S.Amdt. 1690

SA 1690. Mr. LEE submitted an amendment intended to be proposed to
amendment SA 1502 proposed by Mr. Schumer 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:

Section 2104(a) is amended by striking subparagraph (D) of
paragraph (3) and all that follows through subparagraph
(C)(ii) of paragraph (7) and inserting the following:
and
(4) Selection process.--In selecting recipients under this
subsection, the Director shall consider, in addition to the
scientific and technical merit of the proposal--
(A) maximizing regional and geographic diversity of the
university technology centers, including by considering
rural-serving institutions of higher education (as defined in
section 861(b) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C.
1161a(b));
(B) the extent to which the applicant's proposal would
broaden participation by populations underrepresented in
STEM;
(C) the capacity of the applicant to engage industry,
labor, and other appropriate organizations and, where
applicable, contribute to growth in domestic manufacturing
capacity and job creation;
(D) in the case of a consortium, the extent to which the
proposal includes institutions listed in paragraph
(7)(C)(ii);
(E) the amount of funds from industry organizations
described in paragraph (5)(A)(ii) the applicant would use
towards establishing the university technology center;
(F) the plan and capability of the applicant to take
measures to prevent the inappropriate use of the research and
technology of the center, including research results, data,
and intellectual property, as appropriate and consistent with
the requirements of the relevant award; and
(G) the plan and capability of the applicant to support
proof-of-concept development and prototyping as well as
technology transfer and commercialization activities.
(5) Requirements.--
(A) In general.--The Director shall ensure that any
eligible entity receiving an award under this subsection
has--
(i) the capacity or the ability to acquire the capacity to
advance the purposes described in section 2102(b);
(ii) secured contributions for establishing the university
technology center under this subsection from industry or
other non-Federal organizations in an amount not less than 10
percent of the total amount of the award the eligible entity
would receive under this subsection;
(iii) been certified by the Director as carrying out a
proposal that is not duplicative, fraudulent, or wasteful;
and
(iv) agreed to be subject to annual audits for compliance
with this section.
(B) Consortium eligibility.--To be eligible to receive an
award for the establishment and operation of a university
technology center, a consortium shall be composed of not
fewer than 2 entities as described in paragraph (7)(C) and
operate subject to a binding agreement, entered into by each
member of the consortium, that documents--
(i) the proposed partnership agreement, including the
governance and management structure of the university
technology center;
(ii) measures the consortium will undertake to enable cost-
effective implementation of activities under paragraph (3);
(iii) a proposed budget, including financial contributions
from non-Federal sources; and
(iv) the plan for ownership and use of any intellectual
property developed by the center.
(6) Support of regional technology hubs.--Each university
technology center established under this subsection may
support and participate in, as appropriate, the activities of
any regional technology hub designated under section 28 of
the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980 (15
U.S.C. 3701 et seq.), as added by section 2401 of this
division.
(7) Eligible entity.--In this subsection, the term
``eligible entity'' means--
(A) an individual institution of higher education;
(B) a nonprofit entity; or
(C) a consortium that--
(i) shall include and be led by an institution of higher
education or by a nonprofit entity, designed to support
technology development;
(ii) may include 1 or more institution that is--

(I) a historically Black college or university;
(II) a Tribal College or University;
(III) a minority-serving institution (or an institution of
higher education with an established STEM capacity building
program focused on traditionally underrepresented populations
in STEM, including Native Hawaiians, Alaska Natives, and
Indians);
(IV) an institution that participates in the Established
Program to Stimulate Competitive Research under section 113
of the National Science Foundation Authorization Act of 1988
(42 U.S.C. 1862g);
(V) an emerging research institution; or
(VI) a community college that is a research institution;
and

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