I

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1290

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

NOVEMBER 5, 1999

Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

AN ACT

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’’.
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1 SEC. 2. AMERICAN INDIAN EDUCATION FOUNDATION.

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

3 United States Code, is amended by inserting after chapter

4 215 the following:

‘‘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.

5 ‘‘§ 21601. Organization

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

7 Education Foundation (referred to in this chapter as the

8 ‘foundation’) is a federally chartered corporation.

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

10 provided, the foundation has perpetual existence.

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

12 a charitable and nonprofit corporation and is not an agen13 cy or instrumentality of the United States.

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

15 The foundation is declared to be incorporated and domi16 ciled in the District of Columbia.

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

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

19 Indian’ has the meaning given the term ‘Indian’ in
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1 section 4(d) of the Indian Self-Determination and

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

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

4 ‘Bureau funded school’ has the meaning given that

5 term in section 1146 of the Education Amendments

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

7 ‘‘§ 21602. Purposes

8 ‘‘The purposes of the foundation are—

9 ‘‘(1) to encourage, accept, and administer pri10 vate gifts of real and personal property or any in11 come therefrom or other interest therein for the ben12 efit of, or in support of, the mission of the Office of

13 Indian Education Programs of the Bureau of Indian

14 Affairs (or its successor office);

15 ‘‘(2) to undertake and conduct such other ac16 tivities as will further the educational opportunities

17 of American Indians who attend a Bureau funded

18 school; and

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

20 Federal, State, and tribal governments, agencies, en21 tities, and individuals in undertaking and conducting

22 activities that will further the educational opportuni23 ties of American Indians attending Bureau funded

24 schools.
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1 ‘‘§ 21603. Governing body

2 ‘‘(a) BOARD OF DIRECTORS.—

3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The board of directors (re4 ferred to in this chapter as the ‘board’) is the gov5 erning body of the foundation. The board may exer6 cise, or provide for the exercise of, the powers of the

7 foundation.

8 ‘‘(2) COMPOSITION OF BOARD.—Subject to sec9 tion 3 of the American Indian Education Founda10 tion Act of 1999—

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

12 the manner of selection of those members, the

13 filling of vacancies for the board, and terms of

14 office of the members of the board shall be as

15 provided in the constitution and bylaws of the

16 foundation; except that

17 ‘‘(B) the board shall have at least 11 mem18 bers, 2 of whom shall be the Secretary of the

19 Interior and the Assistant Secretary of the In20 terior for Indian Affairs, who shall serve as ex

21 officio nonvoting members.

22 ‘‘(3) CITIZENSHIP OF MEMBERS.—The mem23 bers of the board shall be United States citizens who

24 are knowledgeable or experienced in American In25 dian education and shall, to the extent practicable,
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1 represent diverse points of view relating to the edu2 cation of American Indians.

3 ‘‘(b) OFFICERS.—

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The officers of the founda5 tion shall be a secretary elected from among the

6 members of the board and any other officers pro7 vided for in the constitution and bylaws of the foun8 dation.

9 ‘‘(2) QUALIFICATIONS AND DUTIES OF SEC10 RETARY.—The secretary shall—

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

12 as its chief operating officer; and

13 ‘‘(B) be knowledgeable and experienced in

14 matters relating to education in general and

15 education of American Indians in particular.

16 ‘‘(3) ELECTION, TERMS, AND DUTIES OF MEM17 BERS.—The manner of election, term of office, and

18 duties of the officers shall be as provided in the con19 stitution and bylaws of the foundation.

20 ‘‘(c) COMPENSATION.—

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para22 graph (2), no compensation shall be paid to a mem23 ber of the board by reason of service as a member.

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

25 board shall be reimbursed for actual and necessary
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1 travel and subsistence expenses incurred by that

2 member in the performance of the duties of the

3 foundation.

4 ‘‘§ 21604. Powers

5 ‘‘The foundation—

6 ‘‘(1) shall adopt a constitution and bylaws for

7 the management of its property and the regulation

8 of its affairs, which may be amended;

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

10 ‘‘(3) may make contracts, subject to the limita11 tions of this chapter;

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

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

14 property as necessary or convenient to carry out the

15 purposes of the foundation;

16 ‘‘(5) may sue and be sued; and

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

18 proper to carry out the purposes of the foundation.

19 ‘‘§ 21605. Principal office

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

21 District of Columbia. The activities of the foundation may

22 be conducted, and offices may be maintained, throughout

23 the United States in accordance with the constitution and

24 bylaws of the foundation.
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1 ‘‘§ 21606. Service of process

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

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

4 of each State in which the foundation carries on activities.

5 ‘‘§ 21607. Liability of officers and agents

6 ‘‘The foundation shall be liable for the acts of its offi7 cers and agents acting within the scope of their authority.

8 Members of the board shall be personally liable only for

9 gross negligence in the performance of their duties.

10 ‘‘§ 21608. Restrictions

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

12 the fiscal year following the first full fiscal year during

13 which the foundation is in operation, the administrative

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

15 sum of—

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

17 under section 21609 during the preceding fiscal

18 year; and

19 ‘‘(2) donations received from private sources

20 during the preceding fiscal year.

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

22 of officers and employees of the foundation shall be subject

23 to the availability of funds.

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

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

26 by reason of their association with the foundation, be con-
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1 sidered to be officers, employees, or agents of the United

2 States.

3 ‘‘§ 21609. Transfer of donated funds

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

5 foundation funds held by the Department of the Interior

6 under the Act of February 14, 1931 (46 Stat. 1106, chap7 ter 171; 25 U.S.C. 451), if the transfer or use of such

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

9 were donated.’’.

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

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

12 is amended by inserting after the item relating to chapter

13 215 the following:

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

14 SEC. 3. INITIAL PERIOD AFTER ESTABLISHMENT.

15 (a) BOARD OF DIRECTORS.—

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

17 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec18 retary of the Interior shall appoint the initial voting

19 members of the board of directors under section

20 21603 of title 36, United States Code (referred to

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

22 of the board shall have staggered terms (as deter23 mined by the Secretary of the Interior).

24 (2) SUCCESSIVE BOARDS.—The composition of

25 all successive boards after the initial board shall be
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1 in conformity with the constitution and bylaws of

2 the American Indian Education Foundation orga3 nized under chapter 216 of title 36, United States

4 Code (referred to in this section as the ‘‘founda5 tion’’).

6 (b) ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES AND SUPPORT.—

7 (1) PROVISION OF SUPPORT BY SECRETARY.—

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

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

10 Secretary of the Interior—

11 (A) may provide personnel, facilities, and

12 other administrative support services to the

13 foundation;

14 (B) may provide funds to reimburse the

15 travel expenses of the members of the board

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

17 States Code; and

18 (C) shall require and accept reimburse19 ments from the foundation for any—

20 (i) services provided under subpara21 graph (A); and

22 (ii) funds provided under subpara23 graph (B).

24 (2) REIMBURSEMENT.—Reimbursements ac25 cepted under paragraph (1)(C) shall be deposited in
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1 the Treasury to the credit of the appropriations then

2 current and chargeable for the cost of providing

3 services described in paragraph (1)(A) and the travel

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

5 (3) CONTINUATION OF CERTAIN SERVICES.—

6 Notwithstanding any other provision of this section,

7 the Secretary of the Interior may continue to pro8 vide facilities and necessary support services to the

9 foundation after the termination of the 5-year period

10 specified in paragraph (1), on a space available, re11 imbursable cost basis.

Passed the Senate November 4, 1999.

Attest: GARY SISCO,

Secretary.