this section, as agreed by the parties, notwithstanding the
requirements of section 202 (a) and (b) of title 35, United
States Code.’’.
(2) The amendment made by this subsection shall be
effective only with respect to assistance for which solicita-
tions for proposals are made after the date of the enactment
of this Act.
SEC. 6. MANUFACTURING EXTENSION PARTNERSHIP PRO-
GRAM CENTER EXTENSION.
Section 25(c)(5) of the National Institute of Standards
and Technology Act (15 U.S.C. 278k(c)(5)) is amended by
striking ‘‘, which are designed’’ and all that follows through
‘‘operation of a Center.’’ and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘.
After the sixth year, a Center may receive additional finan-
cial support under this section if it has received a positive
evaluation through an independent review, under proce-
dures established by the Institute. Such an independent re-
view shall be required at least every two years after the sixth
year of operation. Funding received for a fiscal year under
this section after the sixth year of operation shall not exceed
the proportion of the capital and annual operating and
maintenance costs of the Center received by the Center dur-
ing its sixth year of operation.’’.
SEC. 7. MALCOLM BALDRIGE QUALITY AWARD.
Section 17(c)(3) of the Stevenson-Wydler Technology
Innovation Act of 1980 (15 U.S.C. 3711a(c)(3)) is amended
by inserting ‘‘, unless the Secretary determines that a third
award is merited and can be given at no additional cost
to the Federal Government’’ after ‘‘in any year’’.
SEC. 8. NEXT GENERATION INTERNET.
None of the funds authorized by this Act, or any other
Act enacted before the date of the enactment of this Act,
may be used for the Next Generation Internet. Notwith-
standing the previous sentence, funds may be used for the
continuation of programs and activities that were funded
and carried out during fiscal year 1997.
SEC. 9. LIMITATIONS.
(a) PROHIBITION OF LOBBYING ACTIVITIES.—None of
the funds authorized by this Act shall be available for any
activity whose purpose is to influence legislation pending
before the Congress, except that this subsection shall not pre-
vent officers or employees of the United States or of its de-
partments or agencies from communicating to Members of
Congress on the request of any Member or to Congress,
through the proper channels, requests for legislation or ap-
propriations which they deem necessary for the efficient
conduct of the public business.
(b) LIMITATION ON APPROPRIATIONS.—No sums are
authorized to be appropriated to the Director of the Na-
tional Institute of Standards and Technology for fiscal
years 1998 and 1999 for the activities for which sums are
authorized by this Act, unless such sums are specifically au-
thorized to be appropriated by this Act.
(c) ELIGIBILITY FOR AWARDS.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the National
Institute of Standards and Technology shall exclude
from consideration for grant agreements made by the
Institute after fiscal year 1997 any person who re-
ceived funds, other than those described in paragraph
(2), appropriated for a fiscal year after fiscal year
1997, under a grant agreement from any Federal
funding source for a project that was not subjected to
a competitive, merit-based award process. Any exclu-
sion from consideration pursuant to this subsection
shall be effective for a period of 5 years after the per-
son receives such Federal funds.
(2) EXCEPTION.—Paragraph (1) shall not apply
to the receipt of Federal funds by a person due to the
membership of that person in a class specified by law
for which assistance is awarded to members of the
class according to a formula provided by law.
(3) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this sub-
section, the term ‘‘grant agreement’’ means a legal in-
strument whose principal purpose is to transfer a
thing of value to the recipient to carry out a public
purpose of support or stimulation authorized by a
law of the United States, and does not include the
acquisition (by purchase, lease, or barter) of property
or services for the direct benefit or use of the United
States Government. Such term does not include a co-
operative agreement (as such term is used in section
6305 of title 31, United States Code) or a cooperative
research and development agreement (as such term is
defined in section 12(d)(1) of the Stevenson-Wydler
Technology Innovation Act of 1980 (15 U.S.C.
3710a(d)(1))).
SEC. 10. NOTICE.
(a) NOTICE OF REPROGRAMMING.—If any funds au-
thorized by this Act are subject to a reprogramming action
that requires notice to be provided to the Appropriations
Committees of the House of Representatives and the Senate,
notice of such action shall concurrently be provided to the
Committee on Science of the House of Representatives and
the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
of the Senate.
(b) NOTICE OF REORGANIZATION.—The Secretary of
Commerce shall provide notice to the Committees on Science
and Appropriations of the House of Representatives, and
the Committees on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
and Appropriations of the Senate, not later than 15 days
before any major reorganization of any program, project,
or activity of the National Institute of Standards and Tech-
nology.
SEC. 11. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON THE YEAR 2000 PROBLEM.
With the year 2000 fast approaching, it is the sense
of Congress that the National Institute of Standards and
Technology should—
(1) give high priority to correcting all 2-digit
date-related problems in its computer systems to en-
sure that those systems continue to operate effectively
in the year 2000 and beyond;
(2) assess immediately the extent of the risk to
the operations of the Institute posed by the problems
referred to in paragraph (1), and plan and budget for
achieving Year 2000 compliance for all of its mission-
critical systems; and
(3) develop contingency plans for those systems
that the Institute is unable to correct in time.
SEC. 12. BUY AMERICAN.
(a) COMPLIANCE WITH BUY AMERICAN ACT.—No
funds appropriated pursuant to this Act may be expended
by an entity unless the entity agrees that in expending the
assistance the entity will comply with sections 2 through