S.Amdt. 1546

SA 1546. Mr. PAUL submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by him to the bill S. 1260, to establish a new Directorate for Technology and Innovation in the National Science Foundation, to establish a regional technology hub program, to require a strategy and report on economic security, science, research, innovation, manufacturing, and job creation, to establish a critical supply chain resiliency program, and for other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

Strike subsection (a) of section 2527 of title V of division B and insert the following:

(a) Review Panels.--

(1) Inclusion on review panels.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, each review panel for a specific Federal research grant shall include--

(A) at least one individual who is not professionally affiliated with any academic or research institution, has not been professionally affiliated in the 10 years preceding the date of inclusion on the panel, and is an expert in a field unrelated to the field of research under which the grant proposal was submitted; and

(B) at least one individual who shall serve primarily as a “taxpayer advocate” (defined as someone whose main focus is on the value proposed research delivers to the taxpayer).

(2) Prohibition on receiving recommendations from grant applicants on review panel.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, each agency that awards a Federal research grant shall not accept recommendations from an applicant for such grant as to who should or should not be on the grant review panel for such applicant.

(3) Nondisclosure of members of grant review panel.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, each agency that awards a Federal research grant shall not disclose, either publicly or privately, to an applicant for such grant the identity of any member of the grant review panel for such applicant.