[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 108 (Wednesday, June 27, 2018)]
[House]
[Pages H5781-H5782]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1500
    NATIONAL INNOVATION MODERNIZATION BY LABORATORY EMPOWERMENT ACT

  Mr. HULTGREN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 5907) to provide directors of the National Laboratories 
signature authority for certain agreements, and for other purposes.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 5907

       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 Innovation 
     Modernization by Laboratory Empowerment Act'' or the ``NIMBLE 
     Act''.

     SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

       In this Act:
       (1) Department.--The term ``Department'' means the 
     Department of Energy.
       (2) National laboratory.--The term ``National Laboratory'' 
     means a Department of Energy nonmilitary national laboratory, 
     including--
       (A) Ames Laboratory;
       (B) Argonne National Laboratory;
       (C) Brookhaven National Laboratory;
       (D) Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory;
       (E) Idaho National Laboratory;
       (F) Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory;
       (G) National Energy Technology Laboratory;
       (H) National Renewable Energy Laboratory;
       (I) Oak Ridge National Laboratory;
       (J) Pacific Northwest National Laboratory;
       (K) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory;
       (L) Savannah River National Laboratory;
       (M) Stanford Linear Accelerator Center;
       (N) Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility; and
       (O) any laboratory operated by the National Nuclear 
     Security Administration, but only with respect to the 
     civilian energy activities thereof.
       (3) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
     of Energy.

     SEC. 3. PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS FOR COMMERCIALIZATION.

       (a) In General.--Subject to subsections (b) and (c), the 
     Secretary shall delegate to directors of the National 
     Laboratories signature authority with respect to any 
     agreement described in subsection (b) the total cost of which 
     (including the National Laboratory contributions and project 
     recipient cost share) is less than $1,000,000, if such an 
     agreement falls within the scope of--
       (1) a strategic plan for the National Laboratory that has 
     been approved by the Department; or
       (2) the most recent congressionally approved budget for 
     Department activities to be carried out by the National 
     Laboratory.
       (b) Agreements.--Subsection (a) applies to--
       (1) a cooperative research and development agreement;
       (2) a non-Federal work-for-others agreement; and
       (3) any other agreement determined to be appropriate by the 
     Secretary, in collaboration with the directors of the 
     National Laboratories.
       (c) Administration.--
       (1) Accountability.--The director of the affected National 
     Laboratory and the affected contractor shall carry out an 
     agreement under this section in accordance with applicable 
     policies of the Department, including by ensuring that the 
     agreement does not compromise any national security, 
     economic, or environmental interest of the United States.
       (2) Certification.--The director of the affected National 
     Laboratory and the affected contractor shall certify that 
     each activity carried out under a project for which an 
     agreement is entered into under this section does not 
     present, or minimizes, any apparent conflict of interest, and 
     avoids or neutralizes any actual conflict of interest, as a 
     result of the agreement under this section.
       (3) Availability of records.--Within 30 days of entering an 
     agreement under this section, the director of a National 
     Laboratory shall submit to the Secretary for monitoring and 
     review all records of the National Laboratory relating to the 
     agreement.
       (4) Rates.--The director of a National Laboratory may 
     charge higher rates for services performed under a 
     partnership agreement entered into pursuant to this section, 
     regardless of the full cost of recovery, if such funds are 
     used exclusively to support further research and development 
     activities at the respective National Laboratory.
       (d) Exception.--This section does not apply to any 
     agreement with a majority foreign-owned company.
       (e) Conforming Amendment.--Section 12 of the Stevenson-
     Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980 (15 U.S.C. 3710a) is 
     amended--
       (1) in subsection (a)--
       (A) by redesignating paragraphs (1) and (2) as 
     subparagraphs (A) and (B), respectively, and indenting the 
     subparagraphs appropriately;
       (B) by striking ``Each Federal agency'' and inserting the 
     following:
       ``(1) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph (2), 
     each Federal agency''; and
       (C) by adding at the end the following:
       ``(2) Exception.--Notwithstanding paragraph (1), in 
     accordance with section 3(a) of the NIMBLE Act, approval by 
     the Secretary of Energy shall not be required for any 
     technology transfer agreement proposed to be entered into by 
     a National Laboratory of the Department of Energy, the total 
     cost of which (including the National Laboratory 
     contributions and project recipient cost share) is less than 
     $1,000,000.''; and
       (2) in subsection (b), by striking ``subsection (a)(1)'' 
     each place it appears and inserting ``subsection (a)(1)(A)''.

     SEC. 4. SAVINGS CLAUSE.

       Nothing in this Act or an amendment made by this Act 
     abrogates or otherwise affects the primary responsibilities 
     of any National Laboratory to the Department.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Simpson). Pursuant to the rule, the 
gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hultgren) and the gentleman from Texas 
(Mr. Veasey) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Illinois.


