[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3871 Introduced in House (IH)]






108th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 3871

 To establish the United States-Israel Homeland Security Foundation to 
   make grants to joint business ventures between United States and 
  Israeli private corporate entities to develop products and services 
with applications related to homeland security, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 2, 2004

   Mr. Turner of Texas (for himself and Mr. Weldon of Pennsylvania) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
Science, and in addition to the Select Committee on Homeland Security, 
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 concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To establish the United States-Israel Homeland Security Foundation to 
   make grants to joint business ventures between United States and 
  Israeli private corporate entities to develop products and services 
with applications related to homeland security, and for other purposes.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``United States-Israel Homeland 
Security Foundation Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) The development and implementation of technology is a 
        crucial component of combating terrorism and implementing 
        homeland security strategies.
            (2) Israel and Israeli industries have extensive experience 
        with matters pertaining to homeland security generally and 
        anti-terrorism specifically, including expertise in the fields 
        of border integrity, transportation security, first responder 
        equipment, and civil defense planning.
            (3) The United States and Israel have an extensive history 
        of working cooperatively and successfully to assist with the 
        development of agricultural, defense, telecommunications, and 
        other technologies mutually beneficial to each country, as 
        exemplified by the success of the Binational Industrial 
        Research and Development Foundation, commonly referred to as 
        the BIRD Foundation.
            (4) Initiated in 1977 as a grant program funded in equal 
        parts by the governments of the United States and Israel in 
        support of joint United States-Israeli business ventures, the 
        BIRD Foundation has invested $180 million in 600 projects over 
        the past 27 years and has realized $7 billion in sales and the 
        development of a number of important technologies.
            (5) The establishment of a similar bi-national foundation, 
        or the expansion of the BIRD Foundation, to support the 
        development of technologies and services applicable to homeland 
        security would be beneficial to the security of the United 
        States and Israel and would strengthen the economic ties 
        between the two countries.

SEC. 3. UNITED STATES-ISRAEL HOMELAND SECURITY FOUNDATION.

    The Homeland Security Act of 2002 (Public Law 107-296) is amended 
by inserting after section 307 (6 U.S.C. 187) the following new 
section:

``SEC. 307A UNITED STATES-ISRAEL HOMELAND SECURITY FOUNDATION AND GRANT 
              PROGRAM.

    ``(a) Establishment and Purpose.--
            ``(1) Establishment authorized.--The Secretary may 
        establish a United States-Israel Homeland Security Foundation 
        (in this section referred to as the `Foundation'), for the 
        purpose of awarding conditional grants to joint business 
        ventures between United States and Israeli private corporate 
        entities to develop, manufacture, sell, or otherwise provide 
        products and services with applications related to homeland 
        security.
            ``(2) Administration.--The Secretary shall administer the 
        grant program through the Directorate of Science and 
        Technology.
    ``(b) Eligible Entities.--To be eligible to receive a grant under 
this section, an applicant shall--
            ``(1) be a joint venture consisting of United States and 
        Israeli private corporate entities;
            ``(2) be in the process of developing a product or service 
        determined by the Secretary to have applications related to 
        homeland security; and
            ``(3) demonstrate to the satisfaction of the Secretary a 
        capability to develop, manufacture, sell, and support the 
        product or service.
    ``(c) Application.--An eligible entity may apply for a grant under 
this section by submitting to the Secretary an application at such time 
and in such manner as the Secretary may require and containing the 
following information:
            ``(1) An identification of the entity that is applying for 
        the grant.
            ``(2) The activities that the entity anticipates will be 
        funded by the award of a grant.
            ``(3) The services or products the entity anticipates will 
        be made available, either commercially or otherwise, as a 
        result of an award of a grant.
            ``(4) A detailed capital budget for the proposed project, 
        including the manner in which the grant funds will be allocated 
        and expended.
            ``(5) Such other information as the Secretary may require.
    ``(d) Amount of Grant.--A grant under this section may not exceed 
50 percent of the total proposed cost for the development, manufacture, 
and provision of the product or service of the applicant described in 
the application.
    ``(e) Grant Repayment.--A grant recipient shall repay the grant to 
the Foundation as the Secretary may reasonably require. Grant 
repayments may not exceed more than 150 percent of the grant awarded, 
adjusted for inflation in accordance with the Consumer Price Index.
    ``(f) Advisory Board.--
            ``(1) Representatives.--Administration of the Foundation 
        shall include an advisory board comprised of public and private 
        sector representatives.
            ``(2) Membership of advisory board.--
                    ``(A) United states membership.--Membership to the 
                advisory board shall include the Director of the 
                Homeland Security Advanced Research Projects Agency and 
                the Director of International Affairs of the Department 
                of Homeland Security.
                    ``(B) Israeli membership.--The Secretary shall 
                extend an invitation to the relevant Israeli government 
                officials for their participation on the advisory 
                board.
    ``(g) Foundation Funding.--Subject to subsection (i), if the 
Secretary decides to establish the Foundation under subsection (a), the 
Secretary shall use not less than $25,000,000 of the funds available in 
the Acceleration Fund for Research and Development of Homeland Security 
Technologies, established under section 307(c)(1), to administer the 
Foundation.
    ``(h) Alternative Mechanism to Support Homeland Security Products 
and Services.--Subject to subsection (i), if the Secretary decides not 
to establish the Foundation under subsection (a), the Secretary shall 
use not less than $25,000,000 of the funds available in the 
Acceleration Fund for Research and Development of Homeland Security 
Technologies, established under section 307(c)(1), to support the 
efforts of the Binational Industrial Research and Development 
Foundation to make grants to joint United States-Israeli business 
ventures for projects related to homeland security.
    ``(i) Shared Endowment.--Any expenditure by the United States under 
this section shall be equal to the expenditure by Israel for the same 
purpose.''.
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