[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2526 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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114th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2526

   To improve the competitiveness of United States manufacturing by 
  designating and supporting manufacturing communities, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            February 9, 2016

Mrs. Gillibrand (for herself, Mr. Kirk, Mr. Moran, Mr. Blumenthal, and 
  Mr. Coons) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
   referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To improve the competitiveness of United States manufacturing by 
  designating and supporting manufacturing communities, 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 ``Made in America Manufacturing 
Communities Act of 2016''.

SEC. 2. PROGRAM TO DESIGNATE AND SUPPORT MANUFACTURING COMMUNITIES.

    (a) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Institution of higher education.--The term 
        ``institution of higher education'' has the meaning given such 
        term in section 101 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 
        U.S.C. 1001).
            (2) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of Commerce.
    (b) Establishment of Program.--The Secretary shall establish a 
program to improve the competitiveness of United States manufacturing 
by--
            (1) designating consortiums as manufacturing communities 
        under subsection (d); and
            (2) supporting manufacturing communities, as so designated, 
        under subsection (c).
    (c) Support for Designated Manufacturing Communities.--
            (1) Preferential consideration.--
                    (A) In general.--Except as provided in subparagraph 
                (D), in any case in which a member of a consortium 
                designated as a manufacturing community under 
                subsection (d) seeks financial or technical assistance 
                under a participating program of a participating 
                agency, the head of such agency may give preferential 
                consideration to such member with respect to the 
                awarding of such financial or technical assistance if--
                            (i) such head considers the award of the 
                        financial or technical assistance consistent 
                        with the economic development strategy of the 
                        consortium; and
                            (ii) the member otherwise meets all 
                        applicable requirements for the financial or 
                        technical assistance.
                    (B) Participating agencies.--For purposes of the 
                program, the participating agencies are the following:
                            (i) The Department of Agriculture.
                            (ii) The Department of Commerce.
                            (iii) The Department of Defense.
                            (iv) The Department of Education.
                            (v) The Department of Energy.
                            (vi) The Department of Housing and Urban 
                        Development.
                            (vii) The Department of Labor.
                            (viii) The Department of Transportation.
                            (ix) The Appalachian Regional Commission.
                            (x) The Delta Regional Authority.
                            (xi) The Environmental Protection Agency.
                            (xii) The National Science Foundation.
                            (xiii) The Small Business Administration.
                    (C) Participating programs.--
                            (i) In general.--The head of each 
                        participating agency shall identify each 
                        program administered by such participating 
                        agency that is applicable to the program 
                        established under subsection (b).
                            (ii) Designation.--For purposes of this 
                        section, a participating program is a program 
                        identified under clause (i).
                    (D) Multiple members of the same consortium seeking 
                the same financial or technical assistance.--
                            (i) In general.--In a case in which a 
                        participating agency receives applications for 
                        the same financial or technical assistance from 
                        more than one member of the same consortium 
                        designated as a manufacturing community under 
                        subsection (d), the head of such agency may 
                        determine how preference is given under 
                        subparagraph (A), including by requiring the 
                        consortium to select which of the members 
                        should be given preference.
                            (ii) Coordination.--In a case described in 
                        clause (i) in which the head of the agency 
                        determines that more than one member of a 
                        consortium should be given preference under 
                        subparagraph (A) for financial or technical 
                        assistance, the head of the agency may require 
                        such members to demonstrate coordination with 
                        each other in developing their applications for 
                        the financial or technical assistance.
                    (E) Report.--Not later than 90 days after the date 
                of the enactment of this Act, the head of each 
                participating agency shall submit to the Secretary a 
                report specifying how the head will give preferential 
                consideration under subparagraph (A).
            (2) Technical assistance.--The Secretary may make available 
        to each consortium designated as a manufacturing community 
        under subsection (d) a Federal point of contact to help the 
        members of the consortium access Federal funds and technical 
        assistance.
            (3) Financial and technical assistance.--
                    (A) In general.--Under the program established 
                under subsection (b), the head of a participating 
                agency may award financial or technical assistance to a 
                member of a consortium designated as a manufacturing 
                community under subsection (d) as the head considers 
                appropriate for purposes of such program and consistent 
                with the economic development strategy of the 
                consortium.
                    (B) Use of funds.--
                            (i) In general.--A recipient of financial 
                        or technical assistance under subparagraph (A) 
                        may use the amount of such financial or 
                        technical assistance to support an investment 
                        in an ecosystem that will improve the 
                        competitiveness of United States manufacturing.
                            (ii) Investments supported.--Investments 
                        supported under this subparagraph may include 
                        the following:
                                    (I) Infrastructure.
                                    (II) Access to capital.
                                    (III) Promotion of exports and 
                                foreign direct investment.
                                    (IV) Equipment or facility 
                                upgrades.
                                    (V) Workforce training or 
                                retraining.
                                    (VI) Energy or process efficiency.
                                    (VII) Business incubators.
                                    (VIII) Site preparation.
                                    (IX) Advanced research.
                                    (X) Supply chain development.
            (4) Coordination.--
                    (A) Coordination by secretary of commerce.--The 
                Secretary shall coordinate with the heads of the 
                participating agencies to identify programs under 
                paragraph (1)(C)(i).
                    (B) Inter-agency coordination.--The heads of the 
                participating agencies shall coordinate with each 
                other--
                            (i) to leverage complementary activities, 
                        including from non-Federal sources such as 
                        philanthropies; and
                            (ii) to avoid duplication of efforts.
    (d) Designation of Manufacturing Communities.--
            (1) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph (7), for 
        purposes of the program established under subsection (b), the 
        Secretary shall designate eligible consortiums as manufacturing 
        communities through a competitive process.
            (2) Eligible consortiums.--
                    (A) In general.--For purposes of this section, an 
                eligible consortium is a consortium that--
                            (i) represents a region defined by the 
                        consortium in accordance with subparagraph (B);
                            (ii) includes at least one--
                                    (I) institution of higher 
                                education;
                                    (II) a private sector entity; and
                                    (III) a government entity;
                            (iii) may include one or more--
                                    (I) private sector partners;
                                    (II) institutions of higher 
                                education;
                                    (III) government entities;
                                    (IV) economic development and other 
                                community and labor groups;
                                    (V) financial institutions; or
                                    (VI) utilities;
                            (iv) has, as a lead applicant--
                                    (I) a district organization (as 
                                defined in section 300.3 of title 13, 
                                Code of Federal Regulations, or 
                                successor regulation);
                                    (II) an Indian tribe (as defined in 
                                section 4 of the Indian Self-
                                Determination and Education Assistance 
                                Act (25 U.S.C. 450b)) or a consortium 
                                of Indian tribes;
                                    (III) a State or a political 
                                subdivision of a State, including a 
                                special purpose unit of a State or 
                                local government engaged in economic or 
                                infrastructure development activities, 
                                or a consortium of political 
                                subdivisions;
                                    (IV) an institution of higher 
                                education or a consortium of 
                                institutions of higher education; or
                                    (V) a public or private nonprofit 
                                organization or association that is 
                                acting in cooperation with officials of 
                                a political subdivision of a State.
                    (B) Regions.--For purposes of this section and 
                subject to approval by the Secretary, a consortium may 
                define the region that it represents pursuant to 
                paragraph (2)(A)(i), except that a region so defined 
                shall be--
                            (i) large enough to contain critical 
                        elements of the key technologies or supply 
                        chain prioritized by the consortium; and
                            (ii) small enough to enable close 
                        collaboration among members of the consortium.
            (3) Duration.--Each designation under paragraph (1) shall 
        be for a period of 2 years.
            (4) Renewal.--
                    (A) In general.--Upon receipt of an application 
                submitted under subparagraph (B), the Secretary may, as 
                the Secretary considers appropriate, renew a 
                designation made under paragraph (1) for a period of 2 
                years.
                    (B) Application for renewal.--An eligible 
                consortium seeking a renewal under subparagraph (A) 
                shall submit to the Secretary an application therefor 
                at such time, in such manner, and containing such 
                information as the Secretary may require.
