Sbir and Sttr Extension Act of 2022

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. FITZGERALD. Mr. Speaker, I thank the ranking member for yielding.

I rise in support of S. 4900, which would reauthorize the Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer programs.

In addition to extending the SBIR and STTR programs for 3 years, this bill contains several important provisions that safeguard our government and its research from foreign entities and enhance benchmarks for those companies that have received multiple awards.

Since 1992, the SBIR and STTR programs have helped promote public- private partnership and small business innovation by requiring agencies with sizable R&D needs to set aside a portion of their budget for small business participation.

As many of the speakers said before me, the return on investment has been nothing short of impressive. In the Department of Defense alone, between 1995 and 2018, the SBIR and STTR programs resulted in $28 billion in new product sales to the U.S. military, $347 billion in total economic output, and the creation of more than 1.5 million jobs.

But with this amount of participation comes the likelihood of malign influence and fraud within the program. This was evidenced by a DOD report that found China was using shell companies in its Thousand Talents Program to profit off federally funded research programs like these two we are talking about here this afternoon.

Having been part of the negotiating process during my time as a conferee for the COMPETES/USICA bill, the issue of combating foreign influence was certainly top of mind.

I am pleased that both sides were able to come to an agreement and understand the importance of safeguarding much of this research.

Not only will this bill require companies that apply for SBIR and STTR awards to disclose any ties to China, but it will also require Federal agencies to bolster their due diligence efforts to ensure our intellectual property is fully protected.

Most importantly, the bill also requires DOD to establish an open topic solicitation, allowing small businesses the opportunity to showcase how their innovations can be beneficial to the actual warfighter. The GAO believes this will be more than efficiently laid out and planned and that new companies can be bolstered with this small business innovation.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes.''

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source