Federal

John Lewis Civil Rights Fellowship Act of 2023

Source: Congress.gov · 1,484 words in original text

What This Bill Does

This bill creates a new fellowship program named after Representative John Lewis. The program funds early- to mid-career professionals from the United States to work and research abroad, studying how nonviolent movements have created and protected civil rights in other countries. ##

Who It Affects

• Early- to mid-career professionals eligible to apply for the fellowship • The Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (the government office that will run the program) • Foreign nongovernmental organizations, universities and academic institutions that host fellows • Congressional committees that will receive reports about the program ##

Key Provisions

• The fellowship program operates within the J. William Fulbright Educational Exchange Program and the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs will manage it following guidelines from the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board (Sec. 2) • The Bureau will select at least 25 fellows per year, when feasible, to participate in international internships or research placements in countries with active Fulbright U.S. Student Programs (Sec. 2) • Each fellow must attend an annual orientation in Washington, DC or another location, and must attend a summit within one year after their fellowship ends to present what they learned (Sec. 2) • Each fellowship lasts at least 10 months when feasible, and the Bureau provides fellows with money to cover reasonable costs, travel and lodging (Sec. 2) • The Secretary of State must submit annual reports to Congress on fellow demographics, internship placements, lessons learned and diversity trends (Sec. 2) ##

What Changes

If enacted, this law adds a new fellowship program to the existing Mutual Educational and Cultural Exchange Act of 1961. The program provides funding and structure for American professionals to study nonviolent civil rights movements internationally through research and internship placements. ##

Important Definitions

• Fellowship Program: The John Lewis Civil Rights Fellowship Program that provides funded international internships and research placements for early- to mid-career professionals • Bureau: The Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, the government office responsible for administering the program ##

Effective Date

Not specified in bill text --- **SUNSET PROVISION:** The law states that the authority to carry out this program expires 7 years after the date the law is enacted (Sec. 4).

