USVI Public Records

Document text

I 112TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 512 To encourage students from American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, and the United States Virgin Islands to become civically engaged through local and Federal government fellow- ships. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 26, 2011 Mr. SABLAN (for himself, Ms. MOORE, Ms. RICHARDSON, and Mr. GRIJALVA) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources A BILL To encourage students from American Samoa, the Common- wealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, and the United States Virgin Islands to become civically en- gaged through local and Federal government fellowships. 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 referred to as the ‘‘Dr. Rita Hocog 4 Inos Fellowship Act’’. 5 VerDate Mar 15 2010 21:46 Feb 03, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H512.IH H512 srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 512 IH SEC. 2. FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM FOR STUDENTS FROM 1 AMERICAN SAMOA, THE COMMONWEALTH OF 2 THE NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS, GUAM, 3 AND THE UNITED STATES VIRGIN ISLANDS. 4 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM.— 5 To encourage civic engagement among students from 6 American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern 7 Mariana Islands, Guam, and the United States Virgin Is- 8 lands, the Secretary of the Interior shall carry out a pro- 9 gram, to be known as the ‘‘Dr. Rita Hocog Inos Fellow- 10 ship Program’’, to award local and Federal government 11 fellowships to qualified students from those territories, 12 subject to the availability of amounts described in sub- 13 section (i). 14 (b) TYPES OF FELLOWSHIP.—The fellowships that 15 may be awarded under the program are as follows: 16 (1) A local government fellowship with a co- 17 operating agency or entity of the territory in which 18 the qualified student is domiciled. 19 (2) A Federal government fellowship with a co- 20 operating— 21 (A) Executive agency (as defined in section 22 105 of title 5, United States Code); or 23 (B) office of a Representative or Senator 24 in, or a Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, 25 the Congress. 26 VerDate Mar 15 2010 21:46 Feb 03, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H512.IH H512 srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 512 IH (c) QUALIFIED STUDENT.—For purposes of this sec- 1 tion, the term ‘‘qualified student’’ means a student who 2 is— 3 (1) a citizen of the United States; 4 (2) domiciled in American Samoa, the Common- 5 wealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, or 6 the United States Virgin Islands; and 7 (3) enrolled in a degree or certificate program 8 at an institution of higher education (as defined in 9 section 101 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 10 (20 U.S.C. 1001)). 11 (d) TERM OF FELLOWSHIP.—The term of a fellow- 12 ship under the program shall be an academic semester or 13 a summer, as designated by the Secretary. 14 (e) FELLOWSHIP AWARD.— 15 (1) IN GENERAL.—Under the program, a fel- 16 lowship award shall consist of either a stipend de- 17 scribed in paragraph (2) or academic credit toward 18 graduation. Such award may also include a travel 19 stipend of not more than $1,500 for each fellowship 20 term, based on the distance of the student awarded 21 the fellowship from the site of the fellowship. 22 (2) STIPEND.—Subject to paragraph (3), a sti- 23 pend described in this paragraph is as follows: 24 VerDate Mar 15 2010 21:46 Feb 03, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H512.IH H512 srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 512 IH (A) $6,000 for an academic semester fel- 1 lowship. 2 (B) $4,000 for a summer fellowship. 3 (3) FISCAL YEARS AFTER 2012.—In the case of 4 any fiscal year beginning after September 30, 2012, 5 each dollar amount in paragraph (2) shall be such 6 dollar amount in effect for the preceding fiscal year, 7 increased by the sum of— 8 (A) the percentage of the dollar amount in 9 effect for such preceding fiscal year that is 10 equal to the percentage (if any) by which— 11 (i) the Consumer Price Index for the 12 most recent calendar year ending prior to 13 the beginning of the fiscal year, exceeds 14 (ii) the Consumer Price Index for the 15 next previous calendar year; plus 16 (B) one percent of the dollar amount in ef- 17 fect for such previous year. 18 (f) APPLICATION AND SELECTION.— 19 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall develop 20 and administer an application and selection process 21 for awarding a fellowship under the program. 22 (2) PRIORITY.—In awarding a fellowship under 23 the program, the Secretary shall give priority to a 24 VerDate Mar 15 2010 21:46 Feb 03, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H512.IH H512 srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 512 IH qualified student who has already completed one 1 such fellowship. 2 (3) LIMITATION ON NUMBER OF FELLOWSHIPS 3 AWARDED TO EACH STUDENT.—Under the program, 4 a qualified student may be awarded no more than— 5 (A) one local government fellowship; and 6 (B) one Federal government fellowship. 7 (g) REPORTING.—The Secretary shall submit to Con- 8 gress, not later than 3 years after the date of the enact- 9 ment of this Act, a report on the Dr. Rita Hocog Inos 10 Fellowship Program. The report shall include information 11 on— 12 (1) the use of funds appropriated for the pur- 13 pose of carrying out the program; and 14 (2) barriers to participation in the program. 15 (h) OTHER DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 16 (1) The term ‘‘Consumer Price Index’’ means 17 the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers 18 published by the Department of Labor. 19 (2) The term ‘‘program’’ means the Dr. Rita 20 Hocog Inos Fellowship Program. 21 (3) The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary 22 of the Interior. 23 (i) FUNDING.—To carry out the fellowship program, 24 the Secretary may use amounts appropriated to the De- 25 VerDate Mar 15 2010 21:46 Feb 03, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H512.IH H512 srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 512 IH partment of the Interior for technical assistance to terri- 1 tories under the heading ‘‘ASSISTANCE TO TERRITORIES’’ 2 in an Appropriations Act for the Department of the Inte- 3 rior for fiscal year 2012 or any subsequent fiscal year. 4 The Secretary may use no other amounts for such pur- 5 pose. 6 Æ VerDate Mar 15 2010 21:46 Feb 03, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H512.IH H512 srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with BILLS