SEC. 505. PILOT PROGRAM TO ACCELERATE NATIONAL IN-
STITUTES OF HEALTH EVALUATION PROC-
ESS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 9(hh) of the Small Busi-
ness Act (15 U.S.C. 638(hh)) is amended by adding at 
the end the following new paragraph: 
‘‘(3) PILOT PROGRAM TO ACCELERATE THE NA-
TIONAL
INSTITUTES
OF
HEALTH
SBIR
AND
STTR 
AWARDS.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year 
after the date of the enactment of this para-
graph, the Director of the National Institutes of 
Health shall establish a pilot program to reduce 
the time for awards under the SBIR and STTR 
programs of the National Institutes of Health. 
‘‘(B) AWARD
PROCEDURES.—In carrying 
out the pilot program under subparagraph (A), 
the Director shall develop simplified and stand-
ardized procedures across all relevant awarding 
offices at the National Institutes of Health and 
reduce the amount of time between the provi-
sion of notice of such awards and the subse-
quent release of funding with respect to the 
awards to be as close to 90 days as possible. 
‘‘(C) MERIT REVIEW.— 
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‘‘(i) IN
GENERAL.—Under the pilot 
program under subparagraph (A), the Di-
rector of the National Institutes of Health 
may, with respect to awards under the 
SBIR and STTR programs of the National 
Institute of Health, use such peer review 
procedures (including consultation with ap-
propriate scientific experts) as the Director 
determines to be appropriate to obtain as-
sessments of scientific and technical merit 
and potential for commercialization. 
‘‘(ii) DEEMED.—The use of peer re-
view procedures under clause (i) shall be 
deemed to fulfill any requirements applica-
ble to the award under the SBIR or STTR 
program of the National Institute of 
Health under sections 406(a)(3)(A) and 
492 of the Public Health Service Act (42 
U.S.C. 284a(a)(3)(A); 289a). 
‘‘(D) TERMINATION.—The pilot program 
under subparagraph (A) shall terminate on 
September 30, 2030.’’. 
(b) EVALUATION REPORT.—Not later than three 
years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Director 
of the National Institutes of Health shall submit to the 
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Committees on Small Business and Science, Space, and 
Technology of the House of Representatives and the Com-
mittee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship of the 
Senate an evaluation of the pilot program established 
under paragraph (3) of section 9(hh) of the Small Busi-
ness Act (15 U.S.C. 638(hh)), as added by subsection (a), 
including an analysis of the peer review procedures used 
under subparagraph (C) of such paragraph and the effects 
on award times. 
SEC. 506. CODIFYING SAFEGUARDS FOR SMALL BUSINESS 
CONCERNS MAJORITY-OWNED BY VENTURE 
CAPITAL OPERATING COMPANIES, HEDGE 
FUNDS, OR PRIVATE EQUITY FIRMS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 9(dd) of the Small Busi-
ness Act (15 U.S.C. 638(dd)) is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (6)(B), by striking ‘‘If a Fed-
eral’’ and inserting ‘‘Except as provided in para-
graph (8), if a Federal’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following new 
paragraph: 
‘‘(8) PARTICIPATION LIMITS.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A small business con-
cern that is majority-owned by multiple venture 
capital operating companies, hedge funds, or 
private equity firms is ineligible to receive an 
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award under any SBIR program if the Admin-
istrator determines that such small business 
concern is, or is owned and controlled in major-
ity part by, a covered foreign entity. 
‘‘(B) OWNERSHIP
DETERMINATION.—In 
determining whether a small business concern is 
ineligible to receive an award under any SBIR 
program under subparagraph (A), the Adminis-
trator shall consider whether the small business 
concern is a direct or indirect subsidiary of a 
foreign-owned firm. 
‘‘(C) SIZE
STANDARDS.—The Adminis-
trator shall establish size standards for small 
business concerns seeking to participate in an 
SBIR program solely under the authority under 
this section. 
‘‘(D) DEFINITIONS.—In this paragraph: 
‘‘(i) COVERED FOREIGN ENTITY.—the 
term ‘covered foreign entity’— 
‘‘(I) means— 
‘‘(aa) a foreign entity of 
concern; 
‘‘(bb) a government or polit-
ical party of a foreign country of 
concern; 
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‘‘(cc) a natural person who 
is not a lawful permanent resi-
dent of the United States, citizen 
of the United States, or any 
other protected individual (as 
such term is defined in section 
274B(a)(3) of the Immigration 
and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 
1324b(a)(3))); or 
‘‘(dd) a partnership, associa-
tion, corporation, organization, or 
other combination of persons or-
ganized under the laws of or hav-
ing its principal place of business 
in a foreign country of concern; 
and 
‘‘(II) includes— 
‘‘(aa) any person owned by, 
controlled by, or subject to the 
jurisdiction or direction of a an 
entity listed in subclause (I); 
‘‘(bb) any person, wherever 
located, who acts as an agent, 
representative, or employee of an 
entity listed in subclause (I); 
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‘‘(cc) any person who acts in 
any other capacity at the order, 
request, or under the direction or 
control, of an entity listed in sub-
clause (I), or of a person whose 
activities are directly or indirectly 
supervised, directed, controlled, 
financed, or subsidized in whole 
or in majority part by an entity 
listed in subclause (I); 
‘‘(dd) any person who di-
rectly or indirectly through any 
contract, 
arrangement, 
under-
standing, relationship, or other-
wise, owns 25 percent or more of 
the equity interests of an entity 
listed in subclause (I); 
‘‘(ee) any person with sig-
nificant responsibility to control, 
manage, or direct an entity listed 
in subclause (I); 
‘‘(ff) any person, wherever 
located, who is a citizen or resi-
dent of a country controlled by 
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an entity listed in subclause (I); 
or 
‘‘(gg) any corporation, part-
nership, association, or other or-
ganization organized under the 
laws of a country controlled by 
an entity listed in subclause (I). 
‘‘(ii) 
FOREIGN
ENTITY
OF
CON-
CERN.—The term ‘foreign entity of con-
cern’ means a foreign entity that is— 
‘‘(I) designated as a foreign ter-
rorist organization by the Secretary of 
State under section 219(a) of the Im-
migration and Nationality Act (8 
U.S.C. 1189(a)); 
‘‘(II) included on the list of spe-
cially 
designated 
nationals 
and 
blocked persons maintained by the Of-
fice of Foreign Assets Control of the 
Department of the Treasury (com-
monly known as the SDN list); 
‘‘(III) owned by, controlled by, or 
subject to the jurisdiction or direction 
of a government of a foreign country 
that is a covered nation (as such term 
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is defined in section 4872 of title 10, 
United States Code); 
‘‘(IV) alleged by the Attorney 
General to have been involved in ac-
tivities for which a conviction was ob-
tained under— 
‘‘(aa) chapter 37 of title 18, 
United States Code (commonly 
known as the Espionage Act); 
‘‘(bb) section 951 or 1030 of 
such title; 
‘‘(cc) chapter 90 of such 
title (commonly known as the 
Economic 
Espionage 
Act 
of 
1996); 
‘‘(dd) the Arms Export Con-
trol Act (22 U.S.C. 2751 et seq.); 
‘‘(ee) section 224, 225, 226, 
227, or 236 of the Atomic En-
ergy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 
2274, 2275, 2276, 2277, and 
2284); 
‘‘(ff) the Export Control Re-
form Act of 2018 (50 U.S.C. 
4801 et seq.); or 
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‘‘(gg) 
the 
International 
Emergency Economic Powers Act 
(50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.); or 
‘‘(V) determined by the Secretary 
of Commerce, in consultation with the 
Secretary of Defense and the Director 
of National Intelligence, to be engaged 
in unauthorized conduct that is detri-
mental to the national security or for-
eign policy of the United States.’’. 
(b) APPLICABILITY.—The amendments made by sub-
section (a) shall apply only with respect to awards made 
under an Small Business Innovation Research Program 
(as defined in section 9(e) of the Small Business Act (15 
U.S.C. 638(e))) after the date of the enactment of this 
Act. 
TITLE VI—TECHNICAL CHANGES 
SEC. 601. INCLUSION OF SBICS IN THE SBIR AND STTR PRO-
GRAMS. 
Section 9 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638) 
is amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘or private equity firm invest-
ment’’ each place that term appears and inserting 
‘‘private equity firm, or SBIC investment’’; 
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(2) by striking ‘‘or private equity firms’’ each 
place that term appears and inserting ‘‘private eq-
uity firms, or SBICs’’; 
(3) in subsection (e)— 
(A) in paragraph (18), by striking ‘‘and’’ 
at the end; 
(B) in paragraph (19), by striking the pe-
riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
(C) by adding at the end the following new 
paragraph: 
‘‘(15) the term ‘SBIC’ means a small business 
investment company as defined in section 103 of the 
Small Business Investment Act of 1958 (15 U.S.C. 
662).’’; and 
(4) in the heading for subsection (dd), by strik-
ing ‘‘OR PRIVATE EQUITY FIRMS’’ and inserting 
‘‘PRIVATE EQUITY FIRMS, OR SBICS’’. 
SEC. 602. PHASE III AND SOLE-SOURCE AWARDS. 
Section 9(r) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 
638) is amended— 
(1) in the heading, by inserting ‘‘SOLE SOURCE 
AND OTHER’’ after ‘‘JUSTIFICATION FOR’’; and 
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(2) in the heading for paragraph (4), by insert-
ing ‘‘SOLE SOURCE AND OTHER’’ after ‘‘JUSTIFICA-
TION FOR’’. 
Æ 
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