I 
119TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 7158 
To support a broad and diverse interdisciplinary research community for 
the advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) and AI-powered innovation 
through partnerships and capacity building at certain institutions of 
higher education and other institutions to expand AI capacity in popu-
lations historically underrepresented in STEM, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 20, 2026 
Mrs. FOUSHEE (for herself and Mr. NUNN of Iowa) introduced the following 
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology 
A BILL 
To support a broad and diverse interdisciplinary research 
community for the advancement of artificial intelligence 
(AI) and AI-powered innovation through partnerships 
and capacity building at certain institutions of higher 
education and other institutions to expand AI capacity 
in populations historically underrepresented in STEM, 
and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Expanding AI Voices 
through Capacity Building Act’’ or the ‘‘Expanding AI 
Voices Act’’. 
SEC. 2. EXPANDING CAPACITY IN ARTIFICIAL INTEL-
LIGENCE SCIENCE. 
Section 5401 of the National AI Initiative Act (15 
U.S.C. 9451; enacted as part of title LIV of division E 
of the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Au-
thorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021; Public Law 116– 
283) is amended by— 
(1) redesignating subsection (g) as subsection 
(h); and 
(2) inserting after subsection (f) the following 
new subsection: 
‘‘(g) EXPANDING CAPACITY IN ARTIFICIAL INTEL-
LIGENCE.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the Na-
tional Science Foundation, in consultation with the 
heads of Federal agencies the Director considers ap-
propriate, shall make awards on a competitive, 
merit-reviewed basis to eligible institutions of higher 
education specified in paragraph (2) or eligible non-
profit organizations (or consortia thereof) to broaden 
participation in artificial intelligence research, edu-
cation, and workforce development by increasing the 
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ability of the United States to increase capacity and 
partnerships for artificial intelligence research and 
development. 
‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDU-
CATION
SPECIFIED.—Eligible institution of higher 
education specified in this paragraph the following: 
‘‘(A) An institution of higher education, 
that, according to the data published by the 
National Center for Science and Engineering 
Statistics, is not, on average, among the top 
100 institutions in Federal research and devel-
opment expenditures during the 3-year period 
prior to the year of the award concerned. 
‘‘(B) A historically Black college or univer-
sity. 
‘‘(C) A minority-serving institution. 
‘‘(D) A Tribal College or University. 
‘‘(E) A consortia of any of the entities 
specified in subparagraphs (A) through (C). 
‘‘(3) COLLABORATIONS.—A consortia receiving 
an award under this subsection may include the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(A) Mutually beneficial partnerships with 
institutions of higher education, nonprofit orga-
nizations, Federal agencies, State, local, Tribal, 
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and territorial governments, and private sector 
entities. 
‘‘(B) Developing partnerships with artifi-
cial intelligence research institutes established 
as part of section 5201 of this Act (15 U.S.C. 
9431) or recipients of other relevant awards 
made by the Foundation. 
‘‘(4) USE OF FUNDS.—In carrying out the ac-
tivities under this subsection, an eligible institution 
of higher education or eligible nonprofit organization 
(or consortia thereof) shall carry out one or more of 
the following: 
‘‘(A) Development or expansion of research 
programs in artificial intelligence and related 
disciplines. 
‘‘(B) Faculty recruitment and professional 
development in artificial intelligence and related 
disciplines. 
‘‘(C) Bridge programs focused on pre-
paring post-baccalaureate students for graduate 
programs in artificial intelligence and related 
disciplines. 
‘‘(D) Provide or broker access to research 
resources, including computing resources, net-
working, data facilities, and software engineer-
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ing support for artificial intelligence research 
and development. 
‘‘(E) Community building activities to fos-
ter mutually beneficial public-private collabora-
tion with Federal research agencies, industry, 
Federal laboratories, academia, and nonprofit 
organizations. 
‘‘(F) Development and hosting of intra- or 
inter-institutional workshops to broaden work-
force participation in artificial intelligence re-
search and development. 
‘‘(G) Activities to integrate ethical and re-
sponsible practices and principles into education 
programs in artificial intelligence and related 
disciplines. 
‘‘(H) Other activities necessary to build re-
search capacity, education pathways, and work-
force development pathways in artificial intel-
ligence and related disciplines. 
‘‘(5) OUTREACH.—The Director of the National 
Science Foundation shall— 
‘‘(A) conduct outreach to eligible institu-
tions of higher education and eligible nonprofit 
organizations to apply for awards under this 
subsection; and 
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‘‘(B) engage participants from all regions 
of the United States, especially individuals from 
underserved communities and groups histori-
cally underrepresented in science, technology, 
engineering, and mathematics. 
‘‘(6) DUPLICATION.—The Director of the Na-
tional Science Foundation shall ensure awards made 
under this section are complimentary to, and not du-
plicative of, awards made under existing programs. 
‘‘(7) ADDITIONAL CONSIDERATIONS.—In mak-
ing awards under this subsection, the Director of the 
National Science Foundation may also consider the 
following: 
‘‘(A) The extent to which eligible institu-
tions of higher education and eligible nonprofit 
organizations applying for awards under this 
subsection support students from diverse back-
grounds, 
including 
first-generation 
under-
graduate students. 
‘‘(B) The geographic diversity of such in-
stitutions and organizations. 
‘‘(C) Relative resource constraints of such 
institutions and organizations. 
‘‘(8) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 
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‘‘(A) HISTORICALLY BLACK COLLEGE OR 
UNIVERSITY.—The term ‘historically Black col-
lege or university’ has the meaning given the 
term ‘part B institution’ in section 322 of the 
Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
1061). 
‘‘(B) MINORITY-SERVING
INSTITUTION.— 
The term ‘minority-serving institution’ means a 
Hispanic-serving institution as defined in sec-
tion 502(a) of the Higher Education Act of 
1965 (20 U.S.C. 1101a(a)); an Alaska Native- 
serving institution or Native Hawaiian-serving 
institution as defined in section 317(b) of such 
Act (20 U.S.C. 1059d(b)); or a predominantly 
Black institution, Asian American and Native 
American Pacific Islander-serving institution, or 
Native American-serving nontribal institution 
as defined in section 371(c) of such Act (20 
U.S.C. 1067q(c)). 
‘‘(C) 
NONPROFIT
ORGANIZATION.—The 
term ‘nonprofit organization’ means an organi-
zation which is described in section 501(c)(3) of 
the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and exempt 
from tax under section 501(a) of such code. 
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‘‘(D) TRIBAL COLLEGE OR UNIVERSITY.— 
The term ‘Tribal College or University’ has the 
meaning given such term in section 316 of the 
Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
1059c).’’. 
Æ 
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