I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 5107 
To direct the Secretary of Defense to develop a plan to establish the Minority 
Institute for Defense Research, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
AUGUST 27, 2021 
Mr. BROWN (for himself and Mr. TURNER) introduced the following bill; which 
was referred to the Committee on Armed Services 
A BILL 
To direct the Secretary of Defense to develop a plan to 
establish the Minority Institute for Defense Research, 
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 ‘‘Building Equitable Ac-
cess to Contribute to Our National Security Act of 2021’’ 
or the ‘‘BEACON Act of 2021’’. 
SEC. 2. MINORITY INSTITUTE FOR DEFENSE RESEARCH. 
(a) PLAN TO ESTABLISH MINORITY INSTITUTE FOR 
DEFENSE RESEARCH.— 
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(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 
the date of the enactment of this section, the Sec-
retary shall submit to the congressional defense com-
mittees a plan (in this section referred to as the 
‘‘Plan’’) for the establishment of the Minority Insti-
tute for Defense Research (in this section referred to 
as the ‘‘Consortium’’). 
(2) ELEMENTS.—The Plan shall include the fol-
lowing: 
(A) Information relating to the projected 
needs of the Department for the next twenty 
years with respect to essential engineering, re-
search, or development capability. 
(B) An assessment relating to the engi-
neering, research, and development capability of 
each minority institution to identify each lead-
ing minority institution. 
(C) Information relating to the advance-
ments and investments necessary to elevate a 
minority institution or a consortium of minority 
institutions to the research capacity of a Uni-
versity Affiliated Research Center. 
(D) Recommendations relating to actions 
that may be taken by the Department, Con-
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gress, and minority institutions to establish the 
Consortium within 10 years. 
(3) PUBLICLY AVAILABLE.—The Plan shall be 
posted on a publicly available website of the Depart-
ment. 
(b) NAMING OF THE CONSORTIUM.—With respect to 
the naming of the Consortium, the Secretary shall— 
(1) establish a process to solicit and review pro-
posals of names from— 
(A) minority institutions; 
(B) nonprofit institutions that advocate on 
behalf of minority institutions; and 
(C) members of the public; 
(2) develop a list of all names received pursuant 
to paragraph (1); 
(3) provide opportunity for public comment on 
the names included on such list; and 
(4) choose a name from such list to name the 
Consortium. 
(c) GRANT PROGRAM FOR LEADING MINORITY INSTI-
TUTIONS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may establish 
a program to award grants, on a competitive basis, 
to leading minority institutions for the purposes de-
scribed in paragraph (2). 
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(2) PURPOSES.—The purposes described in this 
paragraph are the following: 
(A) Establishing a legal entity for the pur-
pose of entering into research contracts or 
agreements with the Federal Government or the 
Consortium. 
(B) Developing the capability to bid on 
Federal Government or Consortium contracts. 
(C) Requesting technical assistance from 
the Federal Government or a private entity with 
respect to contracting with the Federal Govern-
ment or the Consortium. 
(D) Recruiting and retaining research fac-
ulty. 
(E) Advancing research capabilities relat-
ing to the national security of the United 
States. 
(F) Any other matter determined appro-
priate by the Secretary. 
(3) APPLICATION.—To be eligible to receive a 
grant under this section, a leading minority institu-
tion shall submit to the Secretary an application in 
such form, and containing such information, as the 
Secretary may require. 
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(4) PREFERENCE.—In awarding grants pursu-
ant to paragraph (1), the Secretary shall give pref-
erence to a leading minority institution with a R1 or 
R2 status on the Carnegie Classification of Institu-
tions of Higher Education. 
(d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
(1) The term ‘‘congressional defense commit-
tees’’ means— 
(A) the Committee on Armed Services and 
the Committee on Appropriations of the House 
of Representatives; and 
(B) the Committee on Armed Services and 
the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate. 
(2) The term ‘‘Department’’ means the Depart-
ment of Defense. 
(3) The term ‘‘leading minority institution’’ 
means a minority institution identified (pursuant to 
the assessment required under subsection (a)(2)(B)) 
as being in the top 20 percent of all such institu-
tions with respect to providing essential engineering, 
research, or development capability. 
(4) The term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ 
has the meaning given such term in section 101 of 
the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
1001). 
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(5) The term ‘‘minority institution’’ means— 
(A) a part B institution (as such term is 
defined in section 322(2) of the Higher Edu-
cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1061(2))); or 
(B) any institution of higher education at 
which not less than 50 percent of the total stu-
dent enrollment consists of students from ethnic 
groups that are underrepresented in the fields 
of science and engineering. 
(6) The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary 
of Defense. 
(7) The term ‘‘University Affiliated Research 
Center’’ means a research organization within an in-
stitution of higher education that— 
(A) provides or maintains Department es-
sential engineering, research, or development 
capabilities; and 
(B) receives sole source contract funding 
from the Department pursuant to section 
2304(c)(3)(B) of title 10, United States Code. 
SEC. 3. SUBCONTRACT REQUIREMENTS FOR MINORITY IN-
STITUTIONS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 2304 of title 10, United 
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing new subsection: 
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‘‘(m)(1) The head of an agency shall require that a 
contract awarded to an educational institution pursuant 
to subsection (c)(3)(B) includes a requirement to sub-
contract with one or more minority institutions for a total 
amount of not less than 5 percent of the amount awarded 
in the contract. 
‘‘(2) For the purposes of this subsection, a minority 
institution means— 
‘‘(A) a part B institution (as that term is de-
fined in section 322(2) of the Higher Education Act 
of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1061(2))); or 
‘‘(B) any other institution of higher education 
(as that term is defined in section 101 of such Act 
(20 U.S.C. 1001)) at which not less than 50 percent 
of the total student enrollment consists of students 
from ethnic groups that are underrepresented in the 
fields of science and engineering.’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
subsection (a) shall— 
(1) take effect on October 1, 2026; and 
(2) apply with respect to funds that are award-
ed by the Department of Defense on or after such 
date. 
Æ 
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