[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 90 (Monday, May 24, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3374-S3375]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SA 1971. Mr. VAN HOLLEN (for himself and Ms. Murkowski) submitted an
amendment intended to be proposed by him 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:
TITLE __--NATIONAL FAB LAB NETWORK
SEC. ___1. SHORT TITLE.
This title may be cited as the ``National Fab Lab Network
Act of 2021''.
SEC. ___2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Scientific discoveries and technical innovations are
critical to the economic and national security of the United
States.
(2) Maintaining the leadership of the United States in
science, technology, engineering, and mathematics will
require a diverse population with the skills, interest, and
access to tools required to advance these fields.
(3) Just as earlier digital revolutions in communications
and computation provided individuals with the internet and
personal computers, a digital revolution in fabrication will
allow anyone to make almost anything, anywhere.
(4) These creations include elements of a typical household
basket of goods (furnishings, apparel, food production
equipment, shelter, transportation, education and
communication, recreation, and other goods and services),
personal technology, means for personal expression, the
production of digital fabrication machinery, community
design, and manufacturing capability.
(5) The Center for Bits and Atoms of the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology (CBA) has contributed significantly
to the advancement of these goals through its work in
creating and advancing digital fabrication facilities, or
``fab labs'' in the United States and abroad.
(6) Such digital fabrication facilities may include
MakerSpaces, Hackerspaces, and other creative spaces that use
digital fabrication as a platform for education, innovation,
entrepreneurship, personal expression, public access, and
social impact.
(7) Such digital fabrication facilities provide a model for
a new kind of national laboratory that operates as a network,
linking local facilities for advanced manufacturing,
providing universal access, cultivating new literacies, and
empowering communities.
(8) The nonprofit Fab Foundation was established to support
the growth of the international network of digital
fabrication facilities, to amplify the educational,
entrepreneurial, and social impacts of digital fabrication
facilities, and to support the development of regional
capacity building organizations to broaden impact as well as
address local, regional, and global challenges through the
use of digital fabrication technologies.
(9) A coordinated array of national public-private
partnerships will be the most effective way to accelerate the
provision of universal access to this infrastructure for
workforce development, science, technology, engineering, and
mathematics education, developing inventions, creating
businesses, producing personalized products, and mitigating
risks.
SEC. ___3. DEFINITION OF FAB LAB.
In this title, the term ``fab lab'' means a facility that--
(1) contains the range of capabilities required to create
form and function from digital designs, including--
(A) computer-controlled machines for additive and
subtractive fabrication processes;
(B) tools and components for manufacturing and programming
electronic circuits;
(C) materials and methods for short-run production; and
(D) workflows for three-dimensional design and
digitization; and
(2) is committed to supporting education, innovation,
entrepreneurship, personal expression, self-sufficiency, and
social impact for its community through digital fabrication.
SEC. ___4. ESTABLISHMENT.
There is hereby established a nonprofit corporation to be
known as the ``National Fab Lab Network'' (in this title
referred to as the ``corporation''), which shall not be an
agency or establishment of the United States Government. The
corporation shall be subject to the provisions of this title,
and, to the extent consistent with this title, to the
District of Columbia Nonprofit Corporation Act (D.C. Code,
section 29-501 et seq.).
SEC. ___5. GOALS AND ACTIVITIES.
(a) Goals.--The goals of the corporation are as follows:
(1) To provide universal access to digital fabrication.
(2) To foster current and future fab labs.
(3) To create a national network of connected local fab
labs to empower individuals and communities in the United
States.
(4) To foster the use of distributed digital fabrication
tools--
(A) to promote science, technology, engineering and math
skills;
(B) to increase invention and innovation;
(C) to create businesses and jobs;
(D) to fulfill personal, professional, and community needs;
(E) to create value and mitigate harm;
(F) to increase self-sufficiency for individuals,
households, and communities; and
(G) to align workforce development with new and emerging
jobs.
(5) To provide a platform for education, research, and for
catalyzing new methods in science, technology, engineering,
and mathematics education, and introducing digital
fabrication as an essential new literacy.
(6) To create new ways of educating the workforce that will
enable workers to compete in a 21st century global
marketplace.
(b) Activities.--To attain the goals described in
subsection (a), the corporation shall carry out activities,
including the following:
(1) Seeking to establish a minimum of one fab lab in each
Congressional District, prioritizing underserved communities.
(2) Seeking to establish additional labs within the network
created under subsection (a)(3), in response to local demand,
and to provide guidelines for their sustainable operation.
(3) Linking fab labs into a national network, and promoting
further expansion of fab labs across the United States.
(4) Serving as a resource to assist diverse public and
private stakeholders with the effective operation of fab
labs, and the training of fab lab leaders and mentors.
(5) Maintaining a national registry of fab labs.
(6) Providing standards and protocols for connecting fab
labs regionally, nationally, and globally.
