[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1948 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1948

   To award grants to establish Advanced Multidisciplinary Computing 
 Software Centers, which shall conduct outreach, technology transfer, 
   development, and utilization programs in specific industries and 
     geographic regions for the benefit of small- and medium-size 
                     manufacturers and businesses.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             August 2, 2007

 Mr. Voinovich introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
   referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To award grants to establish Advanced Multidisciplinary Computing 
 Software Centers, which shall conduct outreach, technology transfer, 
   development, and utilization programs in specific industries and 
     geographic regions for the benefit of small- and medium-size 
                     manufacturers and businesses.

    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 ``Blue Collar Computing and Business 
Assistance Act of 2007''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Advanced multidisciplinary computing software center; 
        center.--The terms ``Advanced Multidisciplinary Computing 
        Software Center'' and ``Center'' mean a center created by an 
        eligible entity with a grant awarded under section 3.
            (2) Eligible entity.--The term ``eligible entity'' means 
        any--
                    (A) nonprofit organization;
                    (B) consortium of nonprofit organizations; or
                    (C) partnership between a for profit and a 
                nonprofit organization.
            (3) Nonprofit organization.--The term ``nonprofit 
        organization'' means any organization that--
                    (A) is described in section 501(c)(3) of the 
                Internal Revenue Code of 1986; and
                    (B) is exempt from taxation under section 501(a) of 
                such Code.
            (4) Small business or manufacturer.--The term ``small 
        business or manufacturer'' has the meaning given the term 
        ``small business concern'' in section 3(a) of the Small 
        Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632(a)), including a small 
        manufacturing concern.
            (5) Under secretary.--The term ``Under Secretary'' means 
        the Under Secretary for Technology of the Department of 
        Commerce.

SEC. 3. ADVANCED MULTIDISCIPLINARY COMPUTING SOFTWARE CENTER GRANTS.

