[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 937 Introduced in House (IH)]

113th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 937

  To support innovation and research in the United States textile and 
                        fiber products industry.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 4, 2013

Mr. Price of North Carolina (for himself and Mr. Coble) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, 
and Technology, and in addition to the Committees on Ways and Means and 
  Foreign Affairs, 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 support innovation and research in the United States textile and 
                        fiber products industry.

    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 ``American Textile Technology 
Innovation and Research for Exportation (ATTIRE) Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds that--
            (1) the United States textile industry continues to thrive 
        and evolve despite changing economic and labor conditions;
            (2) the United States textile industry employs over 500,000 
        workers nationwide and contributes nearly $60,000,000,000 to 
        the gross domestic product annually;
            (3) the United States textile industry is a primary 
        supplier of domestic jobs to women and minorities, with many of 
        these jobs located in economically depressed rural and urban 
        areas;
            (4) research and innovation are essential to the United 
        States textile industry's ability to maintain its competitive 
        advantage and expand its export on an international scale; and
            (5) by working closely with the textile industry to improve 
        existing technologies and to identify new market opportunities, 
        university-based textile research programs and not-for-profit 
        textile research centers play a critical role in promoting 
        innovation and growth in the textile industry and in the United 
        States economy as a whole.

SEC. 3. GRANT PROGRAM TO SUPPORT TEXTILE RESEARCH AND INNOVATION 
              THROUGH UNIVERSITY AND INDUSTRY-BASED RESEARCH.

    (a) Grants Authorized.--The Secretary of Commerce shall establish a 
competitive grant program (in this section referred to as the ``grant 
program'') to fund textile research and innovation and to promote 
increased textile exports.
    (b) Administration of Grant Program.--
            (1) Eligible recipients.--The eligible recipients of grants 
        under the grant program shall be limited to institutions of 
        higher education and not-for-profit research institutions, 
        including not-for-profit industry associations whose core 
        mission is to support textile research and innovation.
            (2) Preference.--Preference in awarding such grants shall 
        be given to collaborative research organizations that emphasize 
        peer-reviewed research by leading academic and industry 
        experts.
            (3) Application procedure.--Applications for such a grant 
        shall be submitted at such time and in such manner as 
        determined by the Secretary of Commerce.
            (4) Review procedure.--All such applications shall be 
        subject to a rigorous and competitive peer review procedure.
    (c) Eligible Uses of Funds.--The funds authorized to be 
appropriated for the grant program shall be used for research and 
development activities that achieve at least one of the following 
goals:
            (1) To build and sustain innovation, competitiveness, and 
        best practices in the United States textile industry.
            (2) To contribute to transforming the United States textile 
        and apparel industry into a highly flexible supply chain, 
        capable of responding to rapidly changing market demands 
        including shifts to technologically advanced textile 
        production.
            (3) To discover, design, and develop new materials, and 
        innovative and improved manufacturing and integrated systems, 
        essential to the success of a modern United States textile 
        industry.
            (4) To train personnel, establish industrial partnerships, 
        and create transfer mechanisms to ensure the utilization of 
        technologies developed.
            (5) To strengthen the Nation's textile research and 
        educational efforts by uniting diverse experts and resources in 
        unique collaborative projects.
            (6) To facilitate the creation of domestic jobs in the 
        textile industry.
    (d) Restriction on Funds.--
            (1) In general.--Subject to paragraph (2), no more than 75 
        percent of total funding made available under the grant program 
        in a fiscal year may be disbursed to institutions of higher 
        education.
            (2) Waiver authority.--If the Secretary of Commerce 
        determines that the limitation of paragraph (1) would result in 
        the failure to disburse all appropriated funds for a fiscal 
        year, the Secretary may waive such limitation for such fiscal 
        year.

SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    (a) In General.--There are authorized to be appropriated to the 
Secretary of Commerce $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2014 to carry out 
section 3. Amounts appropriated under this subsection shall be 
available until expended.
    (b) Offsetting Reduction of Authorization of Appropriations.--The 
amount authorized to be appropriated for operations and administration 
of the International Trade Administration in the Department of Commerce 
for fiscal year 2014 is reduced by $5,000,000.
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