1.This Act may be cited as the
Global Service Fellowship Program Act
of 2008
.
2.Congress makes the following
findings:
(1)Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice has said that a critical component of the war on terror is
changing opinions and minds.
(2)Polling data from
Terror Free Tomorrow indicates that nearly 60 percent of the people of
Indonesia and 75 percent of the people of Pakistan held more favorable views of
the United States following humanitarian assistance after their tsunami and
earthquake tragedies, respectively, and these changes in perception of the
United States were sustained beyond the initial period of aid and
service.
(3)International
volunteering opportunities are effective means of addressing critical human
needs, building bridges across cultures, and promoting mutual
understanding.
(4)Current volunteer
programs, such as the Peace Corps, remain an important part of Federal efforts
to promote volunteer service and provide related programming.
(5)Financial
limitations are a common obstacle to volunteering overseas, and awarding
financial fellowships would reduce barriers for many individuals otherwise
unable to afford travel overseas.
(6)Allowing
flexibility in the duration of volunteering opportunities would reduce another
barrier to volunteering.
(7)A global service
fellowship program would provide funding and programmatic flexibility for
volunteers of all backgrounds, ages, and geographical locations.
(8)Eligible
organizations willing to participate in the fellowship program as sponsoring
organizations would be in a better position to recruit volunteers for their
programs overseas.
(9)The United States
Agency for International Development has taken important steps towards
encouraging this kind of a program through the creation of Volunteers for
Prosperity.
3.Global Service
Fellowship Program
(a)The
Secretary of State, in conjunction with the Administrator of the United States
Agency for International Development, shall establish a program to be known as
the Global Service Fellowship Program (in this section referred to as the
Program
), which will be administered by the United States Agency
for International Development.
(b)The
purpose of the Program is to fund fellowships to promote international
volunteering opportunities as a means of building bridges across cultures,
addressing critical human needs, and promoting mutual understanding.
(c)Grants
awarded under the Program shall be used to fund fellowships as follows:
(1)Fellowships
lasting 90 days or less in duration may be funded at levels of up to
$2,500.
(2)Fellowships
lasting between 91 days and 180 days may be funded at levels up to
$5,000.
(3)Fellowships
lasting between 181 days and one year may be funded at levels up to
$7,500.
(d)Coordination
with sponsoring organizations
(1)Fellowships funded under the Program shall be coordinated
and supervised by participating volunteer sponsoring organizations. The
sponsoring organizations shall be registered with the Secretary of State and
shall collaborate with host country organizations in developing programs that
appropriately address local needs for the transfer of volunteer skills,
capacity building, and cross-cultural service organizations.
(2)Prioritization
of projectsSponsoring organizations shall recommend and
prioritize fellowship projects based on one or more of the following
objectives:
(A)Eradication of
extreme poverty in conjunction with the United Nations Millennium Development
Goals.
(B)Achievement of
universal primary education.
(C)Promotion of
gender equality and the empowerment of women and families.
(D)Reducing child
mortality and improving maternal health.
(E)Providing medical
and dental health care and prevention.
(F)Providing
assistance for the elderly, orphans, people with disabilities, and
refugees.
(G)Promoting
environmental sustainability.
(H)Providing economic
and social opportunities for youth in countries with growing cohorts of young
people.
(I)Promoting youth
service by building related volunteer-sector capacity in host countries.
(J)Combating
HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other infectious diseases.
(K)Helping to build
or provide decent housing.
(L)Providing disaster
and humanitarian response, preparedness, and reconstruction.
(M)Promoting
cross-cultural exchange, conflict resolution, and peace.
(N)Developing global
partnerships for development in the areas of economic growth, microenterprise,
asset development, and agricultural and rural development.
(O)Advancing access
to information technology and strengthening civil society.
(P)Carrying out
additional activities in impact areas designated by the Secretary of State and
the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development in
accordance with the purposes of this Act.
(e)
(1)Submission and
review of applicationsApplicants shall submit applications for
fellowships under the Program to the Administrator of the United States Agency
for International Development.
(2)The
Secretary of State, in consultation with the Administrator of the United States
Agency for International Development, shall determine the eligibility of
candidates and, in consultation with sponsoring organizations, award and
administer fellowships under the Program.
(3)The
Secretary of State, in consultation with the Administrator of the United States
Agency for International Development, shall develop and publish criteria for
fellowships in accordance with the following guidelines:
(A)Applicants for Global Service Fellowships must be
registered with qualified sponsoring organizations such as—
(i)nongovernmental
organizations based in the United States that sponsor international volunteer
service;
(ii)faith-based
organizations engaged in the delivery of nonsectarian services;
(iii)universities and
colleges operating international service learning and volunteer service
programs; and
(iv)nongovernmental
organizations based in the United States that collaborate with local or
national host government agencies or nongovernmental organizations in promoting
volunteer capacity and national and community service in impact areas
designated by the Secretary of State and the Administrator of the United States
Agency for International Development under subsection (d)(2)(P).
(B)Applicants
shall be selected for Global Service Fellowships as follows:
(i)Applicants shall
have clearly defined and structured goals for their proposed fellowships,
including a plan for assessing and monitoring progress toward such goals with
sponsoring organizations and a basis for follow-up and review by the Secretary
of State, in conjunction with the Administrator of the United States Agency for
International Development.
(ii)Priority should
be given to—
(I)applicants from
households with an income that is less than 200 percent of the poverty level
established pursuant to current census figures;
(II)applicants who
have demonstrated prior community service experience;
(III)applicants with
skills and experience suited to the specific needs of host countries;
(IV)applicants who
demonstrate a clear plan to communicate their volunteer experiences to their
community upon their return; and
(V)applicants whose
physical residence would ensure a diverse geographical distribution of awardees
across the United States.
(f)
(1)The Secretary of State and the Administrator of the United
States Agency for International Development shall jointly notify Members of
Congress of the decision to award a fellowship to their constituents at least 2
business days prior to notification to the awardee. Members of Congress may
choose to notify the constituent of the award upon receiving such
notification.
(2)Individuals receiving Global Service Fellowships shall
notify their Members of Congress of their intended travel dates and provide
project summaries prior to their departures.
(3)Not
later than 90 days after returning from their Global Service Fellowships,
fellows shall submit such reports as the Secretary of State, in conjunction
with the Administrator of the United States Agency for International
Development, may require, including post-fellowship reports prepared for their
home communities, to the Secretary of State, the Administrator of the United
States Agency for International Development, and their congressional
representatives.
(g)
(1)Funds awarded under this section may be used to cover the
following costs associated with Global Service Fellowships:
(A)Airfare,
accommodations, and transportation within the host country.
(B)Fees assessed by
sponsoring organizations to defray international service program costs and
administrative costs.
(C)Subsistence
allowance in accordance with local market conditions.
(D)Program materials
and tools used for service-related purposes.
(E)Seed funding for
local service projects.
(F)Language and
cultural training and other costs associated with pre-service project
orientation.
(2)Funds awarded under this section may not be used for
tuition costs.
(h)Nondiscrimination
requirements
(1)The selection of applicants under subsection (e) shall
be without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, sex, age,
political affiliation, sexual orientation, or disability.
(2)
(A)A sponsoring organization shall not discriminate against
a Global Service Fellowship Program participant or applicant, a beneficiary of
any project in which a Global Service Fellow participates, or, except as
provided in subparagraph (B), an employee of the organization who is paid with
Program funds on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, age,
political affiliation, sexual orientation, or disability.
(B)Limited
exception for employees of sponsoring organizations employed at time of
awarding of fundsThe prohibition under subparagraph (A) on
discrimination on the basis of religion shall not apply to the employment, with
assistance provided under this Program, of any employee who was employed with
the sponsoring organization on the date that the funds were awarded.
4.
(a)Evaluation of
Global Service Fellowship ProgramThe Secretary of State, in
conjunction with the Administrator of the United States Agency for
International Development, shall establish and implement an evaluation process
for determining the effectiveness of the Global Service Fellowship
Program.
(b)Not
later than March 31, 2011, the Secretary of State, in conjunction with the
Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development, shall
submit to Congress a report on the Global Service Fellowships Program
established under section 3. The report shall describe—
(1)the identity and
location of sponsoring organizations;
(2)for each impact
issue areas identified by sponsoring organizations, the number of volunteer
opportunities and the number of related Global Service Fellowships that have
been funded;
(3)the number of
local volunteers recruited or engaged with Global Service Fellows and their
sponsoring organizations or local host organizations;
(4)the locations of
volunteer services;
(5)the effectiveness
of such services based upon findings of the evaluation process; and
(6)the total numbers
of applications for Global Service Fellowships that have been received and
accepted to the Program.
5.Fellowships
excluded from gross income
(a)Part III of subchapter B of chapter 1 of subtitle A of
the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to items specifically excluded from
gross income) is amended by inserting after section 139A the following new
section:
139B.Global Service
FellowshipsGross income does
not include amounts received under the Global Service Fellowship Program
(within the meaning of section 3 of the Global Service Fellowship Program Act
of
2008).
.
(b)The table of sections at the beginning of such part is
amended by inserting after the item relating to section 139A the following new
item:
Sec. 139B. Global Services
Fellowships.
.
(c)The amendments made by this section shall apply to taxable
years ending after the date of the enactment of this Act.
6.The Secretary of State shall prescribe
regulations to carry out the provisions of this Act.
7.Authorization of
appropriations
(a)There
is authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of State $50,000,000 for each
of fiscal years 2009 through 2011 for purposes of establishing and implementing
the Global Service Fellowship Program.
(b)In
order to provide an offset for amounts appropriated pursuant to subsection (a),
the Internal Revenue Service shall deposit in the Treasury as miscellaneous
receipts all of the fees it receives for services.
1.This Act may be cited as the
Global Service Fellowship Program Act
of 2008
.
2.Congress makes the following
findings:
(1)Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice has said that a critical component in our efforts to combat
extremism is changing opinions and minds.
(2)Polling data from Terror
Free Tomorrow indicates that nearly 60 percent of the people of Indonesia and
75 percent of the people of Pakistan held more favorable views of the United
States following humanitarian assistance after their tsunami and earthquake
tragedies, respectively, and these changes in perception of the United States
were sustained beyond the initial period of aid and service.
(3)International
volunteering opportunities are effective means of addressing critical human
needs, building bridges across cultures, and promoting mutual
understanding.
(4)Current volunteer
programs, such as the Peace Corps, remain an important part of Federal efforts
to promote volunteer service and provide related programming.
(5)Financial limitations are
a common obstacle to international volunteering by Americans, and awarding
financial fellowships would reduce barriers for many individuals otherwise
unable to volunteer overseas.
(6)Allowing flexibility in
the duration of volunteering opportunities would reduce another barrier to
volunteering.
(7)A global service
fellowship program would provide funding and programmatic flexibility for
volunteers of all backgrounds, ages, and geographical locations.
(8)Eligible organizations
willing to participate in the fellowship program as sponsoring organizations
would be in a better position to recruit volunteers for their programs
overseas.
(9)The United States Agency
for International Development has taken important steps towards encouraging
this kind of a program through the creation of Volunteers for Prosperity, which
promotes international volunteer service by skilled professionals from the
United States.
3.Volunteers for
prosperity
(a)Consistent
with Executive Order 13317 (68 Fed. Reg. 56515), the Administrator of the
United States Agency for International Development shall establish the Office
of Volunteers for Prosperity.
(b)The
Office of Volunteers for Prosperity shall pursue the objectives described in
section 4(d)(2), including by—
(1)implementing the Global
Service Fellowship Program established under section 4;
(2)promoting other short and
long-term international volunteering opportunities;
(3)promoting, in
collaboration with the Secretary of State, the efforts of Global Service
Fellows as part of the public diplomacy efforts of the Department of
State;
(4)helping eligible United
States sponsoring organizations, as described in section 4(e)(3)(A), to recruit
and effectively manage skilled United States professionals for volunteer
assignments overseas; and
(5)providing recognition for
volunteers from the United States who serve internationally, and the
organizations sponsoring them.
