National Security Innovation Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 7275 To direct the Secretary of Defense to establish a National Security Innovation Network, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 18, 2020 Ms. SLOTKIN (for herself and Mr. MITCHELL) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services A BILL To direct the Secretary of Defense to establish a National Security Innovation Network, 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 ‘‘National Security In- 4 novation Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. NATIONAL SECURITY INNOVATION NETWORK. 6 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Chapter 139 of title 10, 7 United States Code, is amended by inserting after section 8 2358b the following new section: 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:13 Jul 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7275.IH H7275 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 7275 IH ‘‘§ 2358c. National Security Innovation Network 1 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Defense 2 shall establish a program office to be known as the ‘Na- 3 tional Security Innovation Network’ (referred to in this 4 section as the ‘Network’). The Secretary shall establish 5 the Network within the Office of the Under Secretary of 6 Defense for Research and Engineering or within the office 7 of another principal staff assistant to the Secretary. 8 ‘‘(b) HEAD OF NETWORK.—The head of the Network 9 shall be an individual designated by the Secretary of De- 10 fense. 11 ‘‘(c) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The responsibilities of the 12 Network shall be— 13 ‘‘(1) to maintain a network throughout the 14 United States that connects the Department of De- 15 fense to academic institutions, commercial accelera- 16 tors and incubators, commercial innovation hubs, 17 and nonprofit entities with missions and capabilities 18 relating to national security innovation; 19 ‘‘(2) to expand the national security innovation 20 base through integrated, project-based problem solv- 21 ing that leads to novel concept and solution develop- 22 ment for the Department and facilitates dual-use 23 ventures with national security and commercial util- 24 ity; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:13 Jul 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7275.IH H7275 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 7275 IH ‘‘(3) to work in coordination with the Under 1 Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, 2 other principal staff assistants within the Office of 3 the Secretary, and the Secretaries of the military de- 4 partments to create new pathways and models of na- 5 tional security service that facilitate term, tem- 6 porary, and permanent employment within the De- 7 partment for— 8 ‘‘(A) students and graduates in the fields 9 of science, technology, arts, engineering, and 10 mathematics; 11 ‘‘(B) early-career and mid-career tech- 12 nologists; and 13 ‘‘(C) entrepreneurs for purposes of project- 14 based work; 15 ‘‘(4) to accelerate the development of innovative 16 solutions to complex problems, particularly through 17 dual-use ventures, and facilitate partnerships be- 18 tween early stage ventures and the Department of 19 Defense, by increasing transparency, and access to 20 the Department for early stage ventures with the 21 goal of improved acquisition and procurement out- 22 comes; 23 ‘‘(5) to generate novel concepts and solutions to 24 problems and requirements articulated by entities 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:13 Jul 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7275.IH H7275 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 7275 IH within the Department through programs that com- 1 bine end users from the Department, students and 2 faculty from academic institutions, and the early- 3 stage venture community; 4 ‘‘(6) to establish physical locations throughout 5 the United States through which the Network will 6 connect with academic partners and private funding 7 sources for the purposes of carrying out the respon- 8 sibilities described in paragraphs (1) through (5); 9 and 10 ‘‘(7) to carry out such other activities as the 11 Secretary of Defense, in consultation with the head 12 of the Network, determines to be relevant to such 13 responsibilities. 14 ‘‘(d) AUTHORITIES.—In carrying out this section, the 15 Secretary of Defense may use the following authorities: 16 ‘‘(1) Section 1599g of title 10, United States 17 Code, relating to public-private talent exchanges. 18 ‘‘(2) Section 2368 of such title, relating to Cen- 19 ters for Science, Technology, and Engineering Part- 20 nerships. 21 ‘‘(3) Section 2374a of such title, relating to 22 prizes for advanced technology achievements. 23 ‘‘(4) Section 2521 of such title, relating to the 24 Manufacturing Technology Program. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:13 Jul 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7275.IH H7275 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 7275 IH ‘‘(5) Section 12 of the Stevenson-Wydler Tech- 1 nology Innovation Act of 1980 (15 U.S.C. 3710a) 2 and section 6305 of title 31, United States Code, re- 3 lating to cooperative research and development 4 agreements. 5 ‘‘(6) Such other authorities as the Secretary 6 considers appropriate. 7 ‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 8 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 9 $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2021 and each fiscal year 10 thereafter.’’. 11 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 12 at the beginning of such chapter is amended by inserting 13 after the item relating to section 2358b the following new 14 item: 15 ‘‘2358c. National Security Innovation Network.’’. SEC. 3. IMPLEMENTATION. 16 (a) TRANSFERS FROM OTHER DOD ELEMENTS.— 17 The Secretary of Defense may transfer to the National 18 Security Innovation Network established under section 19 2358c of title 10, United States Code (as added by sub- 20 section (a)), such personnel, resources, and functions of 21 other organizations and elements of the Department of 22 Defense as the Secretary considers appropriate to carry 23 out such section. 24 (b) PLAN REQUIRED.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:13 Jul 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7275.IH H7275 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 7275 IH (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 1 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec- 2 retary of Defense shall submit to the congressional 3 defense committees a plan for establishing the Na- 4 tional Security Innovation Network under section 5 2358c of title 10, United States Code (as added by 6 subsection (a)). 7 (2) ELEMENTS.—The plan required under 8 paragraph (1) shall include the following: 9 (A) Plans for the funding, integration, and 10 evaluation of the Network, including plans 11 for— 12 (i) future funding and administrative 13 support of the Network; 14 (ii) integration of the Network into 15 the programming, planning, budgeting, 16 and execution process of the Department 17 of Defense; 18 (iii) integration of the Network with 19 the other programs and initiatives within 20 the Department that have missions relat- 21 ing to innovation and outreach to the 22 early-stage venture and academic commu- 23 nities; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:13 Jul 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7275.IH H7275 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 7275 IH (iv) performance indicators by which 1 the program will be assessed and evalu- 2 ated. 3 (B) A description of any additional au- 4 thorities the Secretary may require to effec- 5 tively carry out section 2358c of title 10, 6 United States Code (as added by subsection 7 (a)). 8 (C) Plans for any transfers the Secretary 9 intends to carry out under subsection (a) of this 10 section. 11 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:13 Jul 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H7275.IH H7275 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS