[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2792 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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114th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2792

 To reestablish and enhance the Defense Research and Development Rapid 
              Innovation Program, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 13, 2016

  Mrs. Shaheen (for herself and Mr. Vitter) introduced the following 
   bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed 
                                Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To reestablish and enhance the Defense Research and Development Rapid 
              Innovation Program, 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 ``Rapid Innovation Fund Enhancement 
Act of 2016''.

SEC. 2. REESTABLISHMENT AND ENHANCEMENT OF DEFENSE RESEARCH AND 
              DEVELOPMENT RAPID INNOVATION PROGRAM.

    (a) Coordination of Program.--Subsection (a) of section 1073 of the 
Ike Skelton National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2011 
(Public Law 111-383; 124 Stat. 4366; 10 U.S.C. 2359 note) is amended by 
adding at the end the following: ``The program shall be coordinated 
with the senior acquisition executives of the departments, Agencies, 
and components of the Department of Defense.''.
    (b) Department of Defense Expenditures.--Subsection (d) of such 
section is amended to read as follows:
    ``(d) DoD Expenditures.--(1) For fiscal year 2017 and each fiscal 
year thereafter, the Department of Defense shall obligate for 
expenditure for eligible technologies under the program not less than 1 
percent of the aggregate budget of the Department of Defense for such 
fiscal year for research, development, test, and evaluation and 
available for projects and activities at the level of Advanced 
Component Development Prototypes and above (referred to as `6.4' and 
above).
    ``(2) Nothing in paragraph (1) may be construed to prohibit the 
departments, Agencies, and components of the Department from expending 
on eligible technologies in a fiscal year an amount for that fiscal 
year in excess of the amount otherwise required by that paragraph.''.
    (c) Briefing Requirements.--Subsection (f) of such section is 
amended to read as follows:
    ``(f) Annual Briefing.--(1) Not later than January 31 each year, 
the Secretary shall brief the appropriate committees of Congress on the 
program under this section during the previous fiscal year, including 
the following:
            ``(A) A list of each project funded under this section 
        during such fiscal year, including a short description of each 
        such project.
            ``(B) The amount of funding provided for each such project.
            ``(C) The defense acquisition program that each such 
        project supports, including the extent to which such project 
        meets needs identified in its acquisition plan.
            ``(D) The anticipated timeline for transition for such 
        project, or if such project transitioned during such fiscal 
        year, to what program of record it transitioned.
            ``(E) Whether the award for the project was made to a small 
        business participating in the Small Business Innovation 
        Research Program or Small Business Technology Transfer Program 
        under section 9 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638), a 
        small business under section 3 of that Act (15 U.S.C. 632), or 
        a nontraditional defense contractor under section 2371(a) of 
        title 10, United States Code.
            ``(F) The degree to which a competitive, merit-based 
        process was used to evaluate and select the performers of the 
        projects selected under this section during such fiscal year.
    ``(2) In this subsection, the term `appropriate committees of 
Congress' means--
            ``(A) the Committee on Armed Services and the Committee on 
        Small Business and Entrepreneurship of the Senate; and
            ``(B) the Committee on Armed Services and the Committee on 
        Small Business of the House of Representatives.''.
    (d) Reestablishment of Program and Definition.--Subsection (g) of 
such section is amended to read as follows:
    ``(g) Eligible Technology Defined.--In this section, the term 
`eligible technology' means the following:
            ``(1) A technology that has received a Phase II award under 
        the Small Business Innovation Research Program or the Small 
        Business Technology Transfer Program under section 9 of the 
        Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638).
            ``(2) A technology developed by a nontraditional defense 
        contractor (as that term is defined in section 2302(9) of title 
        10, United States Code).
            ``(3) A technology developed by the defense laboratories.
            ``(4) Any other innovative technology (including a dual use 
        technology), as determined by the Secretary.''.
    (e) Additional Program Flexibility.--Not later than 180 days after 
the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall 
issue additional guidelines for the operation of the Defense Research 
and Development Rapid Innovation Program under section 1107 of the Ike 
Skelton National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2011 (as 
amended by this section). The guidance shall include the following:
            (1) Guidance to Department of Defense personnel on using, 
        to the maximum extent practicable, procedures under the Program 
        for direct award (as described in section 9(r)(4) of the Small 
        Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638(r)(4)) to firms participating in 
        the Small Business Innovation Research Program or Small 
        Business Technology Transfer Program under section 9 of that 
        Act.
            (2) Guidance and procedures on the authorities in section 
        9(r)(4) of the Small Business Act that allow a small business 
        concern to submit proposals to the senior acquisition 
        executive, or a designee, at each department, Agency, and 
        component of the Department and separate from a broad agency 
        announcement.
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