S.Amdt. 3154

SA 3154. Mr. HEINRICH (for himself and Mr. Udall) submitted an
amendment intended to be proposed to amendment SA 2953 proposed by Ms.
Murkowski to the bill S. 2012, to provide for the modernization of the
energy policy of the United States, and for other purposes; which was
ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

At the end of subtitle C of title IV, add the following:

SEC. 42__. RESTORATION OF LABORATORY DIRECTED RESEARCH AND
DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM.

(a) Findings.--Congress finds that--
(1) laboratory directed research and development (referred
to in this subsection as ``LDRD'') is an investment for the
future;
(2) the purposes of LDRD are--
(A) to recruit, to develop, and to retain a creative
workforce for a laboratory; and
(B) to produce innovative ideas that are vital to the
ability of a laboratory to produce the best scientific work
in accordance with the mission of the laboratory;
(3) LDRD has a long history of support and accomplishment
since 1954, when Congress first authorized LDRD in the Atomic
Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.);
(4) formal requirements, external review, and oversight by
the Secretary with respect to LDRD projects ensure that LDRD
projects--
(A) are selected competitively; and
(B) explore innovative and new areas of research that are
not covered by existing research programs;
(5) LDRD is a resource to support cutting-edge exploratory
research prior to the identification and development of a
research program by the Department or a strategic partner of
the Department;
(6) LDRD projects in the same topic area may be funded at
various laboratories to explore potential paths for a program
in that topic area;
(7) LDRD projects provide valuable insights for peer-review
strategic assessments conducted by the Department in the
program planning process;
(8) LDRD is an important recruitment and retention tool for
the National Laboratories;
(9) the recruitment and retention tool that LDRD provides
is especially crucial for the laboratories operated by the
National Nuclear Security Administration, which must attract
new staff to the laboratories in order to maintain a highly
trained workforce to support the missions of the National
Nuclear Security Administration with respect to nuclear
weapons and national security; and
(10) the October 28, 2015, Final Report of the Commission
to Review the Effectiveness of the National Energy
Laboratories--
(A) strongly endorsed LDRD programs both now and into the
future; and
(B) supported restoration of the cap on LDRD to 6 percent
unburdened or the equivalent of 6 percent unburdened.
(b) General and Administrative Overhead for Laboratory
Directed Research and Development.--The Secretary shall
ensure that the laboratory operating contractors for Lawrence
Livermore National Laboratory, Los Alamos National
Laboratory, and Sandia National Laboratories do not allocate
costs of general and administrative overhead to laboratory
directed research and development.
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