National Air Grant Fellowship Program Act of 2020

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 3192 To establish an aerospace fellowship program, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JANUARY 14, 2020 Ms. CANTWELL (for herself and Mr. BLUNT) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation A BILL To establish an aerospace 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 ‘‘National Air Grant 4 Fellowship Program Act of 2020’’. 5 SEC. 2. NATIONAL AIR GRANT FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM. 6 (a) PROGRAM MAINTENANCE.—The Administrator 7 shall maintain within the Administration a program to be 8 known as the ‘‘National Air Grant Fellowship Program’’. 9 The National Air Grant Fellowship Program shall be ad- 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:09 Jan 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3192.IS S3192 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 3192 IS ministered by a National Air Grant Office within the Ad- 1 ministration. 2 (b) PROGRAM ELEMENTS.—The National Air Grant 3 Fellowship Program shall provide support for the fellow- 4 ship program under section 3. 5 (c) RESPONSIBILITIES OF ADMINISTRATOR.— 6 (1) GUIDELINES.—The Administrator shall es- 7 tablish guidelines related to the activities and re- 8 sponsibilities of air grant fellowships under section 9 3. 10 (2) QUALIFICATIONS.—The Administrator shall 11 by regulation prescribe the qualifications required 12 for designation of air grant fellowships under section 13 3. 14 (3) AUTHORITY.—In order to carry out the pro- 15 visions of this Act, the Administrator may— 16 (A) appoint, assign the duties, transfer, 17 and fix the compensation of such personnel as 18 may be necessary, in accordance with civil serv- 19 ice laws; 20 (B) make appointments with respect to 21 temporary and intermittent services to the ex- 22 tent authorized by section 3109 of title 5, 23 United States Code; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:09 Jan 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3192.IS S3192 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 3192 IS (C) enter into contracts, cooperative agree- 1 ments, and other transactions without regard to 2 section 6101 of title 41, United States Code; 3 (D) notwithstanding section 1342 of title 4 31, United States Code, accept donations and 5 voluntary and uncompensated services; 6 (E) accept funds from other Federal de- 7 partments and agencies, including agencies 8 within the Administration, to pay for and add 9 to activities authorized by this Act; and 10 (F) promulgate such rules and regulations 11 as may be necessary and appropriate. 12 (d) DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL AIR GRANT FELLOW- 13 SHIP PROGRAM.— 14 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall ap- 15 point, as the Director of the National Air Grant Fel- 16 lowship Program, a qualified individual who has ap- 17 propriate administrative experience and knowledge 18 or expertise in fields related to aerospace. The Di- 19 rector shall be appointed and compensated, without 20 regard to the provisions of title 5 governing appoint- 21 ments in the competitive service, at a rate payable 22 under section 5376 of title 5, United States Code. 23 (2) DUTIES.—Subject to the supervision of the 24 Administrator, the Director shall administer the Na- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:09 Jan 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3192.IS S3192 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 3192 IS tional Air Grant Fellowship Program and oversee 1 the operation of the National Air Grant Office. In 2 addition to any other duty prescribed by law or as- 3 signed by the Administrator, the Director shall— 4 (A) cooperate with institutions of higher 5 education that offer degrees in fields related to 6 aerospace; 7 (B) encourage the participation of grad- 8 uate and post-graduate students in the National 9 Air Grant Fellowship Program; and 10 (C) cooperate and coordinate with other 11 Federal activities in fields related to aerospace. 12 SEC. 3. FELLOWSHIPS. 13 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall support 14 a program of fellowships for qualified individuals at the 15 graduate and post-graduate level. The fellowships shall be 16 in fields related to aerospace and awarded pursuant to 17 guidelines established by the Administrator. The Adminis- 18 trator shall strive to ensure equal access for minority and 19 economically disadvantaged students to the program car- 20 ried out under this subsection. 21 (b) AEROSPACE POLICY FELLOWSHIP.— 22 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall 23 award aerospace policy fellowships to support the 24 placement of individuals at the graduate level of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:09 Jan 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3192.IS S3192 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 3192 IS education in fields related to aerospace in positions 1 with— 2 (A) the executive branch of the United 3 States Government; and 4 (B) the legislative branch of the United 5 States Government. 6 (2) PLACEMENT PRIORITIES FOR LEGISLATIVE 7 FELLOWSHIPS.— 8 (A) IN GENERAL.—In considering the 9 placement of individuals receiving a fellowship 10 for a legislative branch position under para- 11 graph (1)(B), the Administrator shall give pri- 12 ority to placement of such individuals in the fol- 13 lowing: 14 (i) Positions in offices of, or with 15 Members on, committees of Congress that 16 have jurisdiction over the Federal Aviation 17 Administration. 18 (ii) Positions in offices of Members of 19 Congress that have a demonstrated inter- 20 est in aerospace policy. 21 (B) EQUITABLE DISTRIBUTION.—In plac- 22 ing fellows in positions described under sub- 23 paragraph (A), the Administrator shall ensure 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:09 Jan 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3192.IS S3192 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 3192 IS that placements are equally distributed among 1 the political parties. 2 (3) DURATION.—A fellowship awarded under 3 this subsection shall be for a period of not more 4 than 1 year. 5 (c) RESTRICTION ON USE OF FUNDS.—Amounts 6 available for fellowships under this section, including 7 amounts accepted under section 2(c)(3)(E) or appro- 8 priated under section 5 to carry out this section, shall be 9 used only for award of such fellowships and administrative 10 costs of implementing this section. 11 SEC. 4. INTERAGENCY COOPERATION. 12 Each department, agency, or other instrumentality of 13 the Federal Government that is engaged in or concerned 14 with, or that has authority over, matters relating to aero- 15 space— 16 (1) may, upon a written request from the Ad- 17 ministrator, make available, on a reimbursable basis 18 or otherwise, any personnel (with their consent and 19 without prejudice to their position and rating), serv- 20 ice, or facility that the Administrator deems nec- 21 essary to carry out any provision of this Act; 22 (2) shall, upon a written request from the Ad- 23 ministrator, furnish any available data or other in- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:09 Jan 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3192.IS S3192 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 3192 IS formation that the Administrator deems necessary to 1 carry out any provision of this Act; and 2 (3) shall cooperate with the Administration and 3 duly authorized officials thereof. 4 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 5 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Ad- 6 ministrator $15,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2021 7 through 2025 to carry out this Act. Amounts appropriated 8 under the preceding sentence shall remain available until 9 expended. 10 SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS. 11 In this Act: 12 (1) ADMINISTRATION.—The term ‘‘Administra- 13 tion’’ means the Federal Aviation Administration. 14 (2) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis- 15 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Federal 16 Aviation Administration. 17 (3) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 18 the Director of the National Air Grant Fellowship 19 Program, appointed pursuant to section 2(d). 20 (4) FIELDS RELATED TO AEROSPACE.—The 21 term ‘‘fields related to aerospace’’ means any dis- 22 cipline or field that is concerned with, or likely to 23 improve, the development, assessment, operation, 24 safety, or repair of aircraft and other airborne ob- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:09 Jan 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3192.IS S3192 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 3192 IS jects and systems, including, but not limited to, the 1 following: 2 (A) Aerospace engineering. 3 (B) Aerospace physiology. 4 (C) Aeronautical engineering. 5 (D) Airworthiness engineering. 6 (E) Electrical engineering. 7 (F) Human factors. 8 (G) Software engineering. 9 (H) Systems engineering. 10 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:09 Jan 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S3192.IS S3192 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS