{ "id": "R46109", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "R", "number": "R46109", "active": true, "source": "CRSReports.Congress.gov, EveryCRSReport.com", "versions": [ { "source_dir": "crsreports.congress.gov", "title": "Agency-Related Nonprofit Research Foundations and Corporations", "retrieved": "2022-07-07T04:03:41.202587", "id": "R46109_3_2022-06-02", "formats": [ { "filename": "files/2022-06-02_R46109_e83bb41e1fd807332d2ee74c027a5f6de90307fd.pdf", "format": "PDF", "url": "https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/R46109/3", "sha1": "e83bb41e1fd807332d2ee74c027a5f6de90307fd" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/2022-06-02_R46109_e83bb41e1fd807332d2ee74c027a5f6de90307fd.html" } ], "date": "2022-06-02", "summary": null, "source": "CRSReports.Congress.gov", "typeId": "R", "active": true, "sourceLink": "https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/details?prodcode=R46109", "type": "CRS Report" }, { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 610574, "date": "2019-12-09", "retrieved": "2019-12-13T15:01:52.606193", "title": "Agency-Related Nonprofit Research Foundations and Corporations", "summary": "Federal research and development (R&D) has played a significant role in strengthening the innovative capacity of the United States to achieve goals such as economic competitiveness, national security, improved healthcare, and protection of the environment. The results of federal R&D have led to scientific breakthroughs and new technologies with broad social and economic impacts, including artificial intelligence, the internet, and magnetic resonance imaging. The global landscape for innovation is rapidly evolving\u2014the pace of innovation has increased and the composition of R&D funding has changed (e.g., public versus private funding and the U.S. share of global R&D has declined). These changes have led some to call for new approaches and the expansion of existing federal authorities to help the United States maintain its leadership in innovation, research, and technology. \nOver the years, Congress has created several agency-related nonprofit research foundations and corporations to advance the R&D needs of the federal government. The stated goals and potential benefits of these quasi-governmental entities include: (1) providing a flexible and efficient mechanism for establishing public-private R&D partnerships; (2) enabling the solicitation, acceptance, and use of private donations to supplement the work performed with federal R&D funds; (3) increasing technology transfer and the commercialization of federally funded R&D; (4) improving the ability of federal agencies to attract and retain scientific talent; and (5) enhancing public education and awareness regarding the role and value of federal R&D. \nThis report provides an overview of the purpose and intent, governance structure, and federal funding associated with selected congressionally mandated, agency-related nonprofit research foundations and corporations: the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health, the National Foundation for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Reagan-Udall Foundation for the Food and Drug Administration, the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research, the Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine and the nonprofit research and education corporations associated with the Department of Veterans Affairs. \nThe report also identifies potential issues for consideration related to oversight of existing agency-related nonprofit research foundations and corporations as well as potential issues for consideration should Congress elect to establish additional ones. Specifically, while government agencies are, with certain exceptions, subject to management laws and regulations designed to ensure accountability, transparency, and fairness, agency-related research foundations and corporations are generally exempt from them. This situation may raise questions about how Congress and federal agencies can protect the public interest and ensure confidence in the decisionmaking of such entities. Additionally, recent concerns that some have raised related to conflict of interest, the potential for industry influence, and questions about effectiveness may prompt further examination of these entities.\nAmong the options that Congress might consider are: \ncrafting a broad, general nonprofit research foundation authority that federal science agencies could draw on to create an entity that meets their specific needs; \nexamining the existing authorities of individual federal science agencies and, as appropriate, supplementing those authorities to increase the flexibility of an agency to enter into public-private partnerships; \ncreating additional agency-related nonprofit research foundations on a case-by-case basis, tailored to the specific needs of particular federal science agencies; and \nmaintaining the status quo, i.e., allowing agency-related nonprofit research foundations and corporations that currently exist to continue, and requiring other federal agencies to use their existing authorities to enter into public-private R&D partnerships and transfer federal technologies to the marketplace.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": true, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "https://www.crs.gov/Reports/R46109", "sha1": "8a7470dbdda31e600b3d06cd76431cb5f5927b72", "filename": "files/20191209_R46109_8a7470dbdda31e600b3d06cd76431cb5f5927b72.html", "images": {} }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "https://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/R46109", "sha1": "0f245d7abb5be374d7383c5c2deb0a860598c57c", "filename": "files/20191209_R46109_0f245d7abb5be374d7383c5c2deb0a860598c57c.pdf", "images": {} } ], "topics": [ { "source": "IBCList", "id": 4852, "name": "Science & Technology R&D" }, { "source": "IBCList", "id": 4860, "name": "Oversight" }, { "source": "IBCList", "id": 4916, "name": "Technology & Innovation" } ] } ], "topics": [ "American Law", "Economic Policy", "National Defense", "Science and Technology Policy" ] }