II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4530 

To amend the National and Community Service Act of 1990 to establish 

an Office of Civic Bridgebuilding within the Corporation for National 

and Community Service, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 14, 2022 

Mr. COONS (for himself and Mr. SASSE) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, 

Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To amend the National and Community Service Act of 1990 

to establish an Office of Civic Bridgebuilding within the 

Corporation for National and Community Service, 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 ‘‘Building Civic Bridges 

5 Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. CIVIC BRIDGEBUILDING. 

2 Subtitle H of title I of the National and Community 

3 Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12653 et seq.) is amended 

4 by adding at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘PART VI—CIVIC BRIDGEBUILDING 

6 ‘‘SEC. 198T. OFFICE OF CIVIC BRIDGEBUILDING. 

7 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There shall be in the Cor8 poration an Office of Civic Bridgebuilding (in this section 

9 referred to as the ‘Office’). The Office shall be headed by 

10 an Officer of Civic Bridgebuilding, who shall be designated 

11 by the Chief Executive Officer pursuant to section 195(b). 

12 ‘‘(b) DUTIES.—The Officer of Civic Bridgebuilding 

13 shall carry out each of the following: 

14 ‘‘(1) Administer the grant program described in 

15 subsection (d) to support civic bridgebuilding across 

16 the United States, including by establishing stand17 ardized criteria (based on principles of scientific re18 search) to track the effectiveness of projects and ac19 tivities funded under such program. 

20 ‘‘(2) Support the Corporation in providing 

21 training in skills and techniques relevant to civic 

22 bridgebuilding (with the consideration of best prac23 tices collected by the Office, including through input 

24 from the Advisory Committee under subsection 

25 (c))— 


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1 ‘‘(A) for participants (including individuals 

2 who have been selected to be participants) of a 

3 program receiving funding under a national 

4 service law; and 

5 ‘‘(B) upon request by an organization that 

6 receives funding under a national service law or 

7 that is carrying out a program in which partici8 pants described in subparagraph (A) are par9 ticipating, for such organization. 

10 ‘‘(3) Select the members of the Advisory Com11 mittee under subsection (c). 

12 ‘‘(4) Support research and evaluations on civic 

13 bridgebuilding and the dissemination of related in14 formation, including through— 

15 ‘‘(A) evaluation and oversight of the grant 

16 program described in subsection (d); 

17 ‘‘(B) as the Corporation determines nec18 essary, collaboration (including through the 

19 evaluation of the activities of the Corporation 

20 relating to civic bridgebuilding and civic en21 gagement) between the Office and other offices 

22 (such as the Office of Research and Evalua23 tion), teams, or individuals within the Corpora24 tion; and 


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1 ‘‘(C) the establishment of a publicly avail2 able collection of publications for a research 

3 base for the purposes of monitoring national 

4 metrics for civic bridgebuilding and assembling 

5 research focused on evaluating the extent to 

6 which civic bridgebuilding and civic engagement 

7 activities strengthen or weaken other civic 

8 bridgebuilding and civic engagement activities 

9 and outcomes in the United States. 

10 ‘‘(5) Activate a public conversation about the 

11 importance of civic bridgebuilding by convening and 

12 coordinating civic bridgebuilding programs and pro13 viding resources, networking, and collaboration op14 portunities to individuals and entities in the civic 

15 bridgebuilding field, such as through— 

16 ‘‘(A) network cultivation to strengthen the 

17 community of those involved, interested, or en18 gaged in the civic bridgebuilding field, including 

19 through activities such as— 

20 ‘‘(i) in-person and virtual events for 

21 the public to showcase impactful practices, 

22 bring civic bridgebuilding leaders together, 

23 present relevant research, and explore 

24 emerging needs that would benefit from 

25 civic bridgebuilding; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) organizing peer-learning opportu2 nities to facilitate conversations within the 

3 civic bridgebuilding field; 

4 ‘‘(iii) organizing and distributing lists 

5 of civic bridgebuilding leaders and organi6 zations and groups in the civic 

7 bridgebuilding field; and 

8 ‘‘(iv) coordinating national commu9 nications among civic bridgebuilding lead10 ers, including through the promotion of 

