[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 93 (Thursday, July 11, 2002)]
[House]
[Pages H4505-H4508]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 2733, ENTERPRISE INTEGRATION ACT OF 
                                  2002

  Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I 
call up House Resolution 474 and ask for its immediate consideration.
  The Clerk read the resolution, as follows:

                              H. Res. 474

       Resolved, That at any time after the adoption of this 
     resolution the Speaker may, pursuant to clause 2(b) of rule 
     XVIII, declare the House resolved into the Committee of the 
     Whole House on the state of the Union for consideration of 
     the bill (H.R. 2733) to authorize the National Institute of 
     Standards and Technology to work with major manufacturing 
     industries on an initiative of standards development and 
     implementation for electronic enterprise integration. The 
     first reading of the bill shall be dispensed with. General 
     debate shall be confined to the bill and shall not exceed one 
     hour equally divided and controlled by the chairman and 
     ranking minority member of the Committee on Science. After 
     general debate the bill shall be considered for amendment 
     under the five-minute rule. It shall be in order to consider 
     as an original bill for the purpose of amendment under the 
     five-minute rule the amendment in the nature of a substitute 
     recommended by the Committee on Science now printed in the 
     bill. Each section of the committee amendment in the nature 
     of a substitute shall be considered as read. During 
     consideration of the bill for amendment, the Chairman of the 
     Committee of the Whole may accord priority in recognition on 
     the basis of whether the Member offering an amendment has 
     caused it to be printed in the portion of the Congressional 
     Record designated for that purpose in clause 8 of rule XVIII. 
     Amendments so printed shall be considered as read. At the 
     conclusion of consideration of the bill for amendment the 
     Committee shall rise and report the bill to the House with 
     such amendments as may have been adopted. Any Member may 
     demand a separate vote in the House on any amendment adopted 
     in the Committee of the Whole to the bill or to the committee 
     amendment in the nature of a substitute. The previous 
     question shall be considered as ordered on the bill and 
     amendments thereto to final passage without intervening 
     motion except one motion to recommit with or without 
     instructions.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Quinn). The gentleman from Texas (Mr. 
Sessions) is recognized for 1 hour.
  Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, I yield 
the customary 30 minutes to my friend, the gentlewoman from New York 
(Ms. Slaughter), pending which I yield myself such time as I may 
consume. During consideration of this resolution, all time yielded is 
for the purpose of debate only.
  Mr. Speaker, the resolution before us is an open rule that provides 
for consideration of H.R. 2733, the Enterprise Integration Act of 2002. 
The rule allows

[[Page H4506]]

for 1 hour of general debate and provides that the amendment in the 
nature of a substitute recommended by the Committee on Science shall be 
considered as an original bill for the purposes of amendment. Priority 
in recognition will be given to Members whose amendments were 
preprinted in the Congressional Record. Finally, the rule provides for 
one motion to recommit, with or without instructions.
  Mr. Speaker, today the House will consider H.R. 2733, the Enterprise 
Integration Act. The bill authorizes the National Institute of 
Standards and Technology to work with major manufacturing industries to 
set standards for developing and implementing electronic enterprise 
integration.
  Before the Internet, factories were automated on their own with no 
consideration of how to share manufacturing data. Factories installed 
software packages that best met their individual needs or customized 
software to address particular problems. This resulted in a typical 
supply chain where suppliers used a variety of different and 
incompatible software packages.
  The burden resulting from incompatible software was more pronounced 
further down the supply chain as smaller companies had to comply with 
all the manufacturers higher up the chain. These companies, who must 
bear the greatest burden, tend to be the ones least able to afford 
multiple software systems.
  However, the Internet and other technological advances have made it 
possible for manufacturing companies to work together electronically, 
something that was impossible just a few years ago. This seamless 
exchange of information, along with the vertical supply chain, is known 
as enterprise integration.
  For example, if Ford Motor Company decided to change a design 
specification for a bumper, every one of the suppliers that contribute 
to that part would then have the ability to easily and quickly see the 
new specification and how it would impact their component.

                              {time}  1100

  This integration helps large and small businesses all along the 
supply chain to reduce costs and productivity times.
  A 1999 study commissioned by the National Institute of Standards and 
Technology estimated that enterprise integration in the auto supply 
chains of General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler would result in a 
potential savings of at least $1 billion annually.
  This estimated savings from just select companies in the automobile 
industry is an example. Similar savings are also possible all across 
other industries such as shipbuilding, major construction, home-
building, furniture manufacturing, and electronics manufacturing, just 
to name a few.
  One solution to compatibility problems in design and manufacturing is 
to develop standards for the exchange of product data. Through this 
legislation, the NIST, which has 20 years of experience in this area, 
will be tasked to work with government and industry representatives to 
identify and develop ways of enterprise standardization and 
integration.
  The measure also requires NIST to work with companies and trade 
associations to raise awareness of enterprise integration activities, 
as well as developing training materials for businesses to participate 
in an integrated enterprise.
  Manufacturers today must be more flexible, efficient, and responsive 
to the changing needs and preferences of consumers. The European Union 
understands the importance of enterprise integration and has already 
been aggressively developing standardized protocols in such areas as I 
have talked about. In order to maintain and remain competitive to 
ensure that international standards are compatible with U.S. software 
packages, the United States must be active in helping to develop these 
standards.
  Mr. Speaker, in this day where technology is so intertwined with our 
economic prosperity, we must take the necessary steps to streamline our 
operations and ensure that there is coordination from top to bottom. I 
commend the gentleman from New York (Mr. Boehlert), the chairman of the 
Committee on Science, and the Committee on Science for taking this 
necessary first step to ensure that our manufacturing industries are 
not only able to function more efficiently, but also to remain 
competitive worldwide.
  I urge my colleagues to support this fair and open rule, as well as 
the underlying legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Texas (Mr. 
Sessions) for yielding me the customary 30 minutes, and I yield myself 
such time as I may consume.
  (Ms. SLAUGHTER asked and was given permission to revise and extend 
her remarks.)
  Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the open rule. 
Again, Mr. Speaker, this is an entirely noncontroversial measure that 
might have been put on the suspension calendar, but nevertheless, it is 
an important measure for many regions of the country, including my own 
district in upstate New York, and I urge its favorable consideration.
  Mr. Speaker, the manufacturing sector remains one of the most 
critical economic engines of the U.S. economy. My region of the 
country, with a combination of Fortune 500 companies, as well as 
midsize and smaller firms, has emerged as the leading per capita 
exporting city in America. Many of our smaller and midsized firms have 
become the lifeblood of our community and, indeed, have led the Nation 
in innovation and expansion. These firms know the critical importance 
of a coordinated exchange of information up and down the supply chain.
  With the emergence of the World Wide Web, international standards for 
product data exchange greatly accelerated the movement toward 
electronically integrated supply chains during the last half of the 
1990s. European and Asian countries are investing heavily in preparing 
their smaller manufacturers to do business in the new environment. 
European efforts are well advanced in the aerospace, automotive, and 
shipbuilding industries and are beginning in other industries, 
including home building, furniture manufacturing, textiles, and 
apparel. This investment could give overseas companies a major 
competitive advantage in the months and years to come.
  The legislation before us today will give the small manufacturers in 
the United States access to the same electronic integration that the 
large firms enjoy. The measure would increase efficiency and 
productivity throughout all sectors of our economy by providing 
technical and financial assistance to small and medium-sized 
businesses.
  I was pleased to see in this legislation that the National Institute 
of Standards and Technology would spearhead these efforts. With a long 
history of working cooperatively with manufacturers, and the nationwide 
reach which of its manufacturing extension program, the institute is in 
a unique position to help the United States, large and small 
manufacturers alike, in their responses on this challenge.
  Moreover, the institute will involve the Manufacturing Extension 
Program, MEP, which I know firsthand is making a real difference in my 
district. The MEP program, through High Tech Rochester, has assisted 
more than 1,000 small manufacturing firms within my district. 
Established in 1987, High Tech Rochester has been a force in the 
region's economy. By 1997, High Tech Rochester could boast that its 
client base had collectively realized a 2\1/2\-fold growth in 
employment and a $43 million increase in sales to $61 million. 
Enterprise integration, as provided for in this bill, would provide 
High Tech Rochester and other successful MEP programs throughout the 
Nation with a promising new tool to assist the small manufacturing 
firms.
  Mr. Speaker, I have seen what a difference this kind of support can 
make for not only existing small manufacturers, but for manufacturing 
start-ups. High Tech Rochester's business incubator supports fledgling 
small businesses by helping them to spin off, creating new companies to 
diversify the economy, making it stronger in the long run.
  I have been a strong supporter of High Tech Rochester's business 
incubator program which, over the past 4 years, has successfully 
supported dozens of start-up companies to ensure that they survive in 
their first years in business. It has been a tremendous success. In the 
year 2000, four companies

[[Page H4507]]

``graduated'' from the facility and moved to new larger facilities in 
our community. By their graduation, the combined numbers grew from 13 
to 61, a nearly 370 percent increase. In 2001, the facility graduated 
twice as many firms, and we look forward to them doubling the success 
of their predecessors.
  It is my firm hope that other regions of the country will benefit 
from similar programs, and I urge my colleagues to support this 
measure.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the 
gentleman from Grand Rapids, Michigan (Mr. Ehlers), the rocket 
scientist from the Republican Conference.
  Mr. EHLERS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this 
time.
  In 1994, when I first arrived in this Congress, I was absolutely 
astounded. I went to my office and, first of all, found that I did not 
have a computer in my office, but when I tried to use staff computers 
to send e-mails, I discovered that I could send an e-mail more easily 
and more rapidly to Moscow than I could to a colleague 20 feet down the 
hall. Why was that? Because in the House of Representatives, we had 
allowed a system to develop that did not have standards for the whole 
House of Representatives, and each Representative had a kingdom where 
they had set their own standards for their computer systems. Each 
individual system could not talk to each other.
  When the Republicans took the majority, then Speaker Gingrich put me 
in charge of standardizing the system. Today, we have a system that 
seamlessly allows over 10 million e-mails a month to flow between 
offices in this Capitol, saving us a lot of money and a lot of staff 
time. That is an illustration of what we can accomplish with standards. 
Without standards, this place barely functioned in terms of Internet 
usage, e-mail and Web sites. Today, with standards, it functions 
extremely well, and the American people have access to each and every 
one of us almost instantaneously, and the American public, through Web 
sites, can receive information on our activities instantaneously.
  This bill is about something similar. It will help industry by 
setting standards--standards for enterprises working together. Let me 
give an example.
  A smaller auto parts supplier from my district visited me recently. 
As my colleagues know, in Michigan we make a lot of automobiles and we 
have many auto parts suppliers around the State. He had a good 
business. But he commented that he was working very well with the 
Japanese manufacturer. He was making parts for this manufacturer, who 
manufactured cars in this country, and they had a good system working 
together.
  Everything was computerized, everything was set up from the beginning 
so each side knew exactly what the other was doing, and they could 
relate to each other well. But with the American manufacturers, they 
did not have that relationship. They were trying to establish it, but 
it was going to be different than the one with the Japanese 
manufacturer, so he was going to have to have two different systems to 
deal with these two different manufacturers.
  That does not make sense, and that is what this bill is about: so 
that small businesses such as this gentleman's can be assured that 
whichever manufacturer he makes parts for, he will be able to use the 
same communication system via the Internet, and that his business will 
flourish, because it will reduce his expenses tremendously.
  This bill will help both large and small manufacturers alike, because 
it will cut costs and improve efficiency. By taking advantage of 
information technology such as the Internet and other parameters 
relating to that, our manufacturing industry will be able to fully 
integrate their supply chain so information will be able to flow freely 
up and down the supply chain.
  This integration, however, will require the development of standards 
on how the information is going to be exchanged between businesses 
within a supply chain. Going back to my example of the small parts 
supplier working with the Japanese manufacturer and American 
manufacturer, each of them thinks their own standards are the best. 
There has to be some outside force that works out the differences and 
gets agreement.
  This bill will provide that outside force by supporting this 
integration through authorizing the National Institute of Standards and 
Technology, better known as NIST, to work with industry to identify 
what research, testing, and development needs to be undertaken to 
develop these information exchange standards. NIST has been in the 
standards business for over 150 years. They are experienced at this. 
They are experts at bringing together different parties and 
establishing standards, and this is the logical place to put this 
particular effort.
  This legislation provides NIST an authorization of $47 million over 4 
years, starting with $2 million in fiscal year 2002 and ramping up to 
$20 million in fiscal year 2005; and with this money, they will be able 
to carry out this effort.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this rule and this 
legislation. Small and large businesses in America will benefit from 
it. I urge my colleagues to vote for this rule and this bill.
  Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the 
gentleman from Rochester, Minnesota (Mr. Gutknecht).
  Mr. GUTKNECHT. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me 
this time. I rise in support of this rule and this bill.
  There is an old expression that ideas in children are brilliant when 
they are your own, and we have a problem sometimes with technology 
because we have one group who has an idea and another group that has an 
idea, and they begin to speak different languages. What this bill, the 
Enterprise Integration Act of 2002, is about is ultimately getting 
everybody talking the same language.
  Imagine, for example, if we had a situation where pilots from one 
airline here in the United States spoke Greek and the next one spoke 
Latin and the next one spoke German; what we want them all speaking is 
the same language.
  It is said that 50 percent of our economic growth over the next 10 
years is going to come from small business. It is also said that more 
than 50 percent of our economic growth is going to come from 
technology. This is the way we tie together small business and 
technology. This is a very, very important bill in the long-term 
economic future of this country, and particularly for our small 
businesses here in the United States.
  Let me take a minute, though, to say what a wonderful agency the 
National Institute of Standards and Technology is. I have had the 
chance to visit two of their campuses, and I cannot tell my colleagues 
enough how impressed I am with the scientists who work there. The 
National Institute of Standards and Technology is involved in all kinds 
of basic research. They study everything from fire to atomic clocks, 
and they do it very well and they do it on a very limited budget.

