TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Title I: General Provisions
Title II: Manufacturing
Subtitle A: Manufacturing Technology and Extension
Subtitle B: National Science Foundation Manufacturing
Programs
Title III: Critical Technologies
Title IV: Additional Commerce Department Provisions
Title V: Authorization of Appropriations
Title VI: Information Technology Applications
Title VII: Fastener Quality Act Amendments
Title VIII: Private Carriage of Urgent Letters
Title IX: Regulatory Flexibility Analysis
Title X: Counterintelligence
Title XI: Local Empowerment and Flexibility
Title XII: Hero Act
Title XIII: Miscellaneous Provisions
Title I: General Provisions - National Competitiveness Act of 1994 - Sets forth the purposes and goals of this Act.
(Sec. 105) Establishes an overall authorization of appropriations limit under this Act.
Title II: Manufacturing - Manufacturing Technology and Extension Act of 1994 - Subtitle A: Manufacturing Technology and Extension - Amends the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980 to make the Department of Commerce (Department) the lead Federal agency for commercial and industrial civilian technology.
Directs the Secretary of Commerce (Secretary) to establish a Manufacturing Advisory Committee.
(Sec. 212) Amends the National Institute of Standards and Technology Act to establish within the National Institute of Standards and Technology: (1) a National Quality Laboratory; and (2) a Manufacturing Extension Partnership, which shall include Outreach and Regional Centers and a Technology extension communication network.
Directs the Secretary to: (1) establish a related clearinghouse system; and (2) prepare a five-year implementation plan for the Partnership, outreach network, and clearinghouse.
(Sec. 213) Amends the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980 to provide additional technology transfer mechanisms through the Department and the Department of Defense.
(Sec. 214) Amends the National Institute of Standards and Technology Act to authorize awards to nonprofit organizations (to be known as Local Manufacturing Offices) to provide Center outreach services in inaccessible areas.
(Sec. 215) Establishes within the Institute a State Technology Extension Program.
Subtitle B: National Science Foundation Manufacturing Programs - Requires the Director of the National Science Foundation (NSF) to: (1) work with private U.S. companies, universities, and other Federal agencies to identify, research, and accelerate manufacturing innovations and advanced workplace practices; (2) expand the number of Engineering Research Centers and expand the Industry-University Cooperative Research Centers Program; and (3) establish the Small Manufacturers Renewal and Training Program (SMART Partnerships).
Authorizes the Director to establish: (1) a graduate traineeship program for masters or doctoral degrees in manufacturing or industrial engineering; (2) programs of higher education in the areas of total quality management; and (3) fellowships for persons from industry to teach at community and technical colleges.
Title III: Critical Technologies - Directs the Secretary to develop a plan to expand the Advanced Technology Program.
(Sec. 302) Amends the National Institute of Standards and Technology Act to authorize financial support for large-scale research and development consortia.
(Sec. 303) Amends the National Science and Technology Policy, Organization, and Priorities Act of 1976 to establish a National Science and Technology Council, which shall assume the responsibilities and authorities of: (1) the Federal Coordinating Council for Science, Engineering, and Technology; and (2) the National Space Council, and the National Critical Materials Council.
(Sec. 304) Amends the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980 to direct the Secretary to establish: (1) within the Technology Administration an Office of Technology Monitoring and Competitiveness Assessment; and (2) a technology fellowship program.
(Sec. 306) Establishes a Department of Commerce-Small Business Administration Pilot Technology Financing Partnership Program to license and financially assist private entities (civilian technology investment companies) which shall direct private capital to eligible technology firms and joint ventures.
(Sec. 307) Directs the President to report annually to the Congress concerning foreign industrial espionage.
Title IV: Additional Commerce Department Provisions - Amends the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980 to establish a Department of Commerce Technology Advisory Board.
(Sec. 402) Amends the American Technology Preeminence Act of 1991 to expand the Institute's standard pilot program to permit contracts with non-Federal organizations to promote U.S. technical standards dissemination activities abroad. Requires the Secretary to report to the Congress on the appropriate Federal role in developing and promulgating domestic and global product and quality standards.
(Sec. 403) Amends the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980 to prohibit the making of a Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Award within a category or subcategory if there are no qualifying enterprises in that category or subcategory. Makes educational institutions an Award category.
(Sec. 406) Directs the Critical Technologies Institute to study semiconductor lithography technologies.
Wind Engineering Program Act of 1994 - Establishes within the Institute a Wind Engineering Program which shall: (1) provide for wind engineering research; (2) serve as an information clearinghouse; and (3) improve interagency coordination on wind engineering research.
Environmentally Sensitive Construction Act of 1994 - Establishes within the Institute a Federal Environmentally Sensitive Construction Program which shall conduct and support research in areas of low environmental risk construction materials and techniques.
(Sec. 412) Prohibits the fraudulent use of "Made in America" labels. Provides for compliance with the Buy American Act.
(Sec. 413) Extends the personnel management program established under the National Bureau of Standards Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1987 until December 31, 1998.
Title V: Authorization of Appropriations - Authorizes FY 1994 through 1996 appropriations for: (1) the Under Secretary of Commerce for Technology and the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Technology Policy; and (2) Institute intramural scientific and technical research services, facilities, extramural industrial technology services, and wind engineering.
Authorizes FY 1994 and 1995 appropriations for the environmentally sensitive construction program.
(Sec. 503) Authorizes FY 1994 through 1996 appropriations for: (1) a technology training clearinghouse; (2) policy experiments relating to intelligent manufacturing systems; (3) technology monitoring and competitiveness assessment; (4) the National Technical Information Service Revolving Fund; (5) the technology financing pilot program; and (6) NSF.
Title VI: Information Technology Applications - Information Technology Applications Act of 1994 - Amends the High-Performance Computing Act of 1991 to direct the NSF and the Department of Education to develop advanced computing and networking technology for education and libraries.
Increases FY 1994 and 1995 authorizations of appropriations for the National High-Performance Computing Program for: (1) NSF; and (2) the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
(Sec. 604) Expands the general responsibilities of the Department of Education with regard to computing and networking technology. Increases FY 1994 and 1995 appropriations.
(Sec. 605) Authorizes FY 1994 and 1995 appropriations for application of high-performance computing and networking technologies in the areas of: (1) public access to government manufacturing information; (2) energy and related Department of Energy activities; and (3) health care.
Directs appropriate Federal agencies to foster geographic network access and connections among schools, libraries, and government entities. Authorizes FY 1994 and 1995 appropriations for such purpose to NSF and the Department of Education.
(Sec. 609) Revises provisions with respect to the National Research and Education Network Program.
(Sec. 610) Directs the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to establish a Computer Technologies for K-12 Education Project to test and demonstrate educational applications of advanced computer technologies. Authorizes FY 1994 and 1995 appropriations.
(Sec. 611) Authorizes an NSF program to support State-based digital libraries. Authorizes FY 1994 and 1995 appropriations.
(Sec. 612) Establishes an NSF pilot program for computing programs at tribal colleges.
(Sec. 613) Establishes a Department of Education program to test and demonstrate educational applications of advanced computer technologies. Authorizes FY 1994 and 1995 appropriations.
Title VII: Fastener Quality Act Amendments - Amends the Fastener Quality Act to establish an alternative chemical procedure for fastener quality standards testing. Subjects importers and private label distributors to commingling restrictions. Sets forth provisions regarding end user commingled lot sales.
Title VIII: Private Carriage of Urgent Letters - Expresses the sense of the Congress that the United States Postal Service should suspend audits of private carriage of urgent letters pending consideration of a specified General Accounting Office Report.
Title IX: Regulatory Flexibility Analysis - Revises Federal provisions regarding judicial review of regulatory flexibility analyses.
Title X: Counterintelligence - Counterintelligence Improvements Act of 1994 - Amends the National Security Act of 1947 to establish requirements for access to "top secret" information (access). Entitles the President and Vice President, Members of Congress, Justices of the Supreme Court, and Article III judges to access needed for the performance of their governmental functions without regard to the other provisions of this Act.
Restricts access among government employees to those who are U.S. citizens who require routine access for the performance of official governmental functions and who have been determined to be trustworthy based upon background investigations.
Permits access by others only as permitted in accordance with specified regulations.
Sets forth provisions authorizing waivers for national security reasons.
