Leadership in Global Tech Standards Act of 2021

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1849 To establish a program to support the participation of small businesses in meetings and proceedings of international standards organizations, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 26, 2021 Mr. PORTMAN (for himself and Mr. BENNET) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship A BILL To establish a program to support the participation of small businesses in meetings and proceedings of international standards organizations, 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 ‘‘Leadership in Global 4 Tech Standards Act of 2021’’. 5 SEC. 2. SUPPORT FOR INDUSTRY PARTICIPATION IN INTER- 6 NATIONAL STANDARDS ORGANIZATIONS. 7 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:33 Jun 19, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1849.IS S1849 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1849 IS (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis- 1 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Small Busi- 2 ness Administration. 3 (2) ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE.—The term ‘‘ar- 4 tificial intelligence’’ has the meaning given the term 5 in section 238(g) of the John S. McCain National 6 Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019 (10 7 U.S.C. 2358 note). 8 (3) COVERED ENTITY.—The term ‘‘covered en- 9 tity’’ means a small business concern that is incor- 10 porated and maintains a primary place of business 11 in the United States. 12 (4) SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN.—The term 13 ‘‘small business concern’’ has the meaning given the 14 term in section 3 of the Small Business Act (15 15 U.S.C. 632). 16 (b) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 180 days after 17 the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall 18 establish a program to support participation by covered 19 entities in meetings and proceedings of standards develop- 20 ment organizations in the development of voluntary tech- 21 nical standards. 22 (c) ACTIVITIES.—In carrying out the program estab- 23 lished under subsection (b), the Administrator shall award 24 competitive, merit-reviewed grants to covered entities to 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:33 Jun 19, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1849.IS S1849 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1849 IS cover the reasonable costs, up to a specified ceiling, of par- 1 ticipation of employees of those covered entities in meet- 2 ings and proceedings of standards development organiza- 3 tions, including— 4 (1) regularly attending meetings; 5 (2) contributing expertise and research; 6 (3) proposing new work items; and 7 (4) volunteering for leadership roles such as a 8 convener or editor. 9 (d) AWARD CRITERIA.—The Administrator may only 10 provide a grant under this section to a covered entity 11 that— 12 (1) demonstrates deep technical expertise in key 13 emerging technologies and technical standards, in- 14 cluding artificial intelligence and related tech- 15 nologies; 16 (2) commits personnel with such expertise to 17 regular participation in international bodies respon- 18 sible for developing standards for such technologies 19 over the period of the grant; and 20 (3) agrees to participate in efforts to coordinate 21 between the Federal Government and industry to en- 22 sure protection of national security interests in the 23 setting of international standards. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:33 Jun 19, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1849.IS S1849 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1849 IS (e) NO MATCHING CONTRIBUTION.—A recipient of 1 an award under this section shall not be required to pro- 2 vide a matching contribution. 3 (f) EVALUATION.—In making awards under this sec- 4 tion, the Administrator shall coordinate with the Director 5 of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, 6 who shall provide support in the assessment of technical 7 expertise in emerging technologies and standards setting 8 needs. 9 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATION.—There is 10 authorized to be appropriated for fiscal year 2022 and 11 each fiscal year thereafter $1,000,000 to carry out the 12 program established under this section. 13 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:33 Jun 19, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1849.IS S1849 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS