Advanced Technological Manufacturing Act

II Calendar No. 198 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 735 To amend the Scientific and Advanced-Technology Act of 1992 to further support advanced technological manufacturing, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 11, 2021 Mr. WICKER (for himself, Ms. CANTWELL, Ms. ROSEN, Ms. COLLINS, Mr. PETERS, and Mrs. BLACKBURN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation DECEMBER 16, 2021 Reported by Ms. CANTWELL, with an amendment [Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] A BILL To amend the Scientific and Advanced-Technology Act of 1992 to further support advanced technological manufac- turing, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Advanced Techno- 4 logical Manufacturing Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:13 Dec 17, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S735.RS S735 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 735 RS SEC. 2. HARNESSING OUR NATION’S RESEARCH POTEN- 1 TIAL. 2 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Director of the National 3 Science Foundation shall conduct multiple pilot programs 4 within the Foundation to expand the number of institu- 5 tions of higher education (including such institutions that 6 are community colleges), and other eligible entities that 7 the Director determines appropriate, that are able to suc- 8 cessfully compete for National Science Foundation grants. 9 (b) COMPONENTS.—Each pilot program described in 10 subsection (a) shall include at least 1 of the following ele- 11 ments: 12 (1) A mentorship program. 13 (2) Grant writing technical assistance. 14 (3) Targeted outreach. 15 (4) Programmatic support or solutions for insti- 16 tutions or entities that do not have an experienced 17 grant management office. 18 (5) An increase in the number of grant review- 19 ers from institutions of higher education that have 20 not traditionally received funds from the National 21 Science Foundation. 22 (6) An increase of the term and funding, for a 23 period of 3 years or less, as appropriate, to a prin- 24 cipal investigator that is a first-time grant awardee, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:13 Dec 17, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S735.RS S735 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 735 RS when paired with regular mentoring on the adminis- 1 trative aspects of grant management. 2 (c) LIMITATION.—As appropriate, each pilot program 3 described in subsection (a) shall work to reduce adminis- 4 trative burdens. 5 (d) AGENCY-WIDE PROGRAMS.—Not later than 5 6 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Director 7 of the National Science Foundation shall— 8 (1) review the results of the pilot programs de- 9 scribed in subsection (a); and 10 (2) develop agency-wide best practices from the 11 pilot programs for implementation across the Foun- 12 dation, in order to fulfill the requirement under sec- 13 tion 3(e) of the National Science Foundation Act of 14 1950 (42 U.S.C. 1862(e)). 15 (e) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—In this 16 section, the term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 17 meaning given the term in section 101 of the Higher Edu- 18 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001). 19 SEC. 3. ADVANCED SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL MANUFAC- 20 TURING. 21 (a) FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.—Section 2 of the Sci- 22 entific and Advanced-Technology Act of 1992 (42 U.S.C. 23 1862h) is amended— 24 (1) in subsection (a)— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:13 Dec 17, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S735.RS S735 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 735 RS (A) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘science, 1 mathematics, and technology’’ and inserting 2 ‘‘science, technology, engineering, and mathe- 3 matics or STEM’’; 4 (B) in paragraph (4), by inserting ‘‘edu- 5 cated and’’ before ‘‘trained’’; and 6 (C) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘sci- 7 entific and technical education and training’’ 8 and inserting ‘‘STEM education and training’’; 9 and 10 (2) in subsection (b)— 11 (A) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘mathe- 12 matics and science’’ and inserting ‘‘STEM 13 fields’’; and 14 (B) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘mathe- 15 matics and science instruction’’ and inserting 16 ‘‘STEM instruction’’. 17 (b) MODERNIZING REFERENCES TO STEM.—Section 18 3 of the Scientific and Advanced-Technology Act of 1992 19 (42 U.S.C. 1862i) is amended— 20 (1) in the section heading, by striking ‘‘SCI- 21 ENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION’’ and in- 22 serting ‘‘STEM EDUCATION’’; 23 (2) in subsection (a)— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:13 Dec 17, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S735.RS S735 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 735 RS (A) in the subsection heading, by striking 1 ‘‘SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION’’ 2 and inserting ‘‘STEM EDUCATION’’; 3 (B) in the matter preceding paragraph 4 (1)— 5 (i) by inserting ‘‘and education to pre- 6 pare the skilled technical workforce to 7 meet workforce demands’’ before ‘‘, and to 8 improve’’; 9 (ii) by striking ‘‘core education 10 courses in science and mathematics’’ and 11 inserting ‘‘core education courses in STEM 12 fields’’; 13 (iii) by inserting ‘‘veterans and indi- 14 viduals engaged in’’ before ‘‘work in the 15 home’’; and 16 (iv) by inserting ‘‘and on building a 17 pathway from secondary schools, to asso- 18 ciate-degree-granting institutions, to ca- 19 reers that require technical training’’ be- 20 fore ‘‘, and shall be designed’’; 21 (C) in paragraph (1)— 22 (i) by inserting ‘‘and study’’ after 23 ‘‘development’’; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:13 Dec 17, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S735.RS S735 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 735 RS (ii) by striking ‘‘core science and 1 mathematics courses’’ and inserting ‘‘core 2 STEM courses’’; 3 (D) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘science, 4 mathematics, and advanced-technology fields’’ 5 and inserting ‘‘STEM and advanced-technology 6 fields’’; 7 (E) in paragraph (3)(A), by inserting ‘‘to 8 support the advanced-technology industries that 9 drive the competitiveness of the United States 10 in the global economy’’ before the semicolon at 11 the end; 12 (F) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘sci- 13 entific and advanced-technology fields’’ and in- 14 serting ‘‘STEM and advanced-technology 15 fields’’; and 16 (G) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘ad- 17 vanced scientific and technical education’’ and 18 inserting ‘‘advanced STEM and advanced-tech- 19 nology’’; 20 (3) in subsection (b)— 21 (A) by striking the subsection heading and 22 inserting the following: ‘‘CENTERS OF SCI- 23 ENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION.—’’; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:13 Dec 17, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S735.RS S735 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 735 RS (B) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), 1 by striking ‘‘not to exceed 10 in number’’ and 2 inserting ‘‘in advanced-technology fields’’; 3 (C) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘edu- 4 cation in mathematics and science’’ and insert- 5 ing ‘‘STEM education’’; and 6 (D) in the flush matter following para- 7 graph (2), by striking ‘‘in the geographic region 8 served by the center’’; 9 (4) in subsection (c)— 10 (A) in paragraph (1)— 11 (i) in subparagraph (A)— 12 (I) in the matter preceding clause 13 (i), by striking ‘‘to encourage’’ and all 14 that follows through ‘‘such means 15 as—’’ and inserting ‘‘to encourage the 16 development of career and educational 17 pathways with multiple entry and exit 18 points leading to credentials and de- 19 grees, and to assist students pursuing 20 pathways in STEM fields to transition 21 from associate-degree-granting col- 22 leges to bachelor-degree-granting in- 23 stitutions, through such means as—’’; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:13 Dec 17, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S735.RS S735 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 735 RS (II) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘to 1 ensure’’ and inserting ‘‘to develop ar- 2 ticulation agreements that ensure’’; 3 and 4 (III) in clause (ii), by striking 5 ‘‘courses at the bachelor-degree-grant- 6 ing institution’’ and inserting ‘‘the ca- 7 reer and educational pathways sup- 8 ported by the articulation agree- 9 ments’’; 10 (ii) in subparagraph (B)— 11 (I) in clause (i), by inserting 12 ‘‘veterans and individuals engaged in’’ 13 before ‘‘work in the home’’; 14 (II) in clause (iii)— 15 (aa) by striking ‘‘bachelor’s- 16 degree-granting institutions’’ and 17 inserting ‘‘institutions or work 18 sites’’; and 19 (bb) by inserting ‘‘or indus- 20 try internships’’ after ‘‘summer 21 programs’’; and 22 (III) by striking the flush text 23 following clause (iv); and 24 (iii) by striking subparagraph (C); 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:13 Dec 17, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S735.RS S735 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 735 RS (B) in paragraph (2)— 1 (i) by striking ‘‘mathematics and 2 science programs’’ and inserting ‘‘STEM 3 programs’’; 4 (ii) by inserting ‘‘and, as appropriate, 5 elementary schools,’’ after ‘‘with secondary 6 schools’’; 7 (iii) by striking ‘‘mathematics and 8 science education’’ and inserting ‘‘STEM 9 education’’; 10 (iv) by striking ‘‘secondary school stu- 11 dents’’ and inserting ‘‘students at these 12 schools’’; 13 (v) by striking ‘‘science and advanced- 14 technology fields’’ and inserting ‘‘STEM 15 and advanced-technology fields’’; and 16 (vi) by striking ‘‘agreements with local 17 educational agencies’’ and inserting ‘‘ar- 18 ticulation agreements or dual credit 19 courses with local secondary schools, or 20 other means as the Director determines 21 appropriate,’’; and 22 (C) in paragraph (3)— 23 (i) by striking subparagraph (B); 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:13 Dec 17, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S735.RS S735 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 735 RS (ii) by striking ‘‘shall—’’ and all that 1 follows through ‘‘establish a’’ and inserting 2 ‘‘shall establish a’’; 3 (iii) by striking ‘‘the fields of science, 4 technology, engineering, and mathematics’’ 5 and inserting ‘‘STEM fields’’; and 6 (iv) by striking ‘‘; and’’ and inserting 7 ‘‘, including jobs at Federal and academic 8 laboratories.’’; 9 (5) in subsection (d)(2)— 10 (A) in subparagraph (D), by striking 11 ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon; 12 (B) in subparagraph (E), by striking the 13 period at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 14 (C) by adding at the end the following: 15 ‘‘(F) as appropriate, applications that 16 apply the best practices for STEM education 17 and technical skills education through distance 18 learning or in a simulated work environment, as 19 determined by research described in subsection 20 (f).’’; 21 (6) in subsection (g), by striking the second 22 sentence; 23 (7) in subsection (h)(1)— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:13 Dec 17, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S735.RS S735 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 735 RS (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking 1 ‘‘2022’’ and inserting ‘‘2026’’; 2 (B) in subparagraph (B), by striking 3 ‘‘2022’’ and inserting ‘‘2026’’; and 4 (C) in subparagraph (C)— 5 (i) by striking ‘‘up to $2,500,000’’ 6 and inserting ‘‘not less than $3,000,000’’; 7 and 8 (ii) by striking ‘‘2022’’ and inserting 9 ‘‘2026’’; and 10 (8) in subsection (j)— 11 (A) by striking paragraph (1) and insert- 12 ing the following: 13 ‘‘(1) the term ‘advanced-technology’ includes 14 technological fields such as advanced manufacturing, 15 agricultural-, biological- and chemical-technologies, 16 energy and environmental technologies, engineering 17 technologies, information technologies, micro and 18 nano-technologies, cybersecurity technologies, 19 geospatial technologies, and new, emerging tech- 20 nology areas;’’; 21 (B) by striking paragraph (2) and insert- 22 ing the following: 23 ‘‘(2) the term ‘associate-degree-granting college’ 24 means an institution of higher education (as defined 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:13 Dec 17, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S735.RS S735 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 735 RS in section 102 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 1 (20 U.S.C. 1002)) that offers a 2-year associate-de- 2 gree program or 2-year certificate program;’’; 3 (C) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘as de- 4 termined under section 101 of the Higher Edu- 5 cation Act of 1965’’ and inserting ‘‘as defined 6 in section 102 of the Higher Education Act of 7 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002)’’; 8 (D) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘sepa- 9 rate bachelor-degree-granting institutions’’ and 10 inserting ‘‘other entities’’; 11 (E) by striking paragraph (7); 12 (F) by redesignating paragraphs (8) and 13 (9) as paragraphs (7) and (8), respectively; 14 (G) in paragraph (7), as redesignated by 15 subparagraph (F), by striking ‘‘and’’ after the 16 semicolon; 17 (H) in paragraph (8), as redesignated by 18 subparagraph (F)— 19 (i) by striking ‘‘mathematics, science, 20 engineering, or technology’’ and inserting 21 ‘‘science, technology, engineering, or math- 22 ematics’’; and 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:13 Dec 17, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S735.RS S735 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 13 •S 735 RS (ii) by striking ‘‘computer science.’’ 1 and inserting ‘‘computer science and cyber- 2 security; and’’; and 3 (I) by adding at the end the following: 4 ‘‘(9) the term ‘skilled technical workforce’ 5 means workers— 6 ‘‘(A) in occupations that use significant 7 levels of science and engineering expertise and 8 technical knowledge; and 9 ‘‘(B) whose level of educational attainment 10 is less than a bachelor degree.’’. 11 SECTION 1. HARNESSING OUR NATION’S RESEARCH POTEN- 12 TIAL. 13 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Director of the National 14 Science Foundation shall conduct multiple pilot programs 15 within the Foundation to expand the number of institutions 16 of higher education (including such institutions that are 17 community colleges), and other eligible entities that the Di- 18 rector determines appropriate, that are able to successfully 19 compete for National Science Foundation grants. 20 (b) COMPONENTS.—Each pilot program described in 21 subsection (a) shall include at least 1 of the following ele- 22 ments: 23 (1) A mentorship program. 24 (2) Grant writing technical assistance. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:13 Dec 17, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S735.RS S735 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 14 •S 735 RS (3) Targeted outreach, including to a minori [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]