I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2831

To establish the Office of Economic Conversion Information within the

Department of Commerce, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

AUGUST 2, 1993

Ms. SCHENK introduced the following bill; which was referred jointly to the

Committees on Energy and Commerce and Armed Services

A BILL

To establish the Office of Economic Conversion Information

within the Department of Commerce, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Economic Conversion

5 Clearinghouse Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. OFFICE.

7 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established, within

8 the Department of Commerce, the Office of Economic

9 Conversion Information (in this Act referred to as the

10 ‘‘Office’’).
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1 (b) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of the Office—

2 (1) to serve as a central information clearing3 house on matters relating to economic adjustment

4 and defense conversion programs and activities of

5 the Federal and State governments, including politi6 cal subdivisions of the States; and

7 (2) to help potential and actual applicants for

8 economic adjustment and defense conversion assist9 ance under Federal, State and local laws in locating

10 and applying for such assistance, including financial

11 and technical assistance.

12 (c) DIRECTOR.—The Office shall be headed by a Di13 rector. The Secretary of Commerce shall appoint and fix

14 the compensation of the Director.

15 (d) STAFF.—The Director may appoint such person16 nel as may be necessary to enable the Office to perform

17 its duties.

18 SEC. 3. FUNCTIONS.

19 (a) INFORMATION DATABASES.—

20 (1) USES.—The Office shall develop informa21 tion databases for use by Federal departments and

22 agencies, State and local governmental agencies,

23 public and private entities, and individuals to assist

24 such agencies, entities, and individuals in the proc25 ess of identifying and applying for assistance and re-
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1 sources under economic adjustment and defense con2 version programs and activities of the Federal,

3 State, and local governments.

4 (2) FEDERAL AGENCIES AND PROGRAMS.—The

5 databases established pursuant to paragraph (1)

6 shall include a comprehensive compilation of all rel7 evant information concerning available economic ad8 justment and defense conversion-related programs of

9 the Federal Government. The compilation shall iden10 tify the administering department, office, or agency,

11 which administers such programs, and key contact

12 people; and descriptions of the application process,

13 eligibility requirements and criteria, selection, and

14 follow up procedures. Such compilation shall also in15 clude data as to the expenditure of funds under such

16 programs, projects supported by such programs, and

17 the types and amounts of funding available for as18 sistance under such programs.

19 (3) RANGE OF PROGRAMS.—The range of pro20 grams covered by the database shall include: worker

21 adjustment assistance for private sector employees

22 and Federal civilian and military personnel; commu23 nity adjustment assistance (planning and implemen24 tation), including the so-called ‘‘bricks and mortar’’

25 programs, such as infrastructure rebuilding, and air-
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1 port improvement; technology development and de2 ployment programs administered through the Ad3 vanced Research Projects Agency, Department of

4 Defense, coordinated Technology Reinvestment

5 Project; other relevant technology research and de6 velopment programs administered by the Depart7 ment of Commerce, National Aeronautics and Space

8 Administration, Department of Energy, the Environ9 mental Protection Agency, Department of Transpor10 tation, and the National Institutes of Health and

11 other technology agencies; small business assistance

12 (financial, technical, marketing); defense facility en13 vironmental restoration; available tax credits and in14 centives, relevant regulatory information (environ15 mental, occupational health and safety, and intellec16 tual property rights) affecting application procedures

17 and the implementation of federally supported

18 projects involving economic adjustment and defense

19 conversion.

20 (4) AVAILABLE ASSISTANCE.—In developing

21 such database, the Office shall survey all Federal de22 partments and agencies in order to identify all rel23 evant assistance and resources that may be available

24 to assist defense-dependent communities, businesses,

25 and workers in their adjustment and conversion ef-
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1 forts, especially the Department of Defense, the De2 partment of Commerce, the Department of Labor,

3 the Small Business Administration, the Department

4 of Housing and Urban Development, the Depart5 ment of Health and Human Services, the Depart6 ment of Education, the Department of Transpor7 tation, the National Science Foundation, the Na8 tional Aeronautics and Space Administration, and

9 the Environmental Protection Agency.

10 (5) DATABASE OF MAJOR STATE AND LOCAL

11 PROGRAMS.—The Office shall establish a database

12 containing State and local governmental economic

13 adjustment and defense conversion assistance pro14 grams. Such database shall include a current listing

15 of appropriate offices, officers, and contact personnel

16 connected with, or involved in, such programs.

