Us Congress 2025-2026 Regular Session

Us Congress Senate Bill SB853 Compare Versions

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Old	New	Differences
1	1	II
2	2	119THCONGRESS
3	3	1
4	4	STSESSION S. 853
5	5	To improve the SBIR and STTR programs under the Small Business Act,
6	6	and for other purposes.
7	7	IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
8	8	MARCH5, 2025
9	9	Ms. E
10	10	RNSTintroduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred
11	11	to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship
12	12	A BILL
13	13	To improve the SBIR and STTR programs under the Small
14	14	Business Act, and for other purposes.
15	15	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
16	16	tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
17	17	SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 3
18	18	(a) S
19	19	HORTTITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 4
20	20	‘‘Investing in National Next-Generation Opportunities for 5
21	21	Venture Acceleration and Technological Excellence’’ or the 6
22	22	‘‘INNOVATE Act’’. 7
23	23	(b) T
24	24	ABLE OFCONTENTS.—The table of contents for 8
25	25	this Act is as follows: 9
26	26	Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
27	27	Sec. 2. Definitions.
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31	31	TITLE I—PROMOTING TRANSITION FOR BATTLE-READY
32	32	TECHNOLOGIES
33	33	Sec. 101. Enhancing small business success in the STTR program.
34	34	Sec. 102. Phase II strategic breakthrough funding.
35	35	Sec. 103. Implementation briefings.
36	36	Sec. 104. Fixed-price contracts.
37	37	TITLE II—ENCOURAGING SMALL BUSINESS INNOVATION IN ALL
38	38	OF AMERICA
39	39	Sec. 201. Encouraging new SBIR and STTR entrants.
40	40	Sec. 202. Combating discriminatory practices in the SBIR and STTR pro-
41	41	grams.
42	42	TITLE III—STREAMLINING PARTICIPATION IN THE SBIR AND
43	43	STTR PROGRAMS
44	44	Sec. 301. Definition of open topics.
45	45	Sec. 302. Reducing administrative burden.
46	46	TITLE IV—PROTECTING AMERICAN INNOVATION FROM
47	47	ADVERSARIAL INFLUENCE
48	48	Sec. 401. Definition of foreign risk.
49	49	Sec. 402. Bolstering research security of SBIR and STTR awards.
50	50	Sec. 403. Strengthening the due diligence program to assess security risks.
51	51	Sec. 404. Strengthening agency recovery authority.
52	52	Sec. 405. Best practices on investor informational rights.
53	53	Sec. 406. GAO report.
54	54	TITLE V—SIMPLIFYING SBIR-STTR COMMERCIALIZATION
55	55	STANDARDS
56	56	Sec. 501. Streamlining transition and commercialization rate benchmarks.
57	57	Sec. 502. Improving direct to Phase II authorities.
58	58	Sec. 503. Improving SBIR-STTR data collection.
59	59	Sec. 504. Streamlining program administration.
60	60	Sec. 505. Extending SBIR and STTR authorization.
61	61	SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
62	62	1
63	63	In this Act, the terms ‘‘Phase I’’, ‘‘Phase II’’, ‘‘Phase 2
64	64	III’’, ‘‘SBIR’’, and ‘‘STTR’’ have the meanings given 3
65	65	those terms in section 9(e) of the Small Business Act (15 4
66	66	U.S.C. 638(e)). 5
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70	70	TITLE I—PROMOTING TRANSI-1
71	71	TION FOR BATTLE-READY 2
72	72	TECHNOLOGIES 3
73	73	SEC. 101. ENHANCING SMALL BUSINESS SUCCESS IN THE 4
74	74	STTR PROGRAM. 5
75	75	Section 9 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638 6
76	76	et seq.) is amended— 7
77	77	(1) in subsection (e)— 8
78	78	(A) in paragraph (6)— 9
79	79	(i) in subparagraph (A), by adding 10
80	80	‘‘and’’ at the end; and 11
81	81	(ii) by striking subparagraphs (B) and 12
82	82	(C) and inserting the following: 13
83	83	‘‘(B) opportunities for follow-on funding in 14
84	84	Phases II and III of the SBIR program;’’; and 15
85	85	(B) in paragraph (7)— 16
86	86	(i) by striking ‘‘40’’ and inserting 17
87	87	‘‘50’’; and 18
88	88	(ii) by striking ‘‘30’’ and inserting 19
89	89	‘‘20’’; 20
90	90	(2) in subsection (f)(1)— 21
91	91	(A) in subparagraph (H), by striking 22
92	92	‘‘and’’ at the end; 23
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96	96	(B) in subparagraph (I), by striking ‘‘and 1
97	97	each fiscal year thereafter,’’ and inserting ‘‘; 2
98	98	and’’; and 3
99	99	(C) by adding at the end the following: 4
100	100	‘‘(J) not less than 3.45 percent of such 5
101	101	budget in fiscal year 2026 and every year there-6
102	102	after,’’; and 7
103	103	(3) in subsection (n)— 8
104	104	(A) in paragraph (1)(B)— 9
105	105	(i) in clause (iv), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 10
106	106	the end; 11
107	107	(ii) in clause (v), by striking ‘‘and 12
108	108	each fiscal year thereafter.’’ and inserting 13
109	109	‘‘; and’’; and 14
110	110	(iii) by adding at the end the fol-15
111	111	lowing: 16
112	112	‘‘(vi) not less than 0.20 percent for 17
113	113	fiscal year 2026 and each fiscal year there-18
114	114	after.’’; 19
115	115	(B) by redesignating paragraphs (2) and 20
116	116	(3) as paragraphs (3) and (4), respectively; and 21
117	117	(C) by inserting after paragraph (1) the 22
118	118	following: 23
119	119	‘‘(2) P
120	120	URPOSE OF STTR PROGRAM .— 24
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124	124	‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Each Federal agency 1
125	125	shall use its STTR budget to fund small busi-2
126	126	ness concerns conducting fundamental, basic, or 3
127	127	other scientific research that stands to benefit 4
128	128	most from partnerships with eligible research 5
129	129	institutions. 6
130	130	‘‘(B) D
131	131	OD AND NASA.—The Department 7
132	132	of Defense and the National Aeronautics and 8
133	133	Space Administration shall use their STTR 9
134	134	budget to solely fund research at technology 10
135	135	readiness levels 1, 2, and 3.’’. 11
136	136	SEC. 102. PHASE II STRATEGIC BREAKTHROUGH FUNDING. 12
137	137	(a) I
138	138	NGENERAL.—Section 9 of the Small Business 13
139	139	Act (15 U.S.C. 638), as amended by this Act, is amend-14
140	140	ed— 15
141	141	(1) by redesignating subsection (y) as para-16
142	142	graph (3), adjusting the margins accordingly, and 17
143	143	moving it so as to appear in subsection (ff) after 18
144	144	paragraph (2); 19
145	145	(2) in subsection (aa), by adding at the end the 20
146	146	following: 21
147	147	‘‘(6) S
148	148	TRATEGIC BREAKTHROUGH ALLOCA -22
149	149	TION.—The Department of Defense or its compo-23
150	150	nents shall not be required to receive a waiver from 24
151	151	the Administrator to award a small business concern 25
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155	155	not more than $30,000,000 when using funds made 1
156	156	available under a strategic breakthrough alloca-2
157	157	tion.’’; 3
158	158	(3) in subsection (ff)— 4
159	159	(A) in the subsection heading, by striking 5
160	160	‘‘
161	161	ANDSTTR’’ and inserting ‘‘PHASEII’’; 6
162	162	(B) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘or 7
163	163	Phase II STTR award’’; and 8
164	164	(C) in paragraph (3), as so redesignated— 9
165	165	(i) in the paragraph heading, by strik-10
166	166	ing ‘‘C
167	167	OMMERCIALIZATION READINESS 11
168	168	PROGRAM’’ and inserting ‘‘STRATEGIC 12
169	169	BREAKTHROUGH AWARDS ’’; 13
170	170	(ii) in subparagraph (A), as so redes-14
171	171	ignated— 15
172	172	(I) in the first sentence, by strik-16
173	173	ing ‘‘create and administer a ‘Com-17
174	174	mercialization Readiness Program’’’ 18
175	175	and inserting ‘‘provide funding’’; and 19
176	176	(II) in the second sentence, by 20
177	177	striking ‘‘create and administer a 21
178	178	Commercialization Program under 22
179	179	this subsection’’ and inserting ‘‘pro-23
180	180	vide funding under this paragraph’’; 24
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184	184	(iii) in subparagraph (B), as so redes-1
185	185	ignated— 2
186	186	(I) in the first sentence, by strik-3
187	187	ing ‘‘In carrying out the Commer-4
188	188	cialization Readiness Program’’ and 5
189	189	inserting the following: 6
190	190	‘‘(i) I
191	191	N GENERAL.—In carrying out 7
192	192	this paragraph’’; 8
193	193	(II) in clause (i), as so des-9
194	194	ignated— 10
195	195	(aa) by striking ‘‘shall iden-11
196	196	tify’’ and inserting ‘‘shall— 12
197	197	‘‘(I) identify’’; 13
198	198	(bb) in subclause (I), as so 14
199	199	designated, by striking the period 15
200	200	at the end and inserting a semi-16
201	201	colon; and 17
202	202	(cc) by adding at the end 18
203	203	the following: 19
204	204	‘‘(II) ensure, in collaboration 20
205	205	with SBIR program managers of each 21
206	206	component of the Department of De-22
207	207	fense, that research programs identi-23
208	208	fied under subclause (I) are analyzed 24
209	209	within the programming and budg-25
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212	212	•S 853 IS
213	213	eting process as budget requests are 1
214	214	developed; and 2
215	215	‘‘(III) provide to the Committee 3
216	216	on Small Business and Entrepreneur-4
217	217	ship of the Senate and the Commit-5
218	218	tees on Small Business and Science, 6
219	219	Space, and Technology of the House 7
220	220	of Representatives information on the 8
221	221	integration of SBIR and STTR 9
222	222	awardees in budget rollouts for re-10
223	223	search, development, testing, and eval-11
224	224	uation activities.’’; and 12
225	225	(III) by adding at the end the 13
226	226	following: 14
227	227	‘‘(ii) A
228	228	WARD.—Under this paragraph, 15
229	229	a funding agreement may be awarded to a 16
230	230	small business concern by the Department 17
231	231	of Defense using funds made available 18
232	232	under a strategic breakthrough allocation, 19
233	233	as defined in subparagraph (C)(i).’’; 20
234	234	(iv) by striking subparagraphs (C), 21
235	235	(D), and (E), as so redesignated, and in-22
236	236	serting the following: 23
237	237	‘‘(C) F
238	238	UNDING PARAMETERS .— 24
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242	242	‘‘(i) DEFINITION.—In this subpara-1
243	243	graph, the term ‘strategic breakthrough al-2
244	244	location’ means a required expenditure 3
245	245	amount for the Department of Defense 4
246	246	within the SBIR allocation under sub-5
247	247	section (f)(1) for fiscal year 2026 and 6
248	248	every fiscal year thereafter of not less than 7
249	249	0.25 percent of the extramural budget for 8
250	250	research or research and development des-9
251	251	ignated for the Department of Defense. 10
252	252	‘‘(ii) R
253	253	EQUIREMENTS.—In the case of 11
254	254	a Phase II agreement that is awarded to a 12
255	255	small business concern by the Department 13
256	256	of Defense using funds made available 14
257	257	under a strategic breakthrough allocation, 15
258	258	the following requirements shall apply: 16
259	259	‘‘(I) A
260	260	WARD SIZE AND PERIOD 17
261	261	OF PERFORMANCE .—The Department 18
262	262	of Defense may award not more than 19
263	263	1 award of not more than 20
264	264	$30,000,000 per small business con-21
265	265	cern, including its affiliates, spinouts, 22
266	266	or subsidiaries, from the strategic 23
267	267	breakthrough allocation with a period 24
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271	271	of performance of not more than 48 1
272	272	months. 2
273	273	‘‘(II) S
274	274	MALL BUSINESS CONCERN 3
275	275	REQUIREMENTS.—The small business 4
276	276	concern shall— 5
277	277	‘‘(aa) have been awarded not 6
278	278	less than 1 prior Phase II award 7
279	279	under the SBIR program; 8
280	280	‘‘(bb) demonstrate not less 9
281	281	than 100 percent matching funds 10
282	282	through new outside capital or 11
283	283	amounts awarded by the Depart-12
284	284	ment of Defense under a pro-13
285	285	gram other than Phase I and II 14
286	286	of the SBIR or STTR program 15
287	287	as a result of an award using 16
288	288	funds made available under a 17
289	289	strategic breakthrough allocation; 18
290	290	‘‘(cc) have been awarded not 19
291	291	more than $50,000,000 in cumu-20
292	292	lative Department of Defense 21
293	293	contracts or awards; and 22
294	294	‘‘(dd) only be eligible for an 23
295	295	award from the strategic break-24
296	296	through allocation if the product, 25
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299	299	•S 853 IS
300	300	process, or technology of the 1
301	301	small business concern— 2
302	302	‘‘(AA) meets a nec-3
303	303	essary level of readiness and 4
304	304	has a commitment for inclu-5
305	305	sion in a program objective 6
306	306	memorandum from an offi-7
307	307	cial with the rank of pro-8
308	308	gram executive officer or 9
309	309	higher in an acquisition or-10
310	310	ganization of the Depart-11
311	311	ment of Defense; 12
312	312	‘‘(BB) is an effective 13
313	313	solution, as determined by 14
314	314	market research; and 15
315	315	‘‘(CC) will meet high 16
316	316	priority military require-17
317	317	ments or operational needs 18
318	318	of a military department 19
319	319	through a successful transi-20
320	320	tion and into the acquisition 21
321	321	process. 22
322	322	‘‘(III) D
323	323	EADLINE.—The Depart-23
324	324	ment of Defense shall complete any 24
325	325	contract awards using strategic break-25
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328	328	•S 853 IS
329	329	through allocation funds not later 1
330	330	than 90 days after receiving a pro-2
331	331	posal from a small business concern 3
332	332	for the award. 4
333	333	‘‘(IV) E
334	334	LIGIBLE ACTIVITIES.— 5
335	335	Eligible activities by a small business 6
336	336	concern using strategic breakthrough 7
337	337	allocation funds are— 8
338	338	‘‘(aa) design for manufac-9
339	339	turing; 10
340	340	‘‘(bb) establishing manufac-11
341	341	turing facilities, tooling, and sup-12
342	342	ply chain capacity; 13
343	343	‘‘(cc) buying raw materials 14
344	344	or inventory; 15
345	345	‘‘(dd) the integration of 16
346	346	products with open interoper-17
347	347	ability standards; 18
348	348	‘‘(ee) testing, evaluation, 19
349	349	and certification of low-rate pro-20
350	350	duction units; and 21
351	351	‘‘(ff) the purchase of pro-22
352	352	duction units and maintenance. 23
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356	356	‘‘(V) SELECTION CRITERIA.—In 1
357	357	making awards, the Department of 2
358	358	Defense shall consider— 3
359	359	‘‘(aa) the potential of the 4
360	360	small business concern to— 5
361	361	‘‘(AA) advance the na-6
362	362	tional security capabilities of 7
363	363	the United States; 8
364	364	‘‘(BB) provide new 9
365	365	technologies or processes, or 10
366	366	new applications of existing 11
367	367	technologies, that will enable 12
368	368	new alternatives to existing 13
369	369	programs; 14
370	370	‘‘(CC) provide future 15
371	371	cost savings; and 16
372	372	‘‘(DD) enhance the 17
373	373	lethality and efficiency of 18
374	374	the United States military; 19
375	375	‘‘(bb) whether a major sys-20
376	376	tem or customer in the Depart-21
377	377	ment of Defense has expressed 22
378	378	intent to purchase and integrate 23
379	379	technology from the small busi-24
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382	382	•S 853 IS
383	383	ness concern into its operations; 1
384	384	and 2
385	385	‘‘(cc) such other criteria that 3
386	386	the Department of Defense deter-4
387	387	mines to be appropriate. 5
388	388	‘‘(D) A
389	389	CQUISITION MECHANISM .—The De-6
390	390	partment of Defense shall establish a mecha-7
391	391	nism, such as a major system, to provide small 8
392	392	business concerns with direct access to program 9
393	393	and requirements offices throughout the De-10
394	394	partment of Defense that may purchase tech-11
395	395	nology from small business concerns under 12
396	396	Phase III of the SBIR program of the Depart-13
397	397	ment of Defense. 14
398	398	‘‘(E) O
399	399	PERATIONAL NEEDS .—The Depart-15
400	400	ment of Defense shall allow services to provide 16
401	401	operational needs statements directly to chiefs 17
402	402	of requirements offices.’’; and 18
403	403	(v) in subparagraph (F), as so redes-19
404	404	ignated— 20
405	405	(I) by amending clause (i) to 21
406	406	read as follows: 22
407	407	‘‘(i) set a goal to substantively in-23
408	408	crease the number of Phase II SBIR con-24
409	409	tracts awarded by the Secretary that lead 25
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413	413	to technology transition into programs of 1
414	414	record or fielded systems in fiscal year 2
415	415	2028 compared to fiscal year 2025; and’’; 3
416	416	(II) by striking clause (ii); 4
417	417	(III) by redesignating clause (iii) 5
418	418	as clause (ii); and 6
419	419	(IV) in clause (ii), as so redesig-7
420	420	nated— 8
421	421	(aa) in subclause (I), by 9
422	422	adding ‘‘and’’ at the end; 10
423	423	(bb) in subclause (II)— 11
424	424	(AA) by striking 12
425	425	‘‘through the Commer-13
426	426	cialization Readiness Pro-14
427	427	gram’’ and inserting ‘‘under 15
428	428	a strategic breakthrough al-16
429	429	location’’; and 17
430	430	(BB) by striking ‘‘; 18
431	431	and’’ and inserting a period; 19
432	432	and 20
433	433	(cc) by striking subclause 21
434	434	(III); and 22
435	435	(4) by redesignating subsection (xx), entitled 23
436	436	‘‘Additional Provisions Relating to Solicitation Top-24
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439	439	•S 853 IS
440	440	ics’’, as subsection (y), and moving it so as to ap-1
441	441	pear after subsection (x). 2
442	442	(b) T
443	443	ECHNICAL ANDCONFORMINGAMENDMENTS.— 3
444	444	Section 9 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638), as 4
445	445	amended by this Act, is amended— 5
446	446	(1) in subsection (i)(1), by striking ‘‘subsection 6
447	447	(y)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection (ff)(3)’’; 7
448	448	(2) in subsection (mm)(1)(D), by striking ‘‘sub-8
449	449	section (y)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection (ff)(3)’’; and 9
450	450	(3) in subsection (tt), by striking ‘‘(y)(6)(C)’’ 10
451	451	and inserting ‘‘(ff)(3)(F)(ii)’’. 11
452	452	SEC. 103. IMPLEMENTATION BRIEFINGS. 12
453	453	Not later than 60 days after the date of enactment 13
454	454	of this Act, and on a recurrent basis until implementation 14
455	455	is complete, the Secretary of Defense shall brief the Com-15
456	456	mittee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship of the 16
457	457	Senate and the Committee on Small Business and the 17
458	458	Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the 18
459	459	House of Representatives on the implementation of para-19
460	460	graph (3) of section 9(ff) of the Small Business Act (15 20
461	461	U.S.C. 638(ff)), as added by section 102. 21
462	462	SEC. 104. FIXED-PRICE CONTRACTS. 22
463	463	Section 9 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638) 23
464	464	is amended— 24
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467	467	•S 853 IS
468	468	(1) in subsection (f), by adding at the end the 1
469	469	following: 2
470	470	‘‘(5) F
471	471	IXED-PRICE CONTRACT.—Any funding 3
472	472	agreement that is a contract made with expenditures 4
473	473	allocated to the SBIR program under paragraph (1) 5
474	474	shall be a firm-fixed-price contract (as defined in 6
475	475	section 16.202 of the Federal Acquisition Regula-7
476	476	tion), unless, on a case-by-case basis, the head of the 8
477	477	awarding Federal agency makes a written deter-9
478	478	mination to utilize a different contract structure.’’; 10
479	479	and 11
480	480	(2) in subsection (n), as amended by section 12
481	481	101, by adding at the end the following: 13
482	482	‘‘(5) F
483	483	IXED-PRICE CONTRACT.—Any funding 14
484	484	agreement that is a contract made with expenditures 15
485	485	allocated to the STTR program under paragraph (1) 16
486	486	shall be a firm-fixed-price contract (as defined in 17
487	487	section 16.202 of the Federal Acquisition Regula-18
488	488	tion), unless the head of the awarding Federal agen-19
489	489	cy makes a written determination to utilize a dif-20
490	490	ferent contract structure.’’. 21
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493	493	•S 853 IS
494	494	TITLE II—ENCOURAGING SMALL 1
495	495	BUSINESS INNOVATION IN 2
496	496	ALL OF AMERICA 3
497	497	SEC. 201. ENCOURAGING NEW SBIR AND STTR ENTRANTS. 4
498	498	(a) I
499	499	NGENERAL.— 5
500	500	(1) E
501	501	NCOURAGING NEW SBIR AND STTR EN -6
502	502	TRANTS.—Section 9(jj) of the Small Business Act 7
503	503	(15 U.S.C. 638(jj)) is amended to read as follows: 8
504	504	‘‘(jj) E
505	505	NCOURAGINGNEWSBIR ANDSTTR EN-9
506	506	TRANTS.— 10
507	507	‘‘(1) O
508	508	PTIMIZING SBIR AND STTR FUNDING .—A 11
509	509	small business concern, including its affiliates, spin-12
510	510	outs, or subsidiaries, may not apply to a Phase I or 13
511	511	Phase II solicitation under an SBIR or STTR pro-14
512	512	gram if the small business concern, including its af-15
513	513	filiates, spinouts, or subsidiaries, has previously re-16
514	514	ceived over $75,000,000 in funding from SBIR or 17
515	515	STTR Phase I and Phase II awards. 18
516	516	‘‘(2) P
517	517	RIMARY INVESTIGATORS .—An individual 19
518	518	may not concurrently serve as the primary investi-20
519	519	gator on more than 1 proposal to a single Phase I 21
520	520	solicitation or a single Phase II solicitation. 22
521	521	‘‘(3) P
522	522	HASE I SIZE STANDARD .—A small busi-23
523	523	ness concern applying for a Phase I award may not 24
524	524	have annual receipts (as defined in section 121.104 25
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527	527	•S 853 IS
528	528	of title 13, Code of Federal Regulations, or any suc-1
529	529	cessor regulation) of more than $40,000,000 for the 2
530	530	most recent fiscal year.’’. 3
531	531	(2) C
532	532	ONFORMING AMENDMENT .—Section 4
533	533	9(tt)(1)(A) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 5
534	534	638(tt)(1)(A)) by striking ‘‘, (jj)(6)’’. 6
535	535	(b) P
536	536	HASE1A PROGRAM.—Section 9 of the Small 7
537	537	Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638), as amended by this Act, 8
538	538	is amended— 9
539	539	(1) in subsection (e)(4)— 10
540	540	(A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘sub-11
541	541	paragraph (B)’’ and inserting ‘‘subparagraph 12
542	542	(C)’’; 13
543	543	(B) by redesignating subparagraphs (B) 14
544	544	and (C) as subparagraphs (C) and (D); and 15
545	545	(C) by inserting after subparagraph (A), 16
546	546	the following: 17
547	547	‘‘(B) a 1A phase for the same purposes as 18
548	548	the first phase described under subparagraph 19
549	549	(A) and intended to increase accessibility to the 20
550	550	program for new entrants, with proposals sub-21
551	551	mitted pursuant to only SBIR open topic an-22
552	552	nouncements;’’; and 23
553	553	(2) by amending subsection (pp) to read as fol-24
554	554	lows: 25
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557	557	•S 853 IS
558	558	‘‘(pp) PHASE1A AWARDS.— 1
559	559	‘‘(1) S
560	560	ENSE OF CONGRESS .—It is the sense of 2
561	561	Congress that— 3
562	562	‘‘(A) Phase 1A funds will bring thousands 4
563	563	of new small business concerns committed to 5
564	564	commercialization of critical technologies into 6
565	565	the SBIR program; and 7
566	566	‘‘(B) in order for participating agencies to 8
567	567	benefit from the full scope of American innova-9
568	568	tion and identify the most promising solutions 10
569	569	to scale, Phase 1A awards should fund the 11
570	570	strongest technologies in a topic area regardless 12
571	571	of— 13
572	572	‘‘(i) the location of the small business 14
573	573	concern within the United States; or 15
574	574	‘‘(ii) the educational background of 16
575	575	the principal investigator. 17
576	576	‘‘(2) A
577	577	UTHORIZATION.—The head of each agen-18
578	578	cy with an SBIR program shall allocate not less 19
579	579	than 2.5 percent of funding for the SBIR program 20
580	580	of the agency to Phase 1A awards. 21
581	581	‘‘(3) S
582	582	OLICITATION.—A solicitation issued 22
583	583	under this subsection shall be conducted as an open 23
584	584	topic announcement, as defined in subsection (e). 24
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587	587	•S 853 IS
588	588	‘‘(4) ELIGIBILITY.—In order to be eligible for 1
589	589	an award under this subsection, a small business 2
590	590	concern, including its affiliates, spinouts, or subsidi-3
591	591	aries, shall not have previously received an SBIR or 4
592	592	STTR award. 5
593	593	‘‘(5) P
594	594	ROPOSAL.— 6
595	595	‘‘(A) I
596	596	N GENERAL.—A proposal submitted 7
597	597	in response to a solicitation under this sub-8
598	598	section shall consist of a report of no more than 9
599	599	2 pages in length and shall contain the criteria 10
600	600	described in subparagraph (B). 11
601	601	‘‘(B) C
602	602	RITERIA.— 12
603	603	‘‘(i) I
604	604	DENTIFICATION OF PROBLEM .— 13
605	605	The small business concern shall describe 14
606	606	the problem that the proposal is intended 15
607	607	to address for the awarding agency and 16
608	608	any commercial customer. 17
609	609	‘‘(ii) D
610	610	ESCRIPTION OF SOLUTION .— 18
611	611	The small business concern shall describe 19
612	612	the proposed solution, including the tech-20
613	613	nical basis for the solution to demonstrate 21
614	614	how the solution would address the prob-22
615	615	lem described in the proposal, including 23
616	616	the level of maturity of the solution at the 24
617	617	time of the proposal. 25
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620	620	•S 853 IS
621	621	‘‘(iii) IMPACT OF THE SOLUTION .— 1
622	622	The small business concern shall describe 2
623	623	how adoption of the proposed solution 3
624	624	would produce potential time savings, cost 4
625	625	savings, risk reduction, improvement of 5
626	626	mission outcomes, or any other beneficial 6
627	627	impact for the awarding agency and any 7
628	628	commercial customer. 8
629	629	‘‘(iv) D
630	630	IFFERENTIATION.—The small 9
631	631	business concern shall— 10
632	632	‘‘(I) identify the state of solu-11
633	633	tions in use at the time of the pro-12
634	634	posal to address the problem de-13
635	635	scribed in the proposal; and 14
636	636	‘‘(II) explain how the proposed 15
637	637	solution is a unique and novel solu-16
638	638	tion. 17
639	639	‘‘(v) C
640	640	OMMERCIALIZATION STRAT -18
641	641	EGY.—The small business concern shall— 19
642	642	‘‘(I) describe how the small busi-20
643	643	ness concern intends to fund the pro-21
644	644	posed solution; and 22
645	645	‘‘(II) explain the market for the 23
646	646	proposed solution, including the in-24
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649	649	•S 853 IS
650	650	tended Government and commercial 1
651	651	end users. 2
652	652	‘‘(6) A
653	653	WARD LIMITS.— 3
654	654	‘‘(A) N
655	655	UMBER OF AWARDS .—A small busi-4
656	656	ness concern or principal investigator is eligible 5
657	657	for not more than 1 Phase 1A award. 6
658	658	‘‘(B) A
659	659	MOUNT.—An award made under 7
660	660	this subsection shall be for not more than 8
661	661	$40,000. 9
662	662	‘‘(7) N
663	663	OTIFICATION OF SELECTION OR NON -SE-10
664	664	LECTION.—Each agency shall notify each small busi-11
665	665	ness concern of the award decision of the agency on 12
666	666	any proposal submitted by the small business con-13
667	667	cern not later than 90 days after the date on which 14
668	668	the solicitation closes. 15
669	669	‘‘(8) A
670	670	PPLICATION FOR PHASE II AWARD .— 16
671	671	‘‘(A) E
672	672	LIGIBILITY.—A small business con-17
673	673	cern that receives a Phase 1A award shall be el-18
674	674	igible to apply for a Phase II award. 19
675	675	‘‘(B) U
676	676	SE OF FUNDS.—A small business 20
677	677	concern may use funds from a Phase 1A award 21
678	678	to develop a proposed solution in pursuit of a 22
679	679	subsequent proposal for a Phase I award or a 23
680	680	Phase II award.’’. 24
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683	683	•S 853 IS
684	684	SEC. 202. COMBATING DISCRIMINATORY PRACTICES IN 1
685	685	THE SBIR AND STTR PROGRAMS. 2
686	686	Section 9 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638), 3
687	687	as amended by this Act, is amended— 4
688	688	(1) in subsection (b)(7)(C), by striking ‘‘owned 5
689	689	and controlled by women or by socially and economi-6
690	690	cally disadvantaged individuals’’ and inserting 7
691	691	‘‘owned by individuals who reside in emerging States 8
692	692	or rural areas’’; 9
693	693	(2) in subsection (e)— 10
694	694	(A) in paragraph (18), by striking ‘‘and’’ 11
695	695	at the end; 12
696	696	(B) in paragraph (19), by striking the pe-13
697	697	riod at the end and inserting a semicolon; and 14
698	698	(C) by adding at the end the following: 15
699	699	‘‘(20) the term ‘emerging State’ means the 25 16
700	700	States with the fewest combined number of award 17
701	701	recipients in the SBIR program and the STTR pro-18
702	702	gram that have received their first Phase I award in 19
703	703	the previous 10 fiscal years; 20
704	704	‘‘(21) the term ‘rural area’ means a county or 21
705	705	other political subdivision of a State that the Bureau 22
706	706	of the Census has defined as mostly rural or com-23
707	707	pletely rural in the most recent decennial census;’’; 24
708	708	(3) in subsection (g)(8)(A)— 25
709	709	(A) by striking clause (iii); 26
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712	712	•S 853 IS
713	713	(B) by redesignating clauses (iv), (v), and 1
714	714	(vi) as clauses (iii), (iv), and (v), respectively; 2
715	715	and 3
716	716	(C) in clause (iii), as so redesignated, by 4
717	717	striking ‘‘a socially or economically disadvan-5
718	718	taged individual or has a socially or economi-6
719	719	cally disadvantaged individual’’ and inserting 7
720	720	‘‘an individual who resides in an emerging State 8
721	721	or rural area or has an individual who resides 9
722	722	in an emerging State or rural area’’; 10
723	723	(4) in subsection (j)— 11
724	724	(A) by adjusting the margins for para-12
725	725	graphs (2) and (3) 2 ems to the left; and 13
726	726	(B) in paragraph (2)— 14
727	727	(i) by striking subparagraph (F); 15
728	728	(ii) by redesignating subparagraphs 16
729	729	(G), (H), and (I) as subparagraphs (F), 17
730	730	(G), and (H); and 18
731	731	(iii) in subparagraph (H), as so redes-19
732	732	ignated, by striking ‘‘subparagraph (H)’’ 20
733	733	and inserting ‘‘subparagraph (G)’’; 21
734	734	(5) in subsection (k)(1)(F)— 22
735	735	(A) by striking clause (ii); 23
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738	738	•S 853 IS
739	739	(B) by redesignating clauses (iii), (iv), and 1
740	740	(v) as clauses (ii), (iii), and (iv), respectively; 2
741	741	and 3
742	742	(C) in clause (ii), as so redesignated, by 4
743	743	striking ‘‘a socially or economically disadvan-5
744	744	taged individual or has a socially or economi-6
745	745	cally disadvantaged individual’’ and inserting 7
746	746	‘‘an individual who resides in an emerging State 8
747	747	or rural area or has an individual who resides 9
748	748	in an emerging State or rural area’’; 10
749	749	(6) in subsection (o)(9)(A)— 11
750	750	(A) by striking clause (iii); 12
751	751	(B) by redesignating clauses (iv), (v), and 13
752	752	(vi) as clauses (iii), (iv), and (v), respectively; 14
753	753	and 15
754	754	(C) in clause (iii), as so redesignated, by 16
755	755	striking ‘‘a socially or economically disadvan-17
756	756	taged individual or has a socially or economi-18
757	757	cally disadvantaged individual’’ and inserting 19
758	758	‘‘an individual who resides in an emerging State 20
759	759	or rural area or has an individual who resides 21
760	760	in an emerging State or rural area’’; and 22
761	761	(7) in subsection (mm)— 23
762	762	(A) in paragraph (1)— 24
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765	765	•S 853 IS
766	766	(i) in the matter preceding subpara-1
767	767	graph (A), by striking ‘‘and until Sep-2
768	768	tember 30, 2025’’; and 3
769	769	(ii) in subparagraph (F), by striking 4
770	770	‘‘or abuse to ensure compliance’’ and in-5
771	771	serting ‘‘abuse, or adversarial influence to 6
772	772	ensure compliance’’; 7
773	773	(B) in paragraph (2)(A), by striking ‘‘to 8
774	774	carry out the policy directive required under 9
775	775	subsection (j)(2)(F) and’’ and inserting ‘‘to in-10
776	776	crease the participation of States with respect 11
777	777	to which a low level of SBIR awards have his-12
778	778	torically been awarded’’; and 13
779	779	(C) by adding at the end the following: 14
780	780	‘‘(7) E
781	781	LIGIBILITY.—For an agency to be eligi-15
782	782	ble to utilize funds allocated to the SBIR program 16
783	783	of that Federal agency under this subsection, the 17
784	784	agency shall not— 18
785	785	‘‘(A) consider the race, gender, or ethnicity 19
786	786	of the principal investigator, founder, or key 20
787	787	personnel of the small business concern apply-21
788	788	ing for an SBIR or STTR award in an award 22
789	789	decision under the SBIR or STTR program of 23
790	790	the agency; 24
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793	793	•S 853 IS
794	794	‘‘(B) require or consider a statement or 1
795	795	plan to promote diversity or equity as part of 2
796	796	an application for an SBIR or STTR award 3
797	797	under the SBIR or STTR program of the agen-4
798	798	cy; or 5
799	799	‘‘(C) offer supplemental funds to a recipi-6
800	800	ent of an SBIR or STTR award based on the 7
801	801	race, gender, or ethnicity of the principal inves-8
802	802	tigator, founder, or key personnel of a small 9
803	803	business concern.’’. 10
804	804	TITLE III—STREAMLINING PAR-11
805	805	TICIPATION IN THE SBIR AND 12
806	806	STTR PROGRAMS 13
807	807	SEC. 301. DEFINITION OF OPEN TOPICS. 14
808	808	Section 9(e) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 15
809	809	638(e)), as amended by section 202(2), is amended by 16
810	810	adding at the end the following: 17
811	811	‘‘(22) the term ‘open topic announcement’ 18
812	812	means a solicitation for SBIR or STTR proposals 19
813	813	that— 20
814	814	‘‘(A) is a generalized problem statement or 21
815	815	broad technology area and does not contain any 22
816	816	language requiring that the solutions that a 23
817	817	small business concern proposes adhere to spe-24
818	818	cific technological specifications; and 25
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821	821	•S 853 IS
822	822	‘‘(B) evaluates the ability of the solution 1
823	823	proposed by the small business concern to meet 2
824	824	the stated innovation need of the agency or 3
825	825	Government end user; and’’. 4
826	826	SEC. 302. REDUCING ADMINISTRATIVE BURDEN. 5
827	827	Section 9(jj) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 6
828	828	638(jj)), as amended by section 201(a)(1), is amended by 7
829	829	adding at the end the following: 8
830	830	‘‘(4) R
831	831	EDUCING ADMINISTRATIVE BURDEN .— 9
832	832	‘‘(A) L
833	833	IMIT ON SUBMISSIONS TO A SOLICI -10
834	834	TATION.—A small business concern, including 11
835	835	its affiliates, spinouts, or subsidiaries, may not 12
836	836	submit more than 3 proposals to a single Phase 13
837	837	I solicitation or a single Phase II solicitation 14
838	838	under subsection (cc). 15
839	839	‘‘(B) L
840	840	IMIT ON SUBMISSIONS IN A SINGLE 16
841	841	YEAR.—A small business concern, including its 17
842	842	affiliates, spinouts, or subsidiaries, may not 18
843	843	submit more than a combined total of 25 pro-19
844	844	posals to Phase I solicitations or Phase II so-20
845	845	licitations under subsection (cc) published by a 21
846	846	single agency, including the components of the 22
847	847	agency, in a single fiscal year.’’. 23
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850	850	•S 853 IS
851	851	TITLE IV—PROTECTING AMER-1
852	852	ICAN INNOVATION FROM AD-2
853	853	VERSARIAL INFLUENCE 3
854	854	SEC. 401. DEFINITION OF FOREIGN RISK. 4
855	855	Section 9(e) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 5
856	856	638(e)), as amended by section 301, is amended by adding 6
857	857	at the end the following: 7
858	858	‘‘(23) the term ‘foreign risk’ means, in the past 8
859	859	10 years, any foreign affiliation, technology licensing 9
860	860	agreement, joint venture, contractual or financial ob-10
861	861	ligation (pending or otherwise), investment agree-11
862	862	ment, research relationship (including co-author-12
863	863	ship), or business relationship between— 13
864	864	‘‘(A) a small business concern (including 14
865	865	all subsidiaries, spinouts, and affiliates) submit-15
866	866	ting a proposal for an SBIR or STTR program, 16
867	867	and covered individuals, owners, or other key 17
868	868	personnel of the small business concern; and 18
869	869	‘‘(B) an individual, research institution, 19
870	870	business entity, government, or government- 20
871	871	owned entity in a foreign country of concern 21
872	872	that is disclosed, as required under subsection 22
873	873	(g) or subsection (o), or otherwise identified in 23
874	874	the due diligence process, as required under 24
875	875	subsection (vv).’’. 25
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878	878	•S 853 IS
879	879	SEC. 402. BOLSTERING RESEARCH SECURITY OF SBIR AND 1
880	880	STTR AWARDS. 2
881	881	Section 9 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638), 3
882	882	as amended by this Act, is amended— 4
883	883	(1) in subsection (g)— 5
884	884	(A) by redesignating paragraphs (15), 6
885	885	(16), and (17) as paragraphs (16), (18) and 7
886	886	(19), respectively; 8
887	887	(B) by inserting after paragraph (14) the 9
888	888	following: 10
889	889	‘‘(15) evaluate whether a small business con-11
890	890	cern presents a risk to national security for any rea-12
891	891	son, through measures including— 13
892	892	‘‘(A) the due diligence process required 14
893	893	under subsection (vv); 15
894	894	‘‘(B) disclosures submitted under this sub-16
895	895	section; or 17
896	896	‘‘(C) coordination with the Inspector Gen-18
897	897	eral of the agency or the intelligence community 19
898	898	(as defined under section 3 of the National Se-20
899	899	curity Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3003));’’; 21
900	900	(C) in paragraph (16), as so redesig-22
901	901	nated— 23
902	902	(i) by striking subparagraph (B); 24
903	903	(ii) by striking ‘‘that—’’ and all that 25
904	904	follows through ‘‘the small business con-26
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907	907	•S 853 IS
908	908	cern submitting’’ and inserting ‘‘that the 1
909	909	small business concern submitting’’; 2
910	910	(iii) by redesignating clauses (i), (ii), 3
911	911	and (iii) as subparagraphs (A), (B), and 4
912	912	(C), respectively, and adjusting the mar-5
913	913	gins accordingly; 6
914	914	(iv) in subparagraph (B), as so redes-7
915	915	ignated, by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end; 8
916	916	(v) in subparagraph (C), as so redes-9
917	917	ignated, by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; and 10
918	918	(vi) by adding at the end the fol-11
919	919	lowing: 12
920	920	‘‘(D) has a foreign risk connecting the 13
921	921	small business concern to an entity, including 14
922	922	any affiliates, spinouts, or subsidiaries of the 15
923	923	entity, or individual on one or more of the fol-16
924	924	lowing lists: 17
925	925	‘‘(i) the UFLPA Entity List main-18
926	926	tained by the Department of Homeland Se-19
927	927	curity; 20
928	928	‘‘(ii) the Non-SDN Chinese Military- 21
929	929	Industrial Complex Companies List of the 22
930	930	Office of Foreign Assets Control main-23
931	931	tained by the Department of the Treasury; 24
932	932	VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:54 Mar 18, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00032 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S853.IS S853
933	933	kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 33
934	934	•S 853 IS
935	935	‘‘(iii) the Section 889 Prohibition List 1
936	936	established under section 889 of the John 2
937	937	S. McCain National Defense Authorization 3
938	938	Act for Fiscal Year 2019 (Public Law 4
939	939	115–232) and maintained by the Depart-5
940	940	ment of Defense; 6
941	941	‘‘(iv) the list of Chinese Military com-7
942	942	panies required under section 1260H of 8
943	943	the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National 9
944	944	Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 10
945	945	2021 (Public Law 116–283) and main-11
946	946	tained by the Department of Defense; 12
947	947	‘‘(v) the Military End User List main-13
948	948	tained by the Bureau of Industry and Se-14
949	949	curity of the Department of Commerce; 15
950	950	‘‘(vi) the Entity List maintained by 16
951	951	the Bureau of Industry and Security of the 17
952	952	Department of Commerce; 18
953	953	‘‘(vii) the List of Equipment and 19
954	954	Services maintained by the Federal Com-20
955	955	munications Commission; and 21
956	956	‘‘(viii) the Withhold Release Orders 22
957	957	and Findings List maintained by U.S. 23
958	958	Customs and Border Protection; 24
959	959	VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:54 Mar 18, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00033 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S853.IS S853
960	960	kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 34
961	961	•S 853 IS
962	962	‘‘(E) has a foreign risk with a primary 1
963	963	source that is classified; or 2
964	964	‘‘(F) has a foreign risk or another national 3
965	965	security risk not listed in statute or regulatory 4
966	966	guidance that an agency determines warrants a 5
967	967	denial;’’; 6
968	968	(D) by inserting after paragraph (16), as 7
969	969	so redesignated, the following: 8
970	970	‘‘(17) not, and any personnel of the Federal 9
971	971	agency including technical points of contact shall 10
972	972	not, communicate to an applicant prior to formal no-11
973	973	tification of an award decision that an application 12
974	974	was denied due to a foreign risk;’’; and 13
975	975	(E) in paragraph (19), as so redesig-14
976	976	nated— 15
977	977	(i) in subparagraph (B), by striking 16
978	978	‘‘(16)(A)’’ and inserting ‘‘(18)(A)’’; and 17
979	979	(ii) in subparagraph (C), by striking 18
980	980	‘‘(16)(B)’’ and inserting ‘‘(18)(B)’’; and 19
981	981	(2) in subsection (o)— 20
982	982	(A) by redesignating paragraphs (19), 21
983	983	(20), and (21) as paragraphs (20), (22) and 22
984	984	(23), respectively; 23
985	985	(B) by inserting after paragraph (18) the 24
986	986	following: 25
987	987	VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:54 Mar 18, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00034 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S853.IS S853
988	988	kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 35
989	989	•S 853 IS
990	990	‘‘(19) evaluate whether a small business con-1
991	991	cern presents a risk to national security for any rea-2
992	992	son, through measures including— 3
993	993	‘‘(A) the due diligence process required 4
994	994	under subsection (vv); 5
995	995	‘‘(B) disclosures submitted under this sub-6
996	996	section; or 7
997	997	‘‘(C) coordination with the Inspector Gen-8
998	998	eral of the agency or the intelligence community 9
999	999	(as defined under section 3 of the National Se-10
1000	1000	curity Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3003));’’; 11
1001	1001	(C) in paragraph (20), as so redesig-12
1002	1002	nated— 13
1003	1003	(i) by striking subparagraph (B); 14
1004	1004	(ii) by striking ‘‘that—’’ and all that 15
1005	1005	follows through ‘‘the small business con-16
1006	1006	cern submitting’’ and inserting ‘‘that the 17
1007	1007	small business concern submitting’’; 18
1008	1008	(iii) by redesignating clauses (i), (ii), 19
1009	1009	and (iii) as subparagraphs (A), (B), and 20
1010	1010	(C), respectively, and adjusting the mar-21
1011	1011	gins accordingly; 22
1012	1012	(iv) in subparagraph (B), as so redes-23
1013	1013	ignated, by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end; 24
1014	1014	VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:54 Mar 18, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00035 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S853.IS S853
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1016	1016	•S 853 IS
1017	1017	(v) in subparagraph (C), as so redes-1
1018	1018	ignated, by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; and 2
1019	1019	(vi) by adding at the end the fol-3
1020	1020	lowing: 4
1021	1021	‘‘(D) has a foreign risk connecting the 5
1022	1022	small business concern to an entity, including 6
1023	1023	any affiliates, spinouts, or subsidiaries of the 7
1024	1024	entity, or individual on one or more of the fol-8
1025	1025	lowing lists: 9
1026	1026	‘‘(i) the UFLPA Entity List main-10
1027	1027	tained by the Department of Homeland Se-11
1028	1028	curity; 12
1029	1029	‘‘(ii) the Non-SDN Chinese Military- 13
1030	1030	Industrial Complex Companies List of the 14
1031	1031	Office of Foreign Assets Control main-15
1032	1032	tained by the Department of the Treasury; 16
1033	1033	‘‘(iii) the Section 889 Prohibition List 17
1034	1034	established under section 889 of the John 18
1035	1035	S. McCain National Defense Authorization 19
1036	1036	Act for Fiscal Year 2019 (Public Law 20
1037	1037	115–232) and maintained by the Depart-21
1038	1038	ment of Defense; 22
1039	1039	‘‘(iv) the list of Chinese Military com-23
1040	1040	panies required under section 1260H of 24
1041	1041	the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National 25
1042	1042	VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:54 Mar 18, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00036 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S853.IS S853
1043	1043	kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 37
1044	1044	•S 853 IS
1045	1045	Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1
1046	1046	2021 (Public Law 116–283) and main-2
1047	1047	tained by the Department of Defense; 3
1048	1048	‘‘(v) the Military End User List main-4
1049	1049	tained by the Bureau of Industry and Se-5
1050	1050	curity of the Department of Commerce; 6
1051	1051	‘‘(vi) the Entity List maintained by 7
1052	1052	the Bureau of Industry and Security of the 8
1053	1053	Department of Commerce; 9
1054	1054	‘‘(vii) the List of Equipment and 10
1055	1055	Services maintained by the Federal Com-11
1056	1056	munications Commission; and 12
1057	1057	‘‘(viii) the Withhold Release Orders 13
1058	1058	and Findings List maintained by U.S. 14
1059	1059	Customs and Border Protection; 15
1060	1060	‘‘(E) has a foreign risk with a primary 16
1061	1061	source that is classified; or 17
1062	1062	‘‘(F) has a foreign risk or another national 18
1063	1063	security risk not listed in statute or regulatory 19
1064	1064	guidance that an agency determines warrants a 20
1065	1065	denial;’’; 21
1066	1066	(D) by inserting after paragraph (20) the 22
1067	1067	following: 23
1068	1068	‘‘(21) not, and any personnel of the Federal 24
1069	1069	agency including technical points of contact shall 25
1070	1070	VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:54 Mar 18, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00037 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S853.IS S853
