[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 9403 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 9403

To support a broad and diverse interdisciplinary research community for 
    the advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) and AI-powered 
   innovation through partnerships and capacity building at certain 
 institutions of higher education and other institutions to expand AI 
capacity in populations historically underrepresented in STEM, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            August 23, 2024

Mrs. Foushee (for herself and Mr. Lucas) introduced the following bill; 
 which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To support a broad and diverse interdisciplinary research community for 
    the advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) and AI-powered 
   innovation through partnerships and capacity building at certain 
 institutions of higher education and other institutions to expand AI 
capacity in populations historically underrepresented in STEM, 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 ``Expanding AI Voices through Capacity 
Building Act'' or the ``Expanding AI Voices Act''.

SEC. 2. EXPANDING CAPACITY IN ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE SCIENCE.

    Section 5401 of the National AI Initiative Act (15 U.S.C. 9451; 
enacted as part of title LIV of division E of the William M. (Mac) 
Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021; 
Public Law 116-283) is amended by--
            (1) redesignating subsection (g) as subsection (h); and
            (2) inserting after subsection (f) the following new 
        subsection:
    ``(g) Expanding Capacity in Artificial Intelligence.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Director of the National Science 
        Foundation, in consultation with the heads of Federal agencies 
        the Director considers appropriate, shall make awards on a 
        competitive, merit-reviewed basis to eligible institutions of 
        higher education specified in paragraph (2) or eligible 
        nonprofit organizations (or consortia thereof) to broaden 
        participation in artificial intelligence research, education, 
        and workforce development by increasing the ability of the 
        United States to increase capacity and partnerships for 
        artificial intelligence research and development.
            ``(2) Eligible institutions of higher education 
        specified.--Eligible institution of higher education specified 
        in this paragraph the following:
                    ``(A) An institution of higher education, that, 
                according to the data published by the National Center 
                for Science and Engineering Statistics, is not, on 
                average, among the top 100 institutions in Federal 
                research and development expenditures during the 3-year 
                period prior to the year of the award concerned.
                    ``(B) A historically Black college or university.
                    ``(C) A minority-serving institution.
                    ``(C) A Tribal College or University.
                    ``(D) A consortia of any of the entities specified 
                in subparagraphs (A) through (C).
            ``(3) Collaborations.--A consortia receiving an award under 
        this subsection may include the following:
                    ``(A) Mutually beneficial partnerships with 
                institutions of higher education, nonprofit 
                organizations, Federal agencies, State, territorial, 
                local, and Tribal governments, and private sector 
                entities.
                    ``(B) Developing partnerships with artificial 
                intelligence research institutes established as part of 
                section 5201 of this Act (15 U.S.C. 9431) or recipients 
                of other relevant awards made by the Foundation.
            ``(4) Use of funds.--In carrying out the activities under 
        this subsection, an eligible institutions of higher education 
        or eligible nonprofit organization (or consortia thereof) shall 
        carry out one or more of the following:
                    ``(A) Development or expansion of research programs 
                in artificial intelligence and related disciplines.
                    ``(B) Faculty recruitment and professional 
                development in artificial intelligence and related 
                disciplines.
                    ``(C) Bridge programs focused on preparing post-
                baccalaureate students for graduate programs in 
                artificial intelligence and related disciplines.
                    ``(D) To provide or broker access to research 
                resources, including computing resources, networking, 
                data facilities, and software engineering support for 
                artificial intelligence research and development.
                    ``(E) Community building activities to foster 
                mutually beneficial public-private collaboration with 
                Federal research agencies, industry, Federal 
                laboratories, academia, and nonprofit organizations.
                    ``(F) Development and hosting of intra- or inter-
                institutional workshops to broaden workforce 
                participation in artificial intelligence research and 
                development.
                    ``(G) Activities to integrate ethical and 
                responsible practices and principles into education 
                programs in artificial intelligence and related 
                disciplines.
                    ``(H) Other activities necessary to build research 
                capacity, education pathways, and workforce development 
                pathways in artificial intelligence and related 
                disciplines.
            ``(5) Outreach.--The Director of the National Science 
        Foundation shall--
                    ``(A) conduct outreach to eligible institutions of 
                higher education and eligible nonprofit organizations 
                to apply for awards under this subsection; and
                    ``(B) engage participants from all regions of the 
                United States, especially individuals from underserved 
                communities and groups historically underrepresented in 
                science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
            ``(6) Duplication.--The Director of the National Science 
        Foundation shall ensure awards made under this section are 
        complimentary to, and not duplicative of, awards made under 
        existing programs.
            ``(7) Additional considerations.--In making awards under 
        this subsection, the Director of the National Science 
        Foundation may also consider the following:
                    ``(A) The extent to which the eligible institutions 
                of higher education and eligible nonprofit 
                organizations applying for awards under this subsection 
                support students from diverse backgrounds, including 
                first-generation undergraduate students.
                    ``(B) The geographic diversity of such institutions 
                and organizations.
                    ``(C) Relative resource constraints of such 
                institutions and organizations.
            ``(8) Definitions.--In this subsection:
                    ``(A) Historically black college or university.--
                The term `historically Black college or university' has 
                the meaning given the term `part B institution' in 
                section 322 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 
                U.S.C. 1061).
                    ``(B) Minority-serving institution.--The term 
                `minority-serving institution' means a Hispanic-serving 
                institution as defined in section 502(a) of the Higher 
                Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1101a(a)); an Alaska 
                Native-serving institution or Native Hawaiian-serving 
                institution as defined in section 317(b) of such Act 
                (20 U.S.C. 1059d(b)); or a predominantly Black 
                institution, Asian American and Native American Pacific 
                Islander-serving institution, or Native American-
                serving nontribal institution as defined in section 
                371(c) of such Act (20 U.S.C. 1067q(c)).
                    ``(C) Nonprofit organization.--The term `nonprofit 
                organization' means an organization which is described 
                in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 
                1986 and exempt from tax under section 501(a) of such 
                code.
                    ``(D) Tribal college or university.--The term 
                `Tribal College or University' has the meaning given 
                such term in section 316 of the Higher Education Act of 
                1965 (20 U.S.C. 1059c).''.
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