17 (6) DEFENSE CUTBACK EARLY WARNING

18 DATABASE.—The Office, working with the Secretary

19 of Defense, shall establish and keep current a

20 database containing a listing of available defense

21 contracts, and information listing military bases and

22 installations expected to be closed, cut back, or re23 aligned, or which are in the process of being closed,

24 cut back, or realigned, including a current listing of

25 States, communities, industries, firms, and employ-
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1 ment likely to be most adversely affected as a result

2 thereof.

3 (7) DATABASE OF CONVERSION EFFORTS AND

4 SUCCESSES.—The Office shall establish a database

5 of listings and descriptions of defense conversion ef6 forts, their successes and failures, as well as a cur7 rent listing of ongoing conversion and assistance ef8 forts by communities, contractors, and small- and

9 mid-sized businesses, and labor organizations.

10 (8) REFERENCE LISTS AND BIBLIOGRAPHIES.—

11 The Office shall establish a database which shall in12 clude a listing of published works (books, reports,

13 articles, videos, and tapes) related to all facets of de14 fense economic adjustment and defense conversion.

15 Such listing shall further include manuals relating to

16 economic adjustment and defense conversion devel17 oped by the National Governors Association, the Na18 tional League of Cities, public interest groups, labor

19 unions, business associations, and similar organiza20 tions, and a listing of contact organizations and peo21 ple for obtaining such references. The Office shall

22 also maintain in electronic form the full texts of se23 lected references and make such references available

24 to the public through online services.
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1 (9) ALTERNATIVE PRODUCT BANK FOR INDUS2 TRIES AND FIRMS.—The Office shall establish a

3 databank of potentially commercializable tech4 nologies and products matched to the capabilities of

5 defense-dependent industries and firms. Such

6 databank shall include a short overview of market

7 potential and shall identify potential programs in

8 Federal, State and local governments that may be

9 available to support technology development, deploy10 ment, and commercialization in these specific areas.

11 (b) MULTIPLE POINTS OF PUBLIC ACCESS TO

12 DATABASES.—

13 (1) EASY ACCESS.—The Office shall establish

14 several mechanisms to assure easy access by the

15 public and others to such databases, and to assure

16 that the databases be as accessible, user-friendly,

17 culturally neutral, and affordable as possible. In ad18 dition, the Office shall conduct an extensive outreach

19 to States and communities, especially in the most

20 defense-dependent regions of the Nation, and to a

21 wide range of constituencies, including State and

22 local government officials, chambers of commerce,

23 industrial organizations, labor unions, and commu24 nity organizations, to publicize the existence of

25 databanks and other assistance and services pro-
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1 vided by this Act, and how to acquire such assist2 ance and services, and access such databanks.

3 (2) 1–800–TOLL FREE NUMBER.—The Office

4 shall establish a toll free 1–800 number to provide

5 a first point of entry into the Office information

6 database system. An individual calling such number

7 shall receive information on how to use the Office

8 databases, how to receive printed materials, and how

9 to contact appropriate people in other governmental

10 agencies for information about specific programs,

11 and answer other requests regarding services of the

12 Office.

13 (3) ONLINE ELECTRONIC ACCESS THROUGH

14 NETWORK.—Databases established by the Office

15 shall be easily accessible through existing computer

16 networks and publicly available computer database

17 access facilities, such as at repository libraries and

18 by direct call-in via modem, and shall be menu-driv19 en and highly user-friendly.

20 (4) PRINTED MANUALS AND ORIENTATION MA21 TERIALS.—The Office shall develop and make avail22 able to the public and others a printed manual, and

23 other printed material, reviewing the major Federal

24 agencies and programs engaged in economic adjust25 ment, defense conversion, and technology invest-
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1 ments. It shall also serve as a guide to using the

2 databases and services of the Office, list State and

3 local contacts and resources, and include a bibliog4 raphy of major reference materials.

5 (5) ORIENTATION WORKSHOPS.—The Office

6 shall offer periodic workshops (1–2 weeks long)

7 available to selected representatives from defense-de8 pendent communities, businesses, and occupational

9 groups, to orient and train them in using the Office

10 and the services of the Office.

11 (6) INFORMATION SPECIALISTS.—The Office

12 shall maintain on-call economic adjustment and con13 version information specialists to address special

14 problems requiring person-to-person assistance, as

15 needed.