4.Global Service
Fellowship Program
(a)The
Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development shall
establish and administer a program to be known as the Global Service Fellowship
Program (in this section referred to as the Program
).
(b)The
purpose of the Program is to fund fellowships to promote international
volunteering opportunities as a means of building bridges across cultures,
addressing critical human needs, and promoting mutual understanding.
(c)Grants
awarded under the Program shall be used to fund fellowships as follows:
(1)Fellowships lasting 90
days or less in duration may be funded at levels of up to $2,500.
(2)Fellowships lasting
between 91 days and 180 days may be funded at levels up to $5,000.
(3)Fellowships lasting
between 181 days and one year may be funded at levels up to $7,500.
(d)Coordination with
sponsoring organizations
(1)Fellows shall undertake their volunteer opportunity in
coordination with an eligible volunteer sponsoring organization. Such
organizations shall be registered with the Administrator and shall collaborate
with host country organizations in developing programs that appropriately
address local needs, maximize the transfer of skills, and build local
capacity.
(2)Prioritization of
projectsDecisions to award fellowships shall be prioritized
according to humanitarian and development goals of the United States
Government, including the following goals:
(A)Eradication of extreme
poverty in conjunction with the United Nations Millennium Development
Goals.
(B)Achievement of universal
primary education.
(C)Promotion of gender
equality and the empowerment of women and families.
(D)Reducing child mortality
and improving maternal health.
(E)Providing medical and
dental health care and prevention.
(F)Providing assistance for
the elderly, orphans, people with disabilities, and refugees.
(G)Promoting environmental
sustainability.
(H)Providing economic and
social opportunities for youth in countries with growing cohorts of young
people.
(I)Promoting youth service
by building related volunteer-sector capacity in host countries.
(J)Combating HIV/AIDS,
malaria, and other infectious diseases.
(K)Helping to build or
provide decent housing.
(L)Providing disaster and
humanitarian response, preparedness, and reconstruction.
(M)Promoting cross-cultural
exchange, conflict resolution, and peace.
(N)Developing global
partnerships for development in the areas of economic growth, microenterprise,
asset development, and agricultural and rural development.
(O)Advancing access to
information technology and strengthening civil society.
(e)
(1)Submission and review
of applicationsApplicants shall submit applications for
fellowships under the Program to the Administrator of the United States Agency
for International Development.
(2)The
Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development shall
determine the eligibility of candidates and, in consultation with sponsoring
organizations, award and administer fellowships under the Program.
(3)The
Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development shall
develop and publish criteria for fellowships in accordance with the following
guidelines:
(A)Applicants for Global Service Fellowships must be
registered with qualified sponsoring organizations such as—
(i)nongovernmental
organizations based in the United States that sponsor international volunteer
service;
(ii)faith-based
organizations engaged in the delivery of nonsectarian services;
(iii)universities and
colleges operating international service learning and volunteer service
programs; and
(iv)nongovernmental
organizations based in the United States that collaborate with local or
national host government agencies or nongovernmental organizations in promoting
volunteer capacity and national and community service activities consistent
with the prioritized humanitarian and development goals set forth in subsection
(d)(2).
(B)Applicants
shall be selected for Global Service Fellowships as follows:
(i)Applicants shall have
clearly defined and structured goals for their proposed fellowships, including
a plan for assessing and monitoring progress toward such goals with sponsoring
organizations and a basis for follow-up and review by the Administrator of the
United States Agency for International Development.
(ii)Priority should be given
to—
(I)applicants from
households with an income that is less than 200 percent of the poverty level
established pursuant to current census figures;
(II)applicants who have
demonstrated prior community service experience;
(III)applicants with skills
and experience suited to the specific needs of host countries;
(IV)applicants who
demonstrate a clear plan to communicate their volunteer experiences to their
community upon their return; and
(V)applicants whose physical
residence would ensure a diverse geographical distribution of awardees across
the United States.
