[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 512 Introduced in House (IH)]

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 
                              fellowships.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    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 Commonwealth of the 
Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, and the United States Virgin Islands to 
     become civically engaged through local and Federal government 
                              fellowships.

    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 referred to as the ``Dr. Rita Hocog Inos Fellowship 
Act''.

SEC. 2. FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM FOR STUDENTS FROM AMERICAN SAMOA, THE 
              COMMONWEALTH OF THE NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS, GUAM, AND 
              THE UNITED STATES VIRGIN ISLANDS.

    (a) Establishment of Fellowship Program.--To encourage civic 
engagement among students from American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the 
Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, and the United States Virgin Islands, 
the Secretary of the Interior shall carry out a program, to be known as 
the ``Dr. Rita Hocog Inos Fellowship Program'', to award local and 
Federal government fellowships to qualified students from those 
territories, subject to the availability of amounts described in 
subsection (i).
    (b) Types of Fellowship.--The fellowships that may be awarded under 
the program are as follows:
            (1) A local government fellowship with a cooperating agency 
        or entity of the territory in which the qualified student is 
        domiciled.
            (2) A Federal government fellowship with a cooperating--
                    (A) Executive agency (as defined in section 105 of 
                title 5, United States Code); or
                    (B) office of a Representative or Senator in, or a 
                Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, the Congress.
    (c) Qualified Student.--For purposes of this section, the term 
``qualified student'' means a student who is--
            (1) a citizen of the United States;
            (2) domiciled in American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the 
        Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, or the United States Virgin 
        Islands; and
            (3) enrolled in a degree or certificate program at an 
        institution of higher education (as defined in section 101 of 
        the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001)).
    (d) Term of Fellowship.--The term of a fellowship under the program 
shall be an academic semester or a summer, as designated by the 
Secretary.
    (e) Fellowship Award.--
            (1) In general.--Under the program, a fellowship award 
        shall consist of either a stipend described in paragraph (2) or 
        academic credit toward graduation. Such award may also include 
        a travel stipend of not more than $1,500 for each fellowship 
        term, based on the distance of the student awarded the 
        fellowship from the site of the fellowship.
            (2) Stipend.--Subject to paragraph (3), a stipend described 
        in this paragraph is as follows:
                    (A) $6,000 for an academic semester fellowship.
                    (B) $4,000 for a summer fellowship.
            (3) Fiscal years after 2012.--In the case of any fiscal 
        year beginning after September 30, 2012, each dollar amount in 
        paragraph (2) shall be such dollar amount in effect for the 
        preceding fiscal year, increased by the sum of--
                    (A) the percentage of the dollar amount in effect 
                for such preceding fiscal year that is equal to the 
                percentage (if any) by which--
                            (i) the Consumer Price Index for the most 
                        recent calendar year ending prior to the 
                        beginning of the fiscal year, exceeds
                            (ii) the Consumer Price Index for the next 
                        previous calendar year; plus
                    (B) one percent of the dollar amount in effect for 
                such previous year.
    (f) Application and Selection.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary shall develop and administer 
        an application and selection process for awarding a fellowship 
        under the program.
            (2) Priority.--In awarding a fellowship under the program, 
        the Secretary shall give priority to a qualified student who 
        has already completed one such fellowship.
            (3) Limitation on number of fellowships awarded to each 
        student.--Under the program, a qualified student may be awarded 
        no more than--
                    (A) one local government fellowship; and
                    (B) one Federal government fellowship.
    (g) Reporting.--The Secretary shall submit to Congress, not later 
than 3 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, a report on 
the Dr. Rita Hocog Inos Fellowship Program. The report shall include 
information on--
            (1) the use of funds appropriated for the purpose of 
        carrying out the program; and
            (2) barriers to participation in the program.
    (h) Other Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) The term ``Consumer Price Index'' means the Consumer 
        Price Index for All Urban Consumers published by the Department 
        of Labor.
            (2) The term ``program'' means the Dr. Rita Hocog Inos 
        Fellowship Program.
            (3) The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of the 
        Interior.
    (i) Funding.--To carry out the fellowship program, the Secretary 
may use amounts appropriated to the Department of the Interior for 
technical assistance to territories under the heading ``assistance to 
territories'' in an Appropriations Act for the Department of the 
Interior for fiscal year 2012 or any subsequent fiscal year. The 
Secretary may use no other amounts for such purpose.
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