Peace Corps Reauthorization Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3456 To amend the Peace Corps Act to reauthorize the Peace Corps, better support current, returning, and former volunteers, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 25, 2019 Mr. GARAMENDI (for himself, Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. GRAVES of Louisiana, Ms. SHALALA, Mrs. RADEWAGEN, and Mr. SIRES) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in ad- dition to the Committee on Education and Labor, for a period to be sub- sequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To amend the Peace Corps Act to reauthorize the Peace Corps, better support current, returning, and former vol- unteers, 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 ‘‘Peace Corps Reauthor- 4 ization Act of 2019’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:03 Jul 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3456.IH H3456 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 3456 IH SEC. 2. FUNDING FOR THE PEACE CORPS; INTEGRATION OF 1 INFORMATION AGE VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNI- 2 TIES. 3 Section 3(b) of the Peace Corps Act (22 U.S.C. 4 2502(b)(1)) is amended— 5 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking 6 ‘‘$270,000,000 for fiscal year 2000, $298,000,000 7 for fiscal year 2001, $327,000,000 for fiscal year 8 2002, and $365,000,000 for fiscal year 2003’’ and 9 inserting ‘‘$450,000,000 for each of fiscal years 10 2019 through 2023’’; 11 (2) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘that fiscal 12 year and the subsequent fiscal year’’ and inserting 13 ‘‘obligation through the end of the subsequent fiscal 14 year’’; 15 (3) by redesignating subsection (h) as sub- 16 section (e); and 17 (4) by adding at the end the following new sub- 18 section: 19 ‘‘(f) In recognition of the transformative power of 20 internet access in developing countries, the Peace Corps 21 shall be administered to give particular attention to those 22 programs, projects, training, and other activities which le- 23 verage the internet, as appropriate, for development, edu- 24 cation, and social and economic mobility and to develop 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:03 Jul 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3456.IH H3456 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 3456 IH positions for volunteers that include such programs, 1 projects, training, and other activities.’’. 2 SEC. 3. READJUSTMENT ALLOWANCES FOR VOLUNTEERS 3 AND VOLUNTEER LEADERS. 4 (a) VOLUNTEERS.—Section 5 of the Peace Corps Act 5 (22 U.S.C. 2504) is amended— 6 (1) in the first sentence of subsection (b), by in- 7 serting ‘‘, safety’’ after ‘‘health’’; 8 (2) in the first sentence of subsection (c), by 9 striking ‘‘$125’’ and inserting ‘‘$417’’; 10 (3) by redesignating subsections (e) through (p) 11 as subsections (d) through (o), respectively; 12 (4) in subsection (d), as so redesignated, in the 13 first sentence, by striking ‘‘subsection (f)’’ and in- 14 serting ‘‘subsection (e)’’; and 15 (5) in subsection (m), as so redesignated— 16 (A) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘sub- 17 section (e)’’ each place it appears and inserting 18 ‘‘subsection (d)’’; and 19 (B) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘sub- 20 section (1)’’ and inserting ‘‘paragraph (1)’’. 21 (b) VOLUNTEER LEADERS.—Section 6(1) of the 22 Peace Corps Act (22 U.S.C. 2505(1)) is amended by strik- 23 ing ‘‘$125’’ and inserting ‘‘$417’’. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:03 Jul 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3456.IH H3456 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 3456 IH SEC. 4. PEACE CORPS NATIONAL ADVISORY COUNCIL. 1 Section 12 of the Peace Corps Act (22 U.S.C. 2511) 2 is amended— 3 (1) in subsection (b)— 4 (A) in paragraph (2)— 5 (i) in the matter preceding subpara- 6 graph (A), by striking ‘‘conduct on-site in- 7 spections, and make examinations, of the 8 activities of the Peace Corps in the United 9 States and in other countries in order to’’; 10 (ii) in subparagraph (C), by striking 11 ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon at the end; 12 (iii) by redesignating subparagraph 13 (D) as subparagraph (E); and 14 (iv) by inserting after subparagraph 15 (C) the the following new subparagraph: 16 ‘‘(D) make recommendations for utilizing 17 the expertise of returned Peace Corps volun- 18 teers in fulfilling the goals of the Peace Corps; 19 and’’; 20 (2) in subsection (c)— 21 (A) in paragraph (2)— 22 (i) in subparagraph (A)— 23 (I) in the first sentence— 24 (aa) by striking ‘‘fifteen’’ 25 and inserting ‘‘seven’’; and 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:03 Jul 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3456.IH H3456 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 3456 IH (bb) by striking ‘‘President, 1 by and with the advice and con- 2 sent of the Senate’’ and inserting 3 ‘‘Director of the Peace Corps’’; 4 and 5 (II) by striking the second sen- 6 tence