[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4948 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4948

To provide a Federal charter to the Fab Foundation for the National Fab 
Lab Network, a national network of local digital fabrication facilities 
providing universal access to advanced manufacturing tools for learning 
   skills, developing inventions, creating businesses, and producing 
             personalized products, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            February 6, 2018

Mr. Foster (for himself and Mr. Massie) introduced the following bill; 
          which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To provide a Federal charter to the Fab Foundation for the National Fab 
Lab Network, a national network of local digital fabrication facilities 
providing universal access to advanced manufacturing tools for learning 
   skills, developing inventions, creating businesses, and producing 
             personalized products, 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 ``National Fab Lab Network Act of 
2018''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Scientific discoveries and technical innovations are 
        critical to the economic and national security of the United 
        States.
            (2) Maintaining the leadership of the United States in 
        science, technology, engineering, and mathematics will require 
        a diverse population with the skills, interest, and access to 
        tools required to advance these fields.
            (3) Just as earlier digital revolutions in communications 
        and computation provided individuals with the Internet and 
        personal computers, a digital revolution in fabrication will 
        allow anyone to make almost anything, anywhere.
            (4) These creations include communications devices, solar 
        powered housing, consumer products, and new kinds of machines 
        and tools for advanced manufacturing.
            (5) The Center for Bits and Atoms of the Massachusetts 
        Institute of Technology (CBA) has contributed significantly to 
        the advancement of these goals through its work in creating and 
        advancing digital fabrication facilities, or ``fab labs'' in 
        the United States and abroad.
            (6) MakerSpaces, TechShops, and other creative platforms 
        also facilitate access to digital fabrication capabilities.
            (7) The fab labs of the Center for Bits and Atoms provide a 
        model for a new kind of national laboratory that links local 
        facilities for advanced manufacturing, providing universal 
        access, and empowering communities.
            (8) A coordinated national public-private partnership will 
        be the most effective way to accelerate the provision of this 
        universal infrastructure for learning skills, developing 
        inventions, creating businesses, and producing personalized 
        products.

SEC. 3. FEDERAL CHARTER FOR NATIONAL FAB LAB NETWORK.

    (a) In General.--Part B of subtitle II of title 36, United States 
Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new chapter:

