[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 158 (Thursday, September 29, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5573-S5574]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 6035. Mr. WICKER (for himself and Ms. Lummis) submitted an 
amendment intended to be proposed to amendment SA 5499 submitted by Mr. 
Reed (for himself and Mr. Inhofe) and intended to be proposed to the 
bill H.R. 7900, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2023 for 
military activities of the Department of Defense, for military 
construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy, 
to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for 
other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

        At the appropriate place, insert the following:

    TITLE __--NATIONAL STRATEGY FOR THE RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT OF 
                    DISTRIBUTED LEDGER TECHNOLOGIES

     SEC. __. DEFINITIONS.

       In this title:
       (1) Director.--Except as otherwise expressly provided, the 
     term ``Director'' means the Director of the Office of Science 
     and Technology Policy.
       (2) Distributed ledger.--The term ``distributed ledger'' 
     means a ledger that--
       (A) is shared across a set of distributed nodes, which are 
     devices or processes, that participate in a network and store 
     a complete or partial replica of the ledger;
       (B) is synchronized between the nodes;
       (C) has data appended to it by following the ledger's 
     specified consensus mechanism;
       (D) may be accessible to anyone (public) or restricted to a 
     subset of participants (private); and
       (E) may require participants to have authorization to 
     perform certain actions (permissioned) or require no 
     authorization (permissionless).
       (3) Distributed ledger technology.--The term ``distributed 
     ledger technology'' means technology that enables the 
     operation and use of distributed ledgers.
       (4) Institution of higher education.--The term 
     ``institution of higher education'' has the meaning given the 
     term in section 101 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 
     U.S.C. 1001).
       (5) Relevant congressional committees.--The term ``relevant 
     congressional committees'' means--
       (A) the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 
     of the Senate; and
       (B) the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the 
     House of Representatives.
       (6) Smart contract.--The term ``smart contract'' means a 
     computer program stored in a distributed ledger system that 
     is executed when certain predefined conditions are satisfied 
     and wherein the outcome of any execution of the program may 
     be recorded on the distributed ledger.

     SEC. __. NATIONAL DISTRIBUTED LEDGER TECHNOLOGY R&D STRATEGY.

       (a) In General.--The Director, or a designee of the 
     Director, shall, in coordination with the National Science 
     and Technology Council, and the heads of such other relevant 
     Federal agencies as the Director considers appropriate and in 
     consultation with such nongovernmental entities as the 
     Director considers appropriate, develop a national strategy 
     for the research and development of distributed ledger 
     technologies and their applications, with a particular focus 
     on applications of public and permissionless distributed 
     ledgers. In developing the national strategy, the Director 
     shall consider the following:
       (1) Current efforts and coordination by Federal agencies to 
     invest in the research and development of distributed ledger 
     technologies and their applications, including through 
     programs like the Small Business Innovation Research and 
     Small Business Technology Transfer programs.
       (2)(A) The potential benefits and risks of applications of 
     distributed ledger technologies across different industry 
     sectors, including their potential to--
       (i) lower transactions costs and facilitate new types of 
     commercial transactions;
       (ii) protect privacy and increase individuals' data 
     sovereignty;
       (iii) reduce friction to the interoperability of digital 
     systems;
       (iv) increase the accessibility, auditability, security, 
     efficiency, and transparency of digital services;
       (v) increase market competition in the provision of digital 
     services;
       (vi) enable dynamic contracting and contract execution 
     through smart contracts;
       (vii) enable participants to collaborate in trustless and 
     disintermediated environments;
       (viii) enable the operations and governance of distributed 
     organizations; and
       (ix) create new ownership models for digital items.
       (B) In consideration of the potential risks of applications 
     of distributed ledger technologies under subparagraph (A), 
     the Director shall take into account, where applicable--
       (i) software vulnerabilities in distributed ledger 
     technologies and smart contracts;
       (ii) limited consumer literacy on engaging with 
     applications of distributed ledger technologies in a secure 
     way;
       (iii) the use of distributed ledger technologies in illicit 
     finance and their use in combating illicit finance;
       (iv) manipulative, deceptive, and fraudulent practices that 
     harm consumers engaging with applications of distributed 
     ledger technologies;
       (v) the implications of different consensus mechanisms for 
     digital ledgers and governance and accountability mechanisms 
     for applications of distributed ledger technologies, which 
     may include decentralized networks;
       (vi) foreign activities in the development and deployment 
     of distributed ledger technologies and their associated tools 
     and infrastructure; and
       (vii) environmental, sustainability, and economic impacts 
     of the computational resources required for distributed 
     ledger technologies.
       (3) Potential uses for distributed ledger technologies that 
     could improve the operations and delivery of services by 
     Federal agencies, taking into account the potential of 
     digital ledger technologies to--
       (A) improve the efficiency and effectiveness of privacy-
     preserving data sharing among Federal agencies and with 
     State, local, territorial, and Tribal governments;
       (B) promote government transparency by improving data 
     sharing with the public;
       (C) introduce or mitigate risks that may threaten 
     individuals' rights or access to Federal services; and
       (D) automate and modernize processes for assessing and 
     ensuring regulatory compliance.
       (4) Ways to support public and private sector dialogue on 
     areas of research that could enhance the efficiency, 
     scalability, interoperability, security, and privacy of 
     applications using distributed ledger technologies.
       (5) The need for increased coordination of the public and 
     private sectors on the development of voluntary standards, 
     including those regarding security, smart contracts, 
     cryptographic protocols, virtual routing and forwarding, 
     interoperability, zero-knowledge proofs, and privacy, for 
     distributed ledger technologies and their applications.
       (6) Applications of distributed ledger technologies that 
     could positively benefit society but that receive relatively 
     little private sector investment.
       (7) The United States position in global leadership and 
     competitiveness across research, development, and deployment 
     of distributed ledger technologies.
       (b) Consultation.--
       (1) In general.--In carrying out the Director's duties 
     under this section, the Director shall consult with the 
     following:
       (A) Private industry.
       (B) Institutions of higher education.
       (C) Nonprofit organizations, including foundations 
     dedicated to supporting distributed ledger technologies and 
     their applications.
       (D) State governments.

[[Page S5574]]

       (E) Such other persons as the Director considers 
     appropriate.
       (2) Representation.--The Director shall ensure 
     consultations with the following:
       (A) Rural and urban stakeholders from across the Nation.
       (B) Small, medium, and large businesses.
       (C) Subject matter experts representing multiple industrial 
     sectors.
       (c) Coordination.--In carrying out this section, the 
     Director shall, for purposes of avoiding duplication of 
     activities, consult, cooperate, and coordinate with the 
     programs and policies of other relevant Federal agencies, 
     including the interagency process outlined in section 3 of 
     Executive Order 14067 (87 Fed. Reg. 14143; relating ensuring 
     responsible development of digital assets).
       (d) National Strategy.--Not later than 1 year after the 
     date of enactment of this Act, the Director shall submit to 
     the relevant congressional committees and the President a 
     national strategy that includes the following:
       (1) Priorities for the research and development of 
     distributed ledger technologies and their applications.
       (2) Plans to support public and private sector investment 
     and partnerships in research and technology development for 
     societally beneficial applications of distributed ledger 
     technologies.
       (3) Plans to mitigate the risks of distributed ledger 
     technologies and their applications.
       (4) An identification of additional resources, 
     administrative action, or legislative action recommended to 
     assist with the implementation of such strategy.
       (e) Research and Development Funding.--The Director shall, 
     as the Director considers necessary, consult with the 
     Director of the Office of Management and Budget and with the 
     heads of such other elements of the Executive Office of the 
     President as the Director considers appropriate, to ensure 
     that the recommendations and priorities with respect to 
     research and development funding, as expressed in the 
     national strategy developed under this section, are 
     incorporated in the development of annual budget requests for 
     Federal research agencies.
       (f) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized 
     to be appropriated to the Director $1,000,000 to carry out 
     this section for fiscal years 2023 and 2024.

     SEC. __. DISTRIBUTED LEDGER TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH.

       (a) In General.--The Director of the National Science 
     Foundation shall make awards, on a competitive basis, to 
     institutions of higher education or nonprofit organizations 
     (or consortia of such institutions or organizations) to 
     support research, including socio-technical research, on 
     distributed ledger technologies and their applications, with 
     a particular focus on applications of public and 
     permissionless distributed ledgers, which may include 
     research on--
       (1) the implications on trust, transparency, privacy, 
     accountability, and energy consumption of different consensus 
     mechanisms and hardware choices, and approaches for 
     addressing these implications;
       (2) approaches for improving the security, privacy, 
     resiliency, interoperability, performance, and scalability of 
     distributed ledger technologies and their applications, which 
     may include decentralized networks;
       (3) approaches for identifying and addressing 
     vulnerabilities and improving the performance and expressive 
     power of smart contracts;
       (4) the implications of quantum computing on applications 
     of distributed ledger technologies, including long-term 
     protection of sensitive information (such as medical or 
     digital property), and techniques to address them;
       (5) game theory, mechanism design, and economics 
     underpinning and facilitating the operations and governance 
     of decentralized networks enabled by distributed ledger 
     technologies;
       (6) the social behaviors of participants in decentralized 
     networks enabled by distributed ledger technologies;
       (7) human-centric design approaches to make distributed 
     ledger technologies and their applications more usable and 
     accessible; and
       (8) use cases for distributed ledger technologies across 
     various industry sectors and government, including 
     applications pertaining to--
       (A) digital identity, including trusted identity and 
     identity management;
       (B) digital property rights;
       (C) delivery of public services;
       (D) supply chain transparency;
       (E) medical information management;
       (F) inclusive financial services;
       (G) community governance;
       (H) charitable giving;
       (I) public goods funding;
       (J) digital credentials;
       (K) regulatory compliance;
       (L) infrastructure resilience; and
       (M) peer-to-peer transactions.
       (b) Accelerating Innovation.--The Director of the National 
     Science Foundation shall consider supporting startups that 
     leverage distributed ledger technologies, have the potential 
     to positively benefit society, and have the potential for 
     commercial viability, through programs like the Small 
     Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology 
     Transfer programs.
       (c) Consideration of National Distributed Ledger Technology 
     Research and Development Strategy.--In making awards under 
     subsection (a), the Director of the National Science 
     Foundation shall take into account the national strategy, as 
     described in section __(d).
       (d) Fundamental Research.--The Director of the National 
     Science Foundation shall continue to make awards supporting 
     fundamental research in areas related to distributed ledger 
     technologies and their applications, such as applied 
     cryptography and distributed systems.

     SEC. __. DISTRIBUTED LEDGER TECHNOLOGY APPLIED RESEARCH 
                   PROJECT.

       (a) Applied Research Project.--Subject to the availability 
     of appropriations, the Director of the National Institute of 
     Standards and Technology, shall carry out an applied research 
     project to study and demonstrate the potential benefits and 
     unique capabilities of distributed ledger technologies.
       (b) Activities.--In carrying out the applied research 
     project, the Director of the National Institute of Standards 
     and Technology shall--
       (1) identify potential applications of distributed ledger 
     technologies, including those that could benefit activities 
     at the Department of Commerce or at other Federal agencies, 
     considering applications that could--
       (A) improve the privacy and interoperability of digital 
     identity and access management solutions;
       (B) increase the integrity and transparency of supply 
     chains through the secure and limited sharing of relevant 
     supplier information;
       (C) facilitate increased interoperability across healthcare 
     information systems and consumer control over the movement of 
     their medical data; or
       (D) be of benefit to the public or private sectors, as 
     determined by the Director in consultation with relevant 
     stakeholders;
       (2) solicit and provide the opportunity for public comment 
     relevant to potential projects;
       (3) consider, in the selection of a project, whether the 
     project addresses a pressing need not already addressed by 
     another organization or Federal agency;
       (4) establish plans to mitigate potential risks, for 
     example those to privacy, of potential projects;
       (5) produce an example solution leveraging distributed 
     ledger technologies for 1 of the applications identified in 
     paragraph (1);
       (6) hold a competitive process to select private sector 
     partners, if they are engaged, to support the implementation 
     of the example solution;
       (7) consider hosting the project at the National 
     Cybersecurity Center of Excellence; and
       (8) ensure that cybersecurity best practices consistent 
     with the Cybersecurity Framework of the National Institute of 
     Standards and Technology are demonstrated in the project.
       (c) Briefings to Congress.--Not later than 1 year after the 
     date of enactment of this Act, the Director of the National 
     Institute of Standards and Technology shall offer a briefing 
     to the relevant congressional committees on the progress and 
     current findings from the project under this section.
       (d) Public Report.--Not later than 12 months after the 
     completion of the project under this section, the Director of 
     the National Institute of Standards and Technology shall make 
     public a report on the results and findings from the project.
                                 ______