[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 395 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

103d CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 395

 To provide for a program for the diversification of the activities of 
                     certain Federal laboratories.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

             February 18 (legislative day, January 5), 1993

  Mr. Lieberman (for himself and Mr. Pryor) introduced the following 
   bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed 
                                Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To provide for a program for the diversification of the activities of 
                     certain Federal laboratories.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. PURPOSE AND FINDINGS.

    (a) Purpose.--The purpose of this Act is to encourage greater 
cooperation between Department of Defense research and production 
facilities and United States industry in order to enhance their mutual 
technological and productive achievements.
    (b) Findings.--The Congress finds the following:
            (1) Department of Defense research and production 
        facilities possess valuable technological resources that could 
        greatly enhance the innovation and productivity of United 
        States industries.
            (2) As leadership in the development of advanced technology 
        increasingly shifts away from the defense sector of the United 
        States economy to the commercial sector, the Department of 
        Defense will have to draw on private sector technical expertise 
        to satisfy defense needs.
            (3) Private industry and the Department of Defense have 
        independently identified many of the same technologies as 
        critical for their respective purposes, thereby creating 
        opportunities for the cooperative development and production of 
        dual-use technologies.
            (4) Department of Defense production and research 
        facilities currently lack adequate incentives to carry out 
        cooperative development activities with private industry and 
        adequate means of measuring progress toward the goal of 
        developing and producing more dual-use technologies.
            (5) Private industry must have more opportunities to 
        provide input into Department of Defense research and 
        production facilities in order for such facilities to undertake 
        more research, development, and production relating to dual-use 
        technologies.

SEC. 2. FEDERAL DEFENSE LABORATORY DIVERSIFICATION PROGRAM.

    (a) Establishment of Program.--(1) The Secretary of Defense shall, 
as soon as practicable after the date of the enactment of this Act, 
establish a program to be known as the Federal Defense Laboratory 
Diversification Program (in this Act referred to as the ``Program'') 
for the diversification of Federal defense laboratories.
    (2) The laboratories covered by the Program shall include all 
Department of Defense (including its services and agencies) owned or 
operated laboratories and Department of Defense federally funded 
research and development centers that undertake more than $5,000,000 in 
research (in this Act referred to as the ``Defense laboratories'').
    (3) The Program shall be managed by the Director of Defense 
Research and Engineering.
    (b) Nature of Diversification Program Goals.--The Program shall 
undertake cooperation between Defense laboratories and private industry 
in order to--
            (1) promote the development and application of dual-use 
        manufacturing technologies to improve quality and efficiency in 
        manufacture of both civilian and defense-oriented products;
            (2) promote the development and commercialization of dual-
        use product technologies;
            (3) promote the transfer of defense or dual-use 
        technologies from laboratories to the private sector for the 
        purpose of commercialization, through patent, royalty, and 
        license agreements, cooperative research and development 
        agreements, and other cooperative agreements and through 
        symposia, meetings, and other mechanisms; and
            (4) promote the efficient adoption and adaptation of 
        civilian manufacturing product and process technologies to 
        defense needs in sectors critical to maintaining defense 
        preparedness.
    (c) Development of Benchmarks for Program.--(1) The Director of 
Research and Engineering, in cooperation with each Defense laboratory 
and in consultation with private industry, shall develop benchmarks for 
each category of diversification activity described in subsection (b) 
for each Defense laboratory covered by this Act. The benchmarks 
established shall cover fiscal years 1993 through 1995 and include for 
each such fiscal year--
            (A) the budget resources, manpower, and facilities to be 
        utilized by each laboratory; and
            (B) the dollar value of patents, royalties, and licenses 
        broken down by product or SIC code to be sought and pursued by 
        each laboratory, in implementing the Program.
    (2) In establishing the benchmark under paragraph (1)(A) for all 
Defense laboratories covered by the Program, the Director shall 
establish benchmarks concerning the number and value of cooperative 
research and development agreements and other cooperative agreements to 
be established and undertaken, allocating, as appropriate, a minimum of 
two to five percent of budget to such cooperative work within two years 
of the establishment of the Program.
    (3) Program benchmarks shall be established not later than 180 days 
after the date of the enactment of this Act. Upon establishment of the 
benchmarks, each Defense laboratory shall promptly proceed to implement 
same within its overall budget and utilizing other funds that may be 
available for implementation of this Act.
    (4) Benchmarks shall be updated each fiscal year on an ongoing 
basis.
    (d) Industry Cooperation Mechanisms.--Each Defense laboratory 
participating in the Program shall establish an industry and academic 
advisory panel to promote cooperation between the laboratory and the 
private sector in carrying out the Program. Each laboratory shall 
utilize its panel to oversee the development of each year's research 
plan and the implementation of the Program and its benchmarks and to 
provide advice on how to enhance the dual-use properties of the 
laboratory's research work on a project-by-project basis.
    (e) Reports by Director.--(1) Not later than September 30, 1993, 
the Director of Research and Engineering shall submit to Congress a 
report on--
            (A) the results of a survey undertaken by the Director 
        delineating the nature of the research being undertaken at each 
        laboratory included in the Program, evaluating the potential of 
        each laboratory included in the Program to achieve the elements 
        specified in subsection (b); and
            (B) recommendations on how each such laboratory might 
        become better oriented to achieving such Program elements.
    (2) Not later than each of September 30 of 1994, 1995, and 1996, 
the Director shall submit to Congress a report on--
            (1) the extent to which each laboratory participating in 
        the Program has effectively implemented the benchmarks 
        established by the Program;
            (2) the accomplishments under the Program in achieving the 
        elements described in subsection (b); and
            (3) the steps the Director believes necessary to improve 
        the effectiveness of the Program.

SEC. 3. INDUSTRY EVALUATION.

    (a) In General.--The Director of the Office of Technology 
Assessment shall, subject to the approval of the Technology Assessment 
Board, undertake, in close consultation with industrial firms that have 
cooperated and worked with Federal laboratories, an evaluation of 
practices and procedures that have proven effective in promoting the 
elements of the Program set forth in section 1(b), both in laboratories 
covered by the Program and elsewhere.
    (b) Additional Evaluation.--In addition to the evaluation under 
subsection (a), the Director shall--
            (1) evaluate the effectiveness of the Program in achieving 
        optimal cooperation with private industry in meeting the 
        elements set forth in section 1(b); and
            (2) make recommendations for any improvements in practices 
        and procedures for cooperating with industry that should be 
        implemented.
    (c) Submittal Date.--The evaluations required under this section 
shall be submitted not later than 24 months after the date of the 
enactment of this Act.
    (d) Utilization of Report Information.--The Director of Research 
and Engineering shall utilize the recommendations and results of such 
study in ongoing implementation of the Program.

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