I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5517 

To affirm the friendship of the governments of the United States of America 

and the Republic of India, and to establish a bilateral partnership for 

collaboration to advance development and shared values, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 19, 2019 

Mr. LEWIS (for himself, Mrs. LAWRENCE, Mr. SHERMAN, Mr. KHANNA, Ms. 

JAYAPAL, Mr. MCGOVERN, and Mr. BERA) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

A BILL 

To affirm the friendship of the governments of the United 

States of America and the Republic of India, and to 

establish a bilateral partnership for collaboration to advance development and shared values, 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 ‘‘Gandhi-King Scholarly 

5 Exchange Initiative Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS OF CONGRESS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 


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1 (1) The peoples of the United States and India 

2 have a long history of friendship and the interests 

3 of the peoples of the United States, India, and the 

4 world will benefit from a stronger United States5 India partnership. 

6 (2) Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi and Martin 

7 Luther King, Jr., were dedicated leaders fighting for 

8 social justice and social change, peace, and civil 

9 rights in their respective communities, and countries 

10 and in the world. 

11 (3) The use of nonviolent civil disobedience is a 

12 shared tactic that has played a key role in defeating 

13 social injustice in India, the United States, and in 

14 other parts of the world. 

15 (4) Mohandas Gandhi, who was born on Octo16 ber 2, 1869, was murdered on January 30, 1948, 

17 after dedicating his life to the peaceful empowerment 

18 of the people of India and to their liberation from 

19 British occupation. 

20 (5) Martin Luther King, Jr., who was born on 

21 January 15, 1929, was murdered on April 4, 1968, 

22 after a life dedicated to peaceful movements against 

23 segregation, discrimination, racial injustice, and pov24 erty. 


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1 (6) In February 1959, Dr. King and his wife, 

2 Coretta Scott King, traveled throughout India. By 

3 the end of his monthlong visit, Dr. King said, ‘‘I am 

4 more convinced than ever before that the method of 

5 nonviolent resistance is the most potent weapon 

6 available to oppressed people in their struggle for 

7 justice and human dignity.’’. 

8 (7) Fifty years after Dr. King’s visit, All India 

9 Radio, the national radio station of India, discovered 

10 a taped message by Dr. King that emphasized the 

11 intellectual harmony between the messages of Dr. 

12 King and Mohandas Gandhi on nonviolent social ac13 tion. 

14 (8) On August 22, 2011, the Dr. Martin Lu15 ther King, Jr., National Memorial opened to the 

16 public in Washington, DC. This newest memorial on 

17 the National Mall pays tribute to Dr. King’s na18 tional and international contributions to world peace 

19 through nonviolent social change. 

20 (9) The year 2019 will mark the 150th birth 

21 anniversary of Mohandas Gandhi and the 90th birth 

22 anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 

23 (10) Mohandas Gandhi, who employed the prin24 ciple of satyagraha, or ‘‘fighting with peace’’, has 


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1 come to represent the moral force inspiring many 

2 civil and social rights movement around the world. 

3 (11) Dr. King’s effective use of Gandhi’s prin4 ciples was instrumental to the American civil rights 

5 movement. 

6 (12) There is a long history of civil and social 

7 rights movements in the United States and in India. 

8 As the relationship between the United States and 

9 India evolves, a binational foundation through which 

10 the governments of each country can work together 

11 and catalyze private investment toward development 

12 objectives would provide an ongoing, productive in13 stitution and symbol of the friendship and common 

14 ideals of the respective governments and their peo15 ples. 

16 (13) There is a global goal of ending tuber17 culosis by 2030, the United States and India seek a 

18 TB-Free India by 2025, and the United States-India 

19 Gandhi-King Foundation will help address gaps 

20 across the TB value chain in prevention, detection, 

21 diagnosis, and treatment, and would catalyze mar22 ket-based strategies to bridge the service gap for the 

23 ‘‘last mile’’. 

24 (14) Leaders in both countries belonging to 

25 both major political parties have prioritized the 


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1 United States-India relationship and on a bipartisan 

2 basis continue to support a strengthened United 

3 States-India partnership, recognizing that it will be 

4 one of the defining partnerships of the 21st century. 

5 SEC. 3. GANDHI-KING SCHOLARLY EXCHANGE INITIATIVE. 

6 In order to further the shared ideals and values of 

7 Mohandas Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr., the Sec8 retary of State shall establish, in cooperation with the ap9 propriate representatives of the Government of India, a 

10 professional exchange program known as the ‘‘Gandhi11 King Scholarly Exchange Initiative’’. The initiative should 

12 be comprised of the following: 

13 (1) An annual educational forum for scholars 

14 from the United States and India that focuses on 

15 the social justice and human and civil rights legacies 

16 of Mohandas Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr., 

17 which shall— 

18 (A) be held alternately in the United 

19 States and in India; 

20 (B) include representatives from govern21 ments, nongovernmental organizations, civic or22 ganizations, and educational, cultural, women’s, 

23 civil, and human rights groups, including reli24 gious and ethnic minorities and marginalized 

25 communities; and 


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1 (C) focus on studying the works of Gandhi 

2 and King, and applying their philosophies of 

3 nonviolent resistance to addressing current 

4 issues, including poverty alleviation, conflict 

5 mitigation, human and civil rights challenges, 

6 refugee crises, and threats to democracy and 

7 democratic norms in countries around the 

8 world. 

