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[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 9205 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
118th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 9205
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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 30, 2024
Mr. Foster introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on
Science, Space, and Technology, for a period to be subsequently
determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such
provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
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
2024''.
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. NATIONAL FAB LAB NETWORK.
(a) Definition.--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.
(b) 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.).
(c) Goals and Activities.--
(1) Goals.--The goals of the corporation are as follows:
(A) To provide universal access to digital
fabrication.
(B) To foster current and future fab labs.
(C) To create a national network of connected local
fab labs to empower individuals and communities in the
United States.
(D) To foster the use of distributed digital
fabrication tools--
(i) to promote science, technology,
engineering and math skills;
(ii) to increase invention and innovation;
(iii) to create businesses and jobs;
(iv) to fulfill personal, professional, and
community needs;
(v) to create value and mitigate harm;
(vi) to increase self-sufficiency for
individuals, households, and communities; and
(vii) to align workforce development with
new and emerging jobs.
(E) To provide a platform for education and
research, to catalyze new methods in science,
technology, engineering, and mathematics education, and
to introduce digital fabrication as an essential new
literacy.
(F) To create new ways of educating the workforce
that will enable workers to compete in a 21st century
global marketplace.
(2) Activities.--To attain the goals described in paragraph
(1), the corporation shall carry out activities, including the
following:
(A) Seeking to establish a minimum of one fab lab
in each Congressional District, prioritizing
underserved communities.
(B) Seeking to establish additional fab labs within
the network created under paragraph (1)(C), in response
to local demand, and to provide guidelines for their
sustainable operation.
(C) Linking fab labs into a national network, and
promoting further expansion of fab labs across the
United States.
(D) 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.
(E) Maintaining a national registry of fab labs.
(F) Providing standards and protocols for
connecting fab labs regionally, nationally, and
globally.
(G) Assisting existing fab labs in producing
additional fab labs.
(d) 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.
(e) Governing Body.--
(1) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph (2),
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.
(2) Board membership.--
(A) Composition.--The board of the corporation
shall be composed of not fewer than 7 members and not
more than 15 members.
(B) Representation.--
(i) In general.--The membership of the
board of the corporation shall collectively
represent the diversity of fab labs.
(ii) 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.
(iii) 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.
(C) Selection.--The initial board of the
corporation shall be chosen, in consultation with the
Fab Foundation and in accordance with subparagraph
(B)(i), as follows:
(i) Two shall be appointed by the majority
leader of the Senate.
(ii) Two shall be appointed by the minority
leader of the Senate.
(iii) Two shall be appointed by the Speaker
of the House of Representatives.
(iv) Two shall be appointed by the minority
leader of the House of Representatives.
(f) 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.
(g) 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.
(h) Restrictions.--
(1) Stock and dividends.--The corporation may not issue
securities of any kind or declare or pay a dividend.
(2) 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 paragraph 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.
(3) Loans.--The corporation may not make a loan to a
director, officer, or employee.
(4) 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 subsection (b) of this section.
(i) Records and Inspection.--
(1) Records.--The corporation shall keep--
(A) correct and complete records of account;
(B) minutes of the proceedings of its members,
board of directors, and committees having any of the
authority of its board of directors; and
(C) at its principal office, a record of the names
and addresses of its members entitled to vote.
(2) 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.
(j) 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.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
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