and inserting the following new 7 sentence: ‘‘At least four of such mem- 8 bers shall be former Peace Corps vol- 9 unteers, and not more than four of 10 such members may be members of the 11 same political party.’’; 12 (ii) by amending subparagraph (B) to 13 read as follows: 14 ‘‘(B) No member appointed under this 15 paragraph may be an officer or employee of the 16 Peace Corps.’’; 17 (iii) by amending subparagraph (D) to 18 read as follows: 19 ‘‘(D) The members of the council shall be 20 appointed to 2-year terms.’’; and 21 (iv) by striking subparagraphs (E), 22 (F), (G), (H), and (I); and 23 (B) by amending paragraph (3) to read as 24 follows: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:03 Jul 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3456.IH H3456 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 3456 IH ‘‘(3) The Director of the Peace Corps shall des- 1 ignate one of the voting members of the Council as 2 Chair, who shall serve in such capacity for a period 3 not to exceed two years.’’; 4 (3) in subsection (g)— 5 (A) in the first sentence, by striking ‘‘At 6 its first meeting and at its first regular meeting 7 in each calendar year thereafter’’ and inserting 8 ‘‘At its first meeting each calendar year’’; and 9 (B) in the second sentence, by inserting 10 before the period at the end the following: ‘‘, 11 and shall each serve in that capacity for a pe- 12 riod not to exceed two years.’’; 13 (4) in subsection (h)(1), by striking ‘‘The Coun- 14 cil’’ and all that follows through the period at the 15 end and inserting the following: ‘‘The Council shall 16 hold a regular meeting during each calendar quarter 17 at a date and time to be determined by the Chair 18 of the Council or at the call of the Director of the 19 Peace Corps.’’; and 20 (5) by adding at the end the following new sub- 21 sections: 22 ‘‘(k) INDEPENDENCE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL.— 23 None of the activities or functions of the Council under 24 subsection (b)(2) may undermine the independence or su- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:03 Jul 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3456.IH H3456 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •HR 3456 IH persede the duties of the Inspector General of the Peace 1 Corps. 2 ‘‘(l) NONAPPLICABILITY OF FACA.—The Federal 3 Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) shall not apply 4 to the Council. 5 ‘‘(m) ACCEPTANCE AND USE OF DONATIONS.—The 6 Director of the Peace Corps may accept donations of 7 funds, gifts, and in-kind contributions and use such dona- 8 tions without further appropriation for administrative ex- 9 penses relating to the functions of the Council. 10 ‘‘(n) MULTI-YEAR AGREEMENT.—The Director of 11 the Peace Corps may enter into a multi-year agreement 12 with a nonprofit organization that supports current, re- 13 turning, or former Peace Corps volunteers, authorizing 14 such nonprofit organization to solicit donations, on behalf 15 of the Peace Corps, solely to support the administrative 16 expenses relating to the functions of the Council. Any 17 agreement under this subsection shall require the non- 18 profit organization at issue to transfer all donated funds 19 received under such agreement to the Peace Corps for use 20 under subsection (m).’’. 21 SEC. 5. USE OF OFFICIAL SEAL, EMBLEM, AND NAME OF 22 THE PEACE CORPS. 23 Subsection (b) of section 19 of the Peace Corps Act 24 (22 U.S.C. 2518) is amended— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:03 Jul 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3456.IH H3456 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •HR 3456 IH (1) in paragraph (1), by inserting before the pe- 1 riod at the end the following: ‘‘, except that the offi- 2 cial seal or emblem and the name ‘Peace Corps’ may 3 be used on any death announcement, gravestone, 4 plaque, or other grave marker of any person who 5 served as a volunteer or as an officer or employee 6 of the Peace Corps under such rules as may be pre- 7 scribed by the Director’’; and 8 (2) in paragraph (2), in the first sentence, by 9 inserting ‘‘or in accordance with the exception speci- 10 fied in paragraph (1),’’ before ‘‘shall be fined’’. 11 SEC. 6. CODIFICATION OF CERTAIN EXECUTIVE ORDER RE- 12 LATING TO EXISTING NONCOMPETITIVE ELI- 13 GIBILITY FEDERAL HIRING STATUS FOR RE- 14 TURNING VOLUNTEERS. 15 The Peace Corps Act is amended— 16 (1) by redesignating sections 26 through 28 (22 17 U.S.C. 2522, 2523, and 2501 note) as sections 27 18 through 29; and 19 (2) by inserting after section 25 the following 20 new section: 21 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:03 Jul 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3456.IH H3456 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •HR 3456 IH ‘‘CODIFICATION OF CERTAIN EXECUTIVE ORDER RELAT- 1 ING TO EXISTING NONCOMPETITIVE ELIGIBILITY 2 FEDERAL HIRING STATUS FOR RETURNING VOLUN- 3 TEERS 4 ‘‘SEC. 26. (a) Executive Order 11103 (28 Fed. Reg. 5 3571; Apr. 10, 1963), as amended by Executive Order 6 12107 (44 Fed. Reg. 1055; Dec. 28, 1978), as in effect 7 on the day before the date of the enactment of this section, 8 shall remain in effect and have the full force and effect 9 of law, consistent with subsection (b). 