16 (c) PROGRAM EVALUATION.—

17 (1) REVIEW.—The Office shall conduct a regu18 lar review of the various agencies and programs in

19 the Federal system involving economic adjustment

20 and defense conversion. Such review shall evaluate

21 the procedures of these agencies and programs, and

22 the success of their activities. Such reviews shall be

23 based on periodic surveys of both Federal officials

24 and recipients of assistance pursuant to this Act.

25 The Office shall identify problems with the programs
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1 and barriers to entry, for inclusion in the databases

2 established pursuant to this Act. Such review shall

3 include recommendations for improving such pro4 grams.

5 (2) COMMUNITY ROUNDTABLES.—The Office

6 shall conduct, on an annual basis, consultative meet7 ings and briefings with defense-impacted constitu8 encies drawn from local and State governments,

9 business, labor, community and public interest orga10 nizations and academic institutions. Such meetings

11 and briefings shall be held in all major defense-de12 pendent regions of the United States, both to intro13 duce its programs and receive comments and rec14 ommendations concerning its services and how to ex15 pand and improve them.

16 SEC. 4. INTERAGENCY COORDINATING COMMITTEE.

17 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established the

18 Interagency Economic Conversion Information Coordinat19 ing Committee (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Commit20 tee’’).

21 (b) MEMBERS.—The members of the Committee are

22 as follows:

23 (1) Director of the Office, who shall serve as

24 Chairperson of the Committee.
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1 (2) One Member appointed by the Secretary of

2 Housing and Urban Development.

3 (3) One Member appointed by the Secretary of

4 Transportation.

5 (4) Director of the Economic Development Ad6 ministration.

7 (5) Director of the Office of Economic Adjust8 ment, Department of Defense.

9 (6) One member appointed by the Secretary of

10 Labor.

11 (7) Director of the Advanced Research Projects

12 Agency, Department of Defense.

13 (8) Director of the National Institute for

14 Standards and Technology.

15 (9) Director of the Small Business Administra16 tion.

17 (10) One member appointed by the Director of

18 the National Economic Council.

19 (c) FUNCTIONS.—It shall be the function of the Com20 mittee—

21 (1) to advise and make recommendations to the

22 Office in carrying out the purposes of this Act;

23 (2) to coordinate and facilitate the information

24 gathering and monitoring activities of the Office

25 among Federal departments and agencies;
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1 (3) to help the Office prepare and present infor2 mation in a manner that is publicly accessible, af3 fordable, and user-friendly; and

4 (4) to assist the Office in making technical as5 sistance personnel available as needed.

6 (d) COMPENSATION OF MEMBERS.—All members of

7 the Committee shall serve without compensation in addi8 tion to that received for their services as officers or em9 ployees of the United States.

10 (e) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—The members of the Com11 mittee shall be allowed travel expenses, including per diem

12 in lieu of subsistence, at rates authorized for employees

13 of agencies under subchapter I of chapter 57 of title 5,

14 United States Code, while away from their homes or regu15 lar places of business in the performance of services for

16 the Committee.

17 (f) STAFF.—The Chairman of the Committee may re18 quest any Federal department or agency to detail such

19 employees to the Committee as may be necessary to enable

20 the Committee to perform its duties.

21 (g) DETAIL OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES.—Any

22 Federal Government employee may be detailed to the

23 Committee without reimbursement, and such detail shall

24 be without interruption or loss of civil service status or

25 privilege.
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1 (h) PROCUREMENT OF TEMPORARY AND INTERMIT2 TENT SERVICES.—The Chairman of the Committee may

3 procure temporary and intermittent services under section

4 3109(b) of title 5, United States Code, at rates for individ5 uals which do not exceed the daily equivalent of the annual

6 rate of basic pay prescribed for level V of the Executive

7 Schedule under section 5316 of such title.

8 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION.

9 (a) STARTUP AND OPERATING EXPENSES.—For fis10 cal year 1994, there are authorized to be appropriated

11 such amounts as may be necessary to carry out the provi12 sions of this Act.

13 (b) OPERATING EXPENSES.—For fiscal year 1995,

14 and each fiscal year thereafter, there are authorized to be

15 appropriated such amounts as may be necessary to carry

16 out the provisions of this Act.

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