§ 831 — John Heinz Competitive Excellence Award

(a) There is hereby established the John Heinz Competitive Excellence Award, which shall be evidenced by a national medal bearing the inscription “John Heinz Competitive Excellence Award”. The medal, to be minted by the United States Mint and provided to the Congress, shall be of such design and bear such additional inscriptions as the Secretary of the Treasury may prescribe, in consultation with the Majority and Minority Leaders of the Senate, the Speaker and the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, and the family of Senator John Heinz. The medal shall be— (1) three inches in diameter; and (2) made of bronze obtained from recycled sources. (1) Two separate awards may be given under this section in each year. One such award may be given to a qualifying individual (including employees of any State or local government, or the Federal Government), and 1 such award may be given to a qualifying organization, institution, or business. (2) No award shall be made under this section to an entity in either category described in paragraph (1) in any year if there is no qualified individual, organization, institution, or business recommended under subsection (c) for an award in such category in that year. (1) A selection panel shall be established, comprised of a total of 8 persons, including— (A) 2 persons appointed by the Majority Leader of the Senate; (B) 2 persons appointed by the Minority Leader of the Senate; (C) 2 persons appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives; and (D) 2 persons appointed by the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives. (2) An individual, organization, institution, or business may qualify for an award under this section only if such individual, organization, institution, or business— (A) is nominated to the Majority or Minority Leader of the Senate or to the Speaker or the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives by a member of the Senate or the House of Representatives; (B) permits a rigorous evaluation by the Office of Technology Assessment of the way in which such individual, organization, institution, or business has demonstrated excellence in promoting United States industrial competitiveness; and (C) meets such other requirements as the selection panel determines to be appropriate to achieve the objectives of this section. (3) An evaluation of each nominee shall be conducted by the Office of Technology Assessment. The Office of Technology Assessment shall work with the selection panel to establish appropriate procedures for evaluating nominees. (4) The selection panel shall review the Office of Technology Assessment’s evaluation of each nominee and may, based on those evaluations, recommend 1 award winner for each year for each category described in subsection (b)(1) to the Majority and Minority Leaders of the Senate and the Speaker and the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives. (1) The Majority and Minority Leaders of the Senate and the Speaker and the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives shall make the award to an individual and an organization, institution, or business that has demonstrated excellence in promoting United States industrial competitiveness in the international marketplace through technological innovation, productivity improvement, or improved competitive strategies. (2) The presentation of an award under this section shall be made by the Majority and Minority Leaders of the Senate and the Speaker and the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, with such ceremonies as they may deem proper. (3) An individual, organization, institution, or business to which an award is made under this section may publicize its receipt of such award and use the award in its advertising, but it shall be ineligible to receive another award in the same category for a period of 5 years. (1) The Office of Technology Assessment shall ensure that all nominees receive a detailed summary of any evaluation conducted of such nominee under subsection (c). (2) The Office of Technology Assessment shall also make available to all nominees and the public a summary of each award winner’s competitiveness strategy. Proprietary information shall not be included in any such summary without the consent of the award winner. (f) The Majority and Minority Leaders of the Senate and the Speaker and the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives are authorized to seek and accept gifts from public and private sources to defray the cost of implementing this section.