(7) Assisting existing fab labs in producing additional fab
labs.
SEC. ___6. MEMBERSHIP AND ORGANIZATION.
Except as provided in this title, eligibility for
membership in the corporation and the rights and privileges
of members shall be in accordance with the laws governing tax
exempt organizations in the District of Columbia.
SEC. ___7. GOVERNING BODY.
(a) In General.--Except as provided in subsection (b),
directors, officers, and other staff of the corporation, and
their powers and duties, shall be in accordance with the laws
governing tax exempt organizations in the District of
Columbia.
(b) Board Membership.--
(1) Composition.--The board of the corporation shall be
composed of not fewer than 7 members and not more than 15
members.
(2) Representation.--
(A) In general.--The membership of the board of the
corporation shall collectively represent the diversity of fab
labs.
(B) Requirement.--At a minimum, the board of the
corporation shall be composed of members from geographic
regions across the United States, Tribal communities,
educational and research institutions, libraries, nonprofit
and commercial organizations, diverse demographic groups, and
the Fab Foundation.
(C) Individual representation.--An individual member of the
board of the corporation may represent more than one board
role and additional roles may be added to reflect the
diversity of the fab lab ecosystem.
(3) Selection.--The initial board of the corporation shall
be chosen, in consultation with the Fab Foundation and in
accordance with paragraph (2)(A), as follows:
(A) Two shall be appointed by the majority leader of the
Senate.
(B) Two shall be appointed by the minority leader of the
Senate.
(C) Two shall be appointed by the Speaker of the House of
Representatives.
(D) Two shall be appointed by the minority leader of the
House of Representatives.
SEC. ___8. POWERS.
The corporation may--
(1) coordinate the creation of a national network of local
fab labs in the United States;
(2) issue guidelines for the sustainable operation of fab
labs;
(3) issue standards and guidelines for fab labs;
(4) serve as a resource for organizations and communities
seeking to create fab labs by providing information,
assessing suitability, advising on the lab lifecycle, and
maintaining descriptions of prospective and operating sites;
(5) accept funds from private individuals, organizations,
government agencies, or other organizations;
(6) distribute funds to other organizations to establish
and operate fab labs as members of the corporation;
(7) facilitate communication between other organizations
seeking to join the corporation with operational entities
that can source and install fab labs, provide training,
assist with operations, account for spending, and assess
impact;
(8) communicate the benefits available through membership
in the corporation to communities and the public;
(9) facilitate and participate in synergistic programs,
including workforce training, job creation, researching the
enabling technology and broader impacts of such programs, and
the production of civic infrastructure;
(10) develop processes and methods to mitigate risks
associated with digital fabrication;
[[Page S3375]]
(11) amend a constitution and bylaws for the management of
its property and the regulation of its affairs;
(12) choose directors, officers, trustees, managers,
employees, and agents as the activities of the corporation
require;
(13) make contracts;
(14) acquire, own, lease, encumber, and transfer property
as necessary or convenient to carry out the purposes of the
corporation;
(15) borrow money, issue instruments of indebtedness, and
secure its obligations by granting security interests in its
property;
(16) charge and collect membership dues and subscription
fees; and
(17) sue and be sued.
SEC. ___9. EXCLUSIVE RIGHT TO NAME, TERM, SEALS, EMBLEMS, AND
BADGES.
The corporation and its participating digital fabrication
labs have the exclusive right to use--
(1) the name ``National Fab Lab Network''; and
(2) any seals, emblems, and badges the corporation adopts.
SEC. __10. RESTRICTIONS.
(a) Stock and Dividends.--The corporation may not issue
securities of any kind or declare or pay a dividend.
(b) Distribution of Income or Assets.--The income or assets
of the corporation may not inure to the benefit of, or be
distributed to, a director, officer, or member during the
life of the corporation under this title. This subsection
does not prevent the payment of reasonable compensation to an
officer or reimbursement for actual necessary expenses in
amounts approved by the board of directors.
(c) Loans.--The corporation may not make a loan to a
director, officer, or employee.
(d) Claim of Governmental Approval or Authority.--The
corporation may not claim congressional approval or the
authority of the United States Government for any of its
activities, but may recognize establishment of the
corporation pursuant to section ___4 of this title.
SEC. __11. RECORDS AND INSPECTION.
(a) Records.--The corporation shall keep--
(1) correct and complete records of account;
(2) minutes of the proceedings of its members, board of
directors, and committees having any of the authority of its
board of directors; and
(3) at its principal office, a record of the names and
addresses of its members entitled to vote.
(b) Inspections.--A member entitled to vote, or an agent or
attorney of the member, may inspect the records of the
corporation for any proper purpose, at any reasonable time.
SEC. __12. ANNUAL REPORT.
Not less frequently than once each year, the corporation
shall submit to Congress, including specifically to the
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the
Senate and the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of
the House of Representatives, a report on the activities of
the corporation during the prior fiscal year.
______