tions to encourage the development of innovative, 
multidisciplinary manufacturing technologies. Part-
nerships receiving awards under this section shall 
conduct applied research to develop new manufac-
turing processes, techniques, or materials that would 
contribute to improved performance, productivity, 
and competitiveness of United States manufacturing, 
and build lasting alliances among collaborators. 
‘‘(b) PROGRAM CONTRIBUTION.—Awards under this 
section shall provide for not more than one-third of the 
costs of a partnership. Not more than an additional one- 
third of such costs may be obtained directly or indirectly 
from other Federal sources. 
‘‘(c) APPLICATIONS.—Applications for awards under 
this section shall be submitted in such manner, at such 
time, and containing such information as the Director 
shall require. Such applications shall describe at a min-
imum— 
‘‘(1) how each partner will participate in devel-
oping and carrying out the research agenda of the 
partnership; 
‘‘(2) the research that the grant would fund; 
and 
‘‘(3) how the research to be funded with the 
award would contribute to improved performance, 
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productivity, and competitiveness of the United 
States manufacturing industry. 
‘‘(d) SELECTION CRITERIA.—In selecting applica-
tions for awards under this section, the Director shall con-
sider at a minimum— 
‘‘(1) the degree to which projects will have a 
broad impact on manufacturing; 
‘‘(2) the novelty and scientific and technical 
merit of the proposed projects; and 
‘‘(3) the demonstrated capabilities of the appli-
cants to successfully carry out the proposed re-
search. 
‘‘(e) DISTRIBUTION.—In selecting applications under 
this section the Director shall ensure, to the extent prac-
ticable, a distribution of overall awards among a variety 
of manufacturing industry sectors and a range of firm 
sizes. 
‘‘(f) DURATION.—In carrying out this section, the Di-
rector shall run a single pilot competition to solicit and 
make awards. Each award shall be for a 3-year period.’’. 
SEC. 4. MANUFACTURING FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM. 
Section 18 of the National Institute of Standards and 
Technology Act (15 U.S.C. 278g–1) is amended— 
(1) by inserting ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—’’ before 
‘‘The Director is authorized’’; and 
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(2) by adding at the end the following new sub-
section: 
‘‘(b) MANUFACTURING FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM.— 
‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—To promote the devel-
opment of a robust research community working at 
the leading edge of manufacturing sciences, the Di-
rector shall establish a program to award— 
‘‘(A) postdoctoral research fellowships at 
the Institute for research activities related to 
manufacturing sciences; and 
‘‘(B) senior research fellowships to estab-
lished researchers in industry or at institutions 
of higher education who wish to pursue studies 
related to the manufacturing sciences at the In-
stitute. 
‘‘(2) APPLICATIONS.—To be eligible for an 
award under this subsection, an individual shall sub-
mit an application to the Director at such time, in 
such manner, and containing such information as 
the Director may require. 
‘‘(3) STIPEND LEVELS.—Under this section, the 
Director shall provide stipends for postdoctoral re-
search fellowships at a level consistent with the Na-
tional Institute of Standards and Technology 
Postdoctoral Research Fellowship Program, and sen-
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ior research fellowships at levels consistent with sup-
port for a faculty member in a sabbatical position.’’. 
SEC. 5. MANUFACTURING EXTENSION. 
(a) MANUFACTURING CENTER EVALUATION.—Sec-
tion 25(c)(5) of the National Institute of Standards and 
Technology Act (15 U.S.C. 278k(c)(5)) is amended by in-
serting ‘‘A Center that has not received a positive evalua-
tion by the evaluation panel shall be notified by the panel 
of the deficiencies in its performance and may be placed 
on probation for one year, after which time the panel may 
reevaluate the Center. If the Center has not addressed the 
deficiencies identified by the panel, or shown a significant 
improvement in its performance, the Director may conduct 
a new competition to select an operator for the Center or 
may close the Center.’’ after ‘‘sixth year at declining lev-
els.’’. 
(b) FEDERAL SHARE.—Strike section 25(d) of the 
National Institute of Standards and Technology Act (15 
U.S.C. 278k(d)) and insert the following: 
‘‘(d) ACCEPTANCE OF FUNDS.—In addition to such 
sums as may be appropriated to the Secretary and Direc-
tor to operate the Centers program, the Secretary and Di-
rector also may accept funds from other Federal depart-
ments and agencies and under section 2(c)(7) from the 
private sector for the purpose of strengthening United 
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States manufacturing. Such funds, if allocated to a Center 
or Centers, shall not be considered in the calculation of 
the Federal share of capital and annual operating and 
maintenance costs under subsection (c).’’. 
(c) MANUFACTURING EXTENSION CENTER COMPETI-
TIVE GRANT PROGRAM.—Section 25 of the National Insti-
tute of Standards and Technology Act (15 U.S.C. 278k) 
is amended by adding at the end the following new sub-
sections: 
‘‘(e) COMPETITIVE GRANT PROGRAM.— 
‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Director shall es-
tablish, within the Manufacturing Extension Part-
nership program under this section and section 26 
of this Act, a program of competitive awards among 
participants described in paragraph (2) for the pur-
poses described in paragraph (3). 
‘‘(2) 
PARTICIPANTS.—Participants 
receiving 
awards under this subsection shall be the Centers, or 
a consortium of such Centers. 