9 (2) An undergraduate, graduate, and post-grad10 uate student exchange for students in the United 

11 States and India to— 

12 (A) study the history and legacies of Mar13 tin Luther King, Jr., and Mohandas Gandhi; 

14 (B) visit historic sites in India and the 

15 United States that were integral to the Amer16 ican civil rights movement and the Indian inde17 pendence movement; and 

18 (C) research and develop papers on the im19 portance of peace, nonviolence, and reconcili20 ation in current conflict regions. 

21 SEC. 4. GANDHI-KING GLOBAL ACADEMY. 

22 The president and chief executive officer of the 

23 United States Institute of Peace shall develop a profes24 sional development training initiative on conflict resolution 

25 tools based on the principles of nonviolence. Such training 


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1 initiative shall be known as the Gandhi-King Global Acad2 emy and shall— 

3 (1) target representatives from governments, 

4 nongovernmental organizations, civic organizations, 

5 and educational, cultural, women’s, civil, and human 

6 rights groups, including religious and ethnic minori7 ties and marginalized communities in countries with 

8 ongoing political, social, ethnic, or violent conflict; 

9 (2) include a specific focus on the success of 

10 nonviolent movements, inclusion, and representation 

11 in conflict resolution; 

12 (3) develop a curriculum on conflict resolution 

13 tools based on the principles of nonviolence; and 

14 (4) make the curriculum publicly available on15 line, in person, and through a variety of media. 

16 SEC. 5. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE UNITED STATES-INDIA 

17 GANDHI-KING DEVELOPMENT FOUNDATION. 

18 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Administrator of the 

19 United States Agency for International Development 

20 (USAID), with the concurrence of the Secretary of State 

21 and in coordination with appropriate counterparts in the 

22 Government of India, is authorized to establish, on such 

23 terms and conditions as are determined necessary and not24 withstanding any other provision of law, one or more legal 

25 entities to compose the United States-India Gandhi-King 


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1 Development Foundation (in this section referred to as the 

2 ‘‘Foundation’’). Each such legal entity within the Founda3 tion shall be organized under the laws of India and shall 

4 not be considered to be an agency or establishment of the 

5 United States Government and shall not have the full faith 

6 and credit of the United States. 

7 (b) FUNCTIONS.—The Foundation, through one or 

8 more entities referred to in subsection (a)— 

9 (1) shall identify development priorities and ad10 minister and oversee competitively awarded grants to 

11 private nongovernmental entities to address such 

12 priorities in India, including— 

13 (A) health initiatives addressing tuber14 culosis (TB), water, sanitation, and health 

15 (WASH), and pollution and related health im16 pacts (PHI); 

17 (B) pollution and climate change; 

18 (C) education; and 

19 (D) empowerment of women; and 

20 (2) should provide credible platforms and mod21 els, including returnable capital to attract and blend 

22 public and private capital, which can then be de23 ployed efficiently and effectively to address the prior24 ities identified in paragraph (1). 

25 (c) ADDITIONALITY.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Before an entity within the 

2 Foundation makes a grant under subsection (b)(1) 

3 to address a priority identified under such sub4 section, the Foundation shall ensure that private 

5 sector entities are afforded an opportunity to sup6 port the projects funded by such grants. 

7 (2) SAFEGUARDS, POLICIES, AND GUIDE8 LINES.—The Foundation shall develop appropriate 

9 safeguards, policies, and guidelines to ensure that 

10 grants made under subsection (b)(1) operate accord11 ing to internationally recognized best practices and 

12 standards. 

13 (d) LIMITATIONS.—No party receiving a grant made 

14 under subsection (b)(1) may receive such grant in an 

15 amount that is more than five percent of amounts appro16 priated or otherwise made available under section 7(a)(3) 

17 to the entity in the Foundation making such grant. 

18 (e) GOVERNING COUNCIL.— 

19 (1) PURPOSE.—The Government of the United 

20 States and the Government of India shall convene a 

21 Governing Council to provide guidance and direction 

22 to the Foundation. 

23 (2) APPOINTMENT OF MEMBERS.—The Admin24 istrator of the United States Agency for Inter25 national Development, with the concurrence of the 


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1 Secretary of State, shall appoint a majority of the 

2 Governing Council of the Foundation for a period of 

3 five years following the establishment of the Founda4 tion. 

5 (3) CHARTER.—The Governing Council of the 

6 Foundation shall adopt a charter for the operation 

7 of the Foundation, which shall include provisions 

8 to— 

9 (A) identify development priorities or a 

10 process to identify development priorities; 

11 (B) define criteria for application, merit 

12 review, and awarding of grants by the Founda13 tion; 

14 (C) establish an annual organization-wide 

15 audit by an independent auditor in accordance 

16 with generally accepted auditing standards, the 

17 results of which shall be made immediately 

18 available to the Board, the Administrator of the 

19 United States Agency for International Devel20 opment, and the appropriate Government of 

21 India counterpart; 

22 (D) assist in the creation of project spe23 cific timetables for each of the projects funded 

24 by a grant from the Foundation; 


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1 (E) establish an oversight role and march2 in audit rights for the Administrator of the 

3 United States Agency for International Devel4 opment and the appropriate Government of 

5 India counterpart; and 

6 (F) establish an annual report on the ac7 tivities of the Foundation to be made publicly 

8 available. 

9 (f) PUBLICLY AVAILABLE PROJECT INFORMATION.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Foundation shall main11 tain a user-friendly, publicly available, machine read12 able database with detailed project level information, 

13 as appropriate and to the extent practicable, includ14 ing a description of the grants made by the Founda15 tion under this section and project level performance 

16 metrics. 

17 (2) BRIEFINGS.—The Administrator of the 

18 United States Agency for International Development 

19 shall provide in an unclassified format regular brief20 ings to the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the 

21 House of Representatives and the Committee on 

22 Foreign Relations of the Senate on the status of the 

23 Foundation. 

24 (g) DETAIL OF UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PER25 SONNEL TO THE FOUNDATION.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Whenever the Administrator 

2 of the United States Agency for International Devel3 opment or the Secretary of State determines it to be 

4 in furtherance of the purposes of this Act, the Ad5 ministrator and the Secretary are authorized to de6 tail or assign any officer or employee of the Agency 

7 or the Department, respectively, to any position in 

8 the Foundation to provide technical, scientific, or 

9 professional assistance to the Foundation or, in co10 operation with the Foundation, to implementing 

11 partners of the Foundation, without reimbursement 

12 to the United States Government. 

13 (2) STATUS.—Any United States Government 

14 officer or employee, while detailed or assigned under 

15 this subsection, shall be considered, for the purpose 

16 of preserving their allowances, privileges, rights, se17 niority, and other benefits as such, an officer or em18 ployee of the United States Government and of the 

19 agency of the United States Government from which 

20 detailed or assigned, and shall continue to receive 

21 compensation, allowances, and benefits from pro22 gram funds appropriated to that agency or made 

23 available to that agency for purposes related to the 

24 activities of the detail or assignment, in accordance 


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1 with authorities related to their employment status 

2 and agency policies. 

3 (3) SUNSET.—The authorities provided under 

4 this subsection shall terminate on the date that is 

5 five years after the establishment of the Foundation. 

6 SEC. 6. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS. 

7 (a) INITIAL REPORTS.—Not later than 120 days 

8 after the date of the enactment of this Act— 

9 (1) the Secretary of State shall submit to the 

10 Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on 

11 Appropriations of the House of Representatives and 

12 the Committee on Foreign Relations and the Com13 mittee on Appropriations of the Senate a report on 

14 the Secretary of State’s plan to establish the initia15 tive authorized under section 3; 

16 (2) the president and chief executive officer of 

17 the United States Institute of Peace shall submit to 

18 the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Com19 mittee on Appropriations of the House of Represent20 atives and the Committee on Foreign Relations and 

21 the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate a re22 port on the president and chief executive officer’s 

23 plan to establish the initiative authorized under sec24 tion 4; and 


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1 (3) the Administrator of the United States 

2 Agency for International Development shall submit 

3 to the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Com4 mittee on Appropriations of the House of Represent5 atives and the Committee on Foreign Relations and 

6 the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate a re7 port on the Administrator’s plan to establish the or8 ganization authorized under section 5. 

9 (b) PERIODIC UPDATES.—Upon the request of the 

10 committees specified in subsection (a), the Secretary of 

11 State, president and chief executive officer of the United 

12 States Institute of Peace, and Administrator of the United 

13 States Agency for International Development shall submit 

14 to such committees an update on the progress in imple15 menting each of the initiatives or establishing the organi16 zation referred to in such subsection. 

17 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be appro19 priated to carry out— 

20 (1) section 3, up to $2,000,000 for each of fis21 cal years 2020 through 2025 to the Secretary of 

22 State; 

23 (2) section 4, up to $2,000,000 for each of fis24 cal years 2020 through 2025 to the United States 

25 Institute of Peace; and 


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1 (3) section 5, up to $30,000,000 for each of fis2 cal years 2020 through 2025 to the Administrator 

3 of the United States Agency for International Devel4 opment. 

5 (b) AVAILABILITY.—Amounts authorized to be appro6 priated pursuant to subsection (a) shall be in addition to 

7 amounts otherwise available for the purposes referred to 

8 in such subsection. 

9 (c) SENSE OF CONGRESS ON FOREIGN ASSISTANCE

10 FUNDS.—It is the sense of Congress that the authoriza11 tion of appropriations under subsection (a) should be re12 newable for one or more periods of not more than 5 years 

13 if the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Adminis14 trator of the United States Agency for International De15 velopment, determines that the Foundation’s work is suc16 cessful in addressing the priorities identified in section 

17 5(b)(1). 

Æ 


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