Operation Overlord Study Abroad Program Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 7189 To establish a youth study abroad program in the Department of State for United States secondary school students to study in Normandy, France, to learn about the relationship between the United States and France, the World War II military operation known as Operation Over- lord, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 11, 2020 Mr. TIPTON (for himself and Ms. SHERRILL) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs A BILL To establish a youth study abroad program in the Depart- ment of State for United States secondary school stu- dents to study in Normandy, France, to learn about the relationship between the United States and France, the World War II military operation known as Operation Overlord, 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 ‘‘Operation Overlord 4 Study Abroad Program Act of 2020’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:27 Jun 30, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7189.IH H7189 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 7189 IH SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 1 Congress finds the following: 2 (1) The United States and France have shared 3 close cultural, economic, social, and diplomatic rela- 4 tions since 1776 when French forces supported the 5 American Colonies during the Revolutionary War to 6 gain freedom from Great Britain. 7 (2) World War II cemented this positive rela- 8 tionship between the United States and France. 9 (3) On June 6, 1944, the United States, as a 10 member of the Allied Forces, led the military oper- 11 ation known as Operation Overlord. 12 (4) Operation Overlord consisted of a series of 13 prolonged parachute and glider landings, large naval 14 bombardments, massive air attacks, and amphibious 15 landings on the beaches of Normandy known as 16 Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno, and Sword. 17 (5) Over 2,000,000 military service members of 18 the Allied Forces landed in France during Operation 19 Overlord, which resulted in approximately 226,000 20 casualties. Of those casualties, approximately 21 153,000 were injured, and 72,000 were either killed 22 or declared missing in action. 23 (6) Operation Overlord resulted in a victory for 24 the Allied Forces as they forced Nazi Germany to 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:27 Jun 30, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7189.IH H7189 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 7189 IH withdraw from Normandy and move eastward to- 1 ward Paris. 2 (7) June 6, 2020, is the 76th anniversary of 3 the start of Operation Overlord. 4 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 5 It is the sense of Congress that— 6 (1) the United States owes to the generation of 7 Americans known as the Greatest Generation an im- 8 mense level of respect and gratitude for risking their 9 lives by serving in the Allied Forces to defeat Nazi 10 Germany; 11 (2) it is vital that the stories of the men and 12 women who fought in Operation Overlord are not 13 forgotten, allowing our youth to remember some of 14 the greatest acts of heroism recorded in human his- 15 tory; and 16 (3) the United States hopes to maintain strong 17 ties with the Government of France and ensure the 18 lessons learned from Operation Overlord are not for- 19 gotten. 20 SEC. 4. OPERATION OVERLORD ACADEMIC STUDY ABROAD 21 PROGRAM. 22 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State, in co- 23 operation with the Government of France, may establish 24 in the Department of State a 2-week academic study 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:27 Jun 30, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7189.IH H7189 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 7189 IH abroad program (referred to in this section as the ‘‘study 1 abroad program’’), during either the month of July or Au- 2 gust, in Normandy, France, for eligible individuals to 3 learn about the historical relationship between the United 4 States and France by— 5 (1) attending a secondary school or post-sec- 6 ondary school in France for the duration of the 7 study abroad program with academic course work 8 emphasizing— 9 (A) the history, constitution, and political 10 development of France; and 11 (B) the relationship between the United 12 States and France during World War II, focus- 13 ing on the military operation known as Oper- 14 ation Overlord; and 15 (2) visiting historical sites. 16 (b) ELIGIBILITY.— 17 (1) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to participate 18 in this study abroad program, an individual shall— 19 (A) be a citizen of the United States be- 20 tween 16 to 18 years of age; 21 (B) be a freshman, sophomore, or junior at 22 the time such individual submits an application 23 for participation in the study abroad program; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:27 Jun 30, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7189.IH H7189 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 7189 IH (C) have an overall grade point average of 1 at least 2.8 on a 4.0 scale at the time of the 2 submission of the application; 3 (D) provide at least 1 letter of rec- 4 ommendation from a secondary school teacher 5 who knows the individual; 6 (E) agree to participate in the presentation 7 under subsection (f); 8 (F) either be enrolled in, or have com- 9 pleted, at least one college preparatory history 10 course; and 11 (G) satisfy any other qualifications the 12 Secretary of State determines appropriate. 13 (2) PREFERENCE.—Preference for participation 14 in the study abroad program shall be given to indi- 15 viduals who speak the French language conversa- 16 tionally. 17 (c) SELECTION.— 18 (1) NUMBER OF ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUALS.—The 19 Secretary shall select not more than 100 eligible in- 20 dividuals for participation in the study abroad pro- 21 gram from a compiled list of eligible individuals 22 nominated by United States Senators pursuant to 23 paragraph (2). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:27 Jun 30, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7189.IH H7189 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 7189 IH (2) NOMINATION BY SENATORS.—Each United 1 States Senator shall nominate and submit to the 2 Secretary the name of one eligible individual from 3 their State to participate in the study abroad pro- 4 gram. 5 (d) USE OF FUNDS.—Funds donated pursuant to 6 subsection (h) and appropriated under subsection (i) to 7 carry out the study abroad program shall be used for the 8 following purposes: 9 (1) Room and board. 10 (2) Round trip international airfare, including 11 airport transfers. 12 (3) Entrance fees to all sites, museums, and 13 historic attractions. 14 (4) Transportation while outside of the United 15 States. 16 (5) Any tuition and academic materials re- 17 quired by the host secondary school or post-sec- 18 ondary school in France. 19 (6) Gratuities to guides, drivers, porters, and 20 servers. 21 (7) Backpack, luggage tags, and customized 22 name badge. 23 (8) Pre-tour required readings and books. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:27 Jun 30, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7189.IH H7189 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 7189 IH (e) APPLICATION.—To be eligible to participate in 1 the study abroad program, an eligible individual shall sub- 2 mit to the Secretary of State an application at such time, 3 in such manner, and containing such information as the 4 Secretary of State may require. 5 (f) PRESENTATION.— 6 (1) IN GENERAL.—As a condition on participa- 7 tion in the study abroad program, not later than 2 8 months after the study abroad program has con- 9 cluded, each individual participating in the study 10 abroad program under this section shall present to 11 one history teacher from their school a 30-minute 12 presentation on their study abroad experience. 13 (2) VERIFICATION REQUIRED.—Not later than 14 30 days after the completion of the presentation re- 15 quired under paragraph (1), each individual partici- 16 pating in the study abroad program under this sec- 17 tion shall submit to the Secretary— 18 (A) a digital copy of all presentation mate- 19 rials used by the individual for purposes of the 20 presentation; and 21 (B) a letter signed by a history teacher 22 who witnessed the presentation. 23 (g) ANNUAL REPORT.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:27 Jun 30, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7189.IH H7189 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 7189 IH (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after 1 the conclusion of the scholarship program each year, 2 the Secretary of State shall submit to the Committee 3 on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives 4 and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Sen- 5 ate a report on the study abroad program. 6 (2) MATTERS INCLUDED.—Each report re- 7 quired under paragraph (1) shall include informa- 8 tion relating to the following: 9 (A) The implementation of the study 10 abroad program. 11 (B) A financial report, including— 12 (i) the number and amount of chari- 13 table contributions to the study abroad 14 program; and 15 (ii) a comparison of such contribu- 16 tions from the preceding year of the study 17 abroad program. 18 (C) The number of participants. 19 (D) The names and locations of the sec- 20 ondary schools and post-secondary schools in 21 France attended by the participants. 22 (E) A description of the academic cur- 23 ricula. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:27 Jun 30, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7189.IH H7189 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 7189 IH (F) A description of any other activities 1 the participants carried out during their partici- 2 pation. 3 (h) ACCEPTANCE AND USE OF DONATIONS.—The 4 Secretary of State may accept and use donations to carry 5 out the study abroad program. Amounts received by the 6 Secretary of State in the form of donations shall be ex- 7 pended prior to the use of funds appropriated under sub- 8 section (i). The Secretary of State may reject a gift under 9 this section when the rejection is in the interest of the 10 Government. 11 (i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 12 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 13 necessary to carry out the study abroad program for each 14 of fiscal years 2021 through 2025. 15 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:27 Jun 30, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H7189.IH H7189 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS