Leveraging our National Labs to Develop Tomorrow’s Technology Leaders Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 5965 To direct the Secretary of Energy to award grants to establish Lab-Embedded Entrepreneurship Programs, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 25, 2020 Mr. LUJA´N (for himself, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Mr. MOULTON, Mr. SWALWELL of California, and Mr. FOSTER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology A BILL To direct the Secretary of Energy to award grants to estab- lish Lab-Embedded Entrepreneurship Programs, 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 ‘‘Leveraging our Na- 4 tional Labs to Develop Tomorrow’s Technology Leaders 5 Act’’. 6 SEC. 2. LAB-EMBEDDED ENTREPRENEURSHIP PROGRAM. 7 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Energy shall 8 award grants to eligible entities under subsection (b) for 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:03 Feb 26, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5965.IH H5965 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 5965 IH the purpose of establishing or maintaining programs, to 1 be known as Lab-Embedded Entrepreneurship Programs, 2 to provide entrepreneurial fellowships, with access to the 3 research facilities, lab expertise, and mentorship opportu- 4 nities of a National Laboratory, to perform research and 5 development and gain expertise that may be required or 6 beneficial for the commercial application of research ideas. 7 (b) ENTREPRENEURIAL FELLOWSHIPS.—An entre- 8 preneurial fellow participating in a program described in 9 subsection (a) shall be provided with— 10 (1) opportunities for entrepreneurial training, 11 professional development, and networking through 12 exposure to leaders from academia, industry, govern- 13 ment, and finance who may serve as advisors to or 14 partners of the fellow; 15 (2) financial and technical support for research 16 and development activities; 17 (3) fellowship awards to cover costs of living, 18 health insurance, and travel stipends for the dura- 19 tion of the fellowship; and 20 (4) and any other resources determined appro- 21 priate by the Secretary of Energy. 22 (c) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—The entities eligible to re- 23 ceive grants under subsection (a) include— 24 (1) a National Laboratory; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:03 Feb 26, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5965.IH H5965 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 5965 IH (2) a nonprofit organization; 1 (3) an institution of higher education; 2 (4) a federally owned corporation; and 3 (5) any other entity or entities that the Sec- 4 retary of Energy deems appropriate. 5 (d) EVALUATION.— 6 (1) METRICS.—The Secretary of Energy shall 7 develop metrics to assess the effectiveness of each 8 program receiving a grant under subsection (a) in 9 achieving the purposes of this section. 10 (2) ASSESSMENTS; REPORT.—Not later than 4 11 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 12 Secretary of Energy shall— 13 (A) conduct assessments, at least bienni- 14 ally, of each program receiving a grant under 15 subsection (a) based on the metrics developed 16 pursuant to paragraph (1); and 17 (B) submit to the Committee on Science, 18 Space, and Technology of the House of Rep- 19 resentatives and the Committee on Energy and 20 Natural Resources of the Senate a report sum- 21 marizing the findings of these assessments. 22 (e) COORDINATION.—The Secretary of Energy shall 23 oversee the planning and coordination of grants under 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:03 Feb 26, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5965.IH H5965 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 5965 IH subsection (a) and shall identify and disseminate best 1 practices for achieving the purpose of this section. 2 (f) INTERAGENCY COORDINATION.—The Secretary of 3 Energy shall coordinate with other executive branch agen- 4 cies, including the Department of Defense, regarding op- 5 portunities to partner with programs receiving a grant 6 under subsection (a). 7 (g) NATIONAL LABORATORY DEFINED.—In this sec- 8 tion, the term ‘‘National Laboratory’’ has the meaning 9 given the term in section 2(3) of the Energy Policy Act 10 of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 15801(3)). 11 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:03 Feb 26, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H5965.IH H5965 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS