[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8409 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 8409

 To establish the Department of State Student Internship Program as a 
  paid internship program to provide students with the opportunity to 
 learn about a career in diplomacy and foreign affairs, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 29, 2020

   Mr. Castro of Texas (for himself, Mr. Zeldin, Mr. Engel, and Mr. 
   McCaul) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on Ways 
 and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, 
 in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the 
                jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To establish the Department of State Student Internship Program as a 
  paid internship program to provide students with the opportunity to 
 learn about a career in diplomacy and foreign affairs, and for other 
                               purposes.

    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 ``Department of State Student 
Internship Program Act''.

SEC. 2. DEPARTMENT OF STATE STUDENT INTERNSHIP PROGRAM.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of State shall establish the 
Department of State Student Internship Program (in this section 
referred to as the ``Program'') to offer internship opportunities at 
the Department of State to eligible students to raise awareness of the 
essential role of diplomacy in the conduct of United States foreign 
policy and the realization of United States foreign policy objectives.
    (b) Eligibility.--To be eligible to participate in the Program, an 
applicant shall--
            (1) be a current student at--
                    (A) an institution of higher education (as such 
                term is defined in section 102 of the Higher Education 
                Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002)); or
                    (B) an institution of higher education based 
                outside the United States, as determined by the 
                Secretary of State;
            (2) be able to receive and hold an appropriate security 
        clearance; and
            (3) satisfy such other criteria as established by the 
        Secretary.
    (c) Selection.--The Secretary of State shall establish selection 
criteria for students to be admitted into the Program that includes the 
following:
            (1) Demonstrable interest in a career in foreign affairs.
            (2) Academic performance.
            (3) Such other criteria as determined by the Secretary.
    (d) Outreach.--The Secretary of State shall advertise the Program 
widely, including on the internet, through the Department of State's 
Diplomats in Residence program, and through other outreach and 
recruiting initiatives targeting undergraduate and graduate students. 
The Secretary shall actively encourage people belonging to 
traditionally underrepresented groups in terms of racial, ethnic, 
geographic, gender diversity, and disability status to apply to the 
Program, including by conducting targeted outreach at minority serving 
institutions (as such term is described in section 371(a) of the Higher 
Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1067q(a))).
    (e) Compensation.--
            (1) In general.--Students participating in the Program 
        shall be paid at least--
                    (A) the amount specified in section 6(a)(1) of the 
                Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 206(a)(1)), 
                or
                    (B) the minimum wage of the jurisdiction in which 
                the internship is located,
        whichever is greatest.
            (2) Housing assistance.--The Secretary of State shall 
        provide housing to a student participating in the Program whose 
        permanent address is within the United States if the location 
        of the internship in which such student is participating is 
        outside the United States.
            (3) Travel assistance.--The Secretary of State shall 
        provide a student participating in the Program whose permanent 
        address is within the United States financial assistance to 
        cover the costs of travel once to and once from the location of 
        the internship in which such student is participating, 
        including travel by air, train, bus, or other transit as 
        appropriate, if the location of such internship is--
                    (A) more than 100 miles from such student's 
                permanent address; or
                    (B) outside the United States.
            (4) Assistance exempt from taxation.--For purposes of the 
        Internal Revenue Code of 1986, any amount which (but for this 
        paragraph) would be includible in gross income of the eligible 
        recipient by reason of housing assistance described in 
        paragraph (2) or travel assistance described in paragraph (3) 
        shall be excluded from gross income.
    (f) Working With Institutions of Higher Education.--The Secretary 
of State is authorized to enter into agreements with institutions of 
higher education to structure internships to ensure such internships 
satisfy criteria for academic programs in which participants in such 
internships are enrolled.
    (g) Transition Period.--Not later than one year after the date of 
the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall transition all 
unpaid internship programs of the Department of State to internship 
programs that offer compensation, including the Foreign Service 
Internship Program.
    (h) Reports.--Not later than 18 months after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall submit to the 
Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives and the 
Committee on Foreign Relations of a Senate a report that includes the 
following:
            (1) Information regarding the number of students, 
        disaggregated by race, ethnicity, gender, institution of higher 
        learning, home State, State where each student graduated from 
        high school, and disability status, who applied to the Program, 
        were offered a position, and participated.
            (2) Information on the number of security clearance 
        investigations started and the timeline for completion of such 
        investigations.
            (3) Information on expenditures on the Program.
            (4) Information regarding the Department of State's 
        compliance with subsection (h).
    (i) Voluntary Participation.--
            (1) In general.--Nothing in this section may be construed 
        to compel any employee of the Department of State to 
        participate in the collection of the data or divulge any 
        personal information. Department employees shall be informed 
        that their participation in the data collection contemplated by 
        this title is voluntary.
            (2) Privacy protection.--Any data collected under this 
        section shall be subject to the relevant privacy protection 
        statutes and regulations applicable to Federal employees.
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