I 
115TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 4948 
To provide a Federal charter to the Fab Foundation for the National Fab 
Lab Network, a national network of local digital fabrication facilities 
providing universal access to advanced manufacturing tools for learning 
skills, developing inventions, creating businesses, and producing personal-
ized products, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 6, 2018 
Mr. FOSTER (for himself and Mr. MASSIE) introduced the following bill; which 
was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To provide a Federal charter to the Fab Foundation for 
the National Fab Lab Network, a national network of 
local digital fabrication facilities providing universal ac-
cess to advanced manufacturing tools for learning skills, 
developing inventions, creating businesses, and producing 
personalized products, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Fab Lab Net-
work Act of 2018’’. 
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SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) Scientific discoveries and technical innova-
tions are critical to the economic and national secu-
rity of the United States. 
(2) Maintaining the leadership of the United 
States in science, technology, engineering, and math-
ematics will require a diverse population with the 
skills, interest, and access to tools required to ad-
vance these fields. 
(3) Just as earlier digital revolutions in commu-
nications and computation provided individuals with 
the Internet and personal computers, a digital revo-
lution in fabrication will allow anyone to make al-
most anything, anywhere. 
(4) These creations include communications de-
vices, solar powered housing, consumer products, 
and new kinds of machines and tools for advanced 
manufacturing. 
(5) The Center for Bits and Atoms of the Mas-
sachusetts Institute of Technology (CBA) has con-
tributed significantly to the advancement of these 
goals through its work in creating and advancing 
digital fabrication facilities, or ‘‘fab labs’’ in the 
United States and abroad. 
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(6) MakerSpaces, TechShops, and other cre-
ative platforms also facilitate access to digital fab-
rication capabilities. 
(7) The fab labs of the Center for Bits and 
Atoms provide a model for a new kind of national 
laboratory that links local facilities for advanced 
manufacturing, providing universal access, and em-
powering communities. 
(8) A coordinated national public-private part-
nership will be the most effective way to accelerate 
the provision of this universal infrastructure for 
learning skills, developing inventions, creating busi-
nesses, and producing personalized products. 
SEC. 3. FEDERAL CHARTER FOR NATIONAL FAB LAB NET-
WORK. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Part B of subtitle II of title 36, 
United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 
following new chapter: 
‘‘CHAPTER 2501—NATIONAL FAB LAB 
NETWORK 
‘‘CHAPTER 2501—NATIONAL FAB LAB NETWORK 
‘‘Sec. 
‘‘250101. Definitions. 
‘‘250102. Organization. 
‘‘250103. Purposes and goals. 
‘‘250104. Membership and organization. 
‘‘250105. Governing body. 
‘‘250106. Powers. 
‘‘250107. Restrictions. 
‘‘250108. Records and inspection. 
‘‘250109. Duty to maintain tax exempt status. 
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