[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 86 (Tuesday, May 18, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Page S2740]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 1512. Ms. ERNST submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by 
her to the bill S. 1260, to establish a new Directorate for Technology 
and Innovation in the National Science Foundation, to establish a 
regional technology hub program, to require a strategy and report on 
economic security, science, research, innovation, manufacturing, and 
job creation, to establish a critical supply chain resiliency program, 
and for other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as 
follows:

       At the appropriate place, insert the following:

     SEC. __. SBIR AND STTR PROGRAMS: USE OF GRANTS, COOPERATIVE 
                   AGREEMENTS, AND OTHER TRANSACTION AUTHORITY; 
                   USE OF SIMPLIFIED ACQUISITION PROCEDURES.

       (a) In General.--Chapter 301 of title 10, United States 
     Code, as added by section 1841 of the William M. (Mac) 
     Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 
     2021 (Public Law 116-283), is amended by inserting after 
     section 4004 the following new section:

     ``Sec. 4005. SBIR and STTR programs: use of grants, 
       cooperative agreements, and other transaction authority; 
       use of simplified acquisition procedures

       ``(a) Use of Grants, Cooperative Agreement, and Other 
     Transaction Authority.--Notwithstanding section 6303 of title 
     31, the Secretary of Defense shall provide that grants, 
     cooperative agreements, and other transactions authorized 
     under section 4002 of this title may be used in carrying out 
     the SBIR program and the STTR program within the Department 
     of Defense.
       ``(b) Use of Simplified Acquisition Procedures for SBIR and 
     STTR Contracts in Excess of Simplified Acquisition 
     Threshold.--(1) In carrying out the SBIR program and the STTR 
     program within the Department of Defense, the Secretary of 
     Defense may use simplified acquisition procedures for a 
     contract under such program without regard to the amount of 
     the contract.
       ``(2) Section 3571(b) of this title, and any other 
     provision of law for which the applicability of the provision 
     depends on whether the amount of a contract is not greater 
     than the simplified acquisition threshold, shall apply to a 
     contract for which the Secretary uses simplified acquisition 
     procedures by reason of the authority under paragraph (1) in 
     the same manner as if the amount of the contract were not 
     greater than the simplified acquisition threshold.
       ``(3) In carrying out paragraph (1), the Secretary shall 
     ensure that the applicability of the provisions of the Small 
     Business Act (15 U.S.C. 1631 et seq.) providing for the 
     determination of the respective rights of the United States 
     and the small business concern with respect to intellectual 
     property rights, and with respect to any right to carry out 
     follow-on research, under a funding agreement under the SBIR 
     program or the STTR program is not affected by the use of 
     simplified acquisition procedures.
       ``(c) Definitions.--In this section:
       ``(1) The terms `SBIR' and `STTR' have the meanings given 
     those terms, respectively, in section 9(e) of the Small 
     Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638(e)).
       ``(2) The term `simplified acquisition procedures' means 
     the simplified acquisition procedures described in section 
     3571 of this title.
       ``(3) The term `simplified acquisition threshold' has the 
     meaning given that term in section 134 of title 41.''.
       (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections at the 
     beginning of such chapter is amended by striking the item 
     relating to section 4005 and inserting the following:

``4005. SBIR and STTR programs: use of grants, cooperative agreements, 
              and other transaction authority; use of simplified 
              acquisition procedures.''.
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