Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 124.djvu/4039

 124 STAT. 4013 PUBLIC LAW 111–358—JAN. 4, 2011 an innovative STEM workforce and to help retrain and retain our existing STEM workforce to address national challenges, including national security and competitiveness, and use technology to enhance or supplement laboratory based learning. SEC. 517. EXPERIMENTAL PROGRAM TO STIMULATE COMPETITIVE RESEARCH. (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds that— (1) The National Science Foundation Act of 1950 stated, ‘‘it shall be an objective of the Foundation to strengthen research and education in the sciences and engineering, including independent research by individuals, throughout the United States, and to avoid undue concentration of such research and education,’’; (2) National Science Foundation funding remains highly concentrated, with 27 States and 2 jurisdictions, taken together, receiving only about 10 percent of all NSF research funding; each of these States received only a fraction of one percent of Foundation’s research dollars each year; (3) the Nation requires the talent, expertise, and research capabilities of all States in order to prepare sufficient numbers of scientists and engineers, remain globally competitive and support economic development. (b) CONTINUATION OF PROGRAM.—The Director shall continue to carry out EPSCoR, with the objective of helping the eligible States to develop the research infrastructure that will make them more competitive for Foundation and other Federal research funding. The program shall continue to increase as the National Science Foundation funding increases. (c) CONGRESSIONAL REPORTS.—The Director shall report to the appropriate committees of Congress on an annual basis, using the most recent available data— (1) the total amount made available, by State, under EPSCoR; (2) the amount of co-funding made available to EPSCoR States; (3) the total amount of National Science Foundation funding made available to all institutions and entities within EPSCoR States; and (4) efforts and accomplishments to more fully integrate the 29 EPSCoR jurisdictions in major activities and initiatives of the Foundation. (d) COORDINATION OF EPSCOR AND SIMILAR FEDERAL PRO- GRAMS.— (1) ANOTHER FINDING.—The Congress finds that a number of Federal agencies have programs, such as Experimental Pro- grams to Stimulate Competitive Research and the National Institutes of Health Institutional Development Award program, designed to increase the capacity for and quality of science and technology research and training at academic institutions in States that historically have received relatively little Federal research and development funding. (2) COORDINATION REQUIRED.—The EPSCoR Interagency Coordinating Committee, chaired by the National Science Foundation, shall— (A) coordinate EPSCoR and Federal EPSCoR-like pro- grams to maximize the impact of Federal support for 42 USC 1862p–9.