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1072	1072	•S 853 IS
1073	1073	not, communicate to an applicant prior to formal no-1
1074	1074	tification of an award decision that an application 2
1075	1075	was denied due to a foreign risk;’’; and 3
1076	1076	(E) in paragraph (23), as so redesig-4
1077	1077	nated— 5
1078	1078	(i) in subparagraph (B), by striking 6
1079	1079	‘‘(20)(A)’’ and inserting ‘‘(22)(A)’’; and 7
1080	1080	(ii) in subparagraph (C), by striking 8
1081	1081	‘‘(20)(B)’’ and inserting ‘‘(22)(B)’’. 9
1082	1082	SEC. 403. STRENGTHENING THE DUE DILIGENCE PROGRAM 10
1083	1083	TO ASSESS SECURITY RISKS. 11
1084	1084	Section 9(vv)(2) of the Small Business Act (15 12
1085	1085	U.S.C. 638(vv)(2)) is amended— 13
1086	1086	(1) in subparagraph (B), by striking the period 14
1087	1087	at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 15
1088	1088	(2) by adding at the end the following: 16
1089	1089	‘‘(C) examine any relationship of a small 17
1090	1090	business concern seeking an award to any entity 18
1091	1091	or individual included on the lists, as published 19
1092	1092	on the date of the closing of the solicitation, de-20
1093	1093	scribed under subsections (g)(16)(D) and 21
1094	1094	(o)(20)(D).’’. 22
1095	1095	VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:54 Mar 18, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00038 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S853.IS S853
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1097	1097	•S 853 IS
1098	1098	SEC. 404. STRENGTHENING AGENCY RECOVERY AUTHOR-1
1099	1099	ITY. 2
1100	1100	Section 9 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638), 3
1101	1101	as amended by this Act, is amended— 4
1102	1102	(1) in subsection (g)(18), as redesignated by 5
1103	1103	section 402— 6
1104	1104	(A) in the matter preceding subparagraph 7
1105	1105	(A), by inserting ‘‘, as adjusted for inflation ac-8
1106	1106	cording to the Consumer Price Index published 9
1107	1107	by the Bureau of Labor Statistics,’’ after 10
1108	1108	‘‘amounts’’; 11
1109	1109	(B) in subparagraph (A)— 12
1110	1110	(i) by inserting ‘‘during the 10-year 13
1111	1111	period beginning on the date of the award, 14
1112	1112	or during a longer or indefinite period as 15
1113	1113	determined by the head of the awarding 16
1114	1114	agency as necessary for national security,’’ 17
1115	1115	before ‘‘the small business concern’’; and 18
1116	1116	(ii) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end; 19
1117	1117	(C) in subparagraph (B)— 20
1118	1118	(i) by inserting ‘‘during the 10-year 21
1119	1119	period beginning on the date of the award, 22
1120	1120	or during a longer or indefinite period as 23
1121	1121	determined by the head of the awarding 24
1122	1122	agency as necessary for national security,’’ 25
1123	1123	before ‘‘there is a change’’; and 26
1124	1124	VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:54 Mar 18, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00039 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S853.IS S853
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1126	1126	•S 853 IS
1127	1127	(ii) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; and 1
1128	1128	(D) by adding at the end the following: 2
1129	1129	‘‘(C) during the 5-year period beginning on 3
1130	1130	the date of the award, or during a longer or in-4
1131	1131	definite period as determined by the head of the 5
1132	1132	awarding agency as necessary for national secu-6
1133	1133	rity, the small business concern sells, leases, or 7
1134	1134	provides (through joint research, technological 8
1135	1135	licensing, or otherwise) intellectual property 9
1136	1136	that was developed, wholly or in part, using an 10
1137	1137	SBIR award to a foreign entity or individual 11
1138	1138	unless the foreign entity or individual is incor-12
1139	1139	porated in or a citizen of a country that is a 13
1140	1140	member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organiza-14
1141	1141	tion or a major non-NATO ally, as described 15
1142	1142	under section 2321k of title 22, United States 16
1143	1143	Code; or 17
1144	1144	‘‘(D) during the 10-year period beginning 18
1145	1145	on the date of the award, or during a longer or 19
1146	1146	indefinite period as determined by the head of 20
1147	1147	the awarding agency as necessary for national 21
1148	1148	security, the small business concern sells, 22
1149	1149	leases, or provides (through joint research, tech-23
1150	1150	nological licensing, or otherwise) intellectual 24
1151	1151	property that was developed, wholly or in part, 25
1152	1152	VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:54 Mar 18, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00040 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S853.IS S853
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1154	1154	•S 853 IS
1155	1155	using an SBIR award to an entity, government, 1
1156	1156	or individual in a foreign country of concern; 2
1157	1157	and’’; and 3
1158	1158	(2) in subsection (o)(22), as redesignated by 4
1159	1159	section 402— 5
1160	1160	(A) in the matter preceding subparagraph 6
1161	1161	(A), by inserting ‘‘, as adjusted for inflation ac-7
1162	1162	cording to the Consumer Price Index published 8
1163	1163	by the Bureau of Labor Statistics,’’ after 9
1164	1164	‘‘amounts’’; 10
1165	1165	(B) in subparagraph (A)— 11
1166	1166	(i) by inserting ‘‘during the 10-year 12
1167	1167	period beginning on the date of the award, 13
1168	1168	or during a longer or indefinite period as 14
1169	1169	determined by the head of the awarding 15
1170	1170	agency as necessary for national security,’’ 16
1171	1171	before ‘‘the small business concern’’; and 17
1172	1172	(ii) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end; 18
1173	1173	(C) in subparagraph (B)— 19
1174	1174	(i) by inserting ‘‘during the 10-year 20
1175	1175	period beginning on the date of the award, 21
1176	1176	or during a longer or indefinite period as 22
1177	1177	determined by the head of the awarding 23
1178	1178	agency as necessary for national security,’’ 24
1179	1179	before ‘‘there is a change’’; and 25
1180	1180	VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:54 Mar 18, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00041 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S853.IS S853
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1182	1182	•S 853 IS
1183	1183	(ii) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; and 1
1184	1184	(D) by adding at the end the following: 2
1185	1185	‘‘(C) during the 5 year period beginning on 3
1186	1186	the date of the award, or during a longer or in-4
1187	1187	definite period as determined by the head of the 5
1188	1188	awarding agency as necessary for national secu-6
1189	1189	rity, the small business concern sells, leases, or 7
1190	1190	provides (through joint research, technological 8
1191	1191	licensing, or otherwise) intellectual property 9
1192	1192	that was developed, wholly or in part, using an 10
1193	1193	STTR award to a foreign entity or individual 11
1194	1194	unless the foreign entity or individual is incor-12
1195	1195	porated in or a citizen of a country that is a 13
1196	1196	member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organiza-14
1197	1197	tion or a major non-NATO ally, as described 15
1198	1198	under section 2321k of title 22, United States 16
1199	1199	Code; or 17
1200	1200	‘‘(D) during the 10-year period beginning 18
1201	1201	on the date of the award, or during a longer or 19
1202	1202	indefinite period as determined by the head of 20
1203	1203	the awarding agency as necessary for national 21
1204	1204	security, the small business concern sells, 22
1205	1205	leases, or provides (through joint research, tech-23
1206	1206	nological licensing, or otherwise) intellectual 24
1207	1207	property that was developed, wholly or in part, 25
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1210	1210	•S 853 IS
1211	1211	using an STTR award to an entity, govern-1
1212	1212	ment, or individual in a foreign country of con-2
1213	1213	cern; and’’. 3
1214	1214	SEC. 405. BEST PRACTICES ON INVESTOR INFORMATIONAL 4
1215	1215	RIGHTS. 5
1216	1216	Section 9(uu) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 6
1217	1217	638(uu)) is amended to read as follows: 7
1218	1218	‘‘(uu) B
1219	1219	ESTPRACTICES ON INVESTORINFORMA-8
1220	1220	TIONALRIGHTS.— 9
1221	1221	‘‘(1) I
1222	1222	N GENERAL.—The Administrator, in co-10
1223	1223	ordination with the heads of all agencies with an 11
1224	1224	SBIR program, the Director of the White House Of-12
1225	1225	fice of Science and Technology Policy, and the Com-13
1226	1226	mittee on Foreign Investment in the United States, 14
1227	1227	shall develop best practices to be shared with each 15
1228	1228	recipient of an SBIR or STTR award by the agency 16
1229	1229	granting the award. 17
1230	1230	‘‘(2) C
1231	1231	ONTENTS.—The best practices developed 18
1232	1232	under paragraph (1) shall include recommendations 19
1233	1233	for protecting the proprietary technology and intel-20
1234	1234	lectual property of the small business concern from 21
1235	1235	being shared unintentionally to foreign individuals 22
1236	1236	and entities through informational rights of limited 23
1237	1237	partners in venture capital, hedge fund, or private 24
1238	1238	VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:54 Mar 18, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00043 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S853.IS S853
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1240	1240	•S 853 IS
1241	1241	equity firms that have investments in SBIR or 1
1242	1242	STTR recipients.’’. 2
1243	1243	SEC. 406. GAO REPORT. 3
1244	1244	Paragraph (4) of section 4(b) of the SBIR and STTR 4
1245	1245	Extension Act of 2022 (Public Law 117–183; 136 Stat. 5
1246	1246	2194) is amended to read as follows: 6
1247	1247	‘‘(4) GAO
1248	1248	REPORT.— 7
1249	1249	‘‘(A) I
1250	1250	N GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year 8
1251	1251	after the date of enactment of the INNOVATE 9
1252	1252	Act, and annually thereafter for 3 years, the 10
1253	1253	Comptroller General of the United States shall 11
1254	1254	conduct a study and submit to the Committee 12
1255	1255	on Small Business and Entrepreneurship and 13
1256	1256	the Committee on Armed Services of the Senate 14
1257	1257	and the Committee on Small Business, the 15
1258	1258	Committee on Armed Services, and the Com-16
1259	1259	mittee on Science, Space, and Technology of 17
1260	1260	the House of Representatives a report on the 18
1261	1261	implementation and best practices of the due 19
1262	1262	diligence programs established under section 20
1263	1263	9(vv) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 21
1264	1264	638(vv)) across Federal agencies required to es-22
1265	1265	tablish an SBIR or STTR program. 23
1266	1266	‘‘(B) S
1267	1267	TUDY.—The study shall evaluate— 24
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1270	1270	•S 853 IS
1271	1271	‘‘(i) the effectiveness of each Federal 1
1272	1272	agency that participates in the SBIR pro-2
1273	1273	gram or STTR program in identifying— 3
1274	1274	‘‘(I) enhanced risk in cybersecu-4
1275	1275	rity practices in SBIR and STTR 5
1276	1276	projects; 6
1277	1277	‘‘(II) enhanced risk in patents, 7
1278	1278	including co-authorship with aca-8
1279	1279	demics in foreign countries of concern 9
1280	1280	in SBIR and STTR projects; 10
1281	1281	‘‘(III) enhanced foreign influence 11
1282	1282	risk among employees of small busi-12
1283	1283	ness concerns involved in SBIR and 13
1284	1284	STTR projects; 14
1285	1285	‘‘(IV) foreign ownership of a 15
1286	1286	small business concern seeking an 16
1287	1287	award, including the financial ties and 17
1288	1288	obligations (which shall include sur-18
1289	1289	ety, equity, and debt obligations) in 19
1290	1290	SBIR and STTR projects; and 20
1291	1291	‘‘(V) security risks among appli-21
1292	1292	cants to the SBIR program or the 22
1293	1293	STTR program, including connections 23
1294	1294	to an entity, including any affiliates, 24
1295	1295	spinouts, or subsidiaries of the entity, 25
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1298	1298	•S 853 IS
1299	1299	or individual on one or more of the 1
1300	1300	lists referenced in subsection 2
1301	1301	(g)(16)(D); 3
1302	1302	‘‘(ii) by year, the number of proposals 4
1303	1303	and number of small business concerns 5
1304	1304	with foreign risks by each Federal agency 6
1305	1305	that participates in the SBIR program or 7
1306	1306	STTR program, including a delineation of 8
1307	1307	how many of those small business concerns 9
1308	1308	have previously received an award under 10
1309	1309	the SBIR program or STTR program and 11
1310	1310	the nature of those foreign risks made by 12
1311	1311	each Federal agency; and 13
1312	1312	‘‘(iii) the extent to which the Inspec-14
1313	1313	tor General and counterintelligence au-15
1314	1314	thorities of each Federal agency that par-16
1315	1315	ticipates in the SBIR or STTR program 17
1316	1316	effectively conducts investigations, audits, 18
1317	1317	inspections, and outreach relating to the 19
1318	1318	due diligence program to assess security 20
1319	1319	risks in the SBIR or STTR program.’’. 21
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1322	1322	•S 853 IS
1323	1323	TITLE V—SIMPLIFYING SBIR- 1
1324	1324	STTR COMMERCIALIZATION 2
1325	1325	STANDARDS 3
1326	1326	SEC. 501. STREAMLINING TRANSITION AND COMMER-4
1327	1327	CIALIZATION RATE BENCHMARKS. 5
1328	1328	Section 9(qq) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 6
1329	1329	638(qq)) is amended— 7
1330	1330	(1) by amending paragraph (1)(A)(ii) to read 8
1331	1331	as follows: 9
1332	1332	‘‘(ii) for small business concerns that 10
1333	1333	received or receive more than 10 Phase I 11
1334	1334	awards, establish a minimum performance 12
1335	1335	standard with respect to the receipt of 13
1336	1336	Phase II awards that shall be a ratio of at 14
1337	1337	least 0.25 for the number of Phase II 15
1338	1338	awards received as compared to the num-16
1339	1339	ber of Phase I awards received; and’’; and 17
1340	1340	(2) in paragraph (3)— 18
1341	1341	(A) in subparagraph (A), by striking 19
1342	1342	clauses (i) and (ii) and inserting the following: 20
1343	1343	‘‘(i) I
1344	1344	N GENERAL.—With respect to a 21
1345	1345	small business concern that received or re-22
1346	1346	ceives more than 25 Phase I awards, the 23
1347	1347	minimum performance standard shall be a 24
1348	1348	ratio of at least 0.5 for the number of 25
1349	1349	VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:54 Mar 18, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00047 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S853.IS S853
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1351	1351	•S 853 IS
1352	1352	Phase II awards received as compared to 1
1353	1353	the number of Phase I awards received. 2
1354	1354	‘‘(ii) C
1355	1355	ONSEQUENCE OF FAILURE TO 3
1356	1356	MEET STANDARD.—If the head of a Fed-4
1357	1357	eral agency determines that a small busi-5
1358	1358	ness concern is not meeting the applicable 6
1359	1359	increased minimum performance standard 7
1360	1360	established under clause (i), such small 8
1361	1361	business concern may not participate in 9
1362	1362	Phase I of the SBIR or STTR program of 10
1363	1363	that agency during the 1-year period be-11
1364	1364	ginning on the date on which such deter-12
1365	1365	mination is made and the small business 13
1366	1366	concern may not receive more than 5 total 14
1367	1367	Phase I awards from that agency during 15
1368	1368	each 1-year period thereafter until the 16
1369	1369	small business concern surpasses the min-17
1370	1370	imum performance standard established 18
1371	1371	under clause (i).’’; and 19
1372	1372	(B) in subparagraph (B)— 20
1373	1373	(i) in clause (i), by striking subclauses 21
1374	1374	(I) and (II) and inserting the following: 22
1375	1375	‘‘(I) with respect to a small busi-23
1376	1376	ness concern, including its affiliates, 24
1377	1377	spinouts, and subsidiaries, that has 25
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1380	1380	•S 853 IS
1381	1381	received more than 25 Phase II 1
1382	1382	awards over its lifetime, require the 2
1383	1383	sum of the annual receipts (as defined 3
1384	1384	in section 121.104 of title 13, Code of 4
1385	1385	Federal Regulations, or any successor 5
1386	1386	regulation) of the small business con-6
1387	1387	cern from sources other than Phase I 7
1388	1388	or Phase II SBIR or STTR awards 8
1389	1389	and investments received by the small 9
1390	1390	business concern to at minimum ex-10
1391	1391	ceed the sum of the dollars awarded 11
1392	1392	through Phase I and Phase II awards 12
1393	1393	since the date of the first such award; 13
1394	1394	and 14
1395	1395	‘‘(II) with respect to a small 15
1396	1396	business concern, including its affili-16
1397	1397	ates, spinouts, and subsidiaries, that 17
1398	1398	receives more than 25 Phase II 18
1399	1399	awards over its lifetime, require a 19
1400	1400	minimum of 65 percent of the sum of 20
1401	1401	the annual receipts (as defined in sec-21
1402	1402	tion 121.104 of title 13, Code of Fed-22
1403	1403	eral Regulations, or any successor 23
1404	1404	regulation) of the small business con-24
1405	1405	cern and investments received by the 25
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1408	1408	•S 853 IS
1409	1409	small business concern during the 3 1
1410	1410	years preceding the most recent fiscal 2
1411	1411	year come from sources other than 3
1412	1412	Phase I or Phase II SBIR or STTR 4
1413	1413	awards.’’; and 5
1414	1414	(ii) by amending clause (ii) to read as 6
1415	1415	follows: 7
1416	1416	‘‘(ii) C
1417	1417	ONSEQUENCE OF FAILURE TO 8
1418	1418	MEET STANDARD.—If the head of a Fed-9
1419	1419	eral agency determines that a small busi-10
1420	1420	ness concern is not meeting an applicable 11
1421	1421	increased minimum performance standard 12
1422	1422	modified under clause (i), the small busi-13
1423	1423	ness concern may not apply for additional 14
1424	1424	Phase I awards or Phase II awards until 15
1425	1425	the small business concern has received 16
1426	1426	enough annual receipts from sources other 17
1427	1427	than an SBIR or STTR program to sur-18
1428	1428	pass the minimum performance standard 19
1429	1429	established under clause (i).’’. 20
1430	1430	SEC. 502. IMPROVING DIRECT TO PHASE II AUTHORITIES. 21
1431	1431	Section 9(cc) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 22
1432	1432	638(cc)) is amended to read as follows: 23
1433	1433	‘‘(cc) P
1434	1434	HASEFLEXIBILITY.— 24
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1437	1437	•S 853 IS
1438	1438	‘‘(1) AWARDING A PHASE II AWARD ABSENT A 1
1439	1439	PHASE I AWARD.—Each agency with an SBIR pro-2
1440	1440	gram may provide to a small business concern an 3
1441	1441	award under Phase II of the SBIR program with re-4
1442	1442	spect to a project, without regard to whether the 5
1443	1443	small business concern was provided an award under 6
1444	1444	Phase I of an SBIR program with respect to such 7
1445	1445	project, if the head of the agency determines that 8
1446	1446	the small business concern has completed the deter-9
1447	1447	minations described in subsection (e)(4)(A) with re-10
1448	1448	spect to such project despite not having been pro-11
1449	1449	vided a Phase I award. 12
1450	1450	‘‘(2) L
1451	1451	IMITATIONS ON AWARDS.— 13
1452	1452	‘‘(A) I
1453	1453	N GENERAL.—Except as provided in 14
1454	1454	subparagraph (B), the head of each agency with 15
1455	1455	an SBIR program may award not more than 10 16
1456	1456	percent of the funds allocated for the SBIR 17
1457	1457	program of the agency in a given fiscal year 18
1458	1458	under the authority of this subsection. 19
1459	1459	‘‘(B) N
1460	1460	ATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH 20
1461	1461	AND DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE .—The Director 21
1462	1462	of the National Institutes of Health may award 22
1463	1463	not more than 30 percent of the funds allocated 23
1464	1464	for the SBIR program of the National Insti-24
1465	1465	tutes of Health in a given fiscal year and the 25
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1468	1468	•S 853 IS
1469	1469	Secretary of Defense may award not more than 1
1470	1470	30 percent of the funds allocated for the SBIR 2
1471	1471	program of each component in the Department 3
1472	1472	of Defense in a given fiscal year under the au-4
1473	1473	thority of this subsection. 5
1474	1474	‘‘(C) L
1475	1475	IMIT ON ELIGIBILITY FOR 6
1476	1476	AWARDS.—An agency may not make an award 7
1477	1477	under this subsection to a small business con-8
1478	1478	cern, including its affiliates, spinouts, and sub-9
1479	1479	sidiaries, that has received more than 25 Phase 10
1480	1480	II awards. 11
1481	1481	‘‘(D) L
1482	1482	IMIT ON NUMBER OF AWARDS .—An 12
1483	1483	agency may make not more than 25 awards 13
1484	1484	under this subsection to a small business con-14
1485	1485	cern, including its affiliates, spinouts, and sub-15
1486	1486	sidiaries.’’. 16
1487	1487	SEC. 503. IMPROVING SBIR-STTR DATA COLLECTION. 17
1488	1488	(a) A
1489	1489	DDITIONALDATAFIELDS INSBIR DATA-18
1490	1490	BASE.—Section 9(k)(1) of the Small Business Act (15 19
1491	1491	U.S.C. 638(k)(1)) is amended— 20
1492	1492	(1) in subparagraph (E)(iv), by striking ‘‘and’’ 21
1493	1493	at the end; 22
1494	1494	(2) in subparagraph (F)(v), by striking the pe-23
1495	1495	riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 24
1496	1496	(3) by adding at the end the following: 25
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1499	1499	•S 853 IS
1500	1500	‘‘(G) for each award granted, whether the 1
1501	1501	award is classified or designated as— 2
1502	1502	‘‘(i) Phase 1A, under subsection (pp); 3
1503	1503	‘‘(ii) direct to Phase II, under sub-4
1504	1504	section (cc); 5
1505	1505	‘‘(iii) subsequent Phase II, under sub-6
1506	1506	section (bb)(1); 7
1507	1507	‘‘(iv) strategic breakthrough award 8
1508	1508	under subsection (ff)(3); 9
1509	1509	‘‘(v) Phase III prime contract award; 10
1510	1510	or 11
1511	1511	‘‘(vi) Phase III subcontract award.’’. 12
1512	1512	(b) I
1513	1513	MPROVINGFPDS DATATRACKING.— 13
1514	1514	(1) I
1515	1515	N GENERAL.—The Administrator of Gen-14
1516	1516	eral Services shall update the Federal Procurement 15
1517	1517	Data System described in section 1122(a)(4) of title 16
1518	1518	41, United States Code, or any successor system, 17
1519	1519	to— 18
1520	1520	(A) require reporting on whether an award 19
1521	1521	under the SBIR or STTR program is classified 20
1522	1522	or designated as— 21
1523	1523	(i) Phase 1A, under subsection (pp) of 22
1524	1524	section 9 of the Small Business Act (15 23
1525	1525	U.S.C. 638), as amended by this Act; 24
1526	1526	VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:54 Mar 18, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00053 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S853.IS S853
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1528	1528	•S 853 IS
1529	1529	(ii) direct to Phase II, under sub-1
1530	1530	section (cc) of such section; 2
1531	1531	(iii) subsequent Phase II, under sub-3
1532	1532	section (bb)(1) of such section; 4
1533	1533	(iv) a strategic breakthrough award 5
1534	1534	under subsection (ff)(3) of such section; 6
1535	1535	(v) a Phase III prime contract award; 7
1536	1536	or 8
1537	1537	(vi) a Phase III subcontract award; 9
1538	1538	(B) require reporting on whether a con-10
1539	1539	tract is designated as a Phase III contract; and 11
1540	1540	(C) allow a Government contracting offi-12
1541	1541	cer, when recording a Phase II or Phase III 13
1542	1542	contract following on from work done by a 14
1543	1543	small business concern during a Phase I or 15
1544	1544	Phase II award to reference an SBIR or STTR 16
1545	1545	contract identification number for relevant prior 17
1546	1546	SBIR or STTR work done. 18
1547	1547	(2) N
1548	1548	O NEW FUNDS.—No additional funds are 19
1549	1549	authorized to be appropriated for the purpose of car-20
1550	1550	rying out this subsection. 21
1551	1551	SEC. 504. STREAMLINING PROGRAM ADMINISTRATION. 22
1552	1552	Section 9 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638), 23
1553	1553	as amended by this Act, is amended— 24
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1556	1556	•S 853 IS
1557	1557	(1) in subsection (bb)(3), by inserting ‘‘or an-1
1558	1558	other component of the same Federal agency’’ after 2
1559	1559	‘‘another Federal agency’’; 3
1560	1560	(2) in subsection (gg)— 4
1561	1561	(A) in the heading, by striking ‘‘P
1562	1562	ILOT 5
1563	1563	P
1564	1564	ROGRAM’’ and inserting ‘‘COMMERCIALIZA-6
1565	1565	TIONREADINESSPROGRAM’’; 7
1566	1566	(B) by striking ‘‘pilot’’ each place the term 8
1567	1567	appears; 9
1568	1568	(C) by striking paragraph (7); 10
1569	1569	(D) by redesignating paragraph (8) as 11
1570	1570	paragraph (7); and 12
1571	1571	(E) by amending paragraph (7), as so re-13
1572	1572	designated, to read as follows: 14
1573	1573	‘‘(7) D
1574	1574	EFINITION.—In this subsection, the term 15
1575	1575	‘covered Federal agency’— 16
1576	1576	‘‘(A) means a Federal agency participating 17
1577	1577	in the SBIR program or the STTR program; 18
1578	1578	and 19
1579	1579	‘‘(B) does not include the Department of 20
1580	1580	Defense.’’; 21
1581	1581	(3) in subsection (hh)— 22
1582	1582	(A) by striking ‘‘F
1583	1583	UNDING.—’’ and all that 23
1584	1584	follows through ‘‘Federal agencies partici-24
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1587	1587	•S 853 IS
1588	1588	pating’’ and inserting ‘‘FUNDING.—Federal 1
1589	1589	agencies participating’’; and 2
1590	1590	(B) by striking paragraph (2); 3
1591	1591	(4) in subsection (ii)(2)(B)— 4
1592	1592	(A) in clause (ii), by adding ‘‘and’’ at the 5
1593	1593	end; 6
1594	1594	(B) in clause (iii), by striking ‘‘; and’’ and 7
1595	1595	inserting a period; and 8
1596	1596	(C) by striking clause (iv); 9
1597	1597	(5) in subsection (qq)(3), by striking subpara-10
1598	1598	graph (I); 11
1599	1599	(6) in subsection (vv)(3), by striking subpara-12
1600	1600	graph (C); 13
1601	1601	(7) by redesignating subsection (yy) as sub-14
1602	1602	section (xx); 15
1603	1603	(8) in subsection (xx), as so redesignated— 16
1604	1604	(A) in the subsection heading, by striking 17
1605	1605	‘‘P
1606	1606	ILOT’’; 18
1607	1607	(B) by striking ‘‘STTR P
1608	1608	ROGRAM.—’’ and 19
1609	1609	all that follows through ‘‘Not later than’’ and 20
1610	1610	inserting ‘‘STTR P
1611	1611	ROGRAM.—Not later than’’; 21
1612	1612	(C) by striking paragraph (2); and 22
1613	1613	(D) by striking ‘‘pilot’’; 23
1614	1614	(9) by redesignating subsection (zz) as sub-24
1615	1615	section (yy); and 25
1616	1616	VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:54 Mar 18, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00056 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S853.IS S853
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1618	1618	•S 853 IS
1619	1619	(10) in subsection (yy), as so redesignated— 1
1620	1620	(A) in the subsection heading, by striking 2
1621	1621	‘‘P
1622	1622	ILOT’’; 3
1623	1623	(B) in paragraph (1)— 4
1624	1624	(i) in the paragraph heading, by strik-5
1625	1625	ing ‘‘P
1626	1626	ILOT’’ and inserting ‘‘PROGRAM’’; 6
1627	1627	(ii) in subparagraph (B), by striking 7
1628	1628	‘‘3.25’’ and inserting ‘‘3.50’’; and 8
1629	1629	(iii) in subparagraph (C), by striking 9
1630	1630	‘‘0.46’’ and inserting ‘‘0.21’’; 10
1631	1631	(C) by striking paragraph (3); and 11
1632	1632	(D) by striking ‘‘pilot’’ each place the term 12
1633	1633	appears. 13
1634	1634	SEC. 505. EXTENDING SBIR AND STTR AUTHORIZATION. 14
1635	1635	Section 9 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638), 15
1636	1636	as amended by this Act, is amended— 16
1637	1637	(1) in subsection (m), by striking ‘‘2025’’ and 17
1638	1638	inserting ‘‘2028’’; and 18
1639	1639	(2) in subsection (n)(1)(A), by striking ‘‘2025’’ 19
1640	1640	and inserting ‘‘2028’’. 20
1641	1641	Æ
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