118 HR 6642 IH: Grant Recipient Accountability for Necessary Transparency Act of 2023 U.S. House of Representatives 2023-12-06 text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.

I118th CONGRESS1st SessionH. R. 6642IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVESDecember 6, 2023Mr. Posey introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, and in addition to the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concernedA BILLTo require the disclosure of foreign support provided to a recipient after the award of a research and development award, and for other purposes.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Grant Recipient Accountability for Necessary Transparency Act of 2023 or the GRANT Act of 2023.

2.

Findings

Congress finds the following:(1)The United States Department of Education identified several universities receiving Federal research and development funding that did not report foreign gifts as required by law.(2)The United States Department of Education found 6 universities of the 12 they investigated received gifts that amounted to more than $1,300,000,000 from foreign sources, including the People’s Republic of China, Qatar, and the Russian Federation.(3)On April 13, 2023, the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Inspector General issued a memorandum concerning Disclosure of Foreign Support for EPA Research.(4)The EPA’s OIG identified a concern regarding the lack of a requirement for EPA research grant recipients to report foreign support after receiving a grant award.(5)According to the memorandum, [a]s of March 22, 2023, the EPA only required grant applicants to disclose all active and pending research support before receiving a grant award.(6)The National Security Presidential Memorandum—33 requires Federal research and development recipients to disclose any involvement in programs sponsored by foreign governments, instrumentalities, entities, including foreign government sponsored talent recruitment programs.(7)The memorandum also provides guidance to require both pre-award and post-award disclosures.

3.

Disclosure of support for research and development award recipients required

(a)

Recipient requirement To disclose

The head of a covered agency shall require in the terms and conditions of any research and development award issued by the covered agency that—(1)the recipient of the award disclose within 30 days after the date on which the recipient receives any support from a country of concern or an entity of concern a description of such support; and (2)any covered individual report to the recipient within 30 days after a commitment of any support or the receipt of any support from a country of concern or entity of concern, which shall be disclosed to the covered agency within 14 days after any such report.(b)

Cooperation with inspectors general

The head of any covered agency shall cooperate with the inspectors general in order to ensure compliance with the requirements of this section.(c)

Use of the collected disclosure information

Not later than 60 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Director of the National Science Foundation shall—(1)establish and maintain a searchable database on a website for any disclosure made to a covered agency pursuant to subsection (a);(2)require covered agencies to transmit by electronic means an unredacted copy of the report required pursuant to subsection (a) to the Director;(3)make the website publicly available (in electronic and downloadable format);(4)ensure website and content is searchable and sortable; and(5)make each such report available on the website not later than 30 days after receipt of the report.(d)

Study on research security concerns

(1)

Transmission of reports to National Counterintelligence and Security Center

Not later than 7 days after the date on which a report is submitted pursuant to subsection (c)(2), the Director of the National Science Foundation shall transmit by electronic means an unredacted copy of such report to the Director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center.(2)

Analysis

The Director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center shall—(A)perform an analysis of each report submitted pursuant to paragraph (1) to identify broader research security concerns or patterns of misconduct by each country of concern or entity of concern; and(B)share the analysis with Congress and the intelligence and Federal law enforcement agencies, including the inspector general office of each covered agency.(3)

NSF analysis

Not later than 60 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Director of the National Science Foundation, through the Research Security and Integrity Information Sharing Analysis Organization, shall submit to Congress and provide to the Director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center an analysis and other information related to the information disclosed pursuant to subsection (a).(e)

Report to Congress

Not later than January 15 of each year, the head of each covered agency shall submit to Congress a report on compliance with the requirements of this section for the previous fiscal year.(f)

Applicability

This section applies to any research and development award issued on or after the date of the enactment of this Act.(g)

Enforcement

(1)

Actions for noncompliance

The head of a covered agency shall take one or more of the following enforcement actions with respect to a recipient of a research and development award made by that agency that is not in compliance with subsection (a):(A)Temporarily withhold cash payments pending correction of the deficiency by the non-Federal entity.(B)Disallow (that is, deny both use of funds and any applicable matching credit for) all or part of the cost of the activity or action not in compliance.(C)Wholly or partly suspend or terminate the Federal award.(D)Initiate suspension or debarment proceedings as authorized under part 180 of title 2, Code of Federal Regulations (as in effect on the date of enactment of this Act) and Federal awarding agency regulations (or in the case of a pass-through entity, recommend such a proceeding be initiated by a Federal awarding agency).(E)Withhold further Federal awards for the project or program.(F)Place the covered individual into the integrity and performance system designated by the Office of Management and Budget accessible through the System of Award Management (SAM.gov) (currently the Federal Awardee Performance and Integrity Information System (FAPIIS)). (G)Refer the failure to disclose under subsection (a) to the Inspector General of the agency concerned for further investigation or to Federal law enforcement authorities to determine whether criminal or civil laws were violated. (H)Take such other actions against the recipient as are authorized under applicable law or regulations. (I)Recoup all funding up to and including the full amount of the award.(2)

Evidentiary standards

A covered agency seeking suspension or debarment under paragraph (1) shall abide by the procedures and evidentiary standards set forth in part 180 of title 2, Code of Federal Regulations (as in effect on the date of the enactment of this Act).(h)

Definitions

In this section:(1)

Agency

The term agency has the meaning given that term in section 551 of title 5, United States Code.(2)

Country of concern

The term country of concern means the People’s Republic of China (including the Special Administrative Regions of China, including Hong Kong and Macau), the Russian Federation, Iran, North Korea, Cuba, and Venezuela, including any agency or instrumentality. (3)

Covered agency

The term covered agency means an agency that awards a research and development award.(4)

Covered individual

The term covered individual means an individual who—(A)contributes in a substantive, meaningful way to the scientific development or execution of a research and development project proposed to be carried out with a research and development award from a Federal research agency (as such term is defined in section 10001 of the Research and Development, Competition, and Innovation Act (42 U.S.C. 18901)); or(B)is designated as a covered individual by the Federal research agency concerned.(5)

Entity of concern

The term entity of concern means an entity organized under the laws of any country of concern, including any United States subsidiary of such entity or any entity that acts on behalf of any such entity.(6)

Research and development award

The term research and development award—(A)means support provided to an individual or entity by a covered agency to carry out research and development activities, which may include support in the form of a grant, contract, other transaction, or cooperative agreement; and(B)does not include a transaction for the procurement of goods or services to meet the administrative needs of a covered agency.(7)

Support

The term support—(A)means a grant or other financial support made by an individual or entity;(B)includes any in-kind contribution requiring a commitment of time and directly supporting the research and development efforts, such as the provision of office or laboratory space, equipment, supplies, employees, or students; and(C)includes any other award or benefit, including any honorarium, prize, or paid travel for a speaking engagement or meeting, provided to any covered individual on a research and development award or to an institution of higher education (as such term is defined in section 101 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1101)) on behalf of covered individual.