II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4800 

To establish the John Lewis Civil Rights Fellowship to fund international 

internships and research placements for early- to mid-career professionals 

to study nonviolent movements to establish and protect civil rights around 

the world. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 7, 2022 

Mr. HICKENLOOPER (for himself, Mr. SCOTT of South Carolina, Mr. OSSOFF, 

and Ms. COLLINS) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

To establish the John Lewis Civil Rights Fellowship to fund 

international internships and research placements for 

early- to mid-career professionals to study nonviolent 

movements to establish and protect civil rights around 

the world. 

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 ‘‘John Lewis Civil 

5 Rights Fellowship Act of 2022’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. JOHN LEWIS CIVIL RIGHTS FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM. 

2 The Mutual Educational and Cultural Exchange Act 

3 of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2451 et seq.) is amended by adding 

4 at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 115. JOHN LEWIS CIVIL RIGHTS FELLOWSHIP PRO6 GRAM. 

7 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established the 

8 John Lewis Civil Rights Fellowship Program (referred to 

9 in this section as the ‘Fellowship Program’) within the J. 

10 William Fulbright Educational Exchange Program. 

11 ‘‘(b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of the Fellowship 

12 Program are— 

13 ‘‘(1) to honor the legacy of Representative John 

14 Lewis by promoting a greater understanding of the 

15 history and tenets of nonviolent civil rights move16 ments; and 

17 ‘‘(2) to promote studies, research, and inter18 national exchange in the subject of nonviolent move19 ments that established and protected civil rights 

20 around the world. 

21 ‘‘(c) ADMINISTRATION.—The Bureau of Educational 

22 and Cultural Affairs (referred to in this section as the ‘Bu23 reau’) shall administer the Fellowship Program in accord24 ance with policy guidelines established by the Board, in 

25 consultation with the binational Fulbright Commissions 

26 and United States Embassies. 


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1 ‘‘(d) SELECTION OF FELLOWS.— 

2 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Board shall annually 

3 select qualified individuals to participate in the Fel4 lowship Program. The Board may determine the 

5 number of fellows selected each year, which shall be 

6 not fewer than 25 whenever feasible. 

7 ‘‘(2) OUTREACH.— 

8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Bureau should 

9 conduct outreach at organizations described in 

10 subparagraph (B)— 

11 ‘‘(i) to broaden the pool of qualified 

12 applicants; and 

13 ‘‘(ii) to facilitate, to the extent prac14 ticable, diversity within each cohort of fel15 lows. 

16 ‘‘(B) ORGANIZATIONS DESCRIBED.—The 

17 organizations described in this subparagraph 

18 are— 

19 ‘‘(i) minority serving institutions, in20 cluding historically Black colleges and uni21 versities; and 

22 ‘‘(ii) other appropriate institutions, as 

23 determined by the Board. 

24 ‘‘(C) DEFINITIONS.—In this paragraph: 


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1 ‘‘(i) DIVERSITY.—The term ‘diversity’ 

2 means diversity of individuals based on 

3 factors including race, color, religion, sex, 

4 pregnancy, gender identity, national origin, 

5 political affiliation, sexual orientation, mar6 ital status, disability, genetic information, 

7 age, parental status, or military service. 

8 ‘‘(ii) HISTORICALLY BLACK COLLEGE

9 AND UNIVERSITY.—The term ‘historically 

10 Black college and university’ has the mean11 ing given the term ‘part B institution’ in 

12 section 322 of the Higher Education Act 

13 of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1061). 

14 ‘‘(iii) MINORITY SERVING INSTITU15 TION.—The term ‘minority-serving institu16 tion’ means an eligible institution under 

17 section 371(a) of the Higher Education 

18 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1067q(a)). 

19 ‘‘(e) FELLOWSHIP ORIENTATION.—Annually, and 

20 not later than 30 days before the commencement of the 

21 fellowship for the cohort of fellows most recently selected 

22 under subsection (d), the Bureau shall organize and ad23 minister a fellowship orientation, which shall— 

24 ‘‘(1) be held in Washington, DC, or at another 

25 location selected by the Bureau; and 


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1 ‘‘(2) include programming to honor the legacy 

2 of Representative John Lewis. 

3 ‘‘(f) STRUCTURE.— 

4 ‘‘(1) WORK PLAN.—To carry out the purposes 

5 described in subsection (b)(2)— 

6 ‘‘(A) each fellow selected pursuant to sub7 section (d) shall arrange an internship or re8 search placement— 

9 ‘‘(i) with a nongovernmental organiza10 tion, academic institution, or other organi11 zation approved by the Bureau; and 

12 ‘‘(ii) in a country with an operational 

13 Fulbright U.S. Student Program; and 

14 ‘‘(B) the Bureau shall, for each fellow, ap15 prove a work plan that identifies the target ob16 jectives for the fellow, including specific duties 

17 and responsibilities relating to those objectives. 

18 ‘‘(2) CONFERENCES; PRESENTATIONS.—Each 

19 fellow shall— 

20 ‘‘(A) before commencing the fellowship, at21 tend a fellowship orientation organized and ad22 ministered by the Bureau under subsection (e); 

23 ‘‘(B) not later than the date that is 1 year 

24 after the end of the fellowship period, attend a 

25 fellowship summit organized and administered 


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1 by the Bureau, which shall be held in Atlanta, 

2 Georgia, or at another location of importance to 

3 the civil rights movement in the United States 

4 and selected by the Bureau; and 

5 ‘‘(C) at such summit, give a presentation 

6 on lessons learned during the period of fellow7 ship. 

8 ‘‘(3) FELLOWSHIP PERIOD.—Each fellowship 

9 under this section shall continue for a period deter10 mined by the Bureau, which shall be not shorter 

11 than 10 months whenever feasible. 

12 ‘‘(g) FELLOWSHIP AWARD.—The Bureau shall pro13 vide each fellow under this section with an allowance that 

14 is equal to the amount needed for— 

15 ‘‘(1) the reasonable costs of the fellow during 

16 the fellowship period; and 

17 ‘‘(2) travel and lodging expenses related to at18 tending the orientation and summit required under 

19 subsection (e)(2). 

20 ‘‘(h) BRIEFING.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

21 of the selection of the initial cohort of fellows under sub22 section (d), and annually thereafter, the Secretary of State 

23 shall brief Congress on the state of the Fellowship Pro24 gram, including— 


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1 ‘‘(1) a description of the demographics of the 

2 cohort of fellows that completed a fellowship during 

3 the preceding 1-year period; 

4 ‘‘(2) an analysis of the diversity of fellows based 

5 on the demographics of each cohort of fellows that 

6 completed a fellowship as of the date of the briefing; 

7 and 

8 ‘‘(3) an analysis of trends relating to the diver9 sity of each cohort of fellows over the course of the 

10 Fellowship Program.’’. 

11 SEC. 3. TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS TO 

12 THE MUTUAL EDUCATIONAL AND CULTURAL 

13 EXCHANGE ACT OF 1961. 

14 Section 112(a) of the Mutual Educational and Cul15 tural Exchange Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2460(a)) is 

16 amended— 

17 (1) in paragraph (8), by striking ‘‘; and’’ and 

18 inserting a semicolon; 

19 (2) in paragraph (9), by striking the period and 

20 inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

21 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

22 ‘‘(10) the John Lewis Civil Rights Fellowship 

23 Program established under section 115, which pro24 vides funding for international internships and re25 search placements for early- to mid-career individVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:58 Sep 08, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4800.IS S4800

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1 uals from the United States to study nonviolent civil 

2 rights movements in self-arranged placements with 

3 universities or nongovernmental organizations in for4 eign countries.’’. 

Æ 


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