[hackerspaces] National Fab Lab Network Act of 2010 (111-HR6003)

[Bryan Bishop]

I got wind of this from Ted Hall ("the ShopBot guy") on the open
manufacturing group. There's a good chance the committee won't get the
bill out the door for general debate, but this is worth watching,
talking about, and maybe supporting (somehow). Also, if you know
anyone of the committee members (listed below) asking them "what's up"
would be cool :-).

National Fab Lab Network Act of 2010
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h111-6003

full text:
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c111:h6003:

"""
HR 6003 IH

111th CONGRESS

2d Session

H. R. 6003

To provide for the establishment of the National Fab Lab Network to
build out a network of community based, networked Fabrication
Laboratories across the United States to foster a new generation with
scientific and engineering skills and to provide a workforce capable
of producing world class individualized and traditional manufactured
goods.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

July 30, 2010

Mr. FOSTER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on
Science 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 provide for the establishment of the National Fab Lab Network to
build out a network of community based, networked Fabrication
Laboratories across the United States to foster a new generation with
scientific and engineering skills and to provide a workforce capable
of producing world class individualized and traditional manufactured
goods.

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 2010’.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

Congress finds the following:

(1) The United States is the world leader in scientific research,
discovery, and innovation.

(2) There exists a strong social and economic incentive to create the
fewest barriers to entry for those interested in furthering education,
discovery, invention, and innovation in the scientific, technological,
engineering, and mathematical fields.

(3) The United States has a strong strategic interest in promoting a
robust, well trained, highly capable, and geographically diverse
manufacturing base.

(4) MIT’s Center for Bits and Atoms has contributed significantly to
the advancement of these goals through its work in creating and
advancing Fabrication Laboratories (Fab Labs) in the United States and
abroad.

(5) A new kind of national infrastructure will be required in order to
adequately take advantage of leading edge digital fabrication
technologies to secure the United States’ leading position in
scientific fields and to promote a robust manufacturing base.

(6) A focused, dedicated national effort will be required in order to
ensure the creation of such an infrastructure takes place as quickly
and effectively as possible.

SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF NATIONAL FAB LAB NETWORK.

(a) Establishment- The National Fab Lab Network incorporated by this
Act (hereinafter in this section referred to as the ‘NFLN’) is hereby
authorized and empowered to receive either real or personal property
and to hold the same absolutely or in trust, and to invest, reinvest,
and manage the same in accordance with the provisions of its
constitution and to apply said property and the income arising
therefrom to the objects of its creation and according to the
instructions of its donors.

(b) In General- The National Fab Lab Network (NFLN) shall exist as a
nonprofit entity whose purpose is to facilitate the piece by piece
construction of an actual network of connected labs. The NFLN itself
shall not represent an overseeing, regulating, or coordinating body of
this distributed network, but will merely exist to facilitate its
construction.

(c) Definitions- In this section, the term ‘Fabrication Laboratory’
also referred to as a ‘Fab Lab’ means a facility containing a variety
of manufacturing and other fabrication tools operable by means of
digital input as well as the software and computers required to design
for and operate those tools. These labs serve a broad range of
purposes, but each allow for clear guidelines for how members of the
local community, local businesses, and academic or educational
purposes can be pursued with the labs’ resources consistent with a
charter to be established by the NFLN.

(d) Functions- The functions of the NFLN shall be the following:

(1) To serve as the coordinating body for all efforts to create a
coordinated, collaborative network of Fab Labs in the United States.

(2) To serve as the first point of contact for organizations
interested in constructing and operating a Fab Lab and to maintain a
first-come first-serve wait list of those organizations.

(3) To work out to the satisfaction of NFLN staff and board members
the ability of interested organizations to successfully host a Fab
Lab. In particular, the staff and board members of the NFLN shall
examine the ability of the organization to supply a physical location
for the lab, their financial ability to pay for sufficient staff to
operate the lab and train its users, an ability to engage the local
community or other sufficient user base, and an awareness of those
long term obligations.