‘‘(3) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the program 
under this subsection is to develop projects to solve 
new or emerging manufacturing problems as deter-
mined by the Director, in consultation with the Di-
rector of the Manufacturing Extension Partnership 
program, the Manufacturing Extension Partnership 
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National Advisory Board, and small and medium- 
sized manufacturers. One or more themes for the 
competition may be identified, which may vary from 
year to year, depending on the needs of manufactur-
ers and the success of previous competitions. These 
themes shall be related to projects associated with 
manufacturing extension activities, including supply 
chain integration and quality management, or extend 
beyond these traditional areas. 
‘‘(4) APPLICATIONS.—Applications for awards 
under this subsection shall be submitted in such 
manner, at such time, and containing such informa-
tion as the Director shall require, in consultation 
with the Manufacturing Extension Partnership Na-
tional Advisory Board. 
‘‘(5) SELECTION.—Awards under this sub-
section shall be peer reviewed and competitively 
awarded. The Director shall select proposals to re-
ceive awards— 
‘‘(A) that utilize innovative or collaborative 
approaches to solving the problem described in 
the competition; 
‘‘(B) that will improve the competitiveness 
of industries in the region in which the Center 
or Centers are located; and 
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‘‘(C) that will contribute to the long-term 
economic stability of that region. 
‘‘(6) PROGRAM CONTRIBUTION.—Recipients of 
awards under this subsection shall not be required 
to provide a matching contribution. 
‘‘(f) AUDITS.—A center that receives assistance 
under this section shall submit annual audits to the Sec-
retary in accordance with Office of Management and 
Budget Circular A–133 and shall make such audits avail-
able to the public on request.’’. 
(d) PROGRAMMATIC AND OPERATIONAL PLAN.—Not 
later than 120 days after the date of enactment of this 
Act, the Director of the National Institute of Standards 
and Technology shall transmit to the Committee on 
Science of the House of Representatives and the Com-
mittee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the 
Senate a 3-year programmatic and operational plan for 
the Manufacturing Extension Partnership program under 
sections 25 and 26 of the National Institute of Standards 
and Technology Act (15 U.S.C. 278k and 278l). The plan 
shall include comments on the plan from the Manufac-
turing Extension Partnership State partners and the Man-
ufacturing Extension Partnership National Advisory 
Board. 
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SEC. 6. SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL RESEARCH AND SERV-
ICES. 
(a) LABORATORY ACTIVITIES.—There are authorized 
to be appropriated to the Secretary of Commerce for the 
scientific and technical research and services laboratory 
activities of the National Institute of Standards and Tech-
nology— 
(1) $505,340,000 for fiscal year 2008; 
(2) $555,874,000 for fiscal year 2009; and 
(3) $611,461,000 for fiscal year 2010. 
(b) 
MALCOLM
BALDRIGE
NATIONAL
QUALITY 
AWARD PROGRAM.—There are authorized to be appro-
priated to the Secretary of Commerce for the Malcolm 
Baldrige National Quality Award program under section 
17 of the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 
1980 (15 U.S.C. 3711a)— 
(1) $7,828,000 for fiscal year 2008; 
(2) $8,063,000 for fiscal year 2009; and 
(3) $8,305,000 for fiscal year 2010. 
(c) CONSTRUCTION AND MAINTENANCE.—There are 
authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of Com-
merce for construction and maintenance of facilities of the 
National Institute of Standards and Technology— 
(1) $94,000,000 for fiscal year 2008; 
(2) $94,000,000 for fiscal year 2009; and 
(3) $94,000,000 for fiscal year 2010. 
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(d) ADVANCED
TECHNOLOGY
PROGRAM
ELIMI-
NATION REPORT.—Not later than 3 months after the date 
of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall provide to 
the Congress a report detailing the impacts of the possible 
elimination of the Advanced Technology Program on the 
laboratory programs at the National Institute of Stand-
ards Technology. 
(e) LOSS OF FUNDING.—At the time of the Presi-
dent’s budget request for fiscal year 2009, the Secretary 
shall provide the Congress a report on how the Depart-
ment of Commerce plans to absorb the loss of Advanced 
Technology Program funds to the laboratory programs at 
the National Institute of Standards and Technology, or 
otherwise mitigate the effects of this loss on its programs 
and personnel. 
SEC. 7. STANDARDS EDUCATION PROGRAM. 
(a) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—(1) As part of the 
Teacher Science and Technology Enhancement Institute 
Program, the Director of the National Institute of Stand-
ards and Technology shall carry out a Standards Edu-
cation program to award grants to institutions of higher 
education to support efforts by such institutions to develop 
curricula on the role of standards in the fields of engineer-
ing, business, science, and economics. The curricula 
should address topics such as— 
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(A) development of technical standards; 
(B) demonstrating conformity to standards; 
(C) intellectual property and antitrust issues; 
(D) standardization as a key element of busi-
ness strategy; 
(E) survey of organizations that develop stand-
ards; 
(F) the standards life cycle; 
(G) case studies in effective standardization; 
(H) managing standardization activities; and 
(I) managing organizations that develop stand-
ards. 
(2) Grants shall be awarded under this section on a 
competitive, merit-reviewed basis and shall require cost- 
sharing from non-Federal sources. 
(b) SELECTION PROCESS.—(1) An institution of 
higher education seeking funding under this section shall 
submit an application to the Director at such time, in such 
manner, and containing such information as the Director 
may require. The application shall include at a min-
imum— 
(A) a description of the content and schedule 
for adoption of the proposed curricula in the courses 
of study offered by the applicant; and 
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