[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 42 (Thursday, March 13, 2014)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1656-S1657]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. UDALL of New Mexico:
  S. 2129. A bill to amend the Department of Energy Organization Act to 
improve technology transfer at the Department of Energy by reducing 
bureaucratic barriers to industry, entrepreneurs, and small businesses, 
as well as ensure that public investments in research and development 
generate the greatest return on investment for taxpayers, and for other 
purposes; to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
  Mr. UDALL of Colorado. Mr. President, New Mexico is blessed with some 
of the world's finest scientists. Each day, brilliant researchers at 
our universities and national labs go to work, and the results are 
amazing. At the same time, entrepreneurs in New Mexico and across the 
country are looking for opportunities to leverage innovation and to 
create new high-tech products and applications.
  I rise to introduce the Accelerating Technology Transfer to Advance 
Innovation for the Nation--what we are calling the ATTAIN Act. That is 
a long title and an important goal: to improve the Department of 
Energy's technology transfer mission and to move innovation from the 
lab to the market. This grows our economy and creates a greater impact 
from our research and development dollars.
  But before I talk to my colleagues about what the bill does, I wish 
to explain why it is so important. Tech transfer may seem to be just 
some technical issue, affecting bureaucratic rules or regulations, but 
it is more. It is how innovation in the lab today helps create jobs 
tomorrow.
  In the 21st century, our national labs are the birthplace of 
innovation that creates new products and businesses and entire 
industries. Scientists are developing cutting-edge ways to power 
computers, to transmit new information, to heal the body. These 
innovations have great market potential in aviation, the military, 
medicine. They can be spun into high-tech businesses, changing the 
world, putting people to work.

  In New Mexico, many companies have been formed as a result of 
discoveries at Los Alamos and Sandia National Labs. For example, 
Mustomo, Inc., a startup using technology developed at LANL, provides 
3D ultrasound tomography for the detection of breast cancer, and 
technology from Sandia, used by TEAM Technologies, has created a device 
that can disable improvised explosive devices. Since 2010 over 4,000 
units have been deployed and are saving lives in war zones right now.
  But despite these amazing successes, we are operating at just a 
fraction of the potential. My home State could do so much more. New 
Mexico has all the ingredients to become a high-tech powerhouse. There 
are great minds at our national labs and military bases. We have 
fantastic universities and a booming energy industry. We need to create 
an environment to allow it to reach that potential. This is a major 
initiative of mine to help create the right formula to help industry 
take off in New Mexico. That is the purpose of my bill.
  Almost a decade ago Congress created a Department of Energy 
Technology Transfer Coordinator to move innovation from the lab bench 
to the marketplace, to spur businesses and cutting-edge product 
development in New Mexico and across the Nation, to help entrepreneurs 
outside of the big-city powerhouses on the coasts get access to 
capital, to help them find partners in industry. But the Department has 
not come close to meeting its potential. A recent inspector general's 
report tells the story. It cited numerous deficiencies at DOE. The 
Department is over 7 years delinquent in finalizing its Technology 
Transfer Execution Plan, nor has DOE implemented a forward-looking 
process for its commercialization fund--over 2 years after being 
directed to do so by the former Secretary. In addition, the Technology 
Transfer Coordinator post at the Department has been vacant since April 
2013. That is nearly 1 year after the previous Coordinator's departure. 
This position should be filled as quickly as possible with a qualified 
and motivated candidate.
  Technology transfer is important in New Mexico and to the Nation, and 
the Department's failure to perform is unacceptable. My bill addresses 
these shortfalls. We can do better, and we have to. The first step is 
to make tech transfer a priority. Our goals are clear: consolidate 
bureaucracy, streamline contracting, and use models that have proven 
successful.
  There are three key elements to my legislation.
  First, it permanently authorizes new tools for the Secretary of 
Energy's new Department-wide technology transfer office to enable DOE 
and DOE's new Tech Transfer Coordinator to meet their responsibilities 
and to measure and report their progress. Better coordination is 
absolutely crucial so we can reduce barriers and efficiently use

[[Page S1657]]

the limited resources available. My bill requires that this office be 
accountable and responsible, that it work with the national labs and 
with industry in the right way at the Department and fully implement 
the EPACT Energy Technology Commercialization Fund--something DOE has 
yet to do according to Congress's original intent.
  Second, the bill authorizes a new tech transfer corps, modeled on the 
National Science Foundation's Innovation Corps, to support investments 
in entrepreneurs, mentors, scientists, and engineers. It authorizes 
technology commercialization challenges that push--getting innovative 
technologies into the market--and also pull--enabling partnerships with 
industry to identify and focus on common challenges. It will also 
improve coordination of technology transfer and entrepreneurship 
priorities with universities, foundations, and nonprofits, both 
regionally and nationally.
  Third, we adapt an existing public-private partnership model used by 
the Small Business Administration and apply it to technology transfer 
to increase access to capital for promising startup companies.
  We are not asking for more money. We need to do more with what we 
have. We are not asking--and I want to emphasize that--we are not 
asking for more money. We need to do more with what we have. The bill 
requires DOE and SBA to work together, to use the strengths of each 
agency--DOE's innovative technology and SBA's financial acumen--and it 
increases investment in new technologies via the SBIC Impact and Early 
Stage Initiatives. The Impact Initiative includes SBA matching funds of 
up to $1 billion, and the Early Stage Initiative includes $1 billion 
more.
  This collaboration addresses an important concern. Since 2008 less 
than 6 percent of these venture capital funds have been invested in 
seed funds and tech maturation, and 70 percent of that went into just 
three States--California, New York, and Massachusetts. There are great 
opportunities outside these three States. This bill will help those 
funds find them. States such as New Mexico have a surplus of innovative 
ideas and a lack of investment dollars. With this bill we can balance 
that equation.
  The benefits are clear: new technology, new partnerships, and new 
opportunities. Cutting-edge research today means high-paying jobs 
tomorrow. American inventions and intellectual property fuel our 
economy. Mr. President, 75 U.S. industries are classified as 
intellectual property intensive. They added $5.8 trillion to U.S. 
output last year. They are 38 percent of our GDP. They directly or 
indirectly supply over 55 million jobs--jobs that on average pay 30 
percent higher wages. These IP companies account for 74 percent of our 
exports.
  We need to do all we can to support innovation and to improve 
technology transfer--the bridge between new discovery and new 
opportunity--to grow our economy, to create high-paying jobs. I believe 
this is something we can all support.
  Last August I cohosted a tech transfer conference in Santa Fe. I met 
with nearly 200 of New Mexico's most successful entrepreneurs, 
innovators, and investors. We talked about the challenges and 
opportunities of technology transfer and how important it is to the 
future.
  We have always succeeded by being one step ahead of the competition. 
American innovation has led the world in industry, in health care and 
transportation, in science and technology. The ATTAIN Act will help 
move that innovation from the lab to the marketplace, helping 
businesses grow, creating jobs, and keeping us competitive in a global 
marketplace.
  For a student with a bright idea, for an entrepreneur with the drive 
to chase their dream, it can be a long road. Fortunately, they do not 
give up easily. They are as tough as they come. They are already giving 
so much with hard work, with taking risks. They do their part. DOE 
needs to do its part as well.
  We all want to move innovation forward and to better coordinate the 
handoffs. I am committed to working with the Department of Energy to 
make this a reality. This is an important goal, and it should be an 
equally important priority. That is why I am introducing this bill 
today.
                                 ______