I 
112TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 6081 
To accelerate research, development, and innovation in advanced manufac-
turing, to improve the competitiveness of American manufacturers, and 
for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 9, 2012 
Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas (for herself, Mr. COSTELLO, Ms. 
WOOLSEY, Mr. MILLER of North Carolina, Mr. LIPINSKI, Ms. EDWARDS, 
Mr. LUJA´N, Ms. SEWELL, Ms. WILSON of Florida, Mr. CLARKE of Michi-
gan, and Ms. BONAMICI) introduced the following bill; which was referred 
to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology 
A BILL 
To accelerate research, development, and innovation in ad-
vanced manufacturing, to improve the competitiveness 
of American manufacturers, 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 ‘‘Advancing Innovative 
Manufacturing Act of 2012’’. 
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SEC. 2. ADVANCED MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY CON-
SORTIA. 
Section 33 of the National Institute of Standards and 
Technology Act (15 U.S.C. 278r) is amended to read as 
follows: 
‘‘SEC. 33. ADVANCED MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY CON-
SORTIA. 
‘‘(a) AUTHORITY.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall carry 
out a program to facilitate the development of and 
provide support to industry-led consortia that will 
identify, prioritize, and address long-term, precom-
petitive industrial research needs in the area of ad-
vanced manufacturing. 
‘‘(2) PROGRAM OBJECTIVES.—The objectives of 
the program established under this section include 
the following: 
‘‘(A) To promote collective public-private 
efforts to develop key technology platforms and 
infrastructure for advanced manufacturing. 
‘‘(B) To enable the prioritization of public 
research portfolios to be more responsive to the 
long-term technology development needs of in-
dustry. 
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‘‘(3) support precompetitive research directed at 
meeting the research needs identified in the road-
maps developed under paragraph (2); 
‘‘(4) promote the transfer of precompetitive 
technology platforms and infrastructure resulting 
from consortia research to the private sector and fa-
cilitate open access to the intellectual property un-
derpinning those platforms and technology; and 
‘‘(5) facilitate the development of new tech-
nologies into commercial products. 
‘‘(c) SELECTION CRITERIA.—In selecting applica-
tions for awards under this section, the Director shall con-
sider, at a minimum— 
‘‘(1) the degree to which the activities proposed 
under the consortia will broadly impact manufac-
turing and increase the productivity and economic 
competitiveness of the United States; 
‘‘(2) the level of technical risk to be addressed 
by the consortia; 
‘‘(3) the potential to produce fundamental new 
knowledge; and 
‘‘(4) the likelihood that the consortia will be-
come self sustaining, if appropriate. 
‘‘(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 
are authorized to be appropriated for carrying out this sec-
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tion $120,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2013 through 
2017.’’. 
SEC. 3. SMALL MANUFACTURER INNOVATION PROGRAM. 
The National Institute of Standards and Technology 
Act (15 U.S.C. 271 et seq.) is amended— 
(1) by redesignating section 34 as section 35; 
and 
(2) by inserting after section 33 the following: 
‘‘SEC. 34. SMALL MANUFACTURER INNOVATION PROGRAM. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall carry out a 
pilot program to enhance the innovative capabilities and 
competitiveness of small- and medium-sized manufactur-
ers through support for research and development that 
will promote the field of advanced manufacturing and lead 
to the commercialization of new products, processes, or 
technologies for use in advanced manufacturing. 
‘‘(b) OBJECTIVES.—The objectives of the program 
under this section are— 
‘‘(1) to accelerate the development of processes 
and, as appropriate, incremental innovations that 
will improve how goods are designed, produced, or 
distributed; 
‘‘(2) to advance the development and commer-
cialization of novel products and technologies for use 
in advanced manufacturing; 
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‘‘(3) to reduce the technical and economic risks 
associated with developing new products, processes, 
or technologies for use in advanced manufacturing; 
‘‘(4) to foster cooperative research and develop-
ment between small- and medium-sized manufactur-
ers and research institutions; and 
‘‘(5) to promote research and development col-
laboration among small- and medium-sized manufac-
turers facing similar technical challenges or obsta-
cles, including collaboration along a supply chain. 
‘‘(c) PROGRAM.— 
‘‘(1) AWARD
PHASES.—The Director shall 
award competitive, merit-reviewed grants, coopera-
tive agreements, or contracts to small- or medium- 
sized manufacturers in the United States through a 
uniform process having— 
‘‘(A) a first phase for determining, insofar 
as possible, the scientific and technical merit 
and feasibility of a proposal; and 
‘‘(B) a second phase to further develop 
proposals, including the development of proto-
types, for which scientific and technical merit 
and feasibility was demonstrated in the first 
phase. 
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‘‘(2) APPLICATIONS.—A small- or medium-sized 
manufacturer seeking an award under this section 
shall submit an application to the Director at such 
time, in such manner, and containing such informa-
tion as the Director may require. 
‘‘(d) STAKEHOLDER INPUT.—In carrying out the 
program under this section, the Director shall solicit 
stakeholder input on how best to carry out the program. 
‘‘(e) COORDINATION AND NONDUPLICATION.—To the 
maximum extent practicable, the Director shall ensure 
that the activities carried out under this section are co-
ordinated with, and do not duplicate the efforts of, other 
programs within the Federal Government. 
‘‘(f) REPORT.—Not later than 4 years after the date 
of enactment of the Advancing Innovative Manufacturing 
Act of 2012, the Director shall transmit a report to Con-
gress assessing the program established under this section. 
The report shall include— 
‘‘(1) a summary of the activities carried out 
under the program; 
‘‘(2) an assessment of whether the program is 
achieving its goals, including a description of the 
metrics used to determine progress in meeting such 
goals; 
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‘‘(3) any recommendations on how the program 
may be improved; and 
‘‘(4) a recommendation as to whether such pro-
gram should be continued or terminated. 
‘‘(g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 
are authorized to be appropriated to the Director to carry 
out this section— 
‘‘(1) $15,000,000 for fiscal year 2013; 
‘‘(2) $25,500,000 for fiscal year 2014; 
‘‘(3) $39,750,000 for fiscal year 2015; 
‘‘(4) $42,250,000 for fiscal year 2016; and 
‘‘(5) $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2017.’’. 
SEC. 4. INNOVATION VOUCHER PROGRAM. 
Section 25 of the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Inno-
vation Act of 1980 (15 U.S.C. 3720) is amended by add-
ing at the end the following: 
‘‘(d) INNOVATION VOUCHER PROGRAM.— 
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting 
through the Office of Innovation and Entrepreneur-
ship, shall establish an innovation voucher pilot pro-
gram to accelerate innovative activities and enhance 
the competitiveness of small- and medium-sized 
manufacturers in the United States. The pilot pro-
gram shall— 
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