[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 120 (Thursday, July 13, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2636-S2637]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 492. Mr. SCOTT of Florida submitted an amendment intended to be 
proposed by him to the bill S. 2226, to authorize appropriations for 
fiscal year 2024 for military activities of the Department of Defense, 
for military construction, and for defense activities of the Department 
of Energy, to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal 
year, and for other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as 
follows:

       At the end of subtitle E of title V, add the following:

     SEC. 560A. MILITARY HISTORY GRADUATE STUDY FELLOWSHIP.

       (a) In General.--Part III of title 10, United States Code, 
     is amended by adding at the end the following new chapter:

          ``CHAPTER 114--MILITARY HISTORY SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM

``Sec.
``2200k. Programs; purpose.
``2200l. Scholarship program.
``2200m. Grant program.
``2200n. Use of funds.
``2200o. Regulations.
``2200p. Institution of higher education defined.

     ``Sec. 2200k. Programs; purpose

       ``(a) In General.--To encourage the recruitment and 
     retention of Department of Defense personnel who have the 
     traditional military history understanding required by the 
     Department of Defense, the Secretary of Defense may carry out 
     programs in accordance with this chapter to provide financial 
     support for education in disciplines relevant to those 
     requirements at institutions of higher education.
       ``(b) Types of Programs.--The programs authorized under 
     this chapter are as follows:
       ``(1) Scholarships for pursuit of programs of education in 
     traditional military history disciplines at institutions of 
     higher education.
       ``(2) Grants to institutions of higher education.
       ``(c) Name of Program.--The programs authorized under this 
     chapter shall be known as the `Military History Scholarship 
     Program'.

     ``Sec. 2200l. Scholarship program

       ``(a) Authority.--The Secretary of Defense may, subject to 
     subsection (f), provide financial assistance in accordance 
     with this section to a person--
       ``(1) who is pursuing an advanced degree in a traditional 
     military history discipline referred to in section 2200k of 
     this title at an institution of higher education; and
       ``(2) who enters into an agreement with the Secretary as 
     described in subsection (b).
       ``(b) Service Agreement for Scholarship Recipients.--(1) To 
     receive financial assistance under this section--
       ``(A) a member of the armed forces shall enter into an 
     agreement to serve on active duty in the member's armed force 
     for the period of obligated service determined under 
     paragraph (2);
       ``(B) an employee of the Department of Defense shall enter 
     into an agreement to continue in the employment of the 
     Department for the period of obligated service determined 
     under paragraph (2); and
       ``(C) a person not referred to in subparagraph (A) or (B) 
     shall enter into an agreement--
       ``(i) to enlist or accept a commission in one of the armed 
     forces and to serve on active duty in that armed force for 
     the period of obligated service determined under paragraph 
     (2); or
       ``(ii) to accept and continue employment in the Department 
     of Defense for the period of obligated service determined 
     under paragraph (2).
       ``(2) For the purposes of this subsection, the period of 
     obligated service for a recipient of financial assistance 
     under this section shall be the period determined by the 
     Secretary of Defense as being appropriate to obtain adequate 
     service in exchange for the financial assistance and 
     otherwise to achieve the goals set forth in section 2200k of 
     this title. In no event may the period of service required of 
     a recipient be less than the period equal to three-fourths of 
     the total period of pursuit of a degree for which the 
     Secretary agrees to provide the recipient with financial 
     assistance under this section. The period of obligated 
     service is in addition to any other period for which the 
     recipient is obligated to serve on active duty or in the 
     civil service, as the case may be.
       ``(3) An agreement entered into under this section by a 
     person pursuing an academic degree shall include terms that 
     provide the following:
       ``(A) That the period of obligated service begins on a date 
     after the award of the degree that is determined under the 
     regulations prescribed under section 2200k of this title.
       ``(B) That the person will maintain satisfactory academic 
     progress, as determined in accordance with those regulations, 
     and that failure to maintain such progress constitutes 
     grounds for termination of the financial assistance for the 
     person under this section.
       ``(C) Any other terms and conditions that the Secretary of 
     Defense determines appropriate for carrying out this section.
       ``(c) Amount of Assistance.--The amount of the financial 
     assistance provided for a person under this section shall be 
     the amount determined by the Secretary of Defense as being 
     necessary to pay all educational expenses incurred by that 
     person, including tuition, fees, cost of books, laboratory 
     expenses, and expenses of room and board. The expenses paid, 
     however, shall be limited to those educational expenses 
     normally incurred by students at the institution of higher 
     education involved.
       ``(d) Use of Assistance for Support of Internships.--The 
     financial assistance for a person under this section may also 
     be provided to support internship activities of the person at 
     the Department of Defense in periods between the academic 
     years leading to the degree for which assistance is provided 
     the person under this section.
       ``(e) Repayment for Period of Unserved Obligated Service.--
     (1) A member of an armed force who does not complete the 
     period of active duty specified in the service agreement 
     under subsection (b) shall be subject to the repayment 
     provisions of section 303a(e) or 373 of title 37.
       ``(2) A civilian employee of the Department of Defense who 
     voluntarily terminates service before the end of the period 
     of obligated service required under an agreement entered into 
     under subsection (b) shall be subject to the repayment 
     provisions of section 303a(e) or 373 of title 37 in the same 
     manner and to the same extent as if the civilian employee 
     were a member of the armed forces.
       ``(f) Allocation of Funding.--Not less than 10 percent of 
     the amount available for financial assistance under this 
     section for a fiscal year shall be available only for 
     providing financial assistance for the pursuit of degrees 
     referred to in subsection (a) at institutions of higher 
     education that have established, improved, or are 
     administering programs of education in traditional military 
     history disciplines under the grant program established in 
     section 2200l of this title, as determined by the Secretary 
     of Defense.
       ``(g) Employment of Program Participants.--The Secretary of 
     Defense--
       ``(1) may, without regard to any provision of title 5 
     governing appointments in the competitive service, appoint to 
     a military history position in the Department of Defense in 
     the excepted service an individual who has successfully 
     completed an academic program for which a scholarship under 
     this section was awarded and who, under the terms of the 
     agreement for such scholarship, at the time of such 
     appointment owes a service commitment to the Department; and
       ``(2) may, upon satisfactory completion of two years of 
     substantially continuous service by an incumbent who was 
     appointed to an excepted service position under the authority 
     of paragraph (1), convert the appointment of such individual, 
     without competition, to a career or career-conditional 
     appointment.

[[Page S2637]]

  


     ``Sec. 2200m. Grant program

       ``(a) Authority.--The Secretary of Defense may provide 
     grants of financial assistance to institutions of higher 
     education to support the establishment, improvement, or 
     administration of programs of education in military history 
     disciplines referred to in section 2200k of this title.
       ``(b) Purposes.--The proceeds of grants under this section 
     may be used by an institution of higher education for the 
     following purposes:
       ``(1) Faculty development.
       ``(2) Curriculum development.
       ``(3) Faculty research in military history.

     ``Sec. 2200n. Use of funds

       ``(a) In General.--Funds appropriated or otherwise made 
     available to carry out this chapter may be made available to 
     sponsor or support research and studies in conflict, wartime 
     leaders, military battles, wartime strategy and operations, 
     or other information the Secretary of Defense considers to be 
     of importance relative to the field of military history.
       ``(b) Limitations.--Funds appropriated or otherwise made 
     available to carry out this chapter may not be made available 
     to sponsor or support research or studies that predominantly 
     focus on the social sciences of military history.

     ``Sec. 2200o. Regulations

       ``The Secretary of Defense shall prescribe regulations for 
     the administration of this chapter.

     ``Sec. 2200p. Institution of higher education defined

       ``In this chapter, the term `institution of higher 
     education' has the meaning given the term in section 101 of 
     the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001).''.
       (b) Clerical Amendment.--The tables of chapters at the 
     beginning of subtitle A of title 10, United States Code, and 
     the beginning of part III of such subtitle are amended by 
     inserting after the item relating to chapter 113 the 
     following new item:

``114. Military History Scholarship Program................2200k''.....

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