                              {time}  1115

  In fact, I was so impressed when the chairman and I went out to 
Boulder, Colorado, to see the way they do business out there at their 
labs to see how much duct tape they are using in their various labs, 
and this is very high technology that they are working on. They do not 
waste any of the taxpayers' money, but what they do best is come up 
with standards so that various industries are all working on the same 
language, and the language of science is something that is probably way 
above my ability to completely understand, and we are delighted to have 
the good doctor being a very important part of this discussion, but I 
understand this: if we can get big business and small business, 
manufacturers and suppliers, all using the same language, both the big 
business, the small business, the consumer, everyone; the American 
economy will benefit.
  This is a very important piece of legislation. I hope Members will 
join me in supporting the rule and the bill.
  Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  The Committee on Rules brought this rule forward. It is great 
legislation. It makes sense. It will aid not

[[Page H4508]]

only small business but encourage the opportunity for big business and 
small business to be more competitive around the globe. In my prior 
life, I worked for a company that was called Bell Communications 
Research, formerly known as Bell Labs. It was our mission at that time 
to make sure that we ensured the standards for the telecommunications 
industry were the same across the United States, albeit the world.
  The ability to speak together in the same language, as the gentleman 
from Minnesota (Mr. Gutknecht) talked about, is so critical to the 
success of people who are trying to provide products worldwide. This 
not only makes sense, what we are doing, but it will help America be 
more competitive. I wholeheartedly support not only this rule but the 
underlying legislation. And I would say, Mr. Speaker, that this is a 
great bill; and I urge my colleagues to support this.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time, and I move the 
previous question on the resolution.
  The previous question was ordered.
  The resolution was agreed to.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

                          ____________________