John Lewis Civil Rights Fellowship Act of 2023

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1945 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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 13, 2023 Mr. HICKENLOOPER (for himself, Mr. SCOTT of South Carolina, Mr. OSSOFF, and Ms. COLLINS) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 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 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘John Lewis Civil 4 Rights Fellowship Act of 2023’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:08 Jul 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1945.IS S1945 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •S 1945 IS SEC. 2. JOHN LEWIS CIVIL RIGHTS FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM. 1 The Mutual Educational and Cultural Exchange Act 2 of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2451 et seq.) is amended by adding 3 at the end the following: 4 ‘‘SEC. 115. JOHN LEWIS CIVIL RIGHTS FELLOWSHIP PRO- 5 GRAM. 6 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established the 7 John Lewis Civil Rights Fellowship Program (referred to 8 in this section as the ‘Fellowship Program’) within the J. 9 William Fulbright Educational Exchange Program. 10 ‘‘(b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of the Fellowship 11 Program are— 12 ‘‘(1) to honor the legacy of Representative John 13 Lewis by promoting a greater understanding of the 14 history and tenets of nonviolent civil rights move- 15 ments; and 16 ‘‘(2) to advance foreign policy priorities of the 17 United States by promoting studies, research, and 18 international exchange in the subject of nonviolent 19 movements that established and protected civil 20 rights around the world. 21 ‘‘(c) ADMINISTRATION.—The Bureau of Educational 22 and Cultural Affairs (referred to in this section as the ‘Bu- 23 reau’) shall administer the Fellowship Program in accord- 24 ance with policy guidelines established by the Board, in 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:08 Jul 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1945.IS S1945 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •S 1945 IS consultation with the binational Fulbright Commissions 1 and United States Embassies. 2 ‘‘(d) SELECTION OF FELLOWS.— 3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Board shall annually 4 select qualified individuals to participate in the Fel- 5 lowship Program. The Bureau may determine the 6 number of fellows selected each year, which, when- 7 ever feasible, shall be not fewer than 25. 8 ‘‘(2) OUTREACH.— 9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—To the extent prac- 10 ticable, the Bureau shall conduct outreach at 11 institutions, including— 12 ‘‘(i) minority serving institutions, in- 13 cluding historically Black colleges and uni- 14 versities; and 15 ‘‘(ii) other appropriate institutions, as 16 determined by the Bureau. 17 ‘‘(B) DEFINITIONS.—In this paragraph: 18 ‘‘(i) HISTORICALLY BLACK COLLEGE 19 AND UNIVERSITY.—The term ‘historically 20 Black college and university’ has the mean- 21 ing given the term ‘part B institution’ in 22 section 322 of the Higher Education Act 23 of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1061). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:08 Jul 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1945.IS S1945 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •S 1945 IS ‘‘(ii) MINORITY SERVING INSTITU- 1 TION.—The term ‘minority-serving institu- 2 tion’ means an eligible institution under 3 section 371(a) of the Higher Education 4 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1067q(a)). 5 ‘‘(e) FELLOWSHIP ORIENTATION.—Annually, the Bu- 6 reau shall organize and administer a fellowship orienta- 7 tion, which shall— 8 ‘‘(1) be held in Washington, DC, or at another 9 location selected by the Bureau; and 10 ‘‘(2) include programming to honor the legacy 11 of Representative John Lewis. 12 ‘‘(f) STRUCTURE.— 13 ‘‘(1) WORK PLAN.—To carry out the purposes 14 described in subsection (b)— 15 ‘‘(A) each fellow selected pursuant to sub- 16 section (d) shall arrange an internship or re- 17 search placement— 18 ‘‘(i) with a nongovernmental organiza- 19 tion, academic institution, or other organi- 20 zation approved by the Bureau; and 21 ‘‘(ii) in a country with an operational 22 Fulbright U.S. Student Program; and 23 ‘‘(B) the Bureau shall, for each fellow, ap- 24 prove a work plan that identifies the target ob- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:19 Jul 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1945.IS S1945 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •S 1945 IS jectives for the fellow, including specific duties 1 and responsibilities relating to those objectives. 2 ‘‘(2) CONFERENCES; PRESENTATIONS.—Each 3 fellow shall— 4 ‘‘(A) attend a fellowship orientation orga- 5 nized and administered by the Bureau under 6 subsection (e); 7 ‘‘(B) not later than the date that is 1 year 8 after the end of the fellowship period, attend a 9 fellowship summit organized and administered 10 by the Bureau, which— 11 ‘‘(i) whenever feasible, shall be held in 12 Atlanta, Georgia, or another location of 13 importance to the civil rights movement in 14 the United States; and 15 ‘‘(ii) may coincide with other events 16 facilitated by the Bureau; and 17 ‘‘(C) at such summit, give a presentation 18 on lessons learned during the period of fellow- 19 ship. 20 ‘‘(3) FELLOWSHIP PERIOD.—Each fellowship 21 under this section shall continue for a period deter- 22 mined by the Bureau, which, whenever feasible, shall 23 be not fewer than 10 months. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:08 Jul 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1945.IS S1945 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •S 1945 IS ‘‘(g) FELLOWSHIP AWARD.—The Bureau shall pro- 1 vide each fellow under this section with an allowance that 2 is equal to the amount needed for— 3 ‘‘(1) the reasonable costs of the fellow during 4 the fellowship period; and 5 ‘‘(2) travel and lodging expenses related to at- 6 tending the orientation and summit required under 7 subsection (e)(2). 8 ‘‘(h) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after 9 the date of the completion of the Fellowship Program by 10 the initial cohort of fellows selected under subsection (d), 11 and annually thereafter, the Secretary of State shall sub- 12 mit to the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House 13 of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign Rela- 14 tions of the Senate a report on the implementation of the 15 Fellowship Program, including— 16 ‘‘(1) a description of the demographics of the 17 cohort of fellows who completed a fellowship during 18 the preceding 1-year period; 19 ‘‘(2) a description of internship and research 20 placements, and research projects selected by such 21 cohort, under the Fellowship Program, including 22 feedback from— 23 ‘‘(A) such cohort on implementation of the 24 Fellowship Program; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:08 Jul 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1945.IS S1945 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 7 •S 1945 IS ‘‘(B) the Secretary on lessons learned; and 1 ‘‘(3) an analysis of trends relating to the diver- 2 sity of each cohort of fellows and the topics of 3 projects completed since the establishment of the 4 Fellowship Program.’’. 5 SEC. 3. TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS TO 6 THE MUTUAL EDUCATIONAL AND CULTURAL 7 EXCHANGE ACT OF 1961. 8 Section 112(a) of the Mutual Educational and Cul- 9 tural Exchange Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2460(a)) is 10 amended— 11 (1) in paragraph (8), by striking ‘‘; and’’ and 12 inserting a semicolon; 13 (2) in paragraph (9), by striking the period and 14 inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 15 (3) by adding at the end the following: 16 ‘‘(10) the John Lewis Civil Rights Fellowship 17 Program established under section 115, which pro- 18 vides funding for international internships and re- 19 search placements for early- to mid-career individ- 20 uals from the United States to study nonviolent civil 21 rights movements in self-arranged placements with 22 universities or nongovernmental organizations in for- 23 eign countries.’’. 24 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:08 Jul 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1945.IS S1945 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB