National Fab Lab Network Act of 2021
Bill: S.1661 | Sponsor: Sen. Van Hollen, Chris (D-MD)
Policy area: Commerce

Summary:
National Fab Lab Network Act of 2021
This bill establishes the National Fab Lab Network as a nonprofit corporation.
A fab lab is a digital fabrication facility with the capabilities necessary to create form and function from digital designs. The bill requires the National Fab Lab Network to (1) endeavor to establish at least one fab lab in each congressional district and additional labs according to local demand, (2) link fab labs into a national network and promote their further expansion across the country, (3) serve as a training and operating resource for fab labs and their leaders and mentors, (4) maintain a national registry of fab labs, (5) provide standards and protocols for connecting fab labs, and (6) assist fab labs in producing fab labs.

To establish the National Fab Lab Network, a nonprofit organization 
     consisting of a national network of local digital fabrication 
 facilities providing universal access to advanced manufacturing tools 
   for workforce development, STEM education, developing inventions, 
creating businesses, producing personalized products, mitigating risks, 
                        and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``National Fab Lab Network Act of 
2021''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Scientific discoveries and technical innovations are 
        critical to the economic and national security of the United 
        States.
            (2) Maintaining the leadership of the United States in 
        science, technology, engineering, and mathematics will require 
        a diverse population with the skills, interest, and access to 
        tools required to advance these fields.
            (3) Just as earlier digital revolutions in communications 
        and computation provided individuals with the internet and 
        personal computers, a digital revolution in fabrication will 
        allow anyone to make almost anything, anywhere.
            (4) These creations include elements of a typical household 
        basket of goods (furnishings, apparel, food production 
        equipment, shelter, transportation, education and 
        communication, recreation, and other goods and services), 
        personal technology, means for personal expression, the 
        production of digital fabrication machinery, community design, 
        and manufacturing capability.
            (5) The Center for Bits and Atoms of the Massachusetts 
        Institute of Technology (CBA) has contributed significantly to 
        the advancement of these goals through its work in creating and 
        advancing digital fabrication facilities, or ``fab labs'' in 
        the United States and abroad.
            (6) Such digital fabrication facilities may include 
        MakerSpaces, Hackerspaces, and other creative spaces that use 
        digital fabrication as a platform for education, innovation, 
        entrepreneurship, personal expression, public access, and 
        social impact.
            (7) Such digital fabrication facilities provide a model for 
        a new kind of national laboratory that operates as a network, 
        linking local facilities for advanced manufacturing, providing 
        universal access, cultivating new literacies, and empowering 
        communities.
            (8) The nonprofit Fab Foundation was established to support 
        the growth of the international network of digital fabrication 
        facilities, to amplify the educational, entrepreneurial, and 
        social impacts of digital fabrication facilities, and to 
        support the development of regional capacity building 
        organizations to broaden impact as well as address local, 
        regional, and global challenges through the use of digital 
        fabrication technologies.
            (9) A coordinated array of national public-private 
        partnerships will be the most effective way to accelerate the 
        provision of universal access to this infrastructure for 
        workforce development, science, technology, engineering, and 
        mathematics education, developing inventions, creating 
        businesses, producing personalized products, and mitigating 
        risks.

SEC. 3. DEFINITION OF FAB LAB.

    In this Act, the term ``fab lab'' means a facility that--
            (1) contains the range of capabilities required to create 
        form and function from digital designs, including--
                    (A) computer-controlled machines for additive and 
                subtractive fabrication processes;
                    (B) tools and components for manufacturing and 
                programming electronic circuits;
                    (C) materials and methods for short-run production; 
                and
                    (D) workflows for three-dimensional design and 
                digitization; and
            (2) is committed to supporting education, innovation, 
        entrepreneurship, personal expression, self-sufficiency, and 
        social impact for its community through digital fabrication.

SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT.

    There is hereby established a nonprofit corporation to be known as 
the ``National Fab Lab Network'' (in this Act referred to as the 
``corporation''), which shall not be an agency or establishment of the 
United States Government. The corporation shall be subject to the 
provisions of this Act, and, to the extent consistent with this Act, to 
the District of Columbia Nonprofit Corporation Act (D.C. Code, section 
29-501 et seq.).

SEC. 5. GOALS AND ACTIVITIES.

    (a) Goals.--The goals of the corporation are as follows:
            (1) To provide universal access to digital fabrication.
            (2) To foster current and future fab labs.
            (3) To create a national network of connected local fab 
        labs to empower individuals and communities in the United 
        States.
            (4) To foster the use of distributed digital fabrication 
        tools--
                    (A) to promote science, technology, engineering and 
                math skills;
                    (B) to increase invention and innovation;
                    (C) to create businesses and jobs;
                    (D) to fulfill personal, professional, and 
                community needs;
                    (E) to create value and mitigate harm;
                    (F) to increase self-sufficiency for individuals, 
                households, and communities;
                    (G) to reduce dependency on global supply chains; 
                and
                    (H) to align workforce development with new and 
                emerging jobs.
            (5) To provide a platform for education, research, and for 
        catalyzing new methods in science, technology, engineering, and 
        mathematics education, and introducing digital fabrication as 
        an essential new literacy.
            (6) To create new ways of educating the workforce that will 
        enable workers to compete in a 21st century global marketplace.
    (b) Activities.--To attain the goals described in subsection (a), 
the corporation shall carry out activities, including the following:
            (1) Seeking, initially, to establish a minimum of one fab 
        lab in each Congressional District.
            (2) Seeking to establish additional labs within the network 
        created under subsection (a)(2), in response to local demand, 
        and to provide guidelines for their sustainable operation.
            (3) Linking fab labs into a national network, and promoting 
        further expansion of fab labs across the United States.
            (4) Serving as a resource to assist diverse public and 
        private stakeholders with the effective operation of fab labs, 
        and the training of fab lab leaders and mentors.
            (5) Maintaining a national registry of fab labs.
            (6) Providing standards and protocols for connecting fab 
        labs regionally, nationally, and globally.
            (7) Assisting fab labs in producing fab labs.

SEC. 6. MEMBERSHIP AND ORGANIZATION.

    Except as provided in this Act, eligibility for membership in the 
corporation and the rights and privileges of members shall be in 
accordance with the laws governing tax exempt organizations in the 
District of Columbia.

SEC. 7. GOVERNING BODY.

    (a) In General.--Except as provided in subsection (b), directors, 
officers, and other staff of the corporation, and their powers and 
duties, shall be in accordance with the laws governing tax exempt 
organizations in the District of Columbia.
    (b) Board Membership.--
            (1) Composition.--The board of the corporation shall be 
        composed of not fewer than 7 members and not more than 15 
        members.
            (2) Representation.--
                    (A) In general.--The membership of the board of the 
                corporation shall collectively represent the diversity 
                of fab labs.
                    (B) Requirement.--At a minimum, the board of the 
                corporation shall be composed of members from 
                geographic regions across the United States, Tribal 
                communities, educational and research institutions, 
                libraries, nonprofit and commercial organizations, 
                diverse demographic groups, and the Fab Foundation.
                    (C) Individual representation.--An individual 
                member of the board of the corporation may represent 
                more than one board role and additional roles may be 
                added to reflect the diversity of the fab lab 
                ecosystem.
            (3) Selection.--The initial board of the corporation shall 
        be chosen, in consultation with the Fab Foundation and in 
        accordance with paragraph (2)(A), as follows:
                    (A) Two shall be appointed by the majority leader 
                of the Senate.
                    (B) Two shall be appointed by the minority leader 
                of the Senate.
                    (C) Two shall be appointed by the Speaker of the 
                House of Representatives.
                    (D) Two shall be appointed by the minority leader 
                of the House of Representatives.

SEC. 8. POWERS.

    The corporation may--
            (1) coordinate the creation of a national network of local 
        fab labs in the United States;
            (2) issue guidelines for the sustainable operation of fab 
        labs;
            (3) issue standards and guidelines for fab labs;
            (4) serve as a resource for organizations and communities 
        seeking to create fab labs by providing information, assessing 
        suitability, advising on the lab lifecycle, and maintaining 
        descriptions of prospective and operating sites;
            (5) accept funds from private individuals, organizations, 
        government agencies, or other organizations;
            (6) distribute funds to other organizations to establish 
        and operate fab labs as members of the corporation;
            (7) facilitate communication between other organizations 
        seeking to join the corporation with operational entities that 
        can source and install fab labs, provide training, assist with 
        operations, account for spending, and assess impact;
            (8) communicate the benefits available through membership 
        in the corporation to communities and the public;
            (9) facilitate and participate in synergistic programs, 
        including workforce training, job creation, researching the 
        enabling technology and broader impacts of such programs, and 
        the production of civic infrastructure;
            (10) develop processes and methods to mitigate risks 
        associated with digital fabrication;
            (11) amend a constitution and bylaws for the management of 
        its property and the regulation of its affairs;
            (12) choose directors, officers, trustees, managers, 
        employees, and agents as the activities of the corporation 
        require;
            (13) make contracts;
            (14) acquire, own, lease, encumber, and transfer property 
        as necessary or convenient to carry out the purposes of the 
        corporation;
            (15) borrow money, issue instruments of indebtedness, and 
        secure its obligations by granting security interests in its 
        property;
            (16) charge and collect membership dues and subscription 
        fees; and
            (17) sue and be sued.

SEC. 9. EXCLUSIVE RIGHT TO NAME, TERM, SEALS, EMBLEMS, AND BADGES.

    The corporation and its participating digital fabrication labs have 
the exclusive right to use--
            (1) the name ``National Fab Lab Network''; and
            (2) any seals, emblems, and badges the corporation adopts.

SEC. 10. RESTRICTIONS.

    (a) Stock and Dividends.--The corporation may not issue securities 
of any kind or declare or pay a dividend.
    (b) Distribution of Income or Assets.--The income or assets of the 
corporation may not inure to the benefit of, or be distributed to, a 
director, officer, or member during the life of the corporation under 
this Act. This subsection does not prevent the payment of reasonable 
compensation to an officer or reimbursement for actual necessary 
expenses in amounts approved by the board of directors.
    (c) Loans.--The corporation may not make a loan to a director, 
officer, or employee.
    (d) Claim of Governmental Approval or Authority.--The corporation 
may not claim congressional approval or the authority of the United 
States Government for any of its activities, but may recognize 
establishment of the corporation pursuant to section 4 of this Act.

SEC. 11. RECORDS AND INSPECTION.

    (a) Records.--The corporation shall keep--
            (1) correct and complete records of account;
            (2) minutes of the proceedings of its members, board of 
        directors, and committees having any of the authority of its 
        board of directors; and
            (3) at its principal office, a record of the names and 
        addresses of its members entitled to vote.
    (b) Inspections.--A member entitled to vote, or an agent or 
attorney of the member, may inspect the records of the corporation for 
any proper purpose, at any reasonable time.

SEC. 12. ANNUAL REPORT.

    Not less frequently than once each year, the corporation shall 
submit to Congress, including specifically to the Committee on 
Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Committee 
on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives, a 
report on the activities of the corporation during the prior fiscal 
year.
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