[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6118 Introduced in House (IH)]
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117th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 6118
To establish a National Manufacturing Extension Partnership Supply
Chain Database, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
December 1, 2021
Mrs. Torres of California (for herself and Mr. Fleischmann) introduced
the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science,
Space, and Technology
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To establish a National Manufacturing Extension Partnership Supply
Chain Database, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``National MEP Supply Chain Database
Act of 2021''.
SEC. 2. NATIONAL MANUFACTURING EXTENSION PARTNERSHIP SUPPLY CHAIN
DATABASE.
(a) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Center.--The term ``Center'' has the meaning given such
term in section 25(a) of the National Institute of Standards
and Technology Act (15 U.S.C. 278k(a)).
(2) Database.--The term ``Database'' means the National
Manufacturing Extension Partnership Supply Chain Database
established under subsection (b).
(3) Director.--The term ``Director'' means the Director of
the National Institute of Standards and Technology.
(4) Institute.--The term ``Institute'' means the National
Institute of Standards and Technology.
(b) Establishment of Database.--
(1) In general.--Subject to the availability of
appropriations, the Director shall establish a database to
assist the United States in minimizing disruptions in the
supply chain by providing a resource for manufacturers in the
United States.
(2) Designation.--The database established under paragraph
(1) shall be known as the ``National Manufacturing Extension
Partnership Supply Chain Database''.
(c) Considerations.--In establishing the Database, the Director
shall consider the findings and recommendations from the study required
under section 9413 of the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense
Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (Public Law 116-283), including
measures to secure and protect the Database from adversarial attacks
and vulnerabilities.
(d) Connections With Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnerships
Centers.--
(1) In general.--The Director shall create the
infrastructure for the Database through the Hollings
Manufacturing Extension Partnership, established under section
25 of the National Institute of Standards and Technology Act
(15 U.S.C. 278k), by connecting information from the Centers
through the Database.
(2) National view.--The Director shall ensure that
connections under paragraph (1)--
(A) provide a national overview of the networks of
supply chains of the United States; and
(B) support understanding of whether there is a
need for some manufacturers to retool in some critical
areas to meet the urgent need for key products, such as
defense supplies, food, and medical devices, including
personal protective equipment.
(3) Individual hollings manufacturing extension partnership
center databases.--
(A) In general.--The Director shall ensure that--
(i) each Center is connected to the
Database; and
(ii) each supply chain database maintained
by a Center is interoperable with the Database.
(B) Rule of construction.--Nothing in this section
shall be construed to require a State or territory of
the United States to establish a new supply chain
database through the Hollings Manufacturing Extension
Partnership program.
(e) Maintenance of National Supply Chain Database.--The Director,
acting through the Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership program
or a designee of the program--
(1) shall maintain the Database as an integration of State-
level databases from the Center of each State or territory of
the United States; and
(2) may populate the Database with information from past,
current, or potential clients of Centers.
(f) Database Content.--
(1) In general.--The Database may include the following:
(A) Basic company information.
(B) An overview of capabilities, accreditations,
and products.
(C) Proprietary information.
(D) Such other items as the Director considers
necessary.
(2) Standard classification system.--The Database shall use
the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Codes
as follows:
(A) Sector 31-33--Manufacturing.
(B) Sector 54--Professional, Scientific, and
Technical Services.
(C) Sector 48-49--Transportation and Warehousing.
(3) Levels.--The Database shall be multi-leveled as
follows:
(A) Level 1 shall have basic company information
and shall be available to the public.
(B) Level 2 shall have a deeper, nonproprietary
overview into capabilities, products, and
accreditations and shall be available to all companies
that contribute to the Database and agree to terms of
mutual disclosure.
(C) Level 3 shall hold proprietary information.
(4) Matters relating to disclosure and access.--
(A) FOIA exemption.--The Database, and any
information contained therein that is not publicly
released by the Institute, shall be exempt from public
disclosure under section 552(b)(3) of title 5, United
States Code.
(B) Limitation on access to content.--Access to a
contributing company's nonpublic content in the
Database shall be limited to the contributing company,
the Institute, and staff from a Center who sign such
nondisclosure agreement as the Director considers
appropriate.
(C) Aggregated information.--The Director may make
aggregated, de-identified information available to
contributing companies, Centers, or the public, as the
Director considers appropriate, in support of the
purposes of this section.
(g) Coordination With National Technology and Industrial Base.--The
Director, acting through the Hollings Manufacturing Extension
Partnership program, may work with the National Defense Technology and
Industrial Base Council established by section 2502(a) of title 10,
United States Code, as the Director considers appropriate, to include
in the Database information regarding the defense manufacturing supply
chain.
(h) Protections.--
(1) In general.--Supply chain information that is
voluntarily and lawfully submitted by a private entity and
accompanied by an express statement described in paragraph
(2)--
(A) shall be exempt from disclosure under section
552(b)(3) of title 5, United States Code;
(B) shall not be made available pursuant to any
Federal, State, local, or Tribal authority pursuant to
any Federal, State, local, or Tribal law requiring
public disclosure of information or records; and
(C) shall not, without the written consent of the
person or entity submitting such information, be used
directly by the Director, or any other Federal, State,
or local authority in any civil enforcement action
brought by a Federal, State, or local authority.
(2) Express statement.--The express statement described in
this paragraph, with respect to information or records, is--
(A) in the case of written information or records,
a written marking on the information or records
substantially similar to the following: ``This
information is voluntarily submitted to the Federal
Government in expectation of protection from disclosure
as provided by the provisions of section 2(h) of the
National MEP Supply Chain Database Act of 2021.''; or
(B) in the case of oral information, a written
statement similar to the statement described in
subparagraph (A) submitted within a reasonable period
following the oral communication.
(i) Rules of Construction.--
(1) Private entities.--Nothing in this section shall be
construed to require any private entity to share data with the
Director specifically for the Database.
(2) Prohibition on new regulatory authority.--Nothing in
this section shall be construed to grant the Director, or the
head of any other Federal agency, with any authority to
promulgate regulations or set standards on manufacturers, based
on data within the Database, that was not in effect on the day
before the date of enactment of this section.
(j) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be
appropriated--
(1) $31,000,000 for fiscal year 2022 to develop and launch
the Database; and
(2) $26,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2023 through 2026
to maintain, update, and support Federal coordination of the
State supply chain databases maintained by the Centers.
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