II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1290

To amend title 36 of the United States Code to establish the American

Indian Education Foundation, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JUNE 28, 1999

Mr. INOUYE (for himself, Mr. DOMENICI, Mr. DORGAN, Mr. CONRAD, Mr.

BINGAMAN, Mr. JOHNSON, Mr. DASCHLE, and Mr. AKAKA) introduced

the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee

on Indian Affairs

A BILL

To amend title 36 of the United States Code to establish

the American Indian Education Foundation, and for

other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘American Indian Edu5 cation Foundation Act of 1999’’.

6 SEC. 2. AMERICAN INDIAN EDUCATION FOUNDATION.

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Part B of subtitle II of title 36,

8 United States Code, is amended by inserting after chapter

9 215 the following:
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‘‘CHAPTER 216. AMERICAN INDIAN EDUCATION

FOUNDATION

‘‘Sec.

‘‘21601. Organization.

‘‘21602. Purposes.

‘‘21603. Governing body.

‘‘21604. Powers.

‘‘21605. Principal office.

‘‘21606. Service of process.

‘‘21607. Liability of officers and agents.

‘‘21608. Restrictions.

‘‘21609. Transfer of donated funds.

1 ‘‘§ 21601. Organization

2 ‘‘(a) FEDERAL CHARTER.—The American Indian

3 Education Foundation (referred to in this chapter as the

4 ‘foundation’) is a federally chartered corporation.

5 ‘‘(b) PERPETUAL EXISTENCE.—Except as otherwise

6 provided, the foundation has perpetual existence.

7 ‘‘(c) NATURE OF CORPORATION.—The foundation is

8 a charitable and nonprofit corporation and is not an agen9 cy or instrumentality of the United States.

10 ‘‘(d) PLACE OF INCORPORATION AND DOMICILE.—

11 The foundation is declared to be incorporated and domi12 ciled in the District of Columbia.

13 ‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS.—In this chapter:

14 ‘‘(1) AMERICAN INDIAN.—The term ‘American

15 Indian’ has the meaning given the term ‘Indian’ in

16 section 4(d) of the Indian Self-Determination and

17 Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 450b(d)).

18 ‘‘(2) BUREAU FUNDED SCHOOL.—The term

19 ‘Bureau funded school’ has the meaning given that
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1 term in section 1146 of the Education Amendments

2 of 1978 (25 U.S.C. 2026).

3 ‘‘§ 21602. Purposes

4 ‘‘The purposes of the foundation are—

5 ‘‘(1) to encourage, accept, and administer pri6 vate gifts of real and personal property or any in7 come therefrom or other interest therein for the ben8 efit of, or in support of, the mission of the Office of

9 Indian Education Programs of the Bureau of Indian

10 Affairs (or its successor office);

11 ‘‘(2) to undertake and conduct such other ac12 tivities as will further the educational opportunities

13 of American Indians who attend a Bureau funded

14 school; and

15 ‘‘(3) to participate with, and otherwise assist,

16 Federal, State, and tribal governments, agencies, en17 tities, and individuals in undertaking and conducting

18 activities that will further the educational opportuni19 ties of American Indians attending Bureau funded

20 schools.

21 ‘‘§ 21603. Governing body

22 ‘‘(a) BOARD OF DIRECTORS.—

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The board of directors (re24 ferred to in this chapter as the ‘board’) is the gov25 erning body of the foundation. The board may exer-
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1 cise, or provide for the exercise of, the powers of the

2 foundation.

3 ‘‘(2) COMPOSITION OF BOARD.—Subject to sec4 tion 3 of the American Indian Education Founda5 tion Act of 1999—

6 ‘‘(A) the number of members of the board,

7 the manner of selection of those members, the

8 filling of vacancies for the board, and terms of

9 office of the members of the board shall be as

10 provided in the constitution and bylaws of the

11 foundation; except that

12 ‘‘(B) the board shall have at least 11 mem13 bers, 2 of whom shall be the Secretary of the

14 Interior and the Assistant Secretary of the In15 terior for Indian Affairs, who shall serve as ex

16 officio nonvoting members.

17 ‘‘(3) CITIZENSHIP OF MEMBERS.—The mem18 bers of the board shall be United States citizens who

19 are knowledgeable or experienced in American In20 dian education and shall, to the extent practicable,

21 represent diverse points of view relating to the edu22 cation of American Indians.

23 ‘‘(b) OFFICERS.—

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The officers of the founda25 tion shall be a secretary elected from among the
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1 members of the board and any other officers pro2 vided for in the constitution and bylaws of the foun3 dation.

4 ‘‘(2) QUALIFICATIONS AND DUTIES OF SEC5 RETARY.—The secretary shall—

6 ‘‘(A) serve, at the direction of the board,

7 as its chief operating officer; and

8 ‘‘(B) be knowledgeable and experienced in

9 matters relating to education in general and

10 education of American Indians in particular.

11 ‘‘(3) ELECTION, TERMS, AND DUTIES OF MEM12 BERS.—The manner of election, term of office, and

13 duties of the officers shall be as provided in the con14 stitution and bylaws of the foundation.

15 ‘‘(c) COMPENSATION.—

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para17 graph (2), no compensation shall be paid to a mem18 ber of the board by reason of service as a member.

