I 
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2272
To establish a digital and wireless network technology program, and for 
other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 22, 2003
Mr. TOWNS (for himself, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, Ms. 
WATSON, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of 
Texas, Mr. OWENS, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, and Ms. MILLENDER-MCDON-
ALD) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on Science, and in addition to the Committee on Education and the 
Workforce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, 
in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the juris-
diction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To establish a digital and wireless network technology 
program, 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 ‘‘Minority Serving Insti-
tution Digital and Wireless Technology Opportunity Act 
of 2003’’.
(3) to provide teacher education, library and 
media specialist training, and preschool and teacher 
aid certification to individuals who seek to acquire or 
enhance technology skills in order to use technology 
in the classroom or instructional process; 
(4) to implement joint projects and consortia to 
provide education regarding technology in the class-
room with a State or State education agency, local 
education agency, community-based organization, 
national non-profit organization, or business, includ-
ing minority businesses; 
(5) to provide professional development in 
science, mathematics, engineering, or technology to 
administrators and faculty of eligible institutions 
with institutional responsibility for technology edu-
cation; 
(6) to provide capacity-building technical assist-
ance to eligible institutions through remote technical 
support, technical assistance workshops, distance 
learning, new technologies, and other technological 
applications; 
(7) to foster the use of information communica-
tions technology to increase scientific, mathematical, 
engineering, and technology instruction and re-
search; and
(8) to develop proposals to be submitted under 
this Act and to develop strategic plans for informa-
tion technology investments. 
SEC. 4. APPLICATION AND REVIEW PROCEDURE. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to receive a grant, 
contract, or cooperative agreement under this Act, an eli-
gible institution shall submit an application to the Direc-
tor at such time, in such manner, and accompanied by 
such information as the Director may reasonably require. 
The Director, in consultation with the advisory council es-
tablished under subsection (b), shall establish a procedure 
by which to accept and review such applications and pub-
lish an announcement of such procedure, including a state-
ment regarding the availability of funds, in the Federal 
Register. 
(b) ADVISORY COUNCIL.—The Director shall estab-
lish an advisory council to advise the Director on the best 
approaches for involving eligible institutions in the activi-
ties described in section 3, and for reviewing and evalu-
ating proposals submitted to the program. In selecting the 
members of the advisory council, the Director may consult 
with representatives of appropriate organizations, includ-
ing representatives of eligible institutions, to ensure that 
the membership of the advisory council reflects participa-
tion by technology and telecommunications institutions,
minority businesses, eligible institution communities, Fed-
eral agency personnel, and other individuals who are 
knowledgeable about eligible institutions and technology 
issues. Any panel assembled to review a proposal sub-
mitted to the program shall include members from minor-
ity serving institutions. Program review criteria shall in-
clude consideration of—
(1) demonstrated need for assistance under this 
Act; and 
(2) diversity among the types of institutions re-
ceiving assistance under this Act. 
(c) PEER REVIEW PANEL.—There shall be estab-
lished a peer review panel to aid the Director in estab-
lishing the application procedure described in subsection 
(a) and in selecting applicants to receive grants, contracts, 
and cooperative agreements under section 2. In selecting 
the members for such panel, the Director may consult with 
the Secretary of Commerce and the Secretary of Edu-
cation, or other appropriate cabinet-level officials, rep-
resentatives of non-Federal organizations, and representa-
tives of eligible Federal organizations, to ensure that the 
members of the peer review panel reflect the membership 
of the minority higher education community, in addition 
to Federal agency personnel and other individuals who are 
knowledgeable about and familiar with science, mathe-
matics, engineering, and technology issues as they related 
to eligible institutions. 
(d) DATA COLLECTION.—An eligible institution that 
receives a grant, contract, or cooperative agreement under 
section 2 shall provide the Office with any relevant institu-
tional statistical or demographic data requested by the Of-
fice. 
(e) INFORMATION DISSEMINATION.—The Director 
shall convene an annual meeting of eligible institutions re-
ceiving grants, contracts, or cooperative agreements under 
section 2 for the purposes of—
(1) fostering collaboration and capacity-building 
activities among eligible institutions; and 
(2) disseminating information and ideas gen-
erated by such meetings. 
SEC. 5. MATCHING REQUIREMENT. 
The Director may not award a grant, contract, or co-
operative agreement to an eligible institution under this 
Act unless such institution agrees that, with respect to the 
costs to be incurred by the institution in carrying out the 
program for which the grant, contract, or cooperative 
agreement was awarded, such institution will make avail-
able (directly or through donations from public or private 
entities) non-Federal contributions in an amount equal to 
1⁄4 of the amount of the grant, contract, or cooperative
agreement awarded by the Director, or $500,000, which-
ever is the lesser amount. The Director shall waive the 
matching requirement for any institution or consortium 
with no endowment, or an endowment that has a current 
dollar value lower than $50,000,000. 
SEC. 6. LIMITATIONS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—An eligible institution that re-
ceives a grant, contract, or cooperative agreement under 
this Act that exceeds $2,500,000, shall not be eligible to 
receive another grant, contract, or cooperative agreement 
under this Act until every other eligible institution that 
has applied for a grant, contract, or cooperative agreement 
under this Act has received such a grant, contract, or co-
operative. 
(b) AWARDS ADMINISTERED BY ELIGIBLE INSTITU-
TION.—Each grant, contract, or cooperative agreement 
awarded under this Act shall be made to, and adminis-
tered by, an eligible institution, even when it is awarded 
for the implementation of a consortium or joint project. 
SEC. 7. ANNUAL REPORT AND EVALUATION. 
(a) ANNUAL REPORT REQUIRED FROM RECIPI-
ENTS.—Each institution that receives a grant, contract, 
or cooperative agreement under this Act shall provide an 
annual report to the Director on its use of the grant, con-
tract, or cooperative agreement.
(b) EVALUATION BY DIRECTOR.—The Director, in 
consultation with the Secretary of Education, shall—
(1) review the reports provided under sub-
section (a) each year; and 
(2) evaluate the program authorized by section 
3 on the basis of those reports every 2 years. 
(c) CONTENTS OF EVALUATION.—The Director, in 
the evaluation, shall describe the activities undertaken by 
those institutions and shall assess the short-range and 
long-range impact of activities carried out under the 
grant, contract, or cooperative agreement on the students, 
faculty, and staff of the institutions. 
(d) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The Director shall sub-
mit a report to the Congress based on the evaluation. In 
the report, the Director shall include such recommenda-
tions, including recommendations concerning the con-
tinuing need for Federal support of the program, as may 
be appropriate. 
SEC. 8. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) ELIGIBLE INSTITUTION.—The term ‘‘eligi-
ble institution’’ means an institution that is—
(A) a historically Black college or univer-
sity that is a part B institution, as defined in 
section 322(2) of the Higher Education Act of
1965 (20 U.S.C. 1061(2)), an institution de-
scribed in section 326(e)(1)(A), (B), or (C) of 
that Act (20 U.S.C. 1063b(e)(1)(A), (B), or 
(C)), or a consortium of institutions described 
in this subparagraph; 
(B) a Hispanic-serving institution, as de-
fined in section 502(a)(5) of the Higher Edu-
cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1101a(a)(5)); 
(C) a tribally controlled college or univer-
sity, as defined in section 316(b)(3) of the 
Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
1059c(b)(3)); 
(D) an Alaska Native-serving institution 
under section 317(b) of the Higher Education 
Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1059d(b)); 
(E) a Native Hawaiian-serving institution 
under section 317(b) of the Higher Education 
Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1059d(b)); or 
(F) an institution determined by the Direc-
tor, in consultation with the Secretary of Edu-
cation, to have enrolled a substantial number of 
minority, low-income students during the pre-
vious academic year who received assistance 
under subpart I of part A of title IV of the
Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
1070a et seq.) for that year. 
(2) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 
the Director of the National Science Foundation. 
(3) MINORITY BUSINESS.—The term ‘‘minority 
business’’ includes HUBZone small business con-
cerns (as defined in section 3(p) of the Small Busi-
ness Act (15 U.S.C. 632(p)). 
SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 
There are authorized to be appropriated to the Direc-
tor of the National Science Foundation $250,000,000 for 
each of the fiscal years 2004 through 2008 to carry out 
this Act.
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