10 ‘‘(b)(1) The period of eligibility for noncompetitive 11 appointment to the civil service provided to an individual 12 by operation of subsection (a), including any individual 13 who is so eligible on the date of enactment of this section, 14 shall be extended by the total number of days that, during 15 such period— 16 ‘‘(A) a hiring freeze for civilian employees of 17 the executive branch is in effect by order of the 18 President with respect to any Executive agency at 19 which the individual has applied for employment; 20 ‘‘(B) there is a lapse in appropriations with re- 21 spect to any Executive agency at which the indi- 22 vidual has applied for employment; or 23 ‘‘(C) the individual is receiving disability com- 24 pensation under section 8142 of title 5, United 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:03 Jul 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3456.IH H3456 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 10 •HR 3456 IH States Code, based on their service as a Peace Corp 1 volunteer, retroactive to the date the individual ap- 2 plied for such compensation. 3 ‘‘(2) For purposes of subsection (b)— 4 ‘‘(A) the term ‘hiring freeze’ means any memo- 5 randum, Executive order, or other action by the 6 President that prohibits an Executive agency from 7 filling vacant Federal civilian employee positions or 8 creating new such positions; and 9 ‘‘(B) the term ‘Executive agency’ has the mean- 10 ing given that term in section 105 of title 5, United 11 States Code, and includes the United States Postal 12 Service and the Postal Regulatory Commission, but 13 does not include the Government Accountability Of- 14 fice.’’. 15 SEC. 7. MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT WITH BUREAU OF 16 DIPLOMATIC SECURITY OF THE DEPART- 17 MENT OF STATE. 18 (a) IN GENERAL.—At least once every five years, the 19 Director of the Peace Corps and the Assistant Secretary 20 of State for Diplomatic Security shall review the Memo- 21 randum of Agreement between the Bureau of Diplomatic 22 Security of the Department of State and the Peace Corps 23 regarding security support and protection of Peace Corps 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:03 Jul 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3456.IH H3456 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 11 •HR 3456 IH volunteers and staff members abroad and update such 1 Memorandum of Agreement, as appropriate. 2 (b) NOTIFICATION.—The Director of the Peace Corps 3 and the Assistance Secretary of State for Diplomatic Se- 4 curity shall jointly submit to the Committee on Foreign 5 Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Com- 6 mittee on Foreign Relations of the Senate any update to 7 the Memorandum of Agreement under subsection (a) not 8 later than 30 days before such update shall take effect. 9 SEC. 8. CLARIFICATION REGARDING ELIGIBILITY OF 10 UNITED STATES NATIONALS. 11 The Peace Corps Act is amended— 12 (1) in section 7(a)(5) (22 U.S.C. 2506(a)(5)), 13 by inserting ‘‘or nationals of the United States’’ 14 after ‘‘citizens’’ each place such term appears; 15 (2) in section 8(b) (22 U.S.C. 2507(b)), by in- 16 serting ‘‘or nationals of the United States’’ after 17 ‘‘citizens’’; 18 (3) in section 10(b) (22 U.S.C. 2509(b)), by in- 19 serting ‘‘, national of the United States,’’ after ‘‘cit- 20 izen’’; 21 (4) in section 12(g) (22 U.S.C. 2511(g), by in- 22 serting ‘‘or nationals of the United’’ after ‘‘citizens’’; 23 and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:03 Jul 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3456.IH H3456 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 12 •HR 3456 IH (5) in section 27 (as redesignated pursuant to 1 section 6 of this Act)— 2 (A) by redesignating paragraphs (5) 3 through (8) as paragraphs (6) through (9), re- 4 spectively; and 5 (B) by inserting after paragraph (4) the 6 following new paragraph: 7 ‘‘(5) The term ‘national’ has the meaning given 8 such term in section 101(a)(22)(B) of the Immigra- 9 tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 10 1101(a)(22)(B)).’’. 11 SEC. 9. WORKERS COMPENSATION FOR PEACE CORPS VOL- 12 UNTEERS. 13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 8142 of title 5, United 14 States Code, is amended— 15 (1) in subsection (c)— 16 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘GS–7’’ 17 and inserting ‘‘GS–11’’; and 18 (B) by striking paragraph (2) (and redes- 19 ignating paragraphs (3) and (4) as paragraphs 20 (2) and (3), respectively); and 21 (2) in subsection (d)(1), by striking ‘‘subsection 22 (c)(3)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection (c)(2)’’. 23 (b) APPLICATION.—The amendment made by sub- 24 section (a)(1)(A) shall apply to any volunteer (as that 25 VerDate Sep 11 [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]