(Sec. 1003) Requires, as conditions of access to classified cryptographic information,that persons: (1) meet the requirements applicable to those having access to top secret information; and (2) be subject, during the period of such access, to periodic polygraph examinations.
(Sec. 1004) Amends the Right to Financial Privacy Act to permit a customer who is the subject of a personnel security investigation conducted by an authorized investigative Government agency as a condition of being granted or maintaining access to authorize nonrevocable disclosure of all financial records maintained by financial institutions to the appropriate governmental authorities for the period of the customer's access and for up to five years after such access has been terminated. (Under current law, a person may consent to access to his financial records for a period of three months.)
(Sec. 1005) Makes it a crime to possess espionage devices with intent to violate the espionage statutes and to sell top secret documents or materials to foreign governments, with exceptions and a defense that the information was public. Makes it a misdemeanor for a U.S. officer, employer, or contractor to knowingly remove top secret documents and retain them at an unauthorized location.
(Sec. 1008) Amends the Federal criminal code to: (1) grant specified U.S. courts jurisdiction to try cases involving espionage and related offenses begun or committed outside the United States; and (2) extend coverage of the special forfeiture provision (permitting the Attorney General to file suit to recover the profits of certain crimes) to additional crimes of espionage and to espionage convictions in foreign courts for misconduct that would constitute offenses under U.S. espionage laws.
(Sec. 1010) Permits the Government to deny retirement pay to U.S. retirees in the civil service, Foreign Service, and Central Intelligence Agency retirement and disability systems who are convicted of espionage in foreign courts which involve U.S. national defense information.
Amends the Consumer Credit Protection Act to require consumer reporting agencies, upon request, to furnish: (1) consumer reports to the FBI pursuant to a written certification by the Director of the FBI that the records are sought for an authorized foreign counterintelligence investigation and that the person to whom such reports relate is believed to be a foreign agent; and (2) identifying information respecting any consumer at the Director's request when necessary to the conduct of an authorized counterintelligence investigation. Prohibits such agencies from divulging to the consumer that the FBI has sought or obtained such information.
(Sec. 1012) Authorizes the Attorney General to pay rewards of up to $1 million for information leading to: (1) the arrest or conviction of any individual for committing, or conspiring or attempting to commit, espionage; or (2) the prevention or frustration of an act of espionage against the United States.
(Sec. 1013) Amends the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 to provide a court order process, similar to that required for electronic surveillance, for physical searches for foreign intelligence purposes.
Title XI: Local Empowerment and Flexibility - Local Empowerment and Flexibility Act of 1994 - Directs the Community Enterprise Board to establish a local flexibility demonstration program.
(Sec. 1106) Provides for the provision and use of covered Federal assistance in accordance with a Board-approved local flexibility plan. States that an individual or family eligible for covered Federal assistance included in a local flexibility plan may receive benefits only in accordance with the local plan.
(Sec. 1110) Requires a participating local government to establish a community advisory committee.
(Sec. 1113) Terminates this title five years after enactment of this Act.
Title XII: HERO Act - Heroic Efforts to Rescue Others Act (HERO Act) - Amends the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (OSHA) to exempt from citation by the Secretary of Labor employers of certain individuals who perform rescues of individuals in imminent danger as a result of a life-threatening incident, unless certain circumstances apply.
Title XIII: Miscellaneous Provisions - Economic and Employment Impact Act - Requires the Director of the Congressional Budget Office to prepare an economic and employment impact statement for each bill or joint resolution report by any committee (except the Committee on Appropriations) of the House of Representatives or the Senate or considered on the floor of either House.
Requires each regulation and proposed regulation promulgated by an executive department or agency to be accompanied by such a statement and published with such statement in the Federal Register. Authorizes the President to waive the requirements of this paragraph at any time in which a declaration of war is in effect or in response to a national security emergency.
(Sec. 1302) Authorizes the Secretary to make urban university business initiative grants to assist businesses, especially in lower income communities, to become more productive and globally competitive. Authorizes FY 1995 through 1999 appropriations.
(Sec. 1303) Amends Federal criminal law to prohibit persons awarding contracts or grants under this Act from soliciting recipient campaign contributions for five years after such award.