION.—The Secretary of Defense and 

21 the Director of National Intelligence shall provide support 

22 upon request from the Secretary of Commerce or the Na23 tional Academies to carry out this section. 

24 (f) NON-DUPLICATION OF EFFORT.—In carrying out 

25 subsection (b), the Secretary shall, to the degree pracVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:50 Jun 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00157 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2731.IH H2731

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1 ticable, coordinate with the steering committee established 

2 under section 236(a) of the William M. (Mac) Thornberry 

3 National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 

4 (Public Law 116–283). 

5 SEC. 12. COORDINATION OF ACTIVITIES. 

6 The Director of the Office of Science and Technology 

7 Policy, the Director of the National Economic Council, the 

8 Director of the Office of Management and Budget, the Di9 rector of the National Science Foundation, the Secretary 

10 of Commerce, and the Secretary of Energy shall, as appli11 cable, coordinate with respect to activities of— 

12 (1) the university technology centers established 

13 under section 8A(d)(6) of the National Science 

14 Foundation Act of 1950; 

15 (2) the regional technology hubs under section 

16 28 of the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation 

17 Act of 1980, as added by section 7; 

18 (3) the Manufacturing USA Program estab19 lished under section 34(b)(1) of the National Insti20 tute of Standards and Technology Act (15 U.S.C. 

21 278s(b)(1)); 

22 (4) Federally funded research and development 

23 centers; 


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1 (5) National Laboratories, as defined in section 

2 2 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 

3 15801); and 

4 (6) Federal laboratories, as defined in section 4 

5 of the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act 

6 of 1980 (15 U.S.C. 3703). 

7 SEC. 13. PERSON OR ENTITY OF CONCERN PROHIBITION. 

8 No person published on the list under section 1237(b) 

9 of the Strom Thurmond National Defense Authorization 

10 Act for Fiscal Year 1999 (Public Law 105–261; 50 U.S.C. 

11 1701 note) or entity identified under section 1260H of 

12 the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Au13 thorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (Public Law 116– 

14 283) may receive or participate in any grant, award, pro15 gram, support, or other activity under— 

16 (1) section 8A of the National Science Founda17 tion Act of 1950 (Public Law 81–507), as added by 

18 section 3; 

19 (2) the Endless Frontier Fund under section 4; 

20 (3) the supply chain resiliency program under 

21 section 6; 

22 (4) section 28(b)(1) of the Stevenson-Wydler 

23 Technology Innovation Act of 1980 (Public Law 96– 

24 480), as added by section 7(a); 


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1 (5) section 29 of the Stevenson-Wydler Tech2 nology Innovation Act of 1980 (Public Law 96– 

3 480), as added by section 8; or 

4 (6) the Manufacturing USA Program, as im5 proved and expanded under section 9. 

Æ 


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