[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3149 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 3149

 To encourage the growth of research partnerships between historically 
    Black colleges and universities and Federal agencies to advance 
                   development in sub-Saharan Africa.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            October 26, 2023

Mr. Coons (for himself, Mr. Scott of South Carolina, Mr. Kaine, and Mr. 
    Wicker) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
             referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To encourage the growth of research partnerships between historically 
    Black colleges and universities and Federal agencies to advance 
                   development in sub-Saharan Africa.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.

    (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``HBCU Africa 
Partnerships Act''.
    (b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents for this Act is as 
follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Findings.
Sec. 3. Sense of Congress.
Sec. 4. Purposes.
Sec. 5. Definitions.
Sec. 6. Expanding partnerships between relevant departments and 
                            agencies and historically Black colleges 
                            and universities.
Sec. 7. Expanding exchange programming for scholars from Sub-Saharan 
                            Africa.
Sec. 8. Communications and outreach programming.
Sec. 9. Congressional briefing.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) High-quality education is central to economic 
        prosperity and social well-being in the United States and 
        around the world.
            (2) Historically Black colleges and universities and other 
        minority serving institutions play a critical role in ensuring 
        that students of all races, ethnicities, and backgrounds have 
        access to high-quality educational opportunities.
            (3) HBCUs have a long and rich history in educating and 
        facilitating relationships between members of the African 
        diaspora in the United States and throughout the world, from 
        Europe and the Western Hemisphere to Asia and the African 
        continent.
            (4) HBCU alumni have made important contributions to 
        relations between the United States and Africa in the areas 
        of--
                    (A) democracy and political governance;
                    (B) food and agricultural security;
                    (C) education and human capital;
                    (D) youth development; and
                    (E) public health infrastructure.
            (5) The United States Government has partnered with HBCUs 
        and other United States colleges and universities, including 
        through--
                    (A) the Department of State's educational and 
                cultural exchange programs;
                    (B) the Young African Leaders Initiative, which 
                supports United States Government efforts to invest in 
                the next generation of African leaders; and
                    (C) USAID's Minority Serving Partnership Initiative 
                to facilitate research partnerships and engagements 
                with minority-serving institutions, including HBCUs.

SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    It is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) the United States should promote and expand 
        collaborative research partnerships between Federal agencies 
        and HBCUs that advance joint partnerships in education, 
        economic growth, food security, democracy and governance, 
        agriculture, environmental conservation, small and medium-sized 
        business development, humanitarian assistance, and conflict 
        stabilization in developing countries; and
            (2) the United States should continue to facilitate and 
        deepen partnerships between HBCUs and Sub-Saharan Africa.

SEC. 4. PURPOSES.

    The purposes of this Act are--
            (1) to strengthen the capacity of HBCUs to partner with 
        relevant Federal departments and agencies in support of United 
        States and African joint interests, including in the areas of 
        democracy and good governance, food and agricultural security, 
        education and human capital, youth development, trade and 
        economic development, and public health infrastructure;
            (2) to help integrate the work of HBCUs with the foreign 
        policy and foreign assistance priorities of the United States, 
        as appropriate;
            (3) to bolster and facilitate productive interactions 
        between HBCUs and relevant Federal departments and agencies;
            (4) to encourage HBCU participation in relevant Federal 
        programs, grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements;
            (5) to expand existing partnership initiatives between 
        HBCUs and relevant Federal departments and agencies; and
            (6) to recognize the historic contributions of HBCUs to 
        relations between the United States and Africa.

SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term 
        ``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
                    (A) the Committee on Foreign Relations of the 
                Senate; and
                    (B) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House 
                of Representatives.
            (2) Educational exchange.--The term ``educational 
        exchange'' means an activity listed in section 602(a) of the 
        Mutual Educational and Cultural Exchange Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 
        2452a(a)).
            (3) Historically black college or university; hbcu.--The 
        terms ``historically Black college or university'' and ``HBCU'' 
        mean a part B institution described in section 322(2) of the 
        Higher Education Act of 1965 (22 U.S.C. 1061(2)).
            (4) Minority-serving institution.--The term ``minority-
        serving institution'' means an institution listed in section 
        371(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
        1067q(a)).
            (5) Relevant federal departments and agencies.--The term 
        ``relevant Federal departments and agencies'' includes--
                    (A) the Department of State;
                    (B) the United States Agency for International 
                Development; and
                    (C) any other Federal department or agency that is 
                engaged in designing, providing, or supporting United 
                States foreign assistance (including development 
                finance) that the President determines is relevant for 
                the purposes of this Act.
            (6) Short-term graduate and technical expert exchange 
        program.--The term ``short-term graduate and technical expert 
        exchange program'' means an exchange program lasting 12 months 
        or shorter, including university exchange programs, 
        professional non-degree programs, and internships.
            (7) USAID.--The term ``USAID'' means the United States 
        Agency for International Development.

SEC. 6. EXPANDING PARTNERSHIPS BETWEEN RELEVANT DEPARTMENTS AND 
              AGENCIES AND HISTORICALLY BLACK COLLEGES AND 
              UNIVERSITIES.

    To develop educational grant opportunities and expand partnerships 
with HBCUs--
            (1) the Secretary of State and the USAID Administrator 
        should identifying HBCUs that--
                    (A) have entered into a grant, contract, or 
                cooperative agreement with the Department of State or 
                USAID; or
                    (B) are eligible to participate in programs and 
                initiatives under the jurisdiction of either such 
                agency; and
            (2) the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs should 
        develop an educational exchange for HBCUs identified pursuant 
        to paragraph (1) to deepen relationships between partners in 
        Sub-Saharan African and the United States in ways that advance 
        United States policy goals in Africa and increase academic 
        collaboration.

SEC. 7. EXPANDING EXCHANGE PROGRAMMING FOR SCHOLARS FROM SUB-SAHARAN 
              AFRICA.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of State and the USAID Administrator 
should seek to strengthen and expand partnerships and educational 
exchange opportunities, including by working with HBCUs, that build the 
capacity and expertise of students, scholars, and experts from Sub-
Saharan Africa in key development sectors, including--
            (1) food systems and agriculture-led economic growth;
            (2) food safety and security, nutrition, and farming, 
        including aquaculture;
            (3) animal health and pathology;
            (4) democracy and governance;
            (5) water, sanitation, and hygiene;
            (6) public health;
            (7) microenterprise business development and 
        entrepreneurship;
            (8) water security; and
            (9) environmental resilience.
    (b) Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs Programming.--The 
Secretary of State may establish a short-term graduate and technical 
expert exchange program for African students, scholars, and technical 
experts to spend a semester or academic year of nondegree study at 
institutions referred to in section 6(a) to support knowledge and 
skills training in the sectors referred to in subsection (a).

SEC. 8. COMMUNICATIONS AND OUTREACH PROGRAMMING.

    The Secretary of State and the USAID Administrator shall advance 
outreach and communications between HBCUs, the Department of State, and 
USAID and expand partnerships with HBCUs by--
            (1) providing technical assistance in the development of 
        grant and partnership applications; and
            (2) upon request, providing feedback to HBCUs, to the 
        maximum extent practicable, after a grant rejection in order to 
        improve future grant applications, as appropriate.

SEC. 9. CONGRESSIONAL BRIEFING.

    Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, 
the Secretary of State, in consultation with the USAID Administrator, 
shall brief the appropriate congressional committees regarding--
            (1) the implementation of existing partnerships and 
        programs between relevant Federal departments and agencies and 
        HBCUs and efforts to expand such partnerships and programs;
            (2) efforts to strengthen the capacity of HBCUs to 
        participate, or to be eligible to participate, in relevant 
        programs and initiatives;
            (3) any progress made towards--
                    (A) advancing plans to develop partnerships or 
                programs and initiatives with HBCUs that are not 
                engaged in existing partnerships with relevant Federal 
                departments and agencies; and
                    (B) identifying plans in which an HBCU may 
                participate; and
            (4) any other information that relevant Federal departments 
        and agencies determine is relevant to promoting opportunities 
        to fund, partner, contract, or otherwise interact with HBCUs.
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