Taiwan Fellowship Act

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 811 To establish the Taiwan Fellowship Program, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 17 (legislative day, MARCH 16), 2021 Mr. MARKEY (for himself, Mr. RUBIO, Mr. COONS, Mr. HAGERTY, and Mrs. SHAHEEN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and re- ferred to the Committee on Foreign Relations A BILL To establish the Taiwan Fellowship Program, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Taiwan Fellowship 4 Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS; PURPOSES. 6 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 7 (1) The Taiwan Relations Act (Public Law 96– 8 8; 22 U.S.C. 3301 et seq.) affirmed United States 9 policy ‘‘to preserve and promote extensive, close, and 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:23 Apr 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S811.IS S811 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 811 IS friendly commercial, cultural, and other relations be- 1 tween the people of the United States and the people 2 on Taiwan, as well as the people on the China main- 3 land and all other peoples of the Western Pacific 4 area’’. 5 (2) Consistent with the Asia Reassurance Ini- 6 tiative Act of 2018 (Public Law 115–409), the 7 United States has grown its strategic partnership 8 with Taiwan’s vibrant democracy of 23,000,000 peo- 9 ple. 10 (3) Despite a concerted campaign by the Peo- 11 ple’s Republic of China to isolate Taiwan from its 12 diplomatic partners and from international organiza- 13 tions, including the World Health Organization, Tai- 14 wan has emerged as a global leader in the 15 coronavirus global pandemic response, including by 16 donating more than 2,000,000 surgical masks and 17 other medical equipment to the United States. 18 (4) The creation of a United States fellowship 19 program with Taiwan would support a key priority 20 of expanding people-to-people exchanges, which was 21 outlined in the President’s 2017 National Security 22 Strategy. 23 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:23 Apr 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S811.IS S811 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 811 IS (1) to further strengthen the United States-Tai- 1 wan strategic partnership and broaden under- 2 standing of the Indo-Pacific region by temporarily 3 assigning officials of any branch of the United 4 States Government to Taiwan for intensive study in 5 Mandarin and placement as Fellows with the gov- 6 erning authorities on Taiwan or a Taiwanese civic 7 institution; 8 (2) to provide for eligible United States per- 9 sonnel to learn or strengthen Mandarin Chinese lan- 10 guage skills and to expand their understanding of 11 the political economy of Taiwan and the Indo-Pacific 12 region; and 13 (3) to better position the United States to ad- 14 vance its economic, security, and human rights in- 15 terests and values in the Indo-Pacific region. 16 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 17 In this Act: 18 (1) AGENCY HEAD.—The term ‘‘agency head’’ 19 means— 20 (A) in the case of the executive branch of 21 United States Government or an agency of the 22 legislative branch other than the Senate or the 23 House of Representatives, the head of the re- 24 spective agency; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:23 Apr 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S811.IS S811 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 811 IS (B) in the case of the judicial branch of 1 United States Government, the chief judge of 2 the respective court; 3 (C) in the case of the Senate, the Presi- 4 dent pro tempore, in consultation with the ma- 5 jority leader and the minority leader of the Sen- 6 ate; and 7 (D) in the case of the House of Represent- 8 atives, the Speaker of the House, in consulta- 9 tion with the majority leader and the minority 10 leader of the House of Representatives. 11 (2) AGENCY OF THE UNITED STATES GOVERN- 12 MENT.—The term ‘‘agency of the United States 13 Government’’ includes any agency of the legislative 14 branch and any court of the judicial branch as well 15 as any agency of the executive branch. 16 (3) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT- 17 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com- 18 mittees’’ means— 19 (A) the Committee on Appropriations of 20 the Senate; 21 (B) the Committee on Foreign Relations of 22 the Senate; 23 (C) the Committee on Appropriations of 24 the House of Representatives; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:23 Apr 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S811.IS S811 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 811 IS (D) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of 1 the House of Representatives. 2 (4) DETAILEE.—The term ‘‘detailee’’— 3 (A) means an employee of a branch of the 4 United States Government on loan to the Amer- 5 ican Institute in Taiwan, without a change of 6 position from the agency at which he or she is 7 employed; and 8 (B) does not include employees of the leg- 9 islative branch, who may separate from their 10 branch in order to fulfill the terms of their fel- 11 lowship pursuant to section 6(g). 12 (5) IMPLEMENTING PARTNER.—The term ‘‘im- 13 plementing partner’’ means any United States orga- 14 nization described in 501(c)(3) of the Internal Rev- 15 enue Code of 1986 that— 16 (A) performs logistical, administrative, and 17 other functions, as determined by the Depart- 18 ment of State and the American Institute of 19 Taiwan in support of the Taiwan Fellowship 20 Program; and 21 (B) enters into a cooperative agreement 22 with the American Institute in Taiwan to ad- 23 minister the Taiwan Fellowship Program. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:23 Apr 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S811.IS S811 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 811 IS SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF TAIWAN FELLOWSHIP PRO- 1 GRAM. 2 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of State shall 3 establish the ‘‘Taiwan Fellowship Program’’ (referred to 4 in this section as the ‘‘Program’’) to provide a fellowship 5 opportunity in Taiwan of up to 2 years for eligible United 6 States citizens. The Department of State, in consultation 7 with the American Institute in Taiwan and the imple- 8 menting partner, may modify the name of the Program. 9 (b) GRANTS.— 10 (1) IN GENERAL.—The American Institute in 11 Taiwan should use amounts appropriated pursuant 12 to section 7(a) to provide annual or multi-year 13 grants to an appropriate implementing partner. 14 (2) FELLOWSHIPS.—The Department of State, 15 in consultation with the American Institute in Tai- 16 wan and, as appropriate, the implementing partner, 17 should award to eligible United States citizens, sub- 18 ject to available funding— 19 (A) not fewer than 5 fellowships during 20 each of the first 2 years of the Program; and 21 (B) not fewer than 10 fellowships during 22 each of the remaining years of the Program. 23 (c) INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENT; IMPLEMENTING 24 PARTNER.—Not later than 30 days after the date of the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:23 Apr 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S811.IS S811 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 811 IS enactment of this Act, the American Institute in Taiwan, 1 in consultation with the Department of State, should— 2 (1) begin negotiations with the Taipei Economic 3 and Cultural Representative Office, or with another 4 appropriate entity, for the purpose of entering into 5 an agreement to facilitate the placement of fellows 6 in an agency of the governing authorities on Taiwan; 7 and 8 (2) begin the process of selecting an imple- 9 menting partner, which— 10 (A) shall agree to meet all of the legal re- 11 quirements required to operate in Taiwan; and 12 (B) shall be composed of staff who dem- 13 onstrate significant experience managing ex- 14 change programs in the Indo-Pacific region. 15 (d) CURRICULUM.— 16 (1) FIRST YEAR.—During the first year of each 17 fellowship under this section, each fellow should 18 study— 19 (A) the Mandarin Chinese language; 20 (B) the people, history, and political cli- 21 mate on Taiwan; and 22 (C) the issues affecting the relationship be- 23 tween the United States and the Indo-Pacific 24 region. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:23 Apr 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S811.IS S811 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 811 IS (2) SECOND YEAR.—During the second year of 1 each fellowship under this section, each fellow, sub- 2 ject to the approval of the Department of State, the 3 American Institute in Taiwan, and the implementing 4 partner, and in accordance with the purposes of this 5 Act, shall work in— 6 (A) a parliamentary office, ministry, or 7 other agency of the governing authorities on 8 Taiwan; or 9 (B) an organization outside of the gov- 10 erning authorities on Taiwan, whose interests 11 are associated with the interests of the fellow 12 and the agency of the United States Govern- 13 ment from which the fellow had been employed. 14 (e) FLEXIBLE FELLOWSHIP DURATION.—Notwith- 15 standing any requirement under this section, the Sec- 16 retary of State, in consultation with the American Insti- 17 tute in Taiwan and, as appropriate, the implementing 18 partner, may alter the curriculum requirements under 19 subsection (d) for fellows whose placement in a parliamen- 20 tary office, ministry, or other agency of the governing au- 21 thorities on Taiwan is for a period shorter than 2 years. 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:23 Apr 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S811.IS S811 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 811 IS SEC. 5. PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS. 1 (a) ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS.—A United States 2 citizen is eligible for a fellowship under section 4 if he or 3 she— 4 (1) is an employee of the United States Govern- 5 ment; 6 (2) has at least 2 years of experience in any 7 branch of the United States Government; 8 (3) has a demonstrated professional or edu- 9 cational background in the relationship between the 10 United States and countries in the Indo-Pacific re- 11 gion; and 12 (4) has demonstrated his or her commitment to 13 further service in the United States Government. 14 (b) RESPONSIBILITIES OF FELLOWS.—Each recipi- 15 ent of a fellowship under this Act shall agree, as a condi- 16 tion of such fellowship— 17 (1) to maintain satisfactory progress in lan- 18 guage training and appropriate behavior in Taiwan, 19 as determined by the Department of State, the 20 American Institute in Taiwan and, as appropriate, 21 its implementing partner; 22 (2) to refrain from engaging in any intelligence 23 or intelligence-related activity on behalf of the 24 United States Government; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:23 Apr 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S811.IS S811 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 811 IS (3) to continue Federal Government employ- 1 ment for a period of not less than 4 years after the 2 conclusion of the fellowship or for not less than 2 3 years for a fellowship that is 1 year or shorter. 4 (c) RESPONSIBILITIES OF IMPLEMENTING PART- 5 NER.— 6 (1) SELECTION OF FELLOWS.—The imple- 7 menting partner, in close coordination with the De- 8 partment of State and the American Institute in 9 Taiwan, shall— 10 (A) make efforts to recruit fellowship can- 11 didates who reflect the diversity of the United 12 States; 13 (B) select fellows for the Taiwan Fellow- 14 ship Program based solely on merit, with appro- 15 priate supervision from the Department of 16 State and the American Institute in Taiwan; 17 and 18 (C) prioritize the selection of candidates 19 willing to serve a fellowship lasting 1 year or 20 longer. 21 (2) FIRST YEAR.—The implementing partner 22 should provide each fellow in the first year (or short- 23 er duration, as jointly determined by the Depart- 24 ment of State and the American Institute in Taiwan 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:23 Apr 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S811.IS S811 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 811 IS for those who are not serving a 2-year fellowship) 1 with— 2 (A) intensive Mandarin Chinese language 3 training; and 4 (B) courses in the political economy of 5 Taiwan, China, and the broader Indo-Pacific. 6 (3) WAIVER OF REQUIRED TRAINING.—The De- 7 partment of State, in coordination with the Amer- 8 ican Institute in Taiwan and, as appropriate, the im- 9 plementing partner, may waive any of the training 10 required under paragraph (2) to the extent that a 11 fellow has Mandarin language skills, knowledge of 12 the topic described in paragraph (2)(B), or for other 13 related reasons approved by the Department of 14 State and the American Institute in Taiwan. If any 15 of the training requirements are waived for a fellow 16 serving a 2-year fellowship, the training portion of 17 his or her fellowship may be shortened to the extent 18 appropriate. 19 (4) OFFICE; STAFFING.—The implementing 20 partner, in consultation with the Department of 21 State and the American Institute in Taiwan, shall 22 maintain an office and at least 1 full-time staff 23 member in Taiwan— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:23 Apr 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S811.IS S811 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 811 IS (A) to liaise with the American Institute in 1 Taiwan and the governing authorities on Tai- 2 wan; and 3 (B) to serve as the primary in-country 4 point of contact for the recipients of fellowships 5 under this Act and their dependents. 6 (5) OTHER FUNCTIONS.—The implementing 7 partner shall perform other functions in association 8 in support of the Taiwan Fellowship Program, in- 9 cluding logistical and administrative functions, as 10 prescribed by the Department of State and the 11 American Institute in Taiwan. 12 (d) NONCOMPLIANCE.— 13 (1) IN GENERAL.—Any fellow who fails to com- 14 ply with the requirements under this section shall re- 15 imburse the American Institute in Taiwan for— 16 (A) the Federal funds expended for the fel- 17 low’s participation in the fellowship, as set forth 18 in paragraphs (2) and (3); and 19 (B) interest accrued on such funds (cal- 20 culated at the prevailing rate). 21 (2) FULL REIMBURSEMENT.—Any fellow who 22 violates paragraph (1) or (2) of subsection (b) shall 23 reimburse the American Institute in Taiwan in an 24 amount equal to the sum of— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:23 Apr 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S811.IS S811 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 13 •S 811 IS (A) all of the Federal funds expended for 1 the fellow’s participation in the fellowship; and 2 (B) int [Text truncated for display. 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