19 ‘‘(2) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—A member of the

20 board shall be reimbursed for actual and necessary

21 travel and subsistence expenses incurred by that

22 member in the performance of the duties of the

23 foundation.

24 ‘‘§ 21604. Powers

25 ‘‘The foundation—
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1 ‘‘(1) shall adopt a constitution and bylaws for

2 the management of its property and the regulation

3 of its affairs, which may be amended;

4 ‘‘(2) shall adopt and alter a corporate seal;

5 ‘‘(3) may make contracts, subject to the limita6 tions of this chapter;

7 ‘‘(4) may acquire (through a gift or otherwise),

8 own, lease, encumber, and transfer real or personal

9 property as necessary or convenient to carry out the

10 purposes of the foundation;

11 ‘‘(5) may sue and be sued; and

12 ‘‘(6) may carry out any other act necessary and

13 proper to carry out the purposes of the foundation.

14 ‘‘§ 21605. Principal office

15 ‘‘The principal office of the foundation shall be in the

16 District of Columbia. The activities of the foundation may

17 be conducted, and offices may be maintained, throughout

18 the United States in accordance with the constitution and

19 bylaws of the foundation.

20 ‘‘§ 21606. Service of process

21 ‘‘The foundation shall comply with the law on service

22 of process of each State in which it is incorporated and

23 of each State in which the foundation carries on activities.
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1 ‘‘§ 21607. Liability of officers and agents

2 ‘‘The foundation shall be liable for the acts of its offi3 cers and agents acting within the scope of their authority.

4 Members of the board shall be personally liable only for

5 gross negligence in the performance of their duties.

6 ‘‘§ 21608. Restrictions

7 ‘‘(a) LIMITATION ON SPENDING.—Beginning with

8 the fiscal year following the first full fiscal year during

9 which the foundation is in operation, the administrative

10 costs of the foundation may not exceed 10 percent of the

11 sum of—

12 ‘‘(1) the amounts transferred to the foundation

13 under section 21609 during the preceding fiscal

14 year; and

15 ‘‘(2) donations received from private sources

16 during the preceding fiscal year.

17 ‘‘(b) APPOINTMENT AND HIRING.—The appointment

18 of officers and employees of the foundation shall be subject

19 to the availability of funds.

20 ‘‘(c) STATUS.—The members of the board, and the

21 officers, employees, and agents of the foundation shall not,

22 by reason of their association with the foundation, be con23 sidered to be officers, employees, or agents of the United

24 States.
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1 ‘‘§ 21609. Transfer of donated funds

2 ‘‘The Secretary of the Interior may transfer to the

3 foundation funds held by the Department of the Interior

4 under the Act of February 14, 1931 (46 Stat. 1106, chap5 ter 171; 25 U.S.C. 451), if the transfer or use of such

6 funds is not prohibited by any term under which the funds

7 were donated.’’.

8 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of chapters

9 for part B of subtitle II of title 36, United States Code,

10 is amended by inserting after the item relating to chapter

11 215 the following:

‘‘216. American Indian Education Foundation ......................21601’’.

12 SEC. 3. INITIAL PERIOD AFTER ESTABLISHMENT.

13 (a) BOARD OF DIRECTORS.—

14 (1) INITIAL BOARD.—Not later than 6 months

15 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec16 retary of the Interior shall appoint the initial voting

17 members of the board of directors under section

18 21603 of title 36, United States Code (referred to

19 in this section as the ‘‘board’’). The initial members

20 of the board shall have staggered terms (as deter21 mined by the Secretary of the Interior).

22 (2) SUCCESSIVE BOARDS.—The composition of

23 all successive boards after the initial board shall be

24 in conformity with the constitution and bylaws of

25 the American Indian Education Foundation orga-
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1 nized under chapter 216 of title 36, United States

2 Code (referred to in this section as the ‘‘founda3 tion’’).

4 (b) ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES AND SUPPORT.—

5 (1) PROVISION OF SUPPORT BY SECRETARY.—

6 Subject to paragraph (2), during the 5-year period

7 beginning on the date of enactment of this Act, the

8 Secretary of the Interior—

9 (A) may provide personnel, facilities, and

10 other administrative support services to the

11 foundation;

12 (B) may provide funds to reimburse the

13 travel expenses of the members of the board

14 under section 21603(c)(2) of title 36, United

15 States Code; and

16 (C) shall require and accept reimburse17 ments from the foundation for any—

18 (i) services provided under subpara19 graph (A); and

20 (ii) funds provided under subpara21 graph (B).

22 (2) REIMBURSEMENT.—Reimbursements ac23 cepted under paragraph (1)(C) shall be deposited in

24 the Treasury to the credit of the appropriations then

25 current and chargeable for the cost of providing
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1 services described in paragraph (1)(A) and the travel

2 expenses described in paragraph (1)(B).

3 (3) CONTINUATION OF CERTAIN SERVICES.—

4 Notwithstanding any other provision of this section,

5 the Secretary of the Interior may continue to pro6 vide facilities and necessary support services to the

7 foundation after the termination of the 5-year period

8 specified in paragraph (1), on a space available, re9 imbursable cost basis.

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