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

[Rose White]

This is brilliant! Writing to the subcommittee members to say "Hey, I
support this!" would be a good thing to do, especially if you're in the
district that any of them is in.

Even if it doesn't come to pass, I find this really encouraging!

-- Rose/yarnivore

On Thu, Sep 23, 2010 at 10:27 AM, Bryan Bishop <kanzure at gmail.com> wrote:

> 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
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