[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3310 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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117th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 3310
To direct the Secretary of Defense to develop a plan to establish the
Minority Institute for Defense Research, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
December 2, 2021
Mr. Brown introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on Armed Services
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To direct the Secretary of Defense to develop a plan to establish the
Minority Institute for Defense Research, 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 ``Building Equitable Access to
Contribute to Our National Security Act of 2021'' or the ``BEACON Act
of 2021''.
SEC. 2. MINORITY INSTITUTE FOR DEFENSE RESEARCH.
(a) Plan To Establish Minority Institute for Defense Research.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the date of
the enactment of this section, the Secretary shall submit to
the congressional defense committees a plan (in this section
referred to as the ``Plan'') for the establishment of the
Minority Institute for Defense Research (in this section
referred to as the ``Consortium'').
(2) Elements.--The Plan shall include the following:
(A) Information relating to the projected needs of
the Department for the next twenty years with respect
to essential engineering, research, or development
capability.
(B) An assessment relating to the engineering,
research, and development capability of each minority
institution to identify each leading minority
institution.
(C) Information relating to the advancements and
investments necessary to elevate a minority institution
or a consortium of minority institutions to the
research capacity of a University Affiliated Research
Center.
(D) Recommendations relating to actions that may be
taken by the Department, Congress, and minority
institutions to establish the Consortium within 10
years.
(3) Publicly available.--The Plan shall be posted on a
publicly available website of the Department.
(b) Naming of the Consortium.--With respect to the naming of the
Consortium, the Secretary shall--
(1) establish a process to solicit and review proposals of
names from--
(A) minority institutions;
(B) nonprofit institutions that advocate on behalf
of minority institutions; and
(C) members of the public;
(2) develop a list of all names received pursuant to
paragraph (1);
(3) provide opportunity for public comment on the names
included on such list; and
(4) choose a name from such list to name the Consortium.
(c) Grant Program for Leading Minority Institutions.--
(1) In general.--The Secretary may establish a program to
award grants, on a competitive basis, to leading minority
institutions for the purposes described in paragraph (2).
(2) Purposes.--The purposes described in this paragraph are
the following:
(A) Establishing a legal entity for the purpose of
entering into research contracts or agreements with the
Federal Government or the Consortium.
(B) Developing the capability to bid on Federal
Government or Consortium contracts.
(C) Requesting technical assistance from the
Federal Government or a private entity with respect to
contracting with the Federal Government or the
Consortium.
(D) Recruiting and retaining research faculty.
(E) Advancing research capabilities relating to the
national security of the United States.
(F) Any other matter determined appropriate by the
Secretary.
(3) Application.--To be eligible to receive a grant under
this section, a leading minority institution shall submit to
the Secretary an application therefor in such form, and
containing such information, as the Secretary may require.
(4) Preference.--In awarding grants pursuant to paragraph
(1), the Secretary shall give preference to a leading minority
institution with a R1 or R2 status on the Carnegie
Classification of Institutions of Higher Education.
(d) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) The term ``congressional defense committees'' means--
(A) the Committee on Armed Services and the
Committee on Appropriations of the Senate; and
(B) the Committee on Armed Services and the
Committee on Appropriations of the House of
Representatives.
(2) The term ``Department'' means the Department of
Defense.
(3) The term ``leading minority institution'' means a
minority institution identified (pursuant to the assessment
required under subsection (a)(2)(B)) as being in the top 20
percent of all such institutions with respect to providing
essential engineering, research, or development capability.
(4) The term ``institution of higher education'' has the
meaning given such term in section 101 of the Higher Education
Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001).
(5) The term ``minority institution'' means--
(A) a part B institution (as such term is defined
in section 322(2) of the Higher Education Act of 1965
(20 U.S.C. 1061(2))); or
(B) any institution of higher education at which
not less than 50 percent of the total student
enrollment consists of students from ethnic groups that
are underrepresented in the fields of science and
engineering.
(6) The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of Defense.
(7) The term ``University Affiliated Research Center''
means a research organization within an institution of higher
education that--
(A) provides or maintains Department essential
engineering, research, or development capabilities; and
(B) receives sole source contract funding from the
Department pursuant to section 2304(c)(3)(B) of title
10, United States Code.
SEC. 3. SUBCONTRACT REQUIREMENTS FOR MINORITY INSTITUTIONS.
(a) In General.--Section 2304 of title 10, United States Code, is
amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
``(m)(1) The head of an agency shall require that a contract
awarded to an educational institution pursuant to subsection (c)(3)(B)
includes a requirement to subcontract with one or more minority
institutions for a total amount of not less than 5 percent of the
amount awarded in the contract.
``(2) For the purposes of this subsection, a minority institution
means--
``(A) a part B institution (as that term is defined in
section 322(2) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C.
1061(2))); or
``(B) any other institution of higher education (as that
term is defined in section 101 of such Act (20 U.S.C. 1001)) at
which not less than 50 percent of the total student enrollment
consists of students from ethnic groups that are
underrepresented in the fields of science and engineering.''.
(b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by subsection (a) shall--
(1) take effect on October 1, 2026; and
(2) apply with respect to funds that are awarded by the
Department of Defense on or after such date.
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