H. R. 4346—172 
(5) recommendations for or against extending or making 
permanent such waivers. 
SEC. 10321. PROGRAMS TO ADDRESS THE STEM WORKFORCE. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall issue undergraduate schol-
arships, including at community colleges, graduate fellowships and 
traineeships, postdoctoral awards, and, as appropriate, other 
awards, to address STEM workforce gaps, including for programs 
that recruit, retain, and advance students to a bachelor’s degree 
in a STEM discipline concurrent with a secondary school diploma, 
such as through existing and new partnerships with State edu-
cational agencies. 
(b) POSTDOCTORAL PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT.—In carrying 
out this section, the Director shall encourage innovation in 
postdoctoral professional development, support the development and 
diversity of the STEM workforce, and study the impacts of such 
innovation and support. To do so, the Director may use postdoctoral 
awards established under subsection (a) or leveraged under sub-
section (d)(1) for fellowships or other temporary rotational postings 
of not more than 2 years. Such fellowships or temporary rotational 
postings shall be awarded— 
(1) to qualified individuals who have a doctoral degree 
and received such degree not earlier than 5 years before the 
date that the fellowship or temporary rotational posting begins; 
and 
(2) to carry out research at Federal, State, local, and Tribal 
government research facilities. 
(c) DIRECT HIRE AUTHORITY.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The head of any Federal agency may 
appoint, without regard to the provisions of subchapter I of 
chapter 33 of title 5, United States Code, other than sections 
3303 and 3328 of that title, a qualified candidate described 
in paragraph (2) directly to a position in the competitive service 
with the Federal agency for which the candidate meets Office 
of Personnel Management qualification standards. 
(2) FELLOWSHIP
OR
TEMPORARY
ROTATIONAL
POSTING.— 
Paragraph (1) applies with respect to a former recipient of 
an award under this subsection who— 
(A) earned a doctoral degree in a STEM field from 
an institution of higher education; and 
(B) successfully fulfilled the requirements of the fellow-
ship or temporary rotational posting within a Federal 
agency. 
(3) LIMITATION.—The direct hire authority under this sub-
section shall be exercised with respect to a specific qualified 
candidate not later than 2 years after the date that the can-
didate completed the requirements related to the fellowship 
or temporary rotational posting described under this subsection. 
(d) EXISTING PROGRAMS.—In carrying out this section, the 
Director may leverage existing programs, including programs that 
issue— 
(1) postdoctoral awards; 
(2) graduate fellowships and traineeships, inclusive of the 
NSF Research Traineeships and fellowships awarded under 
the Graduate Research Fellowship Program; 
(3) scholarships, research experiences, and internships, 
including—
H. R. 4346—173 
(A) scholarships to attend community colleges; and 
(B) research experiences and internships under sec-
tions 513, 514, and 515 of the America COMPETES 
Reauthorization Act of 2010 (42 U.S.C. 1862p–5; 1862p– 
6; 42 U.S.C. 1862p–7); and 
(4) awards to institutions of higher education to enable 
the institutions to fund innovation in undergraduate and grad-
uate education, increased educational capacity, and the develop-
ment and establishment of new or specialized programs of 
study for graduate, undergraduate, or technical college stu-
dents, and the evaluation of the effectiveness of the programs 
of study. 
Subtitle C—Broadening Participation 
SEC. 10321. PRESIDENTIAL AWARDS FOR EXCELLENCE IN MATHE-
MATICS AND SCIENCE. 
(a) IN
GENERAL.—Section 117(a) of the National Science 
Foundation Authorization Act of 1988 (42 U.S.C. 1881b(a)) is 
amended— 
(1) in subparagraph (B)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘108’’ and inserting ‘‘110’’; 
(B) by striking clause (iv); 
(C) in clause (v), by striking the period at the end 
and inserting ‘‘; and’’; 
(D) by redesignating clauses (i), (ii), (iii), and (v) as 
subclauses (I), (II), (III), and (IV), respectively, and moving 
the margins of such subclauses (as so redesignated) two 
ems to the right; and 
(E) by striking ‘‘In selecting teachers’’ and all that 
follows through ‘‘two teachers—’’ and inserting the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(C) In selecting teachers for an award authorized by 
this subsection, the President shall select— 
‘‘(i) at least two teachers—’’; and 
(2) in subparagraph (C), as so designated by paragraph 
(1)(E) of this subsection, by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(ii) at least one teacher— 
‘‘(I) from the Commonwealth of the Northern 
Mariana Islands; 
‘‘(II) from American Samoa; 
‘‘(III) from the Virgin Islands of the United 
States; and 
‘‘(IV) from Guam.’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by subsection 
(a) shall apply with respect to awards made on or after the date 
of the enactment of this Act. 
SEC. 10322. ROBERT NOYCE TEACHER SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM 
UPDATE. 
(a) SENSE
OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Congress that 
over the next five years the Foundation should increase the number 
of scholarships awarded under the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholar-
ship program established under section 10 of the National Science 
Foundation Authorization Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 1862n–1) by 50 
percent.
H. R. 4346—174 
(b) OUTREACH.—To increase the diversity of participants, the 
Director shall support symposia, forums, conferences, and other 
activities to expand and enhance outreach to— 
(1) historically Black colleges and universities; 
(2) Tribal Colleges or Universities; 
(3) minority-serving institutions; 
(4) institutions of higher education that are located near 
or serve rural communities, including EPSCoR institutions; 
(5) labor organizations; 
(6) emerging research institutions; and 
(7) higher education programs that serve or support vet-
erans. 
SEC. 10323. NSF EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON INCLUDES INITIATIVE. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall make awards, on a 
competitive basis, to institutions of higher education or non-profit 
organizations (or consortia of such institutions or organizations) 
to carry out a comprehensive national initiative to facilitate the 
development of networks and partnerships to build on and scale 
up effective practices in broadening participation in STEM studies 
and careers of groups historically underrepresented in such studies 
and careers. 
(b) CHANGE OF NAME.—The initiative under subsection (a) shall 
be known as the ‘‘Eddie Bernice Johnson Inclusion across the Nation 
of Communities of Learners of Underrepresented Discoverers in 
Engineering and Science Initiative’’ or the ‘‘Eddie Bernice Johnson 
INCLUDES Initiative’’. 
SEC. 10324. BROADENING PARTICIPATION ON MAJOR FACILITIES 
AWARDS. 
The Director shall require organizations seeking a cooperative 
agreement for the management of the operations and maintenance 
of a Foundation project to demonstrate prior experience and current 
capabilities in or to have a plan for employing best practices in 
broadening participation in science and engineering and ensure 
implementation of such practices is considered in oversight of the 
award. 
SEC. 10325. EXPANDING GEOGRAPHIC AND INSTITUTIONAL DIVERSITY 
IN RESEARCH. 
(a) CONTINUING SUPPORT FOR EPSCOR .— 
(1) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Congress that— 
(A) because maintaining the Nation’s scientific and 
economic leadership requires the participation of talented 
individuals nationwide, EPSCoR investments into State 
research and education capacities are in the Federal 
interest and should be sustained; 
(B) EPSCoR should maintain its experimental compo-
nent by supporting innovative methods for improving 
research capacity and competitiveness; and 
(C) the Director should carry out this subsection while 
maintaining or increasing proposal success rates at 
emerging research institutions throughout the United 
States and without precluding access to awards for such 
institutions. 
(2) UPDATE OF EPSCOR.—Section 517(f)(2) of the America 
COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010 (42 U.S.C. 1862p– 
9(f)(2)) is amended—
H. R. 4346—175 
(A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; 
and 
(B) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(C) to increase the capacity of rural communities to 
provide quality STEM education and STEM workforce 
development programming to students, and teachers; and’’. 
(3) GEOGRAPHIC DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—To the maximum extent practicable, 
not less than— 
(i) 15.5 percent in fiscal year 2023, 
(ii) 16 percent in fiscal year 2024, 
(iii) 16.5 percent in fiscal year 2025, 
(iv) 17 percent in fiscal year 2026, 
(v) 18 percent in fiscal year 2027, 
(vi) 19 percent in fiscal year 2028, and 
(vii) 20 percent in fiscal year 2029, 
of the amounts appropriated to the Foundation for research 
and related activities, and science, mathematics, and 
engineering education and human resources programs and 
activities, excluding those amounts made available for polar 
research and operations support (and operations and 
maintenance of research facilities), shall be awarded to 
EPSCoR institutions. 
(B) SCHOLARSHIPS.—To the maximum extent prac-
ticable, not less than— 
(i) 16 percent in fiscal year 2023, 
(ii) 18 percent in fiscal year 2024, and 
(iii) 20 percent in each of fiscal years 2025 through 
2029, 
of the amounts appropriated to the Foundation for scholar-
ships (including at community colleges), graduate fellow-
ships and traineeships, and postdoctoral awards shall be 
used to support EPSCoR institutions. 
(C) CONSIDERATIONS.—The Director shall consider 
prioritizing funding and activities that enable sustainable 
growth in the competitiveness of EPSCoR jurisdictions, 
including— 
(i) infrastructure investments to build research 
capacity in EPSCoR jurisdictions; 
(ii) scholarships, fellowships, and traineeships 
within new and existing programs, to promote the 
development of sustainable research and academic per-
sonnel; 
(iii) partnerships between eligible organizations in 
EPSCoR and non-EPSCoR jurisdictions, to develop 
administrative, grant management, and proposal 
writing capabilities in EPSCoR jurisdictions; 
(iv) capacity building activities for emerging 
research institutions, historically Black colleges and 
universities, Tribal Colleges or Universities, and 
minority serving institutions, consistent with this sec-
tion and section 10524 of this division; and 
(v) leveraging the Partnerships for Innovation pro-
gram, as well as the Foundation coordination role in 
the Department of Commerce technology and innova-
tion hub program under section 28 of the Stevenson- 
Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980 as added