(4) To match those organizations who meet with the NFLN’s approval for
those criteria specified in paragraph (3) with available sources of
funding and individuals with personal experience in establishing and
operating Labs in other organizations so as to expedite the process of
making new Labs operational. In general, the NFLN should not bring to
this stage or continue to engage with those organizations that do not
meet the NFLN’s approval on those criteria described in paragraph (3).

(5) To advertise or perform other outreach activities to those
organizations that might have interest in or otherwise benefit from
creating a Fab Lab, and to notify those organizations of the specific
purposes the NFLN can perform.

(e) Purposes- In carrying out its functions, the NFLN’s purposes and
goals shall be--

(1) to facilitate the construction of a new type of information and
digital fabrication infrastructure; specifically, in all its actions
to facilitate and encourage the construction of a decentralized
network of connected Fab Labs;

(2) to promote the goals of greater science, technology, engineering,
and math education, workforce development in the areas of
manufacturing and product design, increased innovation and invention
in the private sector, as well as scientific and academic discovery
through the use of distributed digital fabrication tools; and

(3) to seek to establish at least one Fab Lab per every 700,000
individuals in the United States in the first ten years of its
operation.

(f) Funding- The NFLN may accept donations from private individuals,
corporations, government agencies, or other organizations.
"""

referred to the Subcommittee on Technology and Innovation:
http://science.house.gov/subcommittee/tech.aspx

people:
David Wu (Oregon)
Donna F. Edwards (Maryland)
Ben Ray Luján (New Mexico)
Paul D. Tonko (New York)
Harry E. Mitchell (Arizona)
Gary Peters (Michigan)
John Garamendi (California)
Bart Gordon (Tennessee)
Adrian Smith (Nebraska)
Judy Biggert (Illinois)
W. Todd Akin (Missouri)
Paul Broun (Georgia)
Ralph M. Hall (Texas)

also referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce:
http://energycommerce.house.gov/

people:
Henry A. Waxman, California, Chairman
John D. Dingell, MI,
Joe Barton, TX, Ranking Member
Edward J. Markey, MA
Ralph M. Hall, TX
Rick Boucher, VA
Fred Upton, MI
Frank Pallone, Jr., NJ
Cliff Stearns, FL
Bart Gordon, TN
Ed Whitfield, KY
Bobby L. Rush, IL
John Shimkus, IL
Anna G. Eshoo, CA
John Shadegg, AZ
Bart Stupak, MI
Roy Blunt, MO, Deputy Ranking Member
Eliot L. Engel, NY
Steve Buyer, IN
Gene Green, TX
George Radanovich, CA
Diana DeGette, CO, Vice Chair
Joseph R. Pitts, PA
Lois Capps, CA
Mary Bono Mack, CA
Mike Doyle, PA
Lee Terry, NE
Jane Harman, CA
Mike Rogers, MI
Jan Schakowsky, IL
Sue Wilkins Myrick, NC
Charles A. Gonzalez, TX
John Sullivan, OK
Jay Inslee, WA
Tim Murphy, PA
Tammy Baldwin, WI
Michael C. Burgess, TX
Mike Ross, AR
Marsha Blackburn, TN
Anthony D. Weiner, NY
Phil Gingrey, GA
Jim Matheson, UT
Steve Scalise, LA
G. K. Butterfield, NC
Parker Griffith, AL1
Charlie Melancon, LA
Robert E. Latta, OH2
John Barrow, GA
Baron P. Hill, IN
Doris O. Matsui, CA
Donna M. Christensen, VI
Kathy Castor, FL
John P. Sarbanes, MD
Christopher S. Murphy, CT
Zachary T. Space, OH
Jerry McNerney CA
Betty Sutton, OH
Bruce L. Braley, IA
Peter Welch, VT

The sponsor was Bill Foster:
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/person.xpd?id=412257
http://foster.house.gov/
http://www.facebook.com/CongressmanBillFoster

- Bryan
http://heybryan.org/
1 512 203 0507