SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS FOR INDUS-
TRIAL TECHNOLOGY SERVICES.
There are authorized to be appropriated to the Sec-
retary of Commerce for the Industrial Technology Services
activities of the National Institute of Standards and Tech-
nology—
(1) $302,900,000 for fiscal year 1998, of
which—
(A) $185,100,000 shall be for the Ad-
vanced Technology Program under section 28
of the National Institute of Standards and
Technology Act (15 U.S.C. 278n); and
(B) $117,800,000 shall be for the Manu-
facturing 
Extension 
Partnerships 
program
under sections 25 and 26 of the National Insti-
tute of Standards and Technology Act (15
U.S.C. 278k and 2781); and
(2) $261,300,000 for fiscal year 1999, of
which—
(A) $150,000,000 shall be for the Ad-
vanced Technology Program under section 28
of the National Institute of Standards and
Technology Act (15 U.S.C. 278n); and
(B) $111,300,000 shall be for the Manu-
facturing 
Extension 
Partnerships 
program
under sections 5 and 26 of the National Insti-
tute of Standards and Technology Act (15
U.S.C. 278k and 278l).
SEC. 5. NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF STANDARDS AND TECH-
NOLOGY ACT AMENDMENTS.
Section 28 of the National Institute of Standards and
Technology Act (15 U.S.C. 278n) is amended—
(1) by striking ‘‘or contracts’’ in subsection
(b)(1)(B), and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘contracts,
and, subject to the last sentence of this subsection,
other transactions’’;
(2) by inserting ‘‘and if the non-Federal partici-
pants in the joint venture agree to pay at least 60
percent of the total costs of the joint venture during
the Federal participation period, which shall not ex-
ceed 5 years,’’ in subsection (b)(1)(B) after ‘‘partici-
pation to be appropriate,’’;
(3) by striking ‘‘(ii) provision of a minority
share of the cost of such joint ventures for up to 5
years, and (iii)’’ in subsection (b)(1)(B), and insert-
ing in lieu thereof ‘‘and (ii)’’;
(4) by striking ‘‘and cooperative agreements’’ in
subsection (b)(2), and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘, co-
operative agreements, and, subject to the last sen-
tence of this subsection, other transactions’’;
(5) by striking ‘‘, provided that emphasis is’’ in
subsection (b)(2) and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘on
the condition that grant recipients provide at least
60 percent of the costs of the project, with empha-
sis’’;
(6) by adding after subsection (b)(4) the follow-
ing:
‘‘The authority under paragraph (1)(B) and paragraph
(2) to enter into other transactions shall apply only if the
Secretary, acting through the Director, determines that
standard contracts, grants, or cooperative agreements are
not feasible or appropriate, and only when other trans-
action instruments incorporate terms and conditions that
reflect the use of generally accepted commercial account-
ing and auditing practices.’’;
(7) in subsection (d)(1), by inserting ‘‘and be of
a nature and scope that would not be pursued with-
out Federal assistance’’ after ‘‘technical merit’’; and
(8) by adding at the end the following new sub-
section:
‘‘(k) Notwithstanding subsection (b)(1)(B) and sub-
section (d)(3), the Director may grant extensions beyond
the deadlines established under those provisions for joint
venture and single applicant awardees to expend Federal
funds to complete their projects, if such extension may be
granted with no additional cost to the Federal Government
and it is in the Federal Government’s interest to do so.’’.
SEC. 6. LIMITED MANUFACTURING EXTENSION PARTNER-
SHIP PROGRAM CENTER EXTENSION.
A Regional Center for the Transfer of Manufacturing
Technology that would cease to be eligible to receive sup-
port under section 25 of the National Institute of Stand-
ards and Technology Act (15 U.S.C. 278k) during fiscal
year 1998 or 1999, because of the application of the last
sentence of subsection (c)(5) of such section 25, may con-
tinue to receive funding for two additional years after the
date on which it would have ceased to be eligible for fund-
ing in the absence of this section, if a positive evaluation
is conducted as provided in such section 25(c)(5). Funding
received for a fiscal year under this section shall not ex-
ceed the proportion of the capital and annual operating
and maintenance costs of the Center received by the Cen-
ter for the immediately preceding fiscal year.
SEC. 7. 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.
SEC. 8. 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 pend-
ing before the Congress, except that this subsection shall
not prevent officers or employees of the United States or
of its departments or agencies from communicating to
Members of Congress on the request of any Member or
to Congress, through the proper channels, requests for leg-
islation or appropriations which they deem necessary for
the efficient conduct of the public business.
(b) LIMITATION
ON
APPROPRIATIONS.—Notwith-
standing any other provision of law, no sums are author-
ized to be appropriated for fiscal years 1998 and 1999
for the activities for which sums are authorized by this
Act, unless such sums are specifically authorized to be ap-
propriated 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
received funds, other than those described in para-
graph (2), appropriated for a fiscal year after fiscal
year 1997, under a grant agreement from any Fed-
eral funding source for a project that was not sub-
jected to a competitive, merit-based award process.
Any exclusion from consideration pursuant to this
subsection shall be effective for a period of 5 years
after the person 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 pro-
vided by law.
(3) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this sub-
section, the term ‘‘grant agreement’’ means a legal
instrument 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 prop-
erty or services for the direct benefit or use of the
United States Government.
SEC. 9. 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 Sen-
ate, notice of such action shall concurrently be provided
to the Committee on Science of the House of Representa-
(3) develop contingency plans for those systems
that the Institute is unable to correct in time.
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