[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4444 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 4444

  To establish in the Executive Office of the President an Office of 
                Young Americans, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 30, 2023

  Mr. Soto (for himself, Mr. Allred, Ms. Stevens, and Ms. Pettersen) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                      Oversight and Accountability

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To establish in the Executive Office of the President an Office of 
                Young Americans, 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. OFFICE OF YOUNG AMERICANS.

    (a) In General.--There is established in the Executive Office of 
the President an Office of Young Americans (referred to in this section 
as the ``Office''), which shall be headed by a Director (referred to in 
this section as the ``Director'').
    (b) Office Leadership.--
            (1) Appointments.--
                    (A) In general.--The President shall appoint the 
                Director and may appoint an Associate Director of the 
                Office.
                    (B) Single associate director.--The President may 
                not appoint an Associate Director to serve in the 
                Office concurrently with another Associate Director.
            (2) Functions of director.--
                    (A) Director.--The Director shall--
                            (i) identify issues that primarily and 
                        substantially affect young Americans, including 
                        employment issues, education, mental health, 
                        housing, and climate change;
                            (ii) advise the President on--
                                    (I) the engagement and involvement 
                                of young Americans in the Federal 
                                Government; and
                                    (II) the issues that primarily and 
                                substantially affect young Americans;
                            (iii) support strategic coordination and 
                        communication between the Executive Office of 
                        the President and Federal agencies with respect 
                        to activities pertaining to issues primarily 
                        and substantially affecting young Americans;
                            (iv) serve as the principal advisor to the 
                        President on all issues primarily and 
                        substantially affecting young Americans;
                            (v) make recommendations to the President 
                        regarding youth engagement in the Federal 
                        Government;
                            (vi) coordinate Federal activities to 
                        prepare for, and respond to, issues affecting 
                        young Americans and engagement in the Federal 
                        Government, by--
                                    (I) providing strategic direction 
                                to the heads of applicable Federal 
                                departments, agencies, and offices;
                                    (II) facilitating coordination and 
                                communication between such Federal 
                                departments, agencies, and offices to 
                                improve youth engagement and 
                                involvement across all Federal 
                                departments; and
                                    (III) ensuring that the 
                                authorities, capabilities, and 
                                expertise of each such department, 
                                agency, and office are appropriately 
                                leveraged to facilitate the whole-of-
                                Government response to issues related 
                                to young Americans;
                            (vii) identify opportunities to leverage 
                        current and emerging technologies, including 
                        through public-private partnerships, as 
                        appropriate, to address the future of the 
                        Nation's workforce through the development of 
                        skilled young Americans in these fields and 
                        advance the preparedness and response goals of 
                        the Federal Government;
                            (viii) work with relevant Federal officials 
                        to request funding through the President's 
                        Budgets and leverage programs of Federal 
                        Agencies to address the issues identified in 
                        the reports submitted under subparagraph (e); 
                        and
                            (ix) perform such other functions and 
                        activities as prescribed by the President.
                    (B) Associate director.--The Associate Director of 
                the Office shall perform such functions as the Director 
                may prescribe.
            (3) Compensation.--
                    (A) Director.--The Director shall be compensated at 
                the rate now or hereafter provided for level II of the 
                Executive Schedule under section 5313 of title 5, 
                United States Code.
                    (B) Associate director.--The Associate Director 
                shall be compensated at a rate not exceeding the rate 
                now or hereafter provided for level III of the 
                Executive Schedule under section 5314 of title 5, 
                United States Code.
    (c) Additional Functions of the Director.--The Director, in 
addition to the other duties and functions set forth in this section--
            (1) shall--
                    (A) serve as a member of the Domestic Policy 
                Council; and
                    (B) seek to consult with State, Tribal, local, and 
                territorial governments, industry, academia, 
                professional societies, and other individuals and 
                entities, as the Director deems appropriate, to 
                identify issues that primarily and substantially affect 
                young Americans; and
            (2) may--
                    (A) use for the administration of the Office, on a 
                reimbursable basis, the available services, equipment, 
                personnel, and facilities of Federal agencies; and
                    (B) hold such hearings in various parts of the 
                United States as the Director determines necessary to 
                determine the views of the entities and individuals 
                described in paragraph (1)(B) and of the general public 
                concerning national needs and trends in--
                            (i) the engagement and involvement of young 
                        Americans in the Federal Government; and
                            (ii) issues that primarily and 
                        substantially affect young Americans.
    (d) Staffing and Detailees.--In carrying out functions under this 
section, the Director may--
            (1) appoint individuals to not more than two full time 
        equivalent positions in the Office;
            (2) fix the compensation of individuals appointed to such 
        positions at a rate to be determined by the Director, up to the 
        amount of annual compensation (excluding expenses) specified in 
        section 102 of title 3, United States Code; and
            (3) use the services of consultants, which may include by 
        obtaining services described under section 3109(b) of title 5, 
        United States Code, at rates not to exceed the rate of basic 
        pay for level IV of the Executive Schedule.
    (e) Preparedness Outlook Reports.--Not later than one year after 
the date of the enactment of this Act, and not less frequently than 
once every five years thereafter, the Director, in consultation with 
the heads of relevant Federal departments and agencies and other 
officials within the Executive Office of the President, shall submit to 
the President, the Committees on Finance and on Health, Education, 
Labor, and Pensions of the Senate, and the Committees on Financial 
Services and on Education and the Workforce of the House of 
Representatives, and make publicly available, a report--
            (1) identifying and describing issues that warrant special 
        attention from the President or the heads of such Federal 
        agencies within the next 5 years regarding issues that 
        primarily and substantially affect young Americans, including 
        the effects of the policies, actions, and personnel of Federal 
        agencies on the engagement and involvement of young Americans 
        in the Federal Government; and
            (2) providing recommendations and resource requirement for 
        addressing the issues identified under paragraph (1).
    (f) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Federal agency.--The term ``Federal agency'' has the 
        meaning given ``Executive agency'' in section 105 of title 5, 
        United State Code.
            (2) Young american.--The term ``young American'' means an 
        individual who is a citizen or lawful permanent resident of the 
        United States between the ages of 18 and 40 years old.
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