[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 18 (Monday, February 1, 2016)]
[Senate]
[Page S430]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 3154. Mr. HEINRICH (for himself and Mr. Udall) submitted an 
amendment intended to be proposed to amendment SA 2953 proposed by Ms. 
Murkowski to the bill S. 2012, to provide for the modernization of the 
energy policy of the United States, and for other purposes; which was 
ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

       At the end of subtitle C of title IV, add the following:

     SEC. 42__. RESTORATION OF LABORATORY DIRECTED RESEARCH AND 
                   DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM.

       (a) Findings.--Congress finds that--
       (1) laboratory directed research and development (referred 
     to in this subsection as ``LDRD'') is an investment for the 
     future;
       (2) the purposes of LDRD are--
       (A) to recruit, to develop, and to retain a creative 
     workforce for a laboratory; and
       (B) to produce innovative ideas that are vital to the 
     ability of a laboratory to produce the best scientific work 
     in accordance with the mission of the laboratory;
       (3) LDRD has a long history of support and accomplishment 
     since 1954, when Congress first authorized LDRD in the Atomic 
     Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.);
       (4) formal requirements, external review, and oversight by 
     the Secretary with respect to LDRD projects ensure that LDRD 
     projects--
       (A) are selected competitively; and
       (B) explore innovative and new areas of research that are 
     not covered by existing research programs;
       (5) LDRD is a resource to support cutting-edge exploratory 
     research prior to the identification and development of a 
     research program by the Department or a strategic partner of 
     the Department;
       (6) LDRD projects in the same topic area may be funded at 
     various laboratories to explore potential paths for a program 
     in that topic area;
       (7) LDRD projects provide valuable insights for peer-review 
     strategic assessments conducted by the Department in the 
     program planning process;
       (8) LDRD is an important recruitment and retention tool for 
     the National Laboratories;
       (9) the recruitment and retention tool that LDRD provides 
     is especially crucial for the laboratories operated by the 
     National Nuclear Security Administration, which must attract 
     new staff to the laboratories in order to maintain a highly 
     trained workforce to support the missions of the National 
     Nuclear Security Administration with respect to nuclear 
     weapons and national security; and
       (10) the October 28, 2015, Final Report of the Commission 
     to Review the Effectiveness of the National Energy 
     Laboratories--
       (A) strongly endorsed LDRD programs both now and into the 
     future; and
       (B) supported restoration of the cap on LDRD to 6 percent 
     unburdened or the equivalent of 6 percent unburdened.
       (b) General and Administrative Overhead for Laboratory 
     Directed Research and Development.--The Secretary shall 
     ensure that the laboratory operating contractors for Lawrence 
     Livermore National Laboratory, Los Alamos National 
     Laboratory, and Sandia National Laboratories do not allocate 
     costs of general and administrative overhead to laboratory 
     directed research and development.
                                 ______