                    (C) Modifications authorized.--The Secretary may 
                renew a designation under subparagraph (A) for an 
                eligible consortium that--
                            (i) has changed its own composition, either 
                        by adding or removing members; or
                            (ii) submits under subparagraph (B) a 
                        revision to the plan submitted under clause 
                        (iv) of paragraph (5)(B) or the strategy 
                        submitted under clause (v) of such paragraph.
                    (D) Evaluation for renewal.--In determining whether 
                to renew a designation of an eligible consortium under 
                paragraph (1), the Secretary shall assess the eligible 
                consortium using the following criteria:
                            (i) The performance of the consortium 
                        against the terms of the consortium's most 
                        recent designation under paragraph (1) and any 
                        post-designation awards the consortium may have 
                        received.
                            (ii) The progress the consortium has made 
                        with respect to project-specific metrics the 
                        consortium proposed in the consortium's 
                        application for the most recent designation 
                        under paragraph (1), particularly with respect 
                        to those metrics that were designed to help 
                        communities track their own progress.
                            (iii) Whether any changes to the 
                        composition of the eligible consortium, as 
                        described in clause (i) of subparagraph (C), or 
                        revisions to the plan or strategy described in 
                        clause (ii) of such subparagraph would improve 
                        the competitiveness of United States 
                        manufacturing.
                            (iv) Such other criteria as the Secretary 
                        considers appropriate.
            (5) Application for designation.--
                    (A) In general.--An eligible consortium seeking a 
                designation under paragraph (1) shall submit to the 
                Secretary an application therefor at such time and in 
                such manner as the Secretary may require.
                    (B) Contents.--Each application submitted to the 
                Secretary by an eligible consortium shall contain the 
                following:
                            (i) Description of the regional boundaries 
                        of the consortium.
                            (ii) A description of the manufacturing 
                        concentration of the consortium, including an 
                        assessment of how the manufacturing 
                        concentration of the consortium competitively 
                        ranks nationally according to measures relating 
                        to employment, sales, location quotients for an 
                        industry's level of concentration, or such 
                        other measures as the Secretary considers 
                        appropriate.
                            (iii) An integrated assessment of the local 
                        industrial ecosystem of the region of the 
                        consortium, which may include assessment of 
                        workforce and training, supplier network, 
                        research and innovation, infrastructure or site 
                        development, trade and international 
                        investment, operational improvements, and 
                        capital access components needed for 
                        manufacturing activities in such region.
                            (iv) An evidence-based plan for developing 
                        components of such ecosystem (selected by the 
                        consortium) by making--
                                    (I) specific investments to address 
                                gaps in such ecosystem; and
                                    (II) the manufacturing of the 
                                region of the consortium uniquely 
                                competitive.
                            (v) A description of the investments the 
                        consortium proposes and the implementation 
                        strategy the consortium intends to use to 
                        address gaps in such ecosystem.
                            (vi) A description of outcome-based 
                        metrics, benchmarks, and milestones that the 
                        consortium will track and the evaluation 
                        methods the consortium will use while 
                        designated as a manufacturing community to 
                        gauge performance of the strategy of the 
                        consortium to improve the manufacturing in the 
                        region of the consortium.
                            (vii) Such other matters as the Secretary 
                        considers appropriate.
            (6) Evaluation of applications.--The Secretary shall 
        evaluate each application received under paragraph (5) with 
        respect to the following:
                    (A) Whether the applicant demonstrates a 
                significant level of regional cooperation in their 
                proposal.
                    (B) How the manufacturing concentration of the 
                applicant competitively ranks nationally according to 
                measures described in paragraph (5)(B)(ii).
            (7) Certain communities previously recognized.--Subject to 
        subparagraph (B), each consortium that was designated as a 
        manufacturing community by the Secretary in carrying out the 
        Investing in Manufacturing Communities Partnership initiative 
        of the Department of Commerce before the date of the enactment 
        of this Act shall be deemed a manufacturing community 
        designated under this subsection as long as such consortium is 
        still designated as a manufacturing community by the Secretary 
        as part of such initiative.
    (e) Receipt of Transferred Funds.--The Secretary may accept amounts 
transferred to the Secretary from the head of another participating 
agency to carry out this section.
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