[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 114 (Wednesday, July 10, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Page S4506]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 2237. Mr. CORNYN (for himself and Ms. Hassan) submitted an 
amendment intended to be proposed by him to the bill S. 4638, to 
authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2025 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:

     SEC. ___. NOTICES OF FUNDING OPPORTUNITY TRANSPARENCY.

       (a) Definitions.--In this section:
       (1) Agency.--The term ``agency''--
       (A) has the meaning given the term ``Executive agency'' in 
     section 105 of title 5, United States Code; and
       (B) does not include the Government Accountability Office.
       (2) Competitive grant.--The term ``competitive grant'' 
     means a discretionary award (as defined in section 200.1 of 
     title 2, Code of Federal Regulations) awarded by an agency--
       (A) through a grant agreement or cooperative agreement 
     under which the agency makes payment in cash or in kind to a 
     recipient to carry out a public purpose authorized by law; 
     and
       (B) the recipient of which is selected from a pool of 
     applicants through the use of merit-based selection 
     procedures for the purpose of allocating funds authorized 
     under a grant program of the agency.
       (3) Evaluation or selection criteria.--The term 
     ``evaluation or selection criteria'' means standards or 
     principles for judging, evaluating, or selecting an 
     application for a competitive grant.
       (4) Notice of funding opportunity.--The term ``notice of 
     funding opportunity'' has the meaning given the term in 
     section 200.1 of title 2, Code of Federal Regulations.
       (5) Rating system.--The term ``rating system''--
       (A) means a system of evaluation of competitive grant 
     applications to determine how such applications advance 
     through the selection process; and
       (B) includes--
       (i) a merit criteria rating rubric;
       (ii) an evaluation of merit criteria;
       (iii) a methodology to evaluate and rate based on a point 
     scale; and
       (iv) an evaluation to determine whether a competitive grant 
     application meets evaluation or selection criteria.
       (b) Transparency Requirements.--Each notice of funding 
     opportunity issued by an agency for a competitive grant shall 
     include--
       (1) a description of any rating system and evaluation and 
     selection criteria the agency uses to assess applications for 
     the competitive grant;
       (2) a statement of whether the agency uses a weighted 
     scoring method and a description of any weighted scoring 
     method the agency uses for the competitive grant, including 
     the amount by which the agency weights each criterion; and
       (3) any other qualitative or quantitative merit-based 
     approach the agency uses to evaluate an application for the 
     competitive grant.
       (c) Applications; Data Elements.--
       (1) In general.--The Director of the Office of Management 
     and Budget, in coordination with the Executive department 
     designated under section 6402(a)(1) of title 31, United 
     States Code, shall develop data elements relating to grant 
     applications to ensure common reporting by each agency with 
     respect to applications received in response to each notice 
     of funding opportunity of the agency.
       (2) Contents.--The data elements developed under paragraph 
     (1) shall include--
       (A) the number of applications received; and
       (B) the city and State of each organization that submitted 
     an application.
       (d) Rule of Construction.--With respect to a particular 
     competitive grant, nothing in this section shall be construed 
     to supersede any requirement with respect to a notice of 
     funding opportunity for the competitive grant in a law that 
     authorizes the competitive grant.
       (e) No Additional Funds.--No additional funds are 
     authorized to be appropriated for the purpose of carrying out 
     this section.
       (f) Effective Date.--
       (1) In general.--This section shall take effect on the date 
     that is 120 days after the date of enactment of this Act.
       (2) No retroactive effect.--This section shall not apply to 
     a notice of funding opportunity issued before the date of 
     enactment of this Act.
                                 ______