[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4472 Introduced in House (IH)]

113th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4472

 To provide for the establishment of a grant program to support United 
 States-Israeli cooperation for neuroscience-related research, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 10, 2014

  Mr. Fattah introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                    Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To provide for the establishment of a grant program to support United 
 States-Israeli cooperation for neuroscience-related research, 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 ``US-Israel Global Neuroscience 
Partnership Act of 2014''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) it is in the highest national security interests of the 
        United States to develop neuroscience-related research and 
        neurotechnology;
            (2) the State of Israel is a steadfast ally of the United 
        States;
            (3) the special relationship between the United States and 
        Israel is manifested in a variety of cooperative scientific 
        research and development programs, such as--
                    (A) the United States-Israel Binational Science 
                Foundation; and
                    (B) the United States-Israel Binational Industrial 
                Research and Development Foundation;
            (4) those programs have made possible many scientific, 
        technological, and commercial breakthroughs in the fields of 
        life sciences, medicine, bioengineering, agriculture, 
        biotechnology, communications, and others;
            (5) in December 2011 the Office of Science and Technology 
        Policy was directed by Congress to establish an Interagency 
        Working Group on Neuroscience which was chartered on June 20, 
        2012, is housed at the White House, and is currently convening 
        representatives across the Federal Government to make 
        recommendations about the future of neuroscience research;
            (6) Israeli scientists and engineers are at the forefront 
        of research and development in the field of neuroscience;
            (7) Israel Brain Technologies is a nonprofit organization 
        whose mission is to turn Israel into a global brain technology 
        and research leader by--
                    (A) supporting applied brain research;
                    (B) accelerating brain technology development;
                    (C) creating and fostering a community around 
                neurotechnology; and
                    (D) attracting key stakeholders to partner and 
                support brain technology in Israel; and
            (8) enhanced cooperation between the United States and 
        Israel for the purpose of research and development of 
        neuroscience would be in the national interests of both 
        countries.

SEC. 3. GRANTS FOR NEUROSCIENCE-RELATED RESEARCH.

    (a) Authority.--The Secretary, acting through the Director of the 
National Institutes of Health, in consultation with the BIRD or BSF, 
shall award grants to eligible entities for neuroscience-related 
research.
    (b) Application.--
            (1) Submission of applications.--To receive a grant under 
        this section, an eligible entity shall submit an application to 
        the Secretary containing such information and assurances as the 
        Secretary, in consultation with the BIRD or BSF, may require.
            (2) Selection of eligible entities.--The Secretary, in 
        consultation with the Directors of the BIRD and BSF, may review 
        any application submitted by any eligible entity and select any 
        eligible entity meeting criteria established by the Secretary, 
        in consultation with the Advisory Board, for a grant under this 
        section.
    (c) Amount of Grant.--The amount of each grant awarded for a fiscal 
year under this section shall be determined by the Secretary, in 
consultation with the BIRD or BSF.
    (d) Recoupment.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
        enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall establish procedures 
        and criteria for recoupment in connection with any eligible 
        project carried out by an eligible entity that receives a grant 
        under this section, which has led to the development of a 
        product or process which is marketed or used.
            (2) Amount required.--
                    (A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B), such 
                recoupment shall be required as a condition for award 
                and be proportional to the Federal share of the costs 
                of such project, and shall be derived from the proceeds 
                of royalties or licensing fees received in connection 
                with such product or process.
                    (B) In the case where a product or process is used 
                by the recipient of a grant under this section for the 
                production and sale of its own products or processes, 
                the recoupment shall consist of a payment equivalent to 
                the payment which would be made under subparagraph (A).
            (3) Waiver.--The Secretary may at any time waive or defer 
        all or some of the recoupment requirements of this subsection 
        as necessary, depending on--
                    (A) the commercial competitiveness of the entity or 
                entities developing or using the product or process;
                    (B) the profitability of the project; and
                    (C) the commercial viability of the product or 
                process utilized.
    (e) Private Funds.--The Secretary may accept contributions of funds 
from private sources to carry out this Act.
    (f) Report.--Not later than 180 days after receiving a grant under 
this section, each recipient shall submit a report to the Secretary--
            (1) documenting how the recipient used the grant funds; and
            (2) evaluating the level of success of each project funded 
        by the grant.

SEC. 4. INTERNATIONAL NEUROSCIENCE-RELATED RESEARCH ADVISORY BOARD.

    (a) Establishment.--There is established in the National Institutes 
of Health an International Neuroscience-Related Research Advisory 
Board.
    (b) Duties.--The Advisory Board shall advise the Secretary on--
            (1) criteria for the recipients of grants awarded under 
        section 3(a);
            (2) the total amount of grant money to be awarded to all 
        grantees selected by the Secretary, in consultation with the 
        BIRD; and
            (3) the total amount of grant money to be awarded to all 
        grantees selected by the Secretary, in consultation with the 
        BSF, for each fiscal year.
    (c) Membership.--
            (1) Composition.--The Advisory Board shall be composed of--
                    (A) 1 member appointed by the Director of the 
                National Science Foundation;
                    (B) 1 member appointed by the Director of the 
                National Institutes of Health;
                    (C) 1 member appointed by the Director of the 
                National Institute of Standards and Technology; and
                    (D) in addition to the member appointed under 
                subparagraph (B), 3 members who shall be Israeli 
                citizens, appointed by the Director of the National 
                Institutes of Health after consultation with 
                appropriate officials in the Israeli Government.
            (2) Deadline for appointments.--The initial appointments 
        under paragraph (1) shall be made not later than 60 days after 
        the date of enactment of this Act.
            (3) Term.--Each member of the Advisory Board shall be 
        appointed for a term of 4 years.
            (4) Vacancies.--A vacancy on the Advisory Board shall be 
        filled in the manner in which the original appointment was 
        made.
            (5) Basic pay.--
                    (A) Compensation.--A member of the Advisory Board 
                shall serve without pay.
                    (B) Travel expenses.--Each member of the Advisory 
                Board shall receive travel expenses, including per diem 
                in lieu of subsistence, in accordance with applicable 
                provisions of subchapter I of chapter 57 of title 5, 
                United States Code.
            (6) Quorum.--Three members of the Advisory Board shall 
        constitute a quorum.
            (7) Chairperson.--The Chairperson of the Advisory Board 
        shall be designated by the Director of the National Institutes 
        of Health from among the members appointed by the Director at 
        the time of the appointment.
            (8) Meetings.--The Advisory Board shall meet at least once 
        annually at the call of the Chairperson.
    (d) Termination.--Section 14(a)(2)(B) of the Federal Advisory 
Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) shall not apply to the Advisory Board.

SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Advisory board.--The term ``Advisory Board'' means the 
        International Neuroscience-Related Research Advisory Board 
        established by section 4(a).
            (2) BIRD.--The term ``BIRD'' means the Israel-United States 
        Binational Industrial Research and Development Foundation.
            (3) BSF.--The term ``BSF'' means the United States-Israel 
        Binational Science Foundation.
            (4) Eligible entity.--The term ``eligible entity'' means a 
        joint venture comprised of both Israeli and United States 
        private business entities or a joint venture comprised of both 
        Israeli academic persons (who reside and work in Israel) and 
        United States academic persons, that--
                    (A) carries out an eligible project; and
                    (B) is selected by the Secretary, in consultation 
                with the BIRD or BSF, using the criteria established by 
                the Secretary, in consultation with the Advisory Board.
            (5) Eligible project.--The term ``eligible project'' means 
        a project to encourage cooperation between the United States 
        and Israel on neuroscience-related research.
            (6) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of Health and Human Services.

SEC. 6. TERMINATION.

    The grant program authorized under section 3 and the Advisory Board 
shall terminate upon the expiration of the 7-year period which begins 
on the date of the enactment of this Act.

SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    The Secretary is authorized to expend not more than $20,000,000 to 
carry out this Act for each of fiscal years 2014 through 2020.
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