    (a) In General.--The Under Secretary shall award grants to eligible 
entities to establish up to 5 Advanced Multidisciplinary Computing 
Software Centers throughout the United States.
    (b) Purposes.--Each Center established with grant funds awarded 
under subsection (a) shall--
            (1) conduct general outreach to small businesses and 
        manufacturers in all industry sectors within the geographic 
        region assigned to the Center by the Under Secretary; and
            (2) conduct technology transfer, development, and 
        utilization programs for businesses throughout the United 
        States in the specific industry sector assigned to the Center 
        by the Under Secretary.
    (c) Application.--
            (1) In general.--Each eligible entity desiring a grant 
        under this section shall submit an application to the Under 
        Secretary at such time, in such manner, and accompanied by such 
        additional information as the Under Secretary may reasonably 
        require.
            (2) Publication in federal register.--Not later than 6 
        months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Under 
        Secretary shall publish the application requirements referred 
        to in paragraph (1) in the Federal Register.
            (3) Contents.--Each application submitted under paragraph 
        (1) shall--
                    (A) conform to the requirements prescribed by the 
                Under Secretary under this subsection; and
                    (B) a proposal for the allocation of the legal 
                rights associated with any invention that may result 
                from the activities of the proposed Center.
            (4) Selection criteria.--In evaluating each application 
        submitted under paragraph (1) on the basis of merit, the Under 
        Secretary shall consider--
                    (A) the extent to which the eligible entity--
                            (i) has a partnership with nonprofit 
                        organizations, businesses, software vendors, 
                        and academia recognized for relevant expertise 
                        in its selected industry sector;
                            (ii) uses State-funded academic 
                        supercomputing centers and universities or 
                        colleges with expertise in the computational 
                        needs of the industry assigned to the eligible 
                        entity under subsection (b)(1);
                            (iii) has a history of working with small 
                        businesses and manufacturers;
                            (iv) has experience providing educational 
                        programs aimed at helping organizations adopt 
                        the use of high-performance computing and 
                        computational science;
                            (v) has partnerships with education or 
                        training organizations that can help educate 
                        future workers on the application of 
                        computational science to industry needs;
                            (vi) is accessible to businesses, academia, 
                        incubators, or other economic development 
                        organizations via high-speed networks; and
                            (vii) is capable of partnering with small 
                        businesses and manufacturers to enhance the 
                        ability of such entities to compete in the 
                        global marketplace;
                    (B) the ability of the eligible entity to enter 
                successfully into collaborative agreements with small 
                businesses and manufacturers to experiment with new 
                high performance computing and computational science 
                technologies; and
                    (C) such other factors that the Under Secretary 
                considers relevant.
    (d) Maximum Amount.--The Under Secretary may not award a grant 
under this section in an amount which exceeds $5,000,000 for any year 
of the grant period.
    (e) Duration.--
            (1) In general.--Except as provided under paragraph (2), a 
        grant may not be awarded under this section for a period 
        exceeding 5 years.
            (2) Renewal.--The Under Secretary may renew any grant 
        awarded under this section.
    (f) Matching Requirement.--
            (1) In general.--The Under Secretary may not award a grant 
        under this section unless the eligible entity receiving such 
        grant agrees to provide not less than 50 percent of the capital 
        and annual operating and maintenance funds required to create 
        and maintain the Center established with such grant funds.
            (2) Funding from other federal, state, or local government 
        agencies.--The funds provided by the eligible entity under 
        paragraph (1) may include amounts received by the eligible 
        entity from the Federal Government (other than the Department 
        of Commerce), a State, or a unit of local government.
    (g) Limitation on Administrative Expenses.--The Under Secretary may 
establish a reasonable limitation on the portion of each grant awarded 
under this section that may be used for administrative expenses or 
other overhead costs.
    (h) Fees and Alternative Funding Sources Authorized.--
            (1) In general.--A Center established with a grant awarded 
        under this section may, in accordance with regulations 
        established by the Under Secretary--
                    (A) collect a nominal fee from a small business or 
                manufacturer for a service provided under this section, 
                if such fee is utilized for the budget and operation of 
                the Center; and
                    (B) accept financial assistance from the Federal 
                Government (other than the Department of Commerce) for 
                capital costs and operating budget expenses.
            (2) Condition.--Any Center receiving financial assistance 
        from the Federal Government (other than the Department of 
        Commerce) may be selected, and if selected shall be operated, 
        in accordance with this section.

SEC. 4. USE OF FUNDS.

    Grant funds received under section 3 shall be used for the benefit 
of businesses in the industry sector designated by the Under Secretary 
under section 3(b)(1) to--
            (1) create a repository of nonclassified, nonproprietary 
        new and existing federally funded software and algorithms;
            (2) test and validate software in the repository;
            (3) determine when and how the industry sector it serves 
        could benefit from resources in the repository;
            (4) work with software vendors to commercialize repository 
        software and algorithms from the repository;
            (5) make software available to small businesses and 
        manufacturers where it has not been commercialized by a 
        software vendor;
            (6) help software vendors, small businesses, and 
        manufacturers test or utilize the software on high-performance 
        computing systems; and
            (7) maintain a research and outreach team that will work 
        with small businesses and manufacturers to aid in the 
        identification of software or computational science techniques 
        which can be used to solve challenging problems, or meet 
        contemporary business needs of such organizations.

SEC. 5. REPORTS AND EVALUATIONS.

    (a) Annual Report.--Each eligible entity that receives a grant 
under section 3 shall submit an annual report to the Under Secretary 
that describes--
            (1) the goals of the Center established by the eligible 
        entity; and
            (2) the progress made by the eligible entity in achieving 
        the purposes described in section 3(b).
    (b) Evaluation.--The Under Secretary shall establish a peer review 
committee, composed of representatives from industry and academia, to 
review the goals and progress made by each Center during the grant 
period.

SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    (a) In General.--There are authorized to be appropriated 
$25,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2008 through 2012 to carry out 
this Act.
    (b) Availability.--Funds appropriated pursuant to subsection (a) 
shall remain available until expended.
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