IB 
Union Calendar No. 345 
108TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 3598 
[Report No. 108–581] 
To establish an interagency committee to coordinate Federal manufacturing 
research and development efforts in manufacturing, strengthen existing 
programs to assist manufacturing innovation and education, and expand 
outreach programs for small and medium-sized manufacturers, and for 
other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
NOVEMBER 21, 2003 
Mr. EHLERS (for himself and Mr. UDALL of Colorado) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science 
JULY 1, 2004 
Additional sponsors: Mr. UPTON, Ms. HART, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. SOUDER, 
Mr. SHIMKUS, Mr. QUINN, Mr. HOEKSTRA, Mr. DINGELL, Mr. OBER-
STAR, Mr. MICHAUD, Mr. LATOURETTE, Mr. MANZULLO, Mr. LIPINSKI, 
Mr. KNOLLENBERG, Mr. GREENWOOD, Mr. MCHUGH, Mr. DOYLE, Mrs. 
JOHNSON of Connecticut, Mr. PLATTS, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. MCNULTY, 
Mr. HOUGHTON, Mr. WALDEN
of Oregon, Mr. GINGREY, Mr. 
GILCHREST, Mr. HINOJOSA, Mr. MCCOTTER, Mr. SMITH of Michigan, 
Mr. CAMP, and Mr. ENGLISH 
JULY 1, 2004 
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 
House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on November 21, 2003] 
A BILL 
To establish an interagency committee to coordinate Federal 
manufacturing research and development efforts in man-
ufacturing, strengthen existing programs to assist manu-
facturing innovation and education, and expand outreach 
programs for small and medium-sized 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 ‘‘Manufacturing Tech-
nology Competitiveness Act of 2004’’. 
SEC. 2. INTERAGENCY COMMITTEE AND ADVISORY COM-
MITTEE. 
(a) INTERAGENCY COMMITTEE.— 
(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The President shall estab-
lish or designate an interagency committee on manu-
facturing research and development, which shall in-
clude representatives from the Office of Science and 
Technology Policy, the National Institute of Stand-
ards and Technology, the Science and Technology Di-
rectorate of the Department of Homeland Security, 
the National Science Foundation, the Department of
(D) new and emerging problems and oppor-
tunities affecting the manufacturing research 
community, research infrastructure, and the 
measurement and statistical analysis of manu-
facturing that may need to be considered by the 
Interagency Committee. 
(4) FEDERAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE ACT APPLI-
CATION.—Section 14 of the Federal Advisory Com-
mittee Act shall not apply to the Advisory Committee. 
SEC. 
3. 
COLLABORATIVE 
MANUFACTURING 
RESEARCH 
PILOT GRANTS. 
The National Institute of Standards and Technology 
Act is amended— 
(1) by redesignating the first section 32 as sec-
tion 34 and moving it to the end of the Act; and 
(2) by inserting before the section moved by 
paragraph (1) the following new section: 
‘‘SEC. 33. COLLABORATIVE MANUFACTURING RESEARCH 
PILOT GRANTS. 
‘‘(a) AUTHORITY.— 
‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Director shall estab-
lish a pilot program of awards to partnerships among 
participants described in paragraph (2) for the pur-
poses described in paragraph (3). Awards shall be 
made on a peer-reviewed, competitive basis.
‘‘(2) PARTICIPANTS.—Such partnerships shall 
include at least— 
‘‘(A) 1 manufacturing industry partner; 
and 
‘‘(B) 1 nonindustry partner. 
‘‘(3) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the program 
under this section is to foster cost-shared collabora-
tions among firms, educational institutions, research 
institutions, State agencies, and nonprofit organiza-
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 minimum— 
‘‘(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, 
productivity, and competitiveness of the United States 
manufacturing industry. 
‘‘(d) SELECTION CRITERIA.—In selecting applications 
for awards under this section, the Director shall consider 
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 research. 
‘‘(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 
(2) by adding at the end the following new sub-
section: 
‘‘(b) MANUFACTURING FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM.— 
‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—To promote the develop-
ment of a robust research community working at the 
leading edge of manufacturing sciences, the Director 
shall establish a program to award— 
‘‘(A) postdoctoral research fellowships at the 
Institute for research activities related to manu-
facturing 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 submit an
application to the Director at such time, in such 
manner, and containing such information as the Di-
rector 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-
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.—Section 
25(c)(5) of the National Institute of Standards and Tech-
nology Act (15 U.S.C. 278k(c)(5)) is amended by inserting 
‘‘A Center that has not received a positive evaluation by 
the evaluation panel shall be notified by the panel of the 
deficiencies in its performance and may be placed on proba-
tion 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 com-
petition to select an operator for the Center or may close 
the Center.’’ after ‘‘sixth year at declining levels.’’. 
(b) 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 subsection: 
‘‘(e) COMPETITIVE GRANT PROGRAM.— 
‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Director shall estab-
lish, within the Manufacturing Extension Partnership 
program under this section and section 26 of this Act, 
a program of competitive awards among participants 
described in paragraph (2) for the purposes 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 
National Advisory Board, and small and medium- 
sized manufacturers. One or more themes for the com-
petition may be identified, which may vary from year 
to year, depending on the needs of manufacturers and 
the success of previous competitions. These themes 
shall be related to projects associated with manufac-
turing extension activities, including supply chain