6 U.S.C. § 188 — Conduct of research, development, demonstration, testing and evaluation

(a) In general: The Secretary, acting through the Under Secretary for Science and Technology, must carry out the duties under section 182(4) through both extramural (outside) and intramural (in-house) programs. (b) Extramural programs: (1) In general: When running outside research, development, demonstration, testing, and evaluation programs, the Secretary must — (A) make sure colleges, universities, private research institutes, and companies (or groups of them) from as many parts of the country as possible get to take part; (B) make sure the funded research is high quality, checked through merit-review processes set up under section 182(14); and (C) hand out funds through grants, cooperative agreements, and contracts. (2) University-based centers for homeland security: (A) Designation: The Secretary must name one or more university-based centers for homeland security, to build a coordinated, university-based system that boosts the nation's homeland security. (B) Criteria for designation: Colleges or universities picked for this must show expertise in things like — though this list isn't the only thing that counts — (i) training first responders; (ii) responding to weapons of mass destruction and biological warfare; (iii) emergency and diagnostic medical services; (iv) chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear countermeasures or detection; (v) animal and plant health and diagnostics; (vi) food safety; (vii) water and wastewater operations; (viii) port and waterway security; (ix) transportation using multiple modes; (x) information security and engineering; (xi) engineering generally; (xii) educational outreach and technical help; (xiii) border transportation and security; and (xiv) public policy and public sharing of homeland-security research. (C) Discretion of Secretary: If it serves homeland security, the Secretary can skip some of the criteria in (B) or add new ones for a specific center. The same day the Secretary names a center, the Secretary must publish in the Federal Register which criteria were skipped or added, and why. (D) Report to Congress: Each year, starting from enactment, the Secretary must report to Congress on how this section is being carried out — which centers were named, how they help homeland security, and any decisions to cancel or change a center's status. (E) Authorization of appropriations: Congress may provide whatever money is needed to carry out this paragraph. (c) Intramural programs: (1) Consultation: In carrying out duties under section 182, the Secretary may draw on the expertise of any federal government laboratory — whether run by a contractor or by the government itself. (2) Laboratories: The Secretary may set up one headquarters laboratory for the Department at any lab or site, and may also set up extra lab units elsewhere. (3) Criteria for headquarters laboratory: If the Secretary decides to set up a headquarters lab, the Secretary must — (A) work with the National Academy of Sciences, other federal agencies, and outside experts to set selection criteria; (B) publish those criteria in the Federal Register; (C) check every suitable lab or site against the criteria; (D) pick a lab or site based on the criteria; and (E) report to the right congressional committees on which lab was picked, how it meets the published criteria, and what jobs it will do. (4) Limitation on operation of laboratories: No lab can start operating as the headquarters lab until at least 30 days after that report goes to Congress. (d) Preference for United States industry: Definitions used here: "country of concern" means a country that is a "covered nation" as defined in 10 U.S.C. § 4872(d), or one the Secretary determines is acting against U.S. national security; "nonprofit organization," "small business firm," and "subject invention" mean whatever they mean in 35 U.S.C. § 201; "manufactured substantially in the United States" means the item is a "domestic end product"; and "domestic end product" has the meaning given in section 25.003 of title 48 of the Code of Federal Regulations, or whatever replaces it. Waivers: subject to the condition below, the Secretary may waive, case by case, the licensing requirements in 35 U.S.C. § 204, if the small business, nonprofit, or assignee shows it made reasonable but unsuccessful efforts to license the invention to someone likely to manufacture substantially in the U.S. — or shows that domestic manufacturing just isn't commercially realistic. Before granting a waiver, the Secretary must follow the procedures the Department set up under section 70923(b)(2) of the Build America, Buy America Act. The Secretary may not grant a waiver if it would result in products made using the invention being manufactured substantially in a "country of concern."