11 civic bridgebuilding programs and sharing 

12 stories of local impact; and 

13 ‘‘(B) developing or distributing resources 

14 to expand best practices in the civic 

15 bridgebuilding field, including through— 

16 ‘‘(i) the curation of a digital resource 

17 hub focused on sharing resources from en18 tities that receive grants under subsection 

19 (d), civic bridgebuilding leaders, civic 

20 bridgebuilding programs, or the publicly 

21 available collection of publications for a re22 search base established under paragraph 

23 (4)(C); and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) the production of new resources, 

2 training, or best practices based on lessons 

3 from the civic bridgebuilding field. 

4 ‘‘(c) ADVISORY COMMITTEE.— 

5 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established 

6 within the Office of Civic Bridgebuilding an Advi7 sory Committee. 

8 ‘‘(2) MEMBERS.— 

9 ‘‘(A) SELECTION.—The Advisory Com10 mittee shall be composed of 9 members selected 

11 by the Officer of Civic Bridgebuilding, including 

12 a member designated by the Officer of Civic 

13 Bridgebuilding as the Chairperson of the Advi14 sory Committee, and such members shall be 

15 civic bridgebuilding leaders— 

16 ‘‘(i) who represent diverse ideological, 

17 religious, racial, regional, or ethnic commu18 nities; and 

19 ‘‘(ii) with relevant experience and ex20 pertise from the civic bridgebuilding field. 

21 ‘‘(B) TERMS OF SERVICE.—A member of 

22 the Advisory Committee shall serve for a term 

23 of 3 years. 

24 ‘‘(3) DUTIES.—The Advisory Committee shall 

25 carry out each of the following: 


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1 ‘‘(A) Provide advice and consultation to 

2 the Officer of Civic Bridgebuilding on the prior3 ities and administration of the Office. 

4 ‘‘(B) Conduct an annual review of grants 

5 awarded under subsection (d), with a focus on 

6 diversity, equity, and inclusion, and identifying 

7 any gaps or needs that emerged in an applica8 tion cycle. 

9 ‘‘(C) Conduct an annual review of the 

10 process of awarding grants under subsection 

11 (d), including a review of rubrics or metrics for 

12 selection of grant recipients used by the Officer 

13 of Civic Bridgebuilding. 

14 ‘‘(D) Review the analysis provided under 

15 the peer review process under subsection (d)(5). 

16 ‘‘(d) CIVIC BRIDGEBUILDING PILOT GRANT PRO17 GRAM.— 

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—From the amounts appro19 priated to carry out this subsection, the Corporation 

20 (acting through the Officer of Civic Bridgebuilding 

21 and in consultation with the Advisory Committee es22 tablished under subsection (c))— 

23 ‘‘(A) shall carry out a pilot program for a 

24 3-year period to award grants, on a competitive 

25 basis, to eligible entities to support civic 


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1 bridgebuilding programs across the United 

2 States; and 

3 ‘‘(B) may carry out such a pilot program 

4 for additional 3-year periods. 

5 ‘‘(2) GRANT PERIOD.—A grant awarded under 

6 this subsection shall be for a 1-year period. Grants 

7 shall be awarded under this subsection in 3 grant 

8 cycles for each 3-year period of the program carried 

9 out under paragraph (1). 

10 ‘‘(3) APPLICATION.—To be eligible to receive a 

11 grant under this subsection, an eligible entity shall 

12 submit an application to the Corporation at such 

13 time, in such manner, and containing such informa14 tion and assurances as the Corporation may require, 

15 including— 

16 ‘‘(A) a description of the project that will 

17 be funded with the grant; 

18 ‘‘(B) an explanation of how that such 

19 project will— 

20 ‘‘(i) engage diverse communities; 

21 ‘‘(ii) facilitate the establishment or 

22 continuation of civic bridgebuilding, which 

23 may include addressing the root causes of 

24 polarization as articulated in the publicly 

25 available collection of publications for a reVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:51 Jul 16, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4530.IS S4530

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1 search base established under subsection 

2 (b)(4)(C); 

3 ‘‘(iii) reflect research supporting the 

4 efficacy and impact of the proposed ap5 proach for the project; and 

6 ‘‘(iv) ensure physical, social, and psy7 chological safety for all participants in8 volved in the project; 

9 ‘‘(C) a description of evidence-based best 

10 practices for how such safety will be achieved; 

11 and 

12 ‘‘(D) an assurance that the eligible entity 

13 will report outcomes of such project to track ef14 fectiveness based on standardized criteria estab15 lished by the Office of Civic Bridgebuilding 

16 under subsection (b)(1) or will evaluate the im17 pact of such project based on principles of sci18 entific research. 

