Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) Homeland Security Partnerships Act

IIB 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 1494 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES FEBRUARY 11, 2020 Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs AN ACT To strengthen partnerships between historically Black col- leges and universities and minority-serving institutions and the Department of Homeland Security, 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 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:22 Feb 12, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1494.RFS H1494 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 HR 1494 RFS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Historically Black Col- 2 leges and Universities (HBCUs) Homeland Security Part- 3 nerships Act’’. 4 SEC. 2. DEPARTMENT-WIDE STRATEGY FOR ENHANCED 5 PARTNERSHIPS WITH HISTORICALLY BLACK 6 COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES AND MINOR- 7 ITY-SERVING INSTITUTIONS. 8 Not later than 90 days after the date of the enact- 9 ment of this Act, the Secretary, acting through the Under 10 Secretary for Strategy, Policy, and Plans of the Depart- 11 ment, shall— 12 (1) issue a Department-wide strategy to en- 13 hance partnerships with historically Black colleges 14 and universities and minority-serving institutions 15 that includes yearly goals, including goals related to 16 improving recruitment and hiring, research and de- 17 velopment, and acquisition opportunities at such in- 18 stitutions, through fiscal year 2025; and 19 (2) require the head of each component of the 20 Department to— 21 (A) not later than 150 days after the date 22 of the issuance under paragraph (1) of the De- 23 partment-wide strategy, develop a component- 24 specific action plan to implement such strategy; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:22 Feb 12, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1494.RFS H1494 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 HR 1494 RFS (B) monitor progress on such implementa- 1 tion; and 2 (C) not later than 1 year after the date of 3 such issuance, report to the Secretary regarding 4 progress on such implementation. 5 SEC. 3. ENHANCEMENT OF RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT 6 PARTNERSHIPS. 7 The Secretary shall seek to enhance partnerships 8 with historically Black colleges and universities and minor- 9 ity-serving institutions with respect to administering the 10 research and development activities of the Department by, 11 among other things— 12 (1) encouraging the participation of such col- 13 leges, universities, and institutions in the research, 14 development, testing, and evaluation programs and 15 activities of the Department; 16 (2) facilitating partnerships between such col- 17 leges, universities, and institutions and private sec- 18 tor stakeholders, national laboratories, and other 19 academic institutions in areas important to home- 20 land security, including cybersecurity, emergency 21 management, and counterterrorism; and 22 (3) distributing funds through Science and 23 Technology Directorate grants, cooperative agree- 24 ments, and contracts to such colleges, universities, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:22 Feb 12, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1494.RFS H1494 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 HR 1494 RFS and institutions for enhancements in areas impor- 1 tant to homeland security, including cybersecurity, 2 emergency management, and counterterrorism. 3 SEC. 4. CAREER OPPORTUNITIES PARTNERSHIPS. 4 Not later than 120 days after the date of the enact- 5 ment of this Act, the Secretary, acting through the Chief 6 Human Capitol Officer of the Department, shall make 7 available to historically Black colleges and universities and 8 minority-serving institutions a current list of internship, 9 fellowship, scholarship, and recruitment opportunities 10 within the Department for students and recent graduates 11 of such colleges, universities, and institutions. 12 SEC. 5. ACQUISITION PARTNERSHIPS. 13 Not later than 120 days after the date of the enact- 14 ment of this Act, the Secretary, acting through the Chief 15 Procurement Officer of the Department, shall— 16 (1) identify how to increase the participation of 17 historically Black colleges and universities and mi- 18 nority-serving institutions in Department acquisi- 19 tions, including identifying existing opportunities for 20 historically Black colleges and universities and mi- 21 nority-serving institutions to participate in the con- 22 tracting program of the Small Business Administra- 23 tion for minorities; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:22 Feb 12, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1494.RFS H1494 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 HR 1494 RFS (2) disseminate to such colleges, universities, 1 and institutions— 2 (A) information identified in accordance 3 with paragraph (1); and 4 (B) current and future opportunities to 5 participate in Department acquisitions. 6 SEC. 6. ANNUAL REPORT. 7 (a) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than December 31, 8 2020, and annually thereafter through 2026, the Sec- 9 retary shall submit to the Committee on Homeland Secu- 10 rity of the House of Representatives and the Committee 11 on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the 12 Senate a report on the efforts of the Department to part- 13 ner with historically Black colleges and universities and 14 minority-serving institutions to carry out this Act. 15 (b) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.—The annual re- 16 ports required under subsection (a) shall include the fol- 17 lowing: 18 (1) A list of awards, including the cor- 19 responding monetary value for each such award, to 20 historically Black colleges and universities and mi- 21 nority-serving institutions, disaggregated by grant, 22 contract, cooperative agreement, and other research 23 development test and evaluation activity, initiative, 24 and program. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:22 Feb 12, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1494.RFS H1494 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 HR 1494 RFS (2) A description of how the Department is 1 partnering with historically Black colleges and uni- 2 versities and minority-serving institutions under the 3 programs referred to in sections 3 and 5, and how 4 such programs have helped such colleges, univer- 5 sities, and institutions participate in acquisitions 6 with the Department. 7 (3) A summary of outreach efforts to histori- 8 cally Black colleges and universities and minority- 9 serving institutions, and an identification of any De- 10 partment programs and initiatives in which such col- 11 leges, universities, and institutions are under-rep- 12 resented among institutions of higher education. 13 (4) A description of the status of efforts made 14 by the Department pursuant to sections 2 and 4, in- 15 cluding— 16 (A) for section 2, Department-wide goals 17 pursuant to the Department-wide strategy to 18 enhance partnerships with historically Black 19 colleges and universities and minority-serving 20 institutions under such section, and the status 21 of efforts to implement action plans throughout 22 the Department to carry out such strategy; and 23 (B) for section 4, participation rates in 24 each internship, fellowship, scholarship, and re- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:22 Feb 12, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1494.RFS H1494 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 HR 1494 RFS cruitment opportunity referred to in such sec- 1 tion, listed by historically Black college and uni- 2 versity and minority-serving institution so par- 3 ticipating. 4 (5) A list of memoranda of understanding en- 5 tered into by the Department with historically Black 6 colleges and universities and minority-serving insti- 7 tutions and information on the parties and scope of 8 each such memorandum of understanding. 9 SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS. 10 In this Act: 11 (1) DEPARTMENT.—The term ‘‘Department’’ 12 means the Department of Homeland Security. 13 (2) HISTORICALLY BLACK COLLEGES AND UNI- 14 VERSITIES.—The term ‘‘historically Black colleges 15 and universities’’ means a part B institution de- 16 scribed in section 322(2) of the Higher Education 17 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1061(2)). 18 (3) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 19 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 20 meaning given such term in section 101 of the High- 21 er Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001). 22 (4) MINORITY-SERVING INSTITUTIONS.—The 23 term ‘‘minority-serving institutions’’ means an insti- 24 tution of higher education described in section 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:22 Feb 12, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1494.RFS H1494 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 HR 1494 RFS 371(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 1 U.S.C. 1067q(a)). 2 (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 3 Secretary of Homeland Security. 4 Passed the House of Representatives February 10, 2020. Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, Clerk. By ROBERT F. REEVES, Deputy Clerk. VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:22 Feb 12, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1494.RFS H1494 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS