[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4375 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 4375

To provide for a study on broadening participation in certain National 
Science Foundation research and education programs, to collect data on 
  Federal research grants to science agencies, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           November 13, 2017

  Mrs. Comstock (for herself, Ms. Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas, Mr. 
 Smith of Texas, and Mr. Knight) introduced the following bill; which 
    was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To provide for a study on broadening participation in certain National 
Science Foundation research and education programs, to collect data on 
  Federal research grants to science agencies, 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 ``STEM Research and Education 
Effectiveness and Transparency Act''.

SEC. 2. BROADENING PARTICIPATION IN STEM PROGRAM EFFECTIVENESS STUDY.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 12 months after the date of 
enactment of this Act, the Director of the National Science Foundation 
shall submit a report to Congress on the effectiveness of all National 
Science Foundation research and education programs for broadening the 
participation of women and other historically underrepresented 
individuals in STEM studies and careers, including--
            (1) development or identification of performance metrics to 
        evaluate such programs;
            (2) information on student outcomes using all available 
        data, including dropout rates, enrollment in graduate programs, 
        internships or apprenticeships, and employment;
            (3) identification of any data gaps for evaluating the 
        effectiveness and outcomes of National Science Foundation 
        programs to broaden participation; and
            (4) recommendations for maintaining, translating, and 
        disseminating outcomes data for STEM programs funded by the 
        National Science Foundation.
    (b) Definition of STEM.--In this section, the term ``STEM'' has the 
meaning given the term in section 2 of the America COMPETES 
Reauthorization Act of 2010 (42 U.S.C. 6621 note).

SEC. 3. COLLECTION AND REPORTING OF DATA ON FEDERAL RESEARCH GRANTS.

    (a) Collection of Data.--
            (1) In general.--Each Federal science agency shall collect 
        standardized record-level annual information on demographics, 
        primary field, award type, review rating, budget request, 
        funding outcome, and awarded budget for all applications for 
        merit-reviewed research and development grants to institutions 
        of higher education and Federal laboratories supported by that 
        agency.
            (2) Uniformity and standardization.--The Director shall 
        establish a policy to ensure uniformity and standardization of 
        the data collection required under paragraph (1).
            (3) Record-level data.--
                    (A) Requirement.--On an annual basis, beginning 
                with the deadline under subparagraph (C), each Federal 
                science agency shall submit to the Director of the 
                National Science Foundation record-level data collected 
                under paragraph (1) in the form required by such 
                Director.
                    (B) Previous data.--As part of the first submission 
                under subparagraph (A), each Federal science agency, to 
                the extent practicable, shall submit comparable record-
                level data for the 5 years preceding the deadline under 
                subparagraph (C).
                    (C) Deadline.--The deadline under this paragraph is 
                not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of 
                this Act.
    (b) Reporting of Data.--The Director of the National Science 
Foundation shall publish statistical summary data collected under this 
section, disaggregated and cross-tabulated demographically and by years 
since completion of doctoral degree, including in conjunction with the 
National Science Foundation's report required by section 37 of the 
Science and Technology Equal Opportunities Act (42 U.S.C. 1885d; Public 
Law 96-516).
    (c) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Director.--The term ``Director'' means the Director of 
        the Office of Science and Technology Policy.
            (2) Federal laboratory.--The term ``Federal laboratory'' 
        has the meaning given that term in section 4 of the Stevenson-
        Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980 (15 U.S.C. 3703).
            (3) Federal science agency.--The term ``Federal science 
        agency'' means any Federal agency with at least $100,000,000 in 
        research and development expenditures in fiscal year 2017.
            (4) Institution of higher education.--The term 
        ``institution of higher education'' has the meaning given such 
        term in section 101(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 
        U.S.C. 1001(a)).
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