[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 91 (Tuesday, May 25, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3440-S3441]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SA 1994. Mr. PAUL (for himself, Mr. Coons, and Mr. Tillis) submitted
an amendment intended to be proposed to amendment SA 1502 proposed by
Mr. Schumer 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:
Beginning on page 478, strike line 17, and all that
follows through page 485, line 18, and insert the following:
SEC. 2527. BASIC RESEARCH.
(a) Nondisclosure of Members of Grant Review Panel.--
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, each agency that
awards a Federal research grant shall not disclose, either
publicly or privately, to an applicant for such grant the
identity of any member of the grant review panel for such
applicant.
(b) Public Accessibility of Research Funded by Taxpayers.--
(1) Definition of federal agency.--In this section, the
term ``Federal agency'' means an Executive agency, as defined
under section 105 of title 5, United States Code.
(2) Federal research public access policy.--
(A) Requirement to develop policy.--
(i) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the date of
enactment of this section, each Federal agency with annual
extramural research expenditures of over $100,000,000 shall
have an agency research public access policy that is
consistent with and advances the goals of the Federal agency.
(ii) Common procedures.--Where appropriate, Federal
agencies required to develop a policy under clause (i) shall
follow common procedures for ensuring access to research
papers to minimize compliance burdens and costs and avoid
unnecessary duplication of existing mechanisms.
(B) Content.--Each Federal research public access policy
shall provide for--
(i) submission to a digital repository or access through a
system that achieves the goals of this section designated or
maintained by the Federal agency of an electronic version of
the accepted manuscript of original research papers that have
been accepted for publication in peer-reviewed journals and
that result from research supported, in whole or in part,
from funding by the Federal Government;
(ii) the incorporation of any changes resulting from the
peer review process in the accepted manuscript described
under clause (i);
(iii) the replacement of the accepted manuscript with the
final published version if--
(I) the publisher consents to the replacement; and
(II) the goals of the Federal agency for functionality and
interoperability are retained; and
(iv) free online public access to such accepted manuscripts
or final published versions within a time period that is
appropriate for each type of research conducted or sponsored
by the Federal agency, not later than 12 months after the
official date of publication in peer-reviewed journals.
(C) Application of policy.--Each Federal research public
access policy shall--
(i) apply to--
(I) researchers employed by the Federal agency whose works
remain in the public domain; and
(II) researchers funded by the Federal agency; and
(ii) provide that works described under clause (i)(I) shall
be--
(I) marked as being public domain material when published;
and
(II) made available at the same time such works are made
available under subparagraph (B)(iv).
(D) Exclusions.--Each Federal research public access policy
shall not apply to--
(i) research progress reports presented at professional
meetings or conferences;
(ii) laboratory notes, preliminary data analyses, notes of
the author, phone logs, or other information used to produce
accepted manuscripts;
(iii) classified research, research resulting in works that
generate revenue or royalties for authors (such as books) or
patentable discoveries, to the extent necessary to protect a
copyright or patent; or
(iv) authors who do not submit their work to a journal or
works that are rejected by journals.
(3) Rule of construction regarding patent or copyright
law.--Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit any
exclusive right under the provisions of title 17 or 35,
United States Code.
(4) GAO report.--Not later than 3 years after the date of
enactment of this section, and every 5 years thereafter, the
Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to
Congress a report that--
(A) includes an analysis of the period between the date on
which articles generally become publicly available in a
journal and the date on which the accepted manuscript is in
the online repository of the applicable Federal agency;
(B) examines the effectiveness of the Federal research
public access policy in providing the public with free online
access to papers on research funded by each Federal agency
required to develop a policy under paragraph (2)(A); and
(C) examines the impact of the Federal research public
access policy on the availability, quality, integrity, and
sustainability of scholarly communication and on the degree
to which policies avoid unnecessary duplication of existing
mechanisms.
(5) Downstream reporting.--Any person or institution
awarded a grant from a Federal research agency shall--
(A) notify and seek authorization from the relevant agency
for any funds derived from the grant made available through a
subgrant or subsequent grant (including to an employee or
subdivision of the grant recipient's organization); and
(B) ensure that each subgrant or subsequent grant award
(including to an employee or subdivision of the grant
recipient's organization) funded with funds derived from the
Federal grant is within the scope of the Federal grant award.
(6) Impartiality in funding scientific research.--
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, each Federal
agency, in awarding grants for scientific research, shall be
impartial and shall not seek to advance any political
position or fund a grant to reach a predetermined conclusion.
SEC. 2528. GAO STUDY ON OVERSIGHT OF FEDERAL SCIENCE AND
TECHNOLOGY GRANT MAKING AND INVESTMENTS.
(a) Findings.--Congress finds that--
(1) in instances such as the Troubled Asset Relief Program,
the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, Iraq, and
Afghanistan, Congress has created special inspectors general
and other oversight entities focused on particular program
areas who have performed in outstanding ways;
(2) the oversight entities described in paragraph (1) have
helped to strengthen oversight
[[Page S3441]]
in cross-agency activities and where component inspectors
general may have otherwise faced significant challenges;
(3) because of the cross-agency nature of Federal science
and technology activities, Congress created the Office of
Science and Technology Policy to coordinate and harmonize
among science functions at agencies;
(4) the United States innovation ecosystem, which uses
multiple science agencies to invest in research and
development, can make it more difficult to identify and
remove scientists who violate research integrity principles;
(5) the single agency jurisdiction of an agency inspector
general can be a disadvantage with respect to their oversight
roles, and opportunities to strengthen the system may exist;
(6) single agency jurisdiction of inspectors general may
also make it difficult to harmonize principles and standards
for oversight of waste, fraud, and abuse among agencies; and
(7) certain issues of fraud, waste, and abuse in Federal
science and technology activities span multiple agencies and
are more apparent through cross-agency oversight.
(b) Study.--Not later than 1 year after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United
States shall conduct a study and submit to Congress a report
that--
(1) evaluates the frequency of cases of waste, fraud, or
abuse perpetrated across multiple Federal science agencies by
an awardee or group of awardees;
(2) evaluates the effectiveness of existing mechanisms to
detect waste, fraud, and abuse perpetrated across multiple
Federal science agencies by an awardee or group of awardees;
and
(3) evaluates options for strengthening detection of waste,
fraud, and abuse perpetrated across multiple Federal science
agencies by an awardee or group of awardees, including by
examining the benefits and drawbacks of--
(A) providing additional support to agency inspectors
general with regard to coordinated oversight of Federal and
technology grant making investments; and
(B) alternative mechanisms for strengthening prevention and
detection of waste, fraud, and abuse across Federal science
agencies perpetrated across multiple Federal science agencies
by an awardee or group of awardees, such as the establishment
of a special inspector general or other mechanisms as the
Comptroller General sees fit.
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