                             General Leave

  Mr. HULTGREN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and 
include extraneous material on the bill.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Illinois?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. HULTGREN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of bipartisan legislation I 
introduced with my good friend from Colorado (Mr. Perlmutter) to give 
our national labs the tools they need to better work with outside 
entities, develop new technologies, and let new business ideas come out 
of our world-leading research facilities.
  As you have heard today with the prior bills passed on the floor, the 
House Science, Space, and Technology Committee has done tremendous 
bipartisan work to support our national laboratories and research 
infrastructure.
  I thank Chairman Smith and Ranking Member Johnson--both from Texas--
for their bipartisan work on this package, and I was pleased to see my 
prior past research infrastructure legislation dealing with upgrades at 
Fermilab, Argonne National Laboratory, and Oak Ridge National 
Laboratory included in that package.
  Our national labs are often referred to as the crown jewels in our 
research ecosystem here in the United States. Secretary Perry has 
referred to them as national treasures. These labs house some of the 
largest, most complicated research equipment in the world, which no one 
business or research university would ever be able to support.
  Our national labs also maintain a number of user facilities where 
university researchers, other Federal agencies, and the private sector 
can work with these tools, so long as this work does not interfere with 
the mission of the department or the lab.

[[Page H5782]]

  The problem we have with many agreements is simply the time that it 
takes to negotiate and finalize an agreement. Currently, after a lab 
makes a determination on an agreement, that agreement must then go 
through a separate review by the department. While I wholeheartedly 
agree in our need for thorough oversight, what we are attempting to do 
is to set a threshold so that smaller agreements do not need to go 
through this additional review process.
  All national labs, except one, have been set up under a government-
owned, contractor-operated model. What my bill would do is strengthen 
this arrangement by giving the labs the necessary trust they need to 
remain nimble, being able to react to the needs of the private sector 
and with other researchers being able to come in.
  When many researchers need to use a facility for just a few hours, 
they, obviously, will not wait around 90 days for the government. The 
private sector does not move at the pace of government, nor should we 
expect it to. This legislation would cut out some of the red tape of 
working with the lab, so that the private sector could take good ideas 
and do what they do best: innovate and react to the market.
  With the increased reporting requirements for these agreements, I 
believe this strikes the proper balance for oversight with the 
department and the intentions of Congress in creating the government-
owned, contractor-operated model for the labs.
  I am grateful for the Secretary at our recent hearing signaling his 
willingness to work with this idea. I believe it fits with the 
administration's priorities in removing red tape where it is not needed 
and freeing the private sector up to innovate and bring new ideas to 
the marketplace.
  So I thank my colleagues for their work on this legislation. I also 
thank the chairman for his cosponsorship of this bill, as well as his 
leadership on the package of bills authorizing the Office of Science 
and other DOE activities.
  Mr. Speaker, I encourage all of my colleagues to support passage of 
this important legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. VEASEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 5907, the National 
Innovation Modernization by Laboratory Empowerment Act.
  This bill would provide our national laboratories with the authority 
to directly enter into certain research agreements with the private 
sector, as long as those activities align with the laboratories' 
strategic plans approved by the Department of Energy. This bill also 
includes appropriate safeguards to prevent waste, fraud, or abuse of 
this provision.
  This language previously passed the House as part of bipartisan 
legislation that we considered in the last Congress. I am happy to see 
this important policy change is moving forward once again.
  Mr. Speaker, I support this bill. I encourage my colleagues to do the 
same, and I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. HULTGREN. Mr. Speaker, it is my honor and privilege to yield 5 
minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Smith), the very effective and 
helpful chairman of the Science, Space, and Technology Committee, and 
also cosponsor of this legislation.
  Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Hultgren for yielding me 
time on his bill, H.R. 5907, the National Innovation Modernization by 
Laboratory Empowerment Act, or NIMBLE Act.
  This legislation authorizes the Secretary of Energy to provide 
signature authority to the directors of the national laboratories, 
allowing these lab directors to make funding decisions on cooperative 
agreements with industry where the total cost is less than $1 million.
  This commonsense reform provides the labs with more flexibility and 
eliminates the red tape and bureaucratic process that makes it 
difficult for businesses to partner with the labs.

  DOE national labs can provide the private sector with access to 
critical research infrastructure as they develop new technologies. But 
a burdensome approval process can smother an industry's interest and 
constrict the pace of technology development. This bill gives the labs 
freedom to pursue agreements that will increase U.S. competitiveness 
and maintain our innovation and productivity leadership.
  I thank Representative Randy Hultgren again and this bill's 10 
Science, Space, and Technology Committee's cosponsors, including 
Representative Ed Perlmutter, Vice Chairman Frank Lucas, Energy 
Subcommittee Chairman Randy Weber, and Energy Subcommittee Vice 
Chairman Steve Knight for their ongoing support of DOE's world-leading 
national laboratories.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to say about Mr. Hultgren that his leadership on 
the committee has been appreciated for years. He has never failed to be 
an effective advocate and leader for the national labs. This is a good 
example of his interests being put into legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill.
  Mr. VEASEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. HULTGREN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
  Mr. Speaker, again, I thank my good friend from Texas (Mr. Veasey) 
for his support on this bill. I especially want to thank my really good 
friend from Texas (Mr. Smith), the chairman of the Science, Space, and 
Technology Committee, for his important support on this bill. It really 
is a commonsense bill. It is one that has passed previous Congresses 
with strong, bipartisan support.
  Our labs are a treasure, but they are also a great benefit for 
innovation. This allows that innovation to continue working, again, on 
smaller agreements, for those to be able to move more quickly, when, 
oftentimes, business need to move that quickly. The labs can do this, 
but if they had to go through the whole cumbersome process of coming 
through Washington, they wouldn't be able to.
  So, again, this is commonsense and bipartisan, and I thank all of the 
cosponsors.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask all my colleagues to support this bill, and I 
yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hultgren) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, H.R. 5907.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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