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1150 To establish the John Lewis Civil Rights Fellowship to fund international internships and research placements for early- to mid-career professionals to study nonviolent movements to establish and protect civil rights around the world. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 21, 2023 Ms. WILLIAMS of Georgia (for herself, Ms. MACE, Ms. ADAMS, Ms. BLUNT ROCHESTER, Ms. BROWN, Mr. CASTEN, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Mr. COHEN, Mr. DOGGETT, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Mr. EVANS, Mrs. FOUSHEE, Mr. GOLDMAN of New York, Ms. NORTON, Mr. HORSFORD, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. KILMER, Mrs. MCBATH, Mr. PAYNE, Ms. PORTER, Mr. QUIGLEY, Mr. RASKIN, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Ms. SEWELL, Mr. SHERMAN, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Ms. TITUS, Ms. TLAIB, Mr. TONKO, Mrs. TRAHAN, Mr. TRONE, Mr. VARGAS, Ms. WILD, Ms. WILSON of Florida, Mr. KILDEE, Mr. COURTNEY, Ms. WATERS, Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia, Mr. CLYBURN, Mr. MEEKS, Mr. GREEN of Texas, Mr. ALLRED, Ms. KAMLAGER-DOVE, Mr. CLEAVER, Ms. PRESSLEY, Ms. DELBENE, and Mr. CARBAJAL) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs A BILL To establish the John Lewis Civil Rights Fellowship to fund international internships and research placements for early- to mid-career professionals to study nonviolent movements to establish and protect civil rights around the world. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:35 Mar 11, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1150.IH H1150 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1150 IH SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘John Lewis Civil 2 Rights Fellowship Act of 2023’’. 3 SEC. 2. JOHN LEWIS CIVIL RIGHTS FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM. 4 The Mutual Educational and Cultural Exchange Act 5 of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2451 et seq.) is amended by adding 6 at the end the following: 7 ‘‘SEC. 115. JOHN LEWIS CIVIL RIGHTS FELLOWSHIP PRO- 8 GRAM. 9 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established the 10 John Lewis Civil Rights Fellowship Program (referred to 11 in this section as the ‘Fellowship Program’) within the J. 12 William Fulbright Educational Exchange Program. 13 ‘‘(b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of the Fellowship 14 Program are— 15 ‘‘(1) to honor the legacy of Representative John 16 Lewis by promoting a greater understanding of the 17 history and tenets of nonviolent civil rights move- 18 ments; and 19 ‘‘(2) to advance foreign policy priorities of the 20 United States by promoting studies, research, and 21 international exchange in the subject of nonviolent 22 movements that established and protected civil 23 rights around the world. 24 ‘‘(c) ADMINISTRATION.—The Bureau of Educational 25 and Cultural Affairs (referred to in this section as the ‘Bu- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:35 Mar 11, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1150.IH H1150 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1150 IH reau’) shall administer the Fellowship Program in accord- 1 ance with policy guidelines established by the Fulbright 2 Foreign Scholarship Board, in consultation with the bina- 3 tional Fulbright Commissions and United States Embas- 4 sies. 5 ‘‘(d) SELECTION OF FELLOWS.— 6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Board shall annually 7 select qualified individuals to participate in the Fel- 8 lowship Program. The Bureau may determine the 9 number of fellows selected each year, which, when- 10 ever feasible, shall be not fewer than 25. 11 ‘‘(2) OUTREACH.—To the extent practicable, 12 the Bureau shall conduct outreach at institutions 13 the Bureau determines are likely to produce a range 14 of qualified applicants. 15 ‘‘(e) FELLOWSHIP ORIENTATION.—The Bureau shall 16 organize and administer a fellowship orientation that 17 shall— 18 ‘‘(1) be held in Washington, DC, or at another 19 location selected by the Bureau; 20 ‘‘(2) include programming to honor the legacy 21 of Representative John Lewis; and 22 ‘‘(3) be held on an annual basis. 23 ‘‘(f) STRUCTURE.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:35 Mar 11, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1150.IH H1150 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1150 IH ‘‘(1) WORK PLAN.—To carry out the purposes 1 described in subsection (b)(2)— 2 ‘‘(A) each fellow selected pursuant to sub- 3 section (d) shall arrange an internship or re- 4 search placement— 5 ‘‘(i) with a nongovernmental organiza- 6 tion, academic institution, or other organi- 7 zation approved by the Bureau; and 8 ‘‘(ii) in a country with an operational 9 Fulbright U.S. Student Program; and 10 ‘‘(B) the Bureau shall, for each fellow, ap- 11 prove a work plan that identifies the target ob- 12 jectives for the fellow, including specific duties 13 and responsibilities relating to those objectives. 14 ‘‘(2) CONFERENCES; PRESENTATIONS.—Each 15 fellow shall— 16 ‘‘(A) attend the fellowship orientation de- 17 scribed in subsection (e); 18 ‘‘(B) not later than the date that is 1 year 19 after the end of the fellowship period, attend a 20 fellowship summit organized and administered 21 by the Bureau, which, whenever feasible, shall 22 be held in a location of importance to the civil 23 rights movement in the United States and may 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:35 Mar 11, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1150.IH H1150 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 1150 IH coincide with other events facilitated by the Bu- 1 reau; and 2 ‘‘(C) at such summit, give a presentation 3 on lessons learned during the period of fellow- 4 ship. 5 ‘‘(3) FELLOWSHIP PERIOD.—Each fellowship 6 under this section shall continue for a period deter- 7 mined by the Bureau, which, whenever feasible, shall 8 be not shorter than 10 months. 9 ‘‘(g) FELLOWSHIP AWARD.—The Bureau shall pro- 10 vide each fellow under this section with an allowance that 11 is equal to the amount needed for— 12 ‘‘(1) the fellow’s reasonable costs during the fel- 13 lowship period; and 14 ‘‘(2) travel and lodging expenses related to at- 15 tending the orientation and summit required under 16 subsection (e)(2). 17 ‘‘(h) REPORTS.—Not later than 1 year after the date 18 of completion of the Fellowship Program by the initial co- 19 hort of fellows selected under subsection (d), and on an 20 annual basis thereafter, the Secretary of State shall sub- 21 mit to the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House 22 of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign Rela- 23 tions of the Senate a report providing information on the 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:35 Mar 11, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1150.IH H1150 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 1150 IH implementation of the Fellowship Program, including 1 on— 2 ‘‘(1) the demographics of the cohort of fellows 3 who completed a fellowship during the preceding 1- 4 year period; 5 ‘‘(2) a description of internship and research 6 placements, and research projects selected, under 7 the Fellowship Program, including participant feed- 8 back on program implementation and feedback of 9 the Department on lessons learned; 10 ‘‘(3) a plan for factoring such lessons learned 11 into future programming; and 12 ‘‘(4) an analysis of trends relating to the diver- 13 sity of the cohorts of fellows and the topics of 14 projects completed over the course of the Fellowship 15 Program.’’. 16 SEC. 3. TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS TO 17 THE MUTUAL EDUCATIONAL AND CULTURAL 18 EXCHANGE ACT OF 1961A. 19 Section 112(a) of the Mutual Educational and Cul- 20 tural Exchange Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2460(a)) is 21 amended— 22 (1) in paragraph (8), by striking ‘‘; and’’ and 23 inserting a semicolon; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:35 Mar 11, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1150.IH H1150 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 1150 IH (2) in paragraph (9), by striking the period and 1 inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 2 (3) by adding at the end the following: 3 ‘‘(10) the John Lewis Civil Rights Fellowship 4 Program established under section 115, which pro- 5 vides funding for international internships and re- 6 search placements for early- to mid-career individ- 7 uals from the United States to study nonviolent civil 8 rights movements in self-arranged placements with 9 universities or nongovernmental organizations in for- 10 eign countries.’’. 11 SEC. 4. SUNSET. 12 The authority to carry out the John Lewis Civil 13 Rights Fellowship Program established under section 115 14 of the Mutual Educational and Cultural Exchange Act of 15 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2451 et seq.), as added by section 2, 16 shall expire on the date that is 7 years after the date of 17 the enactment of this Act. 18 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:35 Mar 11, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1150.IH H1150 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS

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