National R & D Strategy for Distributed Ledger Technology Act of 2022
This bill provides for a national strategy and research and development regarding technologies related to distributed ledgers (e.g., blockchain or Bitcoin). A distributed ledger is a ledger that is shared across and synchronized between a set of distributed nodes (i.e., devices or processes) in a network that store a complete or partial replica of the ledger and meet other requirements.
The Office of Science and Technology Policy must develop a national strategy for the research and development of distributed ledger technologies and their applications, including applications of public and permissionless distributed ledgers. The office must coordinate with the National Science and Technology Council and other relevant federal agencies, as appropriate, on the strategy. The national strategy shall include
The National Science Foundation shall make competitive awards to institutions of higher education or nonprofit organizations (or their consortia) to support research, including interdisciplinary research, on distributed ledger technologies and their applications.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology may carry out an applied research project to study and demonstrate the potential benefits and unique capabilities of distributed ledger technologies.
[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8065 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
117th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 8065
To authorize the development of a national strategy for the research
and development of distributed ledger technologies and their
applications, to authorize awards to support research on distributed
ledger technologies and their applications, and to authorize an applied
research project on distributed ledger technologies in commerce.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 14, 2022
Mr. Waltz (for himself, Mr. Soto, Mr. Donalds, Mr. Swalwell, and Mr.
Gottheimer) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Science, Space, and Technology
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To authorize the development of a national strategy for the research
and development of distributed ledger technologies and their
applications, to authorize awards to support research on distributed
ledger technologies and their applications, and to authorize an applied
research project on distributed ledger technologies in commerce.
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 R & D Strategy for
Distributed Ledger Technology Act of 2022''.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Director.--Except as otherwise expressly provided, the
term ``Director'' means the Director of the Office of Science
and Technology Policy.
(2) Distributed ledger.--The term ``distributed ledger''
means a ledger that--
(A) is shared across a set of distributed nodes,
which are devices or processes, that participate in a
network and store a complete or partial replica of the
ledger;
(B) is synchronized between the nodes;
(C) has data appended to it by following the
ledger's specified consensus mechanism;
(D) may be accessible to anyone (public) or
restricted to a subset of participants (private); and
(E) may require participants to have authorization
to perform certain actions (permissioned) or require no
authorization (permissionless).
(3) Distributed ledger technology.--The term ``distributed
ledger technology'' means technology that enables the operation
and use of distributed ledgers.
(4) Institution of higher education.--The term
``institution of higher education'' has the meaning given the
term in section 101 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20
U.S.C. 1001).
(5) Relevant congressional committees.--The term ``relevant
congressional committees'' means--
(A) the Committee on Commerce, Science, and
Transportation of the Senate; and
(B) the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology
of the House of Representatives.
(6) Smart contract.--The term ``smart contract'' means a
computer program stored in a distributed ledger system that is
executed when certain predefined conditions are satisfied and
wherein the outcome of any execution of the program may be
recorded on the distributed ledger.
SEC. 3. NATIONAL DISTRIBUTED LEDGER TECHNOLOGY R&D STRATEGY.
(a) In General.--The Director, or a designee of the Director,
shall, in coordination with the National Science and Technology
Council, and the heads of such other relevant Federal agencies and
entities as the Director considers appropriate, which may include the
National Academies, and in consultation with such nongovernmental
entities as the Director considers appropriate, develop a national
strategy for the research and development of distributed ledger
technologies and their applications, including applications of public
and permissionless distributed ledgers. In developing the national
strategy, the Director shall consider the following:
(1) Current efforts and coordination by Federal agencies to
invest in the research and development of distributed ledger
technologies and their applications, including through programs
like the Small Business Innovation Research program, the Small
Business Technology Transfer program, and the National Science
Foundation's Innovation Corps programs.
(2)(A) The potential benefits and risks of applications of
distributed ledger technologies across different industry
sectors, including their potential to--
(i) lower transactions costs and facilitate new
types of commercial transactions;
(ii) protect privacy and increase individuals' data
sovereignty;
(iii) reduce friction to the interoperability of
digital systems;
(iv) increase the accessibility, auditability,
security, efficiency, and transparency of digital
services;
(v) increase market competition in the provision of
digital services;
(vi) enable dynamic contracting and contract
execution through smart contracts;
(vii) enable participants to collaborate in
trustless and disintermediated environments;
(viii) enable the operations and governance of
distributed organizations;
(ix) create new ownership models for digital items;
and
(x) increase participation of populations
historically underrepresented in the technology,
business, and financial sectors.
(B) In consideration of the potential risks of applications
of distributed ledger technologies under subparagraph (A), the
Director shall take into account, where applicable--
(i) additional risks that may emerge from
distributed ledger technologies, as identified in
reports submitted to the President pursuant to
Executive Order 14067, that may be addressed by
research and development;
(ii) software vulnerabilities in distributed ledger
technologies and smart contracts;
(iii) limited consumer literacy on engaging with
applications of distributed ledger technologies in a
secure way;
(iv) the use of distributed ledger technologies in
illicit finance and their use in combating illicit
finance;
(v) manipulative, deceptive, and fraudulent
practices that harm consumers engaging with
applications of distributed ledger technologies;
(vi) the implications of different consensus
mechanisms for digital ledgers and governance and
accountability mechanisms for applications of
distributed ledger technologies, which may include
decentralized networks;
(vii) foreign activities in the development and
deployment of distributed ledger technologies and their
associated tools and infrastructure; and
(viii) environmental, sustainability, and economic
impacts of the computational resources required for
distributed ledger technologies.
(3) Potential uses for distributed ledger technologies that
could improve the operations and delivery of services by
Federal agencies, taking into account the potential of digital
ledger technologies to--
(A) improve the efficiency and effectiveness of
privacy-preserving data sharing among Federal agencies
and with State, local, territorial, and Tribal
governments;
(B) promote government transparency by improving
data sharing with the public;
(C) introduce or mitigate risks that may threaten
individuals' rights or broad access to Federal
services;
(D) automate and modernize processes for assessing
and ensuring regulatory compliance; and
(E) facilitate broad access to financial services
for underserved and underbanked populations.
(4) Ways to support public and private sector dialogue on
areas of research that could enhance the efficiency,
scalability, interoperability, security, and privacy of
applications using distributed ledger technologies.
(5) The need for increased coordination of the public and
private sectors on the development of voluntary standards in
order to promote research and development, including standards
regarding security, smart contracts, cryptographic protocols,
virtual routing and forwarding, interoperability, zero-
knowledge proofs, and privacy, for distributed ledger
technologies and their applications.
(6) Applications of distributed ledger technologies that
could positively benefit society but that receive relatively
little private sector investment.
(7) The United States position in global leadership and
competitiveness across research, development, and deployment of
distributed ledger technologies.
(b) Consultation.--
(1) In general.--In carrying out the Director's duties
under this section, the Director shall consult with the
following:
(A) Private industry.
(B) Institutions of higher education, including
minority-serving institutions.
(C) Nonprofit organizations, including foundations
dedicated to supporting distributed ledger technologies
and their applications.
(D) State governments.
(E) Such other persons as the Director considers
appropriate.
(2) Representation.--The Director shall ensure
consultations with the following:
(A) Rural and urban stakeholders from across the
Nation.
(B) Small, medium, and large businesses.
(C) Subject matter experts representing multiple
industrial sectors.
(D) A demographically diverse set of stakeholders.
(c) Coordination.--In carrying out this section, the Director
shall, for purposes of avoiding duplication of activities, consult,
cooperate, and coordinate with the programs and policies of other
relevant Federal agencies, including the interagency process outlined
in section 3 of Executive Order 14067 (87 Fed. Reg. 14143; relating
ensuring responsible development of digital assets).
(d) National Strategy.--Not later than 1 year after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Director shall submit to the relevant
congressional committees and the President a national strategy that
includes the following:
(1) Priorities for the research and development of
distributed ledger technologies and their applications.
(2) Plans to support public and private sector investment
and partnerships in research and technology development for
societally beneficial applications of distributed ledger
technologies.
(3) Plans to mitigate the risks of distributed ledger
technologies and their applications.
(4) An identification of additional resources,
administrative action, or legislative action recommended to
assist with the implementation of such strategy.
(e) Research and Development Funding.--The Director shall, as the
Director considers necessary, consult with the Director of the Office
of Management and Budget and with the heads of such other elements of
the Executive Office of the President as the Director considers
appropriate, to ensure that the recommendations and priorities with
respect to research and development funding, as expressed in the
national strategy developed under this section, are incorporated in the
development of annual budget requests for Federal research agencies.
SEC. 4. DISTRIBUTED LEDGER TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH.
(a) In General.--The Director of the National Science Foundation
shall make awards, on a competitive basis, to institutions of higher
education, including minority-serving institutions, or nonprofit
organizations (or consortia of such institutions or organizations) to
support research, including interdisciplinary research, on distributed
ledger technologies, their applications, and other issues that impact
or are caused by distributed ledger technologies, which may include
research on--
(1) the implications on trust, transparency, privacy,
accessibility, accountability, and energy consumption of
different consensus mechanisms and hardware choices, and
approaches for addressing these implications;
(2) approaches for improving the security, privacy,
resiliency, interoperability, performance, and scalability of
distributed ledger technologies and their applications, which
may include decentralized networks;
(3) approaches for identifying and addressing
vulnerabilities and improving the performance and expressive
power of smart contracts;
(4) the implications of quantum computing on applications
of distributed ledger technologies, including long-term
protection of sensitive information (such as medical or digital
property), and techniques to address them;
(5) game theory, mechanism design, and economics
underpinning and facilitating the operations and governance of
decentralized networks enabled by distributed ledger
technologies;
(6) the social behaviors of participants in decentralized
networks enabled by distributed ledger technologies;
(7) human-centric design approaches to make distributed
ledger technologies and their applications more usable and
accessible;
(8) use cases for distributed ledger technologies across
various industry sectors and government, including applications
pertaining to--
(A) digital identity, including trusted identity
and identity management;
(B) digital property rights;
(C) delivery of public services;
(D) supply chain transparency;
(E) medical information management;
(F) inclusive financial services;
(G) community governance;
(H) charitable giving;
(I) public goods funding;
(J) digital credentials;
(K) regulatory compliance;
(L) infrastructure resilience, including against
natural disasters; and
(M) peer-to-peer transactions; and
(9) the social, behavioral, and economic implications
associated with the growth of applications of distributed
ledger technologies, including decentralization in business,
financial, and economic systems.
(b) Accelerating Innovation.--The Director of the National Science
Foundation shall consider continuing to support startups that are in
need of funding, would develop in and contribute to the economy of the
United States, leverage distributed ledger technologies, have the
potential to positively benefit society, and have the potential for
commercial viability, through programs like the Small Business
Innovation Research program, the Small Business Technology Transfer
program, and, as appropriate, other programs that promote broad and
diverse participation.
(c) Consideration of National Distributed Ledger Technology
Research and Development Strategy.--In making awards under subsection
(a), the Director of the National Science Foundation shall take into
account the national strategy, as described in section 3(d).
(d) Fundamental Research.--The Director of the National Science
Foundation shall consider continuing to make awards supporting
fundamental research in areas related to distributed ledger
technologies and their applications, such as applied cryptography and
distributed systems.
SEC. 5. DISTRIBUTED LEDGER TECHNOLOGY APPLIED RESEARCH PROJECT.
(a) Applied Research Project.--Subject to the availability of
appropriations, the Director of the National Institute of Standards and
Technology may carry out an applied research project to study and
demonstrate the potential benefits and unique capabilities of
distributed ledger technologies.
(b) Activities.--In carrying out the applied research project, the
Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology shall--
(1) identify potential applications of distributed ledger
technologies, including those that could benefit activities at
the Department of Commerce or at other Federal agencies,
considering applications that could--
(A) improve the privacy and interoperability of
digital identity and access management solutions;
(B) increase the integrity and transparency of
supply chains through the secure and limited sharing of
relevant supplier information;
(C) facilitate increased interoperability across
healthcare information systems and consumer control
over the movement of their medical data;
(D) facilitate broader participation in distributed
ledger technologies of populations historically
underrepresented in technology, business, and financial
sectors; or
(E) be of benefit to the public or private sectors,
as determined by the Director in consultation with
relevant stakeholders;
(2) solicit and provide the opportunity for public comment
relevant to potential projects;
(3) consider, in the selection of a project, whether the
project addresses a pressing need not already addressed by
another organization or Federal agency;
(4) establish plans to mitigate potential risks, including
those outlined in section 3(a)(2)(B), if applicable, of
potential projects;
(5) produce an example solution leveraging distributed
ledger technologies for 1 of the applications identified in
paragraph (1);
(6) hold a competitive process to select private sector
partners, if they are engaged, to support the implementation of
the example solution;
(7) consider hosting the project at the National
Cybersecurity Center of Excellence; and
(8) ensure that cybersecurity best practices consistent
with the Cybersecurity Framework of the National Institute of
Standards and Technology are demonstrated in the project.
(c) Briefings to Congress.--Not later than 1 year after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Director of the National Institute of
Standards and Technology shall offer a briefing to the relevant
congressional committees on the progress and current findings from the
project under this section.
(d) Public Report.--Not later than 12 months after the completion
of the project under this section, the Director of the National
Institute of Standards and Technology shall make public a report on the
results and findings from the project.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology.
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