Lost Boys and Girls RISE Act

Summary: Lost Boys and Girls Rebuilding Infrastructure to Sustain Enduring Peace in South Sudan Act or the Lost Boys and Girls RISE Act This bill directs the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to establish a three-year pilot program to provide fellowships to up to 500 eligible individuals to assist in developing agricultural, business development, educational, medical, technological, or transportation infrastructure in South Sudan. (The program may begin after the Department of State determines that it is safe for U.S. citizens, especially citizens of Sudanese or South Sudanese descent, to travel to South Sudan and lifts the general travel warning for South Sudan.)  It is the sense of Congress that USAID should: (1) consult with members of the Lost Boys and Lost Girls of Sudan community in the United States for purposes of identifying potential participants, and (2) consider individuals who are recommended to USAID by a member of Congress.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Lost Boys and Girls Rebuilding 
Infrastructure to Sustain Enduring Peace in South Sudan Act'' or the 
``Lost Boys and Girls RISE Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) The 21-year civil war between the North and the South 
        in Sudan, which ended with the signing of the Comprehensive 
        Peace Agreement on January 9, 2005, caused many Sudanese people 
        to flee their homes to seek refuge elsewhere in Sudan, in 
        neighboring countries, and in the United States.
            (2) During the civil war, government troops burned villages 
        in southern Sudan, killed the adults, and enslaved both women 
        and girls. Among the refugees from the conflict was a group of 
        at least 20,000 children, aged 5 to 17 years, who were homeless 
        orphans as a result of the war.
            (3) The children suffered tremendous hardships during their 
        flight, enduring attacks not only from the army and marauding 
        bandits but also from lions and hyenas. Many others died from 
        starvation or thirst.
            (4) A few years after the children arrived at the Panyindo 
        refugee camp in Ethiopia, armed soldiers forced them to leave 
        the camp by crossing the swollen Gilo River, and at least 1,000 
        children either drowned or were eaten by crocodiles while they 
        crossed. The children then began their journey to a refugee 
        camp in Kenya.
            (5) In 1999, the United Nations High Commissioner for 
        Refugees determined that repatriation was no longer an option 
        for these children. Approximately 3,800 of the 20,000 children 
        were granted priority resettlement status in the United States, 
        with minors placed in foster homes and those over 18 resettled 
        as adults throughout the United States with assistance from the 
        Department of Health and Human Services.
            (6) The story of these children, known as the ``Lost Boys 
        and Lost Girls of Sudan'', has been documented in a number of 
        books and films in the United States.
            (7) The Lost Boys and Lost Girls of Sudan have acquired a 
        reputation for being a resilient and highly motivated group of 
        individuals, with many of them gaining employment and pursuing 
        higher education simultaneously.
            (8) Many of the Lost Boys and Lost Girls of Sudan have 
        publically expressed interest in returning to their homeland to 
        contribute to reconstruction efforts.
            (9) South Sudan is currently engulfed in a new civil war 
        and faces a humanitarian catastrophe and an upsurge of violence 
        between ethnic groups. Many of the Lost Boys and Lost Girls 
        have gained experience, education, and skills in the United 
        States, and want to return to South Sudan to assist in efforts 
        to rebuild the infrastructure of the country.

SEC. 3. PILOT PROGRAM TO ASSIST RECONSTRUCTION EFFORTS IN THE REPUBLIC 
              OF SOUTH SUDAN.

    (a) Pilot Program.--
            (1) In general.--The Administrator of the United States 
        Agency for International Development (in this Act referred to 
        as the ``Administrator'') shall establish a pilot program to 
        provide fellowships to up to 500 eligible individuals to assist 
        in developing agricultural, business development, educational, 
        medical, technological, or transportation infrastructure in 
        South Sudan.
            (2) Duration.--
                    (A) In general.--The pilot program established 
                under paragraph (1) shall begin on the date on which 
                the Administrator determines that the condition 
                specified under subparagraph (B) is satisfied and shall 
                terminate on the date that is three years after the 
                date of such determination.
                    (B) Conditions specified.--The pilot program may 
                begin after the Secretary of State determines that it 
                is safe for United States citizens, especially citizens 
                of Sudanese or South Sudanese descent, to travel to 
                South Sudan and lifts the general travel warning for 
                South Sudan.
            (3) Administrator and staff.--The Administrator shall 
        detail not fewer than two full-time employees of the Agency to 
        conduct the following:
                    (A) Identifying and recruiting individuals who 
                would be eligible, pursuant to subsection (b), to 
                participate in the pilot program.
                    (B) Evaluating applications submitted by 
                individuals to participate in the pilot program.
                    (C) Approving methods proposed by individuals 
                participating in the pilot program to provide 
                assistance in accordance with paragraph (1).
                    (D) Preparing orientation and debriefing materials, 
                regarding South Sudan and the nature of the assistance 
                provided through the pilot program, to be given to 
                individuals participating in the pilot program not 
                later than one week before and one week after such 
                participation, respectively.
                    (E) Assisting individuals participating in the 
                pilot program to locate adequate housing in South Sudan 
                for the duration of their participation.
                    (F) Distributing to individuals participating in 
                the pilot program any amounts awarded under subsection 
                (c).
    (b) Eligibility.--An individual shall be eligible to participate in 
the pilot program if the individual--
            (1) is a citizen of the United States;
            (2) was admitted to the United States as a refugee under 
        section 207 of the Immigration Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1157) 
        from a refugee camp in Africa and identified by the Secretary 
        of State under the worldwide refugee application processing 
        priority system as ``Priority-2'' (P-2); and
            (3) commits to participating in the pilot program for a 
        period of not less than one year and not more than three years.
    (c) Award Amount.--The Administrator may make available to each 
individual participating in the pilot program, on a first-come, first-
served basis--
            (1) any amount necessary to cover the round-trip travel of 
        such individual between the United States and South Sudan;
            (2) not more than $300 per month, to cover lodging and 
        living expenses for the duration of the participation of such 
        individual;
            (3) not more than $25,000, over the duration of such 
        participation, toward the repayment of any Federal student loan 
        of such individual that is made, insured, or guaranteed under 
        title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070 et 
        seq.) or any other loan made, insured, or guaranteed by the 
        Federal Government to such individual for enrollment in an 
        institution of higher education, as defined in section 102 of 
        such Act (20 U.S.C. 1002);
            (4) any amount necessary to cover costs incurred during 
        such participation due to an emergency or under exigent 
        circumstances; and
            (5) such other costs that the Administrator may determine 
        to be appropriate and associated with participation in the 
        pilot program.
    (d) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that, in 
carrying out the pilot program, the Administrator should--
            (1) consult with the members of the ``Lost Boys and Lost 
        Girls of Sudan'' community in the United States, for purposes 
        of identifying potentially eligible individuals and notifying 
        such individuals about the pilot program; and
            (2) consider for participation in the pilot program 
        individuals who are recommended to the Administrator by a 
        Member of Congress.
    (e) Report and Evaluation.--
            (1) Report.--Not later than six months after the date of 
        the termination of the pilot program, the Administrator shall 
        submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report 
        summarizing the results of the pilot program and making 
        recommendations for changes.
            (2) Evaluation by inspector general.--Not later than six 
        months after the date of the enactment of this Act and annually 
        thereafter until the date of the termination of the pilot 
        program, the Inspector General of the United States Agency for 
        International Development shall submit to the appropriate 
        congressional committees a report evaluating the pilot program.
            (3) Appropriate congressional committees.--In this section, 
        the term ``appropriate congressional committees'' means the 
        Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives 
        and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate.