sufficiency, and social impact for its community 
through digital fabrication. 
(b) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is hereby established a 
nonprofit corporation to be known as the ‘‘National Fab 
Lab Network’’ (in this Act referred to as the ‘‘corpora-
tion’’), which shall not be an agency or establishment of 
the United States Government. The corporation shall be 
subject to the provisions of this Act, and, to the extent 
consistent with this Act, to the District of Columbia Non-
profit Corporation Act (D.C. Code, section 29–501 et 
seq.). 
(c) GOALS AND ACTIVITIES.— 
(1) GOALS.—The goals of the corporation are 
as follows: 
(A) To provide universal access to digital 
fabrication. 
(B) To foster current and future fab labs. 
(C) To create a national network of con-
nected local fab labs to empower individuals 
and communities in the United States. 
(D) To foster the use of distributed digital 
fabrication tools— 
(i) to promote science, technology, en-
gineering and math skills; 
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(ii) to increase invention and innova-
tion; 
(iii) to create businesses and jobs; 
(iv) to fulfill personal, professional, 
and community needs; 
(v) to create value and mitigate harm; 
(vi) to increase self-sufficiency for in-
dividuals, households, and communities; 
and 
(vii) to align workforce development 
with new and emerging jobs. 
(E) To provide a platform for education 
and research, to catalyze new methods in 
science, technology, engineering, and mathe-
matics education, and to introduce digital fab-
rication as an essential new literacy. 
(F) To create new ways of educating the 
workforce that will enable workers to compete 
in a 21st century global marketplace. 
(2) ACTIVITIES.—To attain the goals described 
in paragraph (1), the corporation shall carry out ac-
tivities, including the following: 
(A) Seeking to establish a minimum of one 
fab 
lab 
in 
each 
Congressional 
District, 
prioritizing underserved communities. 
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(B) Seeking to establish additional fab labs 
within the network created under paragraph 
(1)(C), in response to local demand, and to pro-
vide guidelines for their sustainable operation. 
(C) Linking fab labs into a national net-
work, and promoting further expansion of fab 
labs across the United States. 
(D) Serving as a resource to assist diverse 
public and private stakeholders with the effec-
tive operation of fab labs, and the training of 
fab lab leaders and mentors. 
(E) Maintaining a national registry of fab 
labs. 
(F) Providing standards and protocols for 
connecting fab labs regionally, nationally, and 
globally. 
(G) Assisting existing fab labs in pro-
ducing additional fab labs. 
(d) MEMBERSHIP AND ORGANIZATION.—Except as 
provided in this Act, eligibility for membership in the cor-
poration and the rights and privileges of members shall 
be in accordance with the laws governing tax exempt orga-
nizations in the District of Columbia. 
(e) GOVERNING BODY.— 
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(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para-
graph (2), directors, officers, and other staff of the 
corporation, and their powers and duties, shall be in 
accordance with the laws governing tax exempt orga-
nizations in the District of Columbia. 
(2) BOARD MEMBERSHIP.— 
(A) COMPOSITION.—The board of the cor-
poration shall be composed of not fewer than 7 
members and not more than 15 members. 
(B) REPRESENTATION.— 
(i) IN GENERAL.—The membership of 
the board of the corporation shall collec-
tively represent the diversity of fab labs. 
(ii) REQUIREMENT.—At a minimum, 
the board of the corporation shall be com-
posed of members from geographic regions 
across the United States, Tribal commu-
nities, educational and research institu-
tions, libraries, nonprofit and commercial 
organizations, diverse demographic groups, 
and the Fab Foundation. 
(iii) INDIVIDUAL REPRESENTATION.— 
An individual member of the board of the 
corporation may represent more than one 
board role and additional roles may be 
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added to reflect the diversity of the fab lab 
ecosystem. 
(C) SELECTION.—The initial board of the 
corporation shall be chosen, in consultation with 
the Fab Foundation and in accordance with 
subparagraph (B)(i), as follows: 
(i) Two shall be appointed by the ma-
jority leader of the Senate. 
(ii) Two shall be appointed by the mi-
nority leader of the Senate. 
(iii) Two shall be appointed by the 
Speaker of the House of Representatives. 
(iv) Two shall be appointed by the mi-
nority leader of the House of Representa-
tives. 
(f) POWERS.—The corporation may— 
(1) coordinate the creation of a national net-
work of local fab labs in the United States; 
(2) issue guidelines for the sustainable oper-
ation of fab labs; 
(3) issue standards and guidelines for fab labs; 
(4) serve as a resource for organizations and 
communities seeking to create fab labs by providing 
information, assessing suitability, advising on the lab 
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lifecycle, and maintaining descriptions of prospective 
and operating sites; 
(5) accept funds from private individuals, orga-
nizations, government agencies, or other organiza-
tions; 
(6) distribute funds to other organizations to 
establish and operate fab labs as members of the 
corporation; 
(7) facilitate communication between other or-
ganizations seeking to join the corporation with 
operational entities that can source and install fab 
labs, provide training, assist with operations, ac-
count for spending, and assess impact; 
(8) communicate the benefits available through 
membership in the corporation to communities and 
the public; 
(9) facilitate and participate in synergistic pro-
grams, including workforce training, job creation, re-
searching the enabling technology and broader im-
pacts of such programs, and the production of civic 
infrastructure; 
(10) develop processes and methods to mitigate 
risks associated with digital fabrication; 
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(11) amend a constitution and bylaws for the 
management of its property and the regulation of its 
affairs; 
(12) choose directors, officers, trustees, man-
agers, employees, and agents as the activities of the 
corporation require; 
(13) make contracts; 
(14) acquire, own, lease, encumber, and trans-
fer property as necessary or convenient to carry out 
the purposes of the corporation; 
(15) borrow money, issue instruments of indebt-
edness, and secure its obligations by granting secu-
rity interests in its property; 
(16) charge and collect membership dues and 
subscription fees; and 
(17) sue and be sued. 
(g) EXCLUSIVE RIGHT TO NAME, TERM, SEALS, EM-
BLEMS, AND BADGES.—The corporation and its partici-
pating digital fabrication labs have the exclusive right to 
use— 
(1) the name ‘‘National Fab Lab Network’’; 
and 
(2) any seals, emblems, and badges the corpora-
tion adopts. 
(h) RESTRICTIONS.— 
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(1) STOCK AND DIVIDENDS.—The corporation 
may not issue securities of any kind or declare or 
pay a dividend. 
(2) DISTRIBUTION OF INCOME OR ASSETS.— 
The income or assets of the corporation may not 
inure to the benefit of, or be distributed to, a direc-
tor, officer, or member during the life of the cor-
poration under this Act. This paragraph does not 
prevent the payment of reasonable compensation to 
an officer or reimbursement for actual necessary ex-
penses in amounts approved by the board of direc-
tors. 
(3) LOANS.—The corporation may not make a 
loan to a director, officer, or employee. 
(4) CLAIM OF GOVERNMENTAL APPROVAL OR 
AUTHORITY.—The corporation may not claim con-
gressional approval or the authority of the United 
States Government for any of its activities, but may 
recognize establishment of the corporation pursuant 
to subsection (b) of this section. 
(i) RECORDS AND INSPECTION.— 
(1) RECORDS.—The corporation shall keep— 
(A) correct and complete records of ac-
count; 
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(B) minutes of the proceedings of its mem-
bers, board of directors, and committees having 
any of the authority of its board of directors; 
and 
(C) at its principal office, a record of the 
names and addresses of its members entitled to 
vote. 
(2) INSPECTIONS.—A member entitled to vote, 
or an agent or attorney of the member, may inspect 
the records of the corporation for any proper pur-
pose, at any reasonable time. 
(j) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not less frequently than once 
each year, the corporation shall submit to Congress, in-
cluding specifically to the Committee on Commerce, 
Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Com-
mittee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House 
of Representatives, a report on the activities of the cor-
poration during the prior fiscal year. 
Æ 
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