[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3946 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3946

  To provide for a temporary waiver under part B of title III of the 
   Higher Education Act of 1965 for undergraduate historically black 
    colleges and universities located in an area affected by a Gulf 
                          hurricane disaster.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 23, 2007

 Mr. Jefferson (for himself, Mr. Melancon, Mr. Scott of Virginia, Mr. 
Davis of Illinois, Mr. Payne, and Ms. Clarke) introduced the following 
    bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To provide for a temporary waiver under part B of title III of the 
   Higher Education Act of 1965 for undergraduate historically black 
    colleges and universities located in an area affected by a Gulf 
                          hurricane disaster.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Historically Black Colleges and 
Universities Katrina and Rita Relief Act of 2007''.

SEC. 2. WAIVER AUTHORITY.

    (a) In General.--Not withstanding any other provision of the law, 
unless enacted with specific reference to this section, the Secretary 
of Education shall waive or modify any statutory or regulatory 
provision related to the strengthening institutions program under part 
B of title III of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1066 et 
seq.) in connection with a Gulf hurricane disaster to ensure that--
            (1) institutions of higher education that were receiving 
        assistance at the time of a Gulf hurricane disaster are not 
        adversely impacted by the formula calculation for the 2007-2012 
        funding cycle under such part B; and
            (2) any affected institution of higher education can, under 
        section 322 of such Act, sustain its fiscal year 2006 level of 
        title III funding to assist in institutional recovery from a 
        Gulf hurricane disaster.
    (b) Allotments to Institutions.--For the purpose of calculating the 
allotments of grants to affected institutions, the Secretary of 
Education shall waive the allotment calculation under subsections (a), 
(b), and (c) of section 324 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 
U.S.C. 1051 et seq.), and allot an amount to each affected institution 
not less than the amount allotted in fiscal year 2006, for fiscal years 
2009-2012.
    (c) Notice.--The Secretary shall notify each institution of higher 
education affected by the provisions of this section.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    For purposes of this Act:
            (1) Affected institution.--The term ``affected 
        institution'' means an institution of higher education that 
        is--
                    (A) a part B institution as such term is defined in 
                section 322(2) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 
                U.S.C. 1061);
                    (B) located in an area affected by a Gulf hurricane 
                disaster; and
                    (C) able to demonstrate that the institution--
                            (i) incurred physical damage resulting from 
                        the impact of Hurricane Katrina or Rita;
                            (ii) has pursued collateral source 
                        compensation from insurance, the Federal 
                        Emergency Management Agency, or the Small 
                        Business Administration, as appropriate; and
                            (iii) was not able to fully reopen in 
                        existing facilities or fully reopen to the pre-
                        hurricane levels for 30 days or more.
            (2) Other terms.--The terms ``area affected by a Gulf 
        hurricane disaster'' and ``Gulf hurricane disaster'' have the 
        meanings given such terms in section 209 of the Higher 
        Education Hurricane Relief Act of 2005 (Public Law 109-148, 119 
        Stat. 2809).
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