[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1661 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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117th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1661
To establish the National Fab Lab Network, a nonprofit organization
consisting of a national network of local digital fabrication
facilities providing universal access to advanced manufacturing tools
for workforce development, STEM education, developing inventions,
creating businesses, producing personalized products, mitigating risks,
and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
May 17, 2021
Mr. Van Hollen (for himself and Ms. Murkowski) introduced the following
bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce,
Science, and Transportation
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To establish the National Fab Lab Network, a nonprofit organization
consisting of a national network of local digital fabrication
facilities providing universal access to advanced manufacturing tools
for workforce development, STEM education, developing inventions,
creating businesses, producing personalized products, mitigating risks,
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 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 Act, 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 Act 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 Act, and, to the extent consistent with this Act, 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;
(G) to reduce dependency on global supply chains;
and
(H) 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, initially, to establish a minimum of one fab
lab in each Congressional District.
(2) Seeking to establish additional labs within the network
created under subsection (a)(2), 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 fab labs in producing fab labs.
SEC. 6. MEMBERSHIP AND ORGANIZATION.
Except as provided in this Act, 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;
(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 Act. 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 Act.
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.
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