19 ‘‘(4) USES OF FUNDS.—An eligible entity re20 ceiving a grant under this subsection shall use the 

21 grant funds to carry out a project to advance civic 

22 bridgebuilding in communities across the United 

23 States, which may include addressing the root 

24 causes of polarization as articulated in the publicly 


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1 available collection of publications for a research 

2 base established under subsection (b)(4)(C). 

3 ‘‘(5) PEER REVIEW PROCESS.—The Corporation 

4 shall establish a peer review process which shall in5 clude consultation with research communities in the 

6 civic bridgebuilding field to analyze the process of 

7 awarding grants (and the grants that are awarded) 

8 under this subsection. 

9 ‘‘(e) COMPTROLLER GENERAL.—The Comptroller 

10 General of the United States shall, on an annual basis, 

11 submit to Congress a report, which summarizes and as12 sesses the effectiveness and impact of the activities carried 

13 out under grants awarded under subsection (d). 

14 ‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

15 ‘‘(1) CIVIC BRIDGEBUILDING.—The term ‘civic 

16 bridgebuilding’— 

17 ‘‘(A) means an activity that— 

18 ‘‘(i) fosters respect between diverse 

19 communities; 

20 ‘‘(ii) strengthens relationships across 

21 lines of difference; 

22 ‘‘(iii) forges a sense of common civic 

23 purpose; and 

24 ‘‘(iv) seeks to solve a community prob25 lem and diminish polarization; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) includes— 

2 ‘‘(i) activities that take place in local 

3 communities, where individuals and insti4 tutions come together to build empathy, 

5 strengthen belonging, and address local 

6 issues; and 

7 ‘‘(ii) activities at the field level, where 

8 civic bridgebuilding leaders work together 

9 to share research and best practices, learn 

10 from one another, and grow other civic 

11 bridgebuilding. 

12 ‘‘(2) CIVIC BRIDGEBUILDING LEADER.—The 

13 term ‘civic bridgebuilding leader’ means an indi14 vidual who leads civic bridgebuilding programs or ef15 forts. 

16 ‘‘(3) CIVIC ENGAGEMENT.—The term ‘civic en17 gagement’ means an individual or collective action 

18 designed to address a public concern or an unmet 

19 human, educational, health care, environmental, or 

20 public safety need. 

21 ‘‘(4) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligible en22 tity’ means a nonprofit entity, public institution, ele23 mentary school, secondary school, institution of 

24 higher education, religious group, or consortium of 

25 any such entities. 


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1 ‘‘(5) PUBLIC INSTITUTION.—The term ‘public 

2 institution’ means a library or unit of State, local, 

3 or special purpose government. 

4 ‘‘(6) RESEARCH.—The term ‘research’ means 

5 research which embodies principles of scientific re6 search. 

7 ‘‘(7) RESEARCH BASE.—The term ‘research 

8 base’ means any publications that contain observa9 tions, analysis, and conclusions based on principles 

10 of scientific research with respect to the challenges 

11 of political and social polarization in the United 

12 States, and practical approaches to strengthen social 

13 cohesion, foster a sense of national connection, or 

14 improve intergroup relations in divided communities. 

15 ‘‘(g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

16 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

17 $25,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2023 through 2025.’’. 

18 SEC. 3. TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

19 The table of contents in section 1(b) of the National 

20 and Community Service Act of 1990 is amended by insert21 ing at the end of the item relating to subtitle H of title 

22 I, the following: 

‘‘PART VI—CIVIC BRIDGEBUILDING

‘‘Sec. 198T. Office of Civic Bridgebuilding.’’. 

Æ 


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