H.R. 7949

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7949 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 7949

To amend the National Science Foundation Authorization Act of 2002 to 
provide for grants to support plant and microbial biology research with 
potential relevance to agriculture, food, or biotechnology, and for 
other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

March 16, 2026

Mr. Riley of New York (for himself and Mr. Baird) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, 
and Technology

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A BILL

To amend the National Science Foundation Authorization Act of 2002 to 
provide for grants to support plant and microbial biology research with 
potential relevance to agriculture, food, or biotechnology, and for 
other purposes.

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 ``Plant Biological Research at the 
National Science Foundation Act'' or the ``NSF Plant Biology Act''.

SEC. 2. FUNDAMENTAL PLANT BIOLOGY RESEARCH.

(a) In General.--The National Science Foundation Authorization Act 
of 2002 is amended by adding at the end the following new section:

``SEC. 27. FUNDAMENTAL PLANT BIOLOGY RESEARCH.

``(a) In General.--The Director may award grants on a competitive, 
merit-reviewed basis to institutions of higher education, nonprofit 
organizations, private sector entities, and Federal, State, local, or 
Tribal governments, or a consortia of such institutions, entities, or 
governments, to support plant and microbial biology research with 
potential relevance to agriculture, food, or biotechnology, including 
relating to the following:
``(1) Fundamental research regarding plant biology.
``(2) Tools, resources, and technology that further enable 
plant biology.
``(b) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated to the Director $150,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2026 
through 2031 to carry out this section.''.
(b) Definition Amendment.--Section 4 of the National Science 
Foundation Authorization Act of 2002 is amended by--
(1) redesignating paragraphs (13) through (16) as 
paragraphs (14) through (17), respectively; and
(2) by inserting after paragraph (12) the following new 
paragraph:
``(13) Nonprofit organization.--The term `nonprofit 
organization' means an organization described in section 
501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and exempt from 
tax under section 15 501(a) of such Code.''.
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