                ``CHAPTER 2501--NATIONAL FAB LAB NETWORK

                ``CHAPTER 2501--National Fab Lab Network

``Sec.
``250101. Definitions.
``250102. Organization.
``250103. Purposes and goals.
``250104. Membership and organization.
``250105. Governing body.
``250106. Powers.
``250107. Restrictions.
``250108. Records and inspection.
``250109. Duty to maintain tax exempt status.
``250110. Liability for acts of officers and agents.
``250111. Annual report.
``Sec. 250101. Definitions
    ``In this chapter:
            ``(1) Corporation.--The term `corporation' means the 
        National Fab Lab Network.
            ``(2) Fab lab.--The term `fab lab' means a facility that 
        is--
                    ``(A) equipped with a standard integrated suite of 
                fabrication tools that can convert digital designs into 
                functional physical things;
                    ``(B) equipped with scanning tools to convert 
                physical things into digital designs; and
                    ``(C) made accessible to the general public, 
                allowing for necessary fees.
``Sec. 250102. Organization
    ``(a) Redesignation.--The Fab Foundation shall be known as the 
National Fab Lab Network.
    ``(b) Federal Charter.--The National Fab Lab Network is a federally 
chartered corporation.
    ``(c) Perpetual Existence.--Except as otherwise provided, the 
corporation shall have perpetual succession.
``Sec. 250103. Purposes and goals
    ``The purposes and goals of the corporation are as follows:
            ``(1) To create a national network of connected local fab 
        labs to empower individuals and communities in the United 
        States.
            ``(2) To foster the use of distributed digital fabrication 
        tools to promote science, technology, engineering and math 
        skills, increase invention and innovation, create businesses 
        and jobs, and fulfill personal, professional, and community 
        needs.
            ``(3) To serve as a resource to assist stakeholders with 
        the effective operation of fab labs.
            ``(4) To provide a platform for education, research, and 
        for catalyzing new methods in science, technology, engineering, 
        and mathematics education.
            ``(5) To create new ways of educating the workforce that 
        will enable workers to compete in a 21st century global 
        marketplace.
            ``(6) To seek to establish at least one fab lab per every 
        700,000 individuals in the United States in the first 10 years 
        of its operation, corresponding to availability in all 435 
        Congressional districts and to provide guidelines for their 
        sustainable operation.
``Sec. 250104. Membership and organization
    ``Except as provided in this chapter, eligibility for membership in 
the corporation and the rights and privileges of members are as 
provided in the constitution and bylaws of the corporation.
``Sec. 250105. Governing body
    ``Directors, officers, and other staff of the corporation, and 
their powers and duties are as provided in the bylaws of the 
corporation.
``Sec. 250106. Powers
    ``The corporation may--
            ``(1) coordinate the creation of a national network of 
        local fab labs in the United States;
            ``(2) issue guidelines for the sustainable operation of fab 
        labs;
            ``(3) serve as a resource for organizations and communities 
        seeking to create fab labs by providing information, assessing 
        suitability, advising on the lab lifecycle, and maintaining 
        descriptions of prospective and operating sites;
            ``(4) accept funds from private individuals, organizations, 
        government agencies, or other organizations;
            ``(5) distribute funds to other nonprofit organizations to 
        establish and operate fab labs as members of the corporation;
            ``(6) facilitate communication between other nonprofit 
        organizations seeking to join the corporation with operational 
        entities that can source and install fab labs, provide 
        training, assist with operations, account for spending, and 
        assess impact;
            ``(7) communicate the benefits available through membership 
        in the corporation to communities and the public;
            ``(8) facilitate and participate in synergistic programs, 
        including workforce training, job creation, researching the 
        broader impacts of such programs, and the production of civic 
        infrastructure;
            ``(9) amend a constitution and bylaws for the management of 
        its property and the regulation of its affairs;
            ``(10) choose directors, officers, trustees, managers, 
        employees, and agents as the activities of the corporation 
        require;
            ``(11) make contracts;
            ``(12) acquire, own, lease, encumber, and transfer property 
        as necessary or convenient to carry out the purposes of the 
        corporation;
            ``(13) borrow money, issue instruments of indebtedness, and 
        secure its obligations by granting security interests in its 
        property;
            ``(14) charge and collect membership dues and subscription 
        fees; and
            ``(15) sue and be sued.
``Sec. 250107. Restrictions
    ``(a) Stock and Dividends.--The corporation may not issue 
securities of any kind or declare or pay a dividend.
    ``(b) Distribution of Income or Assets.--The income or assets of 
the corporation may not inure to the benefit of, or be distributed to, 
a director, officer, or member during the life of the charter of the 
corporation under this chapter. This subsection does not prevent the 
payment of reasonable compensation to an officer or reimbursement for 
actual necessary expenses in amounts approved by the board of 
directors.
    ``(c) Loans.--The corporation may not make a loan to a director, 
officer, or employee.
    ``(d) Claim of Governmental Approval or Authority.--The corporation 
may not claim congressional approval or the authority of the United 
States Government for any of its activities.
``Sec. 250108. Records and inspection
    ``(a) Records.--The corporation shall keep--
            ``(1) correct and complete records of account;
            ``(2) minutes of the proceedings of its members, board of 
        directors, and committees having any of the authority of its 
        board of directors; and
            ``(3) at its principal office, a record of the names and 
        addresses of its members entitled to vote.
    ``(b) Inspections.--A member entitled to vote, or an agent or 
attorney of the member, may inspect the records of the corporation for 
any proper purpose, at any reasonable time.
``Sec. 250109. Duty to maintain tax exempt status
    ``The corporation shall maintain its status as an organization 
exempt from taxation under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C. 
1 et seq.).
``Sec. 250110. Liability for acts of officers and agents
    ``The corporation is liable for the acts of its officers and agents 
acting within the scope of their authority.
``Sec. 250111. Annual report
    ``Not less frequently than once each year, the corporation shall 
submit to Congress, including specifically to the Committee on 
Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Committee 
on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives, a 
report on the activities of the corporation during the prior fiscal 
year. The report shall be submitted at the same time as the report of 
the audit required by section 10101 of this title. The report may not 
be printed as a public document.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of chapters at the beginning of 
subtitle II of such title is amended by inserting after the item 
relating to chapter 2401 the following new item:

        ``2501. National Fab Lab Network...................   250101''.
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