Federal Grant Solicitations Improvement Act of 2011

Mr. Speaker, each year, 26 Federal agencies award over half a trillion dollars in grant funding. Earlier this year, Congress significantly changed the manner in which the Federal Government allocates funding. In the past, State and local governments and nonprofit organizations spent a great deal of time trying to persuade individuals Members of Congress to earmark funds to support local projects.

While debate will no doubt continue on the value of congressionally directed spending, the reality is that, at least for the time being, the days of earmarks are over. With a ban on earmarks, a greater emphasis will now be placed on competitive grants, whereby applicants from across the Nation compete for funding made available for different purposes.

In theory, a larger role for competitive grants in the Federal appropriations process holds promise. Under a well-administered grant competition, an application is judged on its merits. In practice, however, an increased emphasis on competitive grants will only improve the overall process if the Federal Government announces and publicizes grant opportunities in a clear and organized manner. Grant seeking will not be a true meritocracy if the process of identifying, applying for, and obtaining Federal grants is clouded in mystery and confusion and understood only by paid experts.

In 1999, Congress created a Web site, grants.gov, which allows applicants to search and apply for grants online. But much more needs to be done to make the grant solicitation process as transparent and user friendly as possible.

Many of my constituents have expressed frustration with the manner in which the Federal Government makes grant opportunities known. Often, a potential grantee will seek to apply for needed funding only to learn that the deadline for the most relevant grant passed days or weeks earlier. In other instances, prospective applicants will search grants.gov, but become frustrated upon finding that they need to scroll through pages and pages of grant listings, some of which are outdated or have not been funded by Congress.

To address these problems, I recently introduced H.R. 2393. This bipartisan

legislation would make two important changes to the Federal grant solicitation process. First, my bill would require each Federal agency, within 2 months of the start of any fiscal year, to submit a forecast of all grants solicitations that the agency expects to issue for that year. Such a forecast would allow prospective applicants to determine in advance which grant opportunities they wish to apply for.

The second improvement my bill would make is to require each grant solicitation forecast or listing to be organized by detailed subject area. Grants.gov currently organizes grant opportunities by agency and by very broad areas such as energy or housing. As a result, when an applicant seeks to search for health-related grants, for example, he or she must scroll through 30 pages of grant listings. My bill would require grants.gov, as well as all other Federal agencies, to organize grant opportunities by specific subject areas so that the applicants can more easily identify those grants that are most likely to address their needs.

Now, let me turn to Puerto Rico, which I represent in this Congress. And it pains me that some statements were made earlier on this floor regarding my beautiful island and its government. Puerto Rico shines because of its democracy. Every 4 years we have free elections, and our voters go out and express their will at the rate of 80 percent, which is something that we are very proud of.

We do have a police department in Puerto Rico, actually the second- largest in the Nation, and there is an ongoing civil rights investigation by the Department of Justice. But I am sure, and I can vouch, that the police department of Puerto Rico is doing everything it can so that any civil rights violations are corrected and are not repeated.

Again, I wish when we talk about Puerto Rico in this Congress, we talk about all of the positive things that are happening in that island, including our people's love of their American citizenship and their rights under the U.S. Constitution.