(f)
(1)The Administrator of the United States Agency for
International Development shall notify Members of Congress of the decision to
award a fellowship to their constituents at least 2 business days prior to
notification to the awardee. Members of Congress may notify the constituent of
the award upon receiving such notification.
(2)Individuals receiving Global Service Fellowships shall
notify their Members of Congress of their intended travel dates and provide
project summaries prior to their departures.
(3)Not
later than 90 days after returning from service abroad under the Program,
fellows shall submit such reports as the Administrator of the United States
Agency for International Development may require, including post-fellowship
reports prepared for their home communities, to the Secretary of State, the
Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development, and
their congressional representatives.
(g)
(1)Funds awarded under this section may be used to cover the
following costs associated with Global Service Fellowships:
(A)Airfare, accommodations,
and transportation within the host country.
(B)Fees assessed by
sponsoring organizations to defray international service program costs and
administrative costs.
(C)Subsistence allowance in
accordance with local market conditions.
(D)Program materials and
tools used for service-related purposes.
(E)Seed funding for local
service projects.
(F)Language and cultural
training and other costs associated with pre-service project
orientation.
(2)Funds awarded under this section may not be used for
tuition costs.
(h)Nondiscrimination
requirements
(1)The selection of applicants under subsection (e) shall
be without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, sex, age,
political affiliation, sexual orientation, or disability.
(2)
(A)A sponsoring organization shall not discriminate against
a Global Service Fellowship Program participant or applicant, a beneficiary of
any project in which a Global Service Fellow participates, or, except as
provided in subparagraph (B), an employee of the organization who is paid with
assistance provided under the Program on the basis of race, religion, color,
national origin, sex, age, political affiliation, sexual orientation, or
disability.
(B)Limited exception for
employees of sponsoring organizations employed at time of awarding of
fundsThe prohibition under subparagraph (A) on discrimination on
the basis of religion shall not apply to the employment, with assistance
provided under this Program, of any employee who was employed with the
sponsoring organization on the date that the funds were awarded.
5.
(a)Evaluation of Global
Service Fellowship ProgramThe Administrator of the United States
Agency for International Development shall establish and implement an
evaluation process for determining the effectiveness of the Global Service
Fellowship Program.
(b)Not
later than March 31, 2011, the Administrator of the United States Agency for
International Development shall submit to the Committee on Foreign Relations of
the Senate and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives
a report on the Global Service Fellowships Program established under section 4.
The report shall describe—
(1)the identity and location
of sponsoring organizations;
(2)for each humanitarian or
development goal identified by sponsoring organizations, the number of
volunteer opportunities and the number of related Global Service Fellowships
that have been funded;
(3)the number of volunteers
recruited or engaged with Global Service Fellows and their sponsoring
organizations or local host organizations;
(4)the locations of
volunteer services;
(5)the effectiveness of such
services based upon findings of the evaluation process; and
(6)the total numbers of
applications for Global Service Fellowships that have been received and
accepted to the Program.
6.The Administrator of the United States
Agency for International Development shall prescribe regulations to carry out
the provisions of this Act.
7.Authorization of
appropriations
(a)There
is authorized to be appropriated to the Administrator of the United States
Agency for International Development $15,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2009
through 2011 for the Office of Volunteers for Prosperity and the Global Service
Fellowship Program.
(b)Of the amounts appropriated pursuant to subsection
(a)—
(1)not less than 90 percent
of expended amounts shall be used to fund Global Service Fellowships;
and
(2)not more than 10 percent
may be used for administrative expenses of the Office of Volunteers for
Prosperity and the Global Service Fellowship Program.
Amend the title so as to read:
A bill to establish a Global Service Fellowship Program and to authorize
Volunteers for Prosperity, and for other
purposes.
.
September 23 (legislative day, September 17),
2008
Reported with an amendment and an amendment to the
title