Endless Frontier Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 6978 To establish a new Directorate for Technology in the redesignated National Science and Technology Foundation, to establish a regional technology hub program, to require a strategy and report on economic security, science, research, and innovation, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 22, 2020 Mr. KHANNA (for himself and Mr. GALLAGHER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology A BILL To establish a new Directorate for Technology in the redesig- nated National Science and Technology Foundation, to establish a regional technology hub program, to require a strategy and report on economic security, science, re- search, and innovation, 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 ‘‘Endless Frontier Act’’. 4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 5 Congress finds the following: 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:37 Jun 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6978.IH H6978 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 6978 IH (1) For over 70 years, the United States has 1 been the unequivocal global leader in scientific and 2 technological innovation, and as a result the people 3 of the United States have benefitted through good- 4 paying jobs, economic prosperity, and a higher qual- 5 ity of life. Today, however, this leadership position 6 is being eroded and challenged by foreign competi- 7 tors, some of whom are stealing intellectual property 8 and trade secrets of the United States and aggres- 9 sively investing in fundamental research and com- 10 mercialization to dominate the key technology fields 11 of the future. While the United States once led the 12 world in the share of our economy invested in re- 13 search, our Nation now ranks 9th globally in total 14 research and development and 12th in publicly fi- 15 nanced research and development. 16 (2) Without a significant increase in investment 17 in research, education, technology transfer, and the 18 core strengths of the United States innovation eco- 19 system, it is only a matter of time before the global 20 competitors of the United States overtake the 21 United States in terms of technological primacy. The 22 country that wins the race in key technologies—such 23 as artificial intelligence, quantum computing, ad- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:37 Jun 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6978.IH H6978 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 6978 IH vanced communications, and advanced manufac- 1 turing—will be the superpower of the future. 2 (3) The Federal Government must catalyze 3 United States innovation by boosting fundamental 4 research investments focused on discovering, cre- 5 ating, commercializing, and producing new tech- 6 nologies to ensure the leadership of the United 7 States in the industries of the future. 8 (4) The distribution of innovation jobs and in- 9 vestment in the United States has become largely 10 concentrated in just a few locations, while much of 11 the Nation has been left out of growth in the innova- 12 tion sector. More than 90 percent of the Nation’s in- 13 novation sector employment growth in the last 15 14 years was generated in just 5 major cities. The Fed- 15 eral Government must address this imbalance in op- 16 portunity by partnering with the private sector to 17 build new technology hubs across the country, 18 spreading innovation sector jobs more broadly, and 19 tapping the talent and potential of the entire Nation 20 to ensure the United States leads the industries of 21 the future. 22 (5) Since its inception, the National Science 23 Foundation has carried out vital work supporting 24 basic research and people to create knowledge that 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:37 Jun 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6978.IH H6978 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 6978 IH is a primary driver of the economy of the United 1 States and enhances the Nation’s security. 2 SEC. 3. NATIONAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY FOUNDA- 3 TION. 4 (a) REDESIGNATION OF NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUN- 5 DATION AS NATIONAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY FOUN- 6 DATION.— 7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 2 of the Act of May 8 10, 1950 (64 Stat. 149, chapter 171; 42 U.S.C. 9 1861), is amended— 10 (A) in the section heading, by inserting 11 ‘‘AND TECHNOLOGY’’ after ‘‘SCIENCE’’; and 12 (B) by striking ‘‘the National Science 13 Foundation’’ and inserting ‘‘the National 14 Science and Technology Foundation’’. 15 (2) REFERENCES.—Any reference in any law, 16 rule, regulation, certificate, directive, instruction, or 17 other official paper in force on the date of enactment 18 of this Act to the National Science Foundation shall 19 be considered to refer and apply to the National 20 Science and Technology Foundation. 21 (b) ESTABLISHMENT OF DEPUTY DIRECTOR FOR 22 TECHNOLOGY.—Section 6 of the Act of May 10, 1950 (64 23 Stat. 149, chapter 171; 42 U.S.C. 1864a), is amended— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:37 Jun 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6978.IH H6978 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 6978 IH (1) in the section heading, by striking ‘‘DEP- 1 UTY DIRECTOR’’ and inserting ‘‘DEPUTY DIREC- 2 TORS’’; 3 (2) in the first sentence— 4 (A) by striking ‘‘a Deputy Director’’ and 5 inserting ‘‘2 Deputy Directors’’; and 6 (B) by inserting ‘‘and in accordance with 7 the expedited procedures established under S. 8 Res. 116 (112th Congress)’’ after ‘‘the Senate’’; 9 (3) in the third sentence, by striking ‘‘The Dep- 10 uty Director shall receive’’ and inserting ‘‘Each Dep- 11 uty Director shall receive’’; 12 (4) by inserting after the third sentence the fol- 13 lowing: ‘‘The Deputy Director for Technology shall 14 oversee, and perform duties relating to, the Direc- 15 torate for Technology of the Foundation, as estab- 16 lished under section 8A, and the Deputy Director for 17 Science shall oversee, and perform duties relating to, 18 the other activities and directorates supported by the 19 Foundation.’’; and 20 (5) in the fourth sentence, by striking ‘‘The 21 Deputy Director shall act’’ and inserting ‘‘The Dep- 22 uty Director for Science shall act’’. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:55 Jun 18, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6978.IH H6978 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 6978 IH (c) ESTABLISHMENT OF DIRECTORATE FOR TECH- 1 NOLOGY.—The Act of May 10, 1950 (64 Stat. 149, chap- 2 ter 171; 42 U.S.C. 1861 et seq.), is amended— 3 (1) in section 8 (42 U.S.C. 1866), by inserting 4 at the end the following: ‘‘Such divisions shall in- 5 clude the Directorate for Technology established 6 under section 8A.’’; and 7 (2) by inserting after section 8 the following: 8 ‘‘SEC. 8A. DIRECTORATE FOR TECHNOLOGY. 9 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 10 ‘‘(1) DEPUTY DIRECTOR.—The term ‘Deputy 11 Director’ means the Deputy Director for Tech- 12 nology. 13 ‘‘(2) DESIGNATED COUNTRY.—The term ‘des- 14 ignated country’ means a country that has been ap- 15 proved and designated in writing by the President 16 for purposes of this section, after providing— 17 ‘‘(A) not less than 30 days of advance noti- 18 fication and explanation to the relevant con- 19 gressional committees before the designation; 20 and 21 ‘‘(B) in-person briefings to such commit- 22 tees, if requested during the 30-day advance no- 23 tification period described in subparagraph (A). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:37 Jun 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6978.IH H6978 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 6978 IH ‘‘(3) DIRECTORATE.—The term ‘Directorate’ 1 means the Directorate for Technology established 2 under subsection (b). 3 ‘‘(4) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.— 4 The term ‘institution of higher education’ has the 5 meaning given the term in section 101(a) of the 6 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a)). 7 ‘‘(5) KEY TECHNOLOGY FOCUS AREAS.—The 8 term ‘key technology focus areas’ means the areas 9 included on the most recent list under subsection 10 (c)(2). 11 ‘‘(6) RELEVANT CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT- 12 TEES.—The term ‘relevant congressional commit- 13 tees’ means— 14 ‘‘(A) the Committee on Armed Services, 15 the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 16 Transportation, the Committee on Appropria- 17 tions, the Committee on Foreign Relations, and 18 the Select Committee on Intelligence of the 19 Senate; and 20 ‘‘(B) the Committee on Armed Services, 21 the Committee on Science, Space, and Tech- 22 nology, the Committee on Appropriations, the 23 Committee on Foreign Affairs, and the Perma- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:37 Jun 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6978.IH H6978 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 6978 IH nent Select Committee on Intelligence of the 1 House of Representatives. 2 ‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT.— 3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days 4 after the date of enactment of the Endless Frontier 5 Act, the Director shall establish in the Foundation 6 a Directorate for Technology. The Directorate shall 7 carry out the duties and responsibilities described in 8 this section, in order to further the following goals: 9 ‘‘(A) Strengthening the leadership of the 10 United States in critical technologies through 11 fundamental research in the key technology 12 focus areas. 13 ‘‘(B) Enhancing the competitiveness of the 14 United States in the key technology focus areas 15 by improving education in the key technology 16 focus areas and attracting more students to 17 such areas. 18 ‘‘(C) Consistent with the operations of the 19 Foundation, fostering the economic and societal 20 impact of federally funded research and devel- 21 opment through an accelerated translation of 22 fundamental advances in the key technology 23 focus areas into processes and products that 24 can help achieve national goals related to eco- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:37 Jun 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6978.IH H6978 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 6978 IH nomic competitiveness, domestic manufacturing, 1 national security, shared prosperity, energy and 2 the environment, health, education and work- 3 force development, and transportation. 4 ‘‘(2) DEPUTY DIRECTOR.—The Directorate 5 shall be headed by the Deputy Director. 6 ‘‘(3) ORGANIZATION AND ADMINISTRATIVE 7 MATTERS.— 8 ‘‘(A) HIRING AUTHORITY.— 9 ‘‘(i) EXPERTS IN SCIENCE AND ENGI- 10 NEERING.—The Director shall have the au- 11 thority to carry out a program of personnel 12 management authority for the Directorate 13 in the same manner, and subject to the 14 same requirements, as the program of per- 15 sonnel management authority authorized 16 for the Director of the Defense Advanced 17 Research Projects Agency under section 18 1599h of title 10, United States Code, for 19 the Defense Advanced Research Projects 20 Agency. 21 ‘‘(ii) HIGHLY QUALIFIED EXPERTS IN 22 NEEDED OCCUPATIONS.—In addition to 23 the authority provided under clause (i), the 24 Director shall have the authority to carry 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:37 Jun 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6978.IH H6978 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 6978 IH out a program of personnel management 1 authority for the Directorate in the same 2 manner, and subject to the same require- 3 ments, as the program to attract highly 4 qualified experts carried out by the Sec- 5 retary of Defense under section 9903 of 6 title 5, United States Code. 7 ‘‘(iii) ADDITIONAL HIRING AUTHOR- 8 ITY.—To the extent needed to carry out 9 the duties in paragraph (1), the Director 10 shall utilize hiring authorities under sec- 11 tion 3372 of title 5, United States Code, to 12 staff the Directorate with employees from 13 other Federal agencies, State and local 14 governments, Indian tribes and tribal orga- 15 nizations, institutions of higher education, 16 and other organizations, as described in 17 that section, in the same manner and sub- 18 ject to the same conditions, that apply to 19 such individuals utilized to accomplish 20 other missions of the Foundation. 21 ‘‘(B) PROGRAM MANAGERS.—The employ- 22 ees of the Directorate may include program 23 managers for the key technology focus areas, 24 who shall perform a role similar to programs 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:37 Jun 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6978.IH H6978 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 6978 IH managers employed by the Defense Advanced 1 Research Projects Agency for the oversight and 2 selection of programs supported by the Direc- 3 torate. 4 ‘‘(C) SELECTION OF RECIPIENTS.—Recipi- 5 ents of support under the programs and activi- 6 ties of the Directorate shall be selected by pro- 7 gram managers or other employees of the Di- 8 rectorate. The Directorate may use a peer re- 9 view process to inform the decisions of program 10 managers or other employees. 11 ‘‘(D) ASSISTANT DIRECTORS.—The Direc- 12 tor may appoint 1 or more Assistant Directors 13 for the Directorate as the Director determines 14 necessary, in the same manner as other Assist- 15 ant Directors of the Foundation are appointed. 16 ‘‘(4) REPORT.—Not later than 120 days after 17 the date of enactment of the Endless Frontier Act, 18 the Director shall prepare and submit a report to 19 the relevant congressional committees regarding the 20 establishment of the Directorate. 21 ‘‘(c) DUTIES AND FUNCTIONS OF THE DIREC- 22 TORATE.— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:37 Jun 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6978.IH H6978 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 6978 IH ‘‘(1) DEVELOPMENT OF TECHNOLOGY FOCUS 1 OF THE DIRECTORATE.—The Director, acting 2 through the Deputy Director, shall— 3 ‘‘(A) advance innovation in the key tech- 4 nology focus areas through fundamental re- 5 search and other activities described in this sec- 6 tion; and 7 ‘‘(B) develop and implement strategies to 8 ensure that the activities of the Directorate are 9 directed toward the key technology focus areas 10 in order to accomplish the goals described in 11 subparagraphs (A) through (C) of subsection 12 (b)(1) consistent with the most recent report 13 conducted under section 5(b) of the Endless 14 Frontier Act. 15 ‘‘(2) KEY TECHNOLOGY FOCUS AREAS.— 16 ‘‘(A) INITIAL LIST.—The initial key tech- 17 nology focus areas are— 18 ‘‘(i) artificial intelligence and machine 19 learning; 20 ‘‘(ii) high-performance computing, 21 semiconductors, and advanced computer 22 hardware; 23 ‘‘(iii) quantum computing and infor- 24 mation systems; 25 VerD [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]