I 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2788 

To establish the Mark O. Hatfield-Elizabeth Furse Scholarship and Excellence 

in Tribal Governance Foundation, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 7, 2005 

Mr. WU (for himself, Mr. DEFAZIO, Mr. BLUMENAUER, and Ms. HOOLEY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Resources 

A BILL 

To establish the Mark O. Hatfield-Elizabeth Furse Scholarship and Excellence in Tribal Governance 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 ‘‘Mark O. Hatfield-Eliz5 abeth Furse Scholarship and Excellence in Tribal Govern6 ance Act of 2005’’. 

7 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

8 The Congress finds as follows: 
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1 (1) Senator Mark O. Hatfield and Congress2 woman Elizabeth Furse served their country with 

3 distinction and honor. 

4 (2) Senator Mark O. Hatfield and Congress5 woman Elizabeth Furse have had a lasting impact 

6 on this Nation’s relationship with Native Americans. 

7 (3) Senator Mark O. Hatfield and Congress8 woman Elizabeth Furse have been champions of the 

9 rights of Native Americans and Alaska Natives and 

10 worked in the Congress to strengthen tribal self-gov11 ernance. 

12 (4) It is a fitting tribute to the leadership, cour13 age, and bipartisan spirit that Senator Mark O. 

14 Hatfield and Congresswoman Elizabeth Furse exem15 plified to establish in their names programs to en16 courage excellence in tribal government. 

17 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

18 For purposes of this Act: 

19 (1) The term ‘‘Board’’ means the Board of 

20 Trustees of the Mark O. Hatfield-Elizabeth Furse 

21 Scholarship and Excellence in Tribal Governance 

22 Foundation established under section 4(b). 

23 (2) The term ‘‘eligible individual’’ means a cit24 izen or national of the United States or a permanent 

25 resident alien of the United States. 
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1 (3) The term ‘‘Foundation’’ means the Mark O. 

2 Hatfield-Elizabeth Furse Scholarship and Excellence 

3 in Tribal Governance Foundation established under 

4 section 4(a). 

5 (4) The term ‘‘Fund’’ means the Mark O. Hat6 field-Elizabeth Furse Scholarship and Excellence in 

7 Tribal Governance Fund established by section 7. 

8 (5) The term ‘‘Institute’’ means the Institute 

9 for Tribal Government established at Portland State 

10 University in 2000. 

11 (6) The term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ 

12 has the meaning given to that term in section 101 

13 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

14 1001). 

15 (7) The term ‘‘Portland State University’’ 

16 means Portland State University in Portland, Or17 egon. 

18 (8) The term ‘‘State’’ means each of the several 

19 States, the District of Columbia, Guam, the United 

20 States Virgin Islands, American Samoa, the Com21 monwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the Re22 public of the Marshall Islands, the Federal States of 

23 Micronesia, and the Republic of Palau. 
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1 SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE MARK O HATFIELD-ELIZA2 BETH FURSE SCHOLARSHIP AND EXCEL3 LENCE IN TRIBAL GOVERNANCE FOUNDA4 TION. 

5 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established as an 

6 independent entity of the executive branch the Mark O. 

7 Hatfield-Elizabeth Furse Scholarship and Excellence in 

8 Tribal Governance Foundation. 

9 (b) BOARD OF TRUSTEES.—The Foundation shall be 

10 subject to the supervision and direction of the Board of 

11 Trustees. The Board shall be comprised of 12 trustees, 

12 11 of whom shall be voting members of the Board, as fol13 lows: 

14 (1) Two trustees shall be appointed by the 

15 President, with the advice and consent of the Sen16 ate, after considering the recommendation of the 

17 Speaker of the House of Representatives, in con18 sultation with the minority leader of the House of 

19 Representatives. 

20 (2) Two trustees shall be appointed by the 

21 President, with the advice and consent of the Sen22 ate, after considering the recommendation of the 

23 President pro tempore of the Senate, in consultation 

24 with the majority leader and the minority leader of 

25 the Senate. 
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1 (3) Five trustees, not more than 3 of whom 

2 shall be of the same political party, shall be ap3 pointed by the President with the advice and consent 

4 of the Senate, from among individuals who have 

5 shown leadership and interest in strengthening tribal 

6 self-governance, such as tribal leaders involved in 

7 health and public policy development affecting Na8 tive American and Alaska Native communities. 

9 (4) The Secretary of the Interior, or the Sec10 retary’s designee, who shall serve as a voting ex offi11 cio member of the Board but shall not be eligible to 

12 serve as Chairperson. 

13 (5) The Secretary of Education, or the Sec14 retary’s designee, who shall serve as a voting ex offi15 cio member of the Board but shall not be eligible to 

16 serve as Chairperson. 

17 (6) The President of Portland State University, 

18 who shall serve as a nonvoting, ex officio member 

19 and shall not be eligible to serve as Chairperson. 

20 (c) TERM OF OFFICE.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each trustee appointed pur22 suant to paragraph (1), (2), or (3) of subsection (b) 

23 shall be appointed for a term of 6 years, except as 

24 provided in paragraphs (2) and (3) of this sub25 section. 
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1 (2) TERMS OF INITIAL APPOINTEES.—As des2 ignated by the President at the time of the appoint3 ment, of the trustees first appointed— 

4 (A) 1 trustee appointed pursuant to sub5 section (b)(2) and 2 trustees appointed pursu6 ant to subsection (b)(3) shall be appointed for 

7 a term of 2 years; 

8 (B) 1 trustee appointed pursuant to sub9 section (b)(1) and 2 trustees appointed pursu10 ant to subsection (b)(3) shall be appointed for 

11 a term of 4 years; and 

12 (C) 1 trustee appointed pursuant to sub13 section (b)(1), 1 trustee appointed pursuant to 

14 subsection (b)(2), and 1 trustee appointed pur15 suant to subsection (b)(3) shall be appointed 

16 for a term of 6 years. 

17 (3) VACANCIES.—Any trustee appointed to fill a 

18 vacancy occurring before the expiration of the term 

19 for which the trustee’s predecessor was appointed 

20 shall be appointed only for the remainder of that 

21 term and shall be appointed in the same manner as 

22 the original appointment for that vacancy was made. 

23 (d) TRAVEL AND SUBSISTENCE PAY.—Trustees shall 

24 serve without pay, but shall be entitled to reimbursement 

25 for travel, subsistence, and other necessary expenses in-
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1 curred in the performance of their duties as members of 

2 the Foundation, in accordance with applicable provisions 

3 under subchapter I of chapter 57 of title 5, United States 

4 Code. 

5 (e) LOCATION OF FOUNDATION.—The Foundation 

6 shall be located in Portland, Oregon. 

7 (f) EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—There shall be an Executive 

9 Director of the Foundation who shall be appointed 

10 by the Board. The Executive Director shall be the 

11 chief executive officer of the Foundation and shall 

12 carry out the functions of the Foundation subject to 

13 the supervision and direction of the Board. The Ex14 ecutive Director shall carry out such other functions, 

15 consistent with this Act, as the Board shall pre16 scribe. 

17 (2) COMPENSATION.—The Executive Director 

18 of the Foundation shall be compensated at the rate 

19 specified for employees in level IV of the Executive 

20 Schedule under section 5315 of title 5, United 

21 States Code. 

22 SEC. 5. PURPOSES OF THE FOUNDATION. 

23 The purposes of the Foundation are— 
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1 (1) to develop resources to properly train Na2 tive American and Alaska Native tribal council mem3 bers in self-government and related fields; 

4 (2) to foster among the American population 

5 greater recognition and understanding of the role of 

6 tribal self-government in the development of the 

7 United States; 

8 (3) to identify critical issues facing tribal gov9 ernments in the Nation; 

10 (4) to establish a Program for Tribal Govern11 ance Research at the Institute; and 

12 (5) to provide educational outreach regarding 

13 tribal self-government. 

14 SEC. 6. AUTHORITY OF THE FOUNDATION. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.— 

16 (1) AUTHORITY.—The Foundation, in consulta17 tion with the Institute— 

18 (A) may identify and conduct such pro19 grams, activities, and services as the Founda20 tion considers appropriate to carry out the pur21 poses described in section 5; and 

22 (B) in accordance with subsections (b), (c), 

23 (d), and (e), may award scholarships, fellow24 ships, internships, and grants and fund the In-
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1 stitute to carry out and manage other pro2 grams, activities, and services. 

3 (2) PRIORITIES.—Subject to section 10(b), the 

4 Foundation shall determine the priority of the pro5 grams to be carried out under this Act and the 

6 amount of funds to be allocated for such programs. 

7 (3) COMPETITION.—The Foundation may pro8 vide, directly or by contract, for the conduct of na9 tional competition for the purpose of selecting recipi10 ents of scholarships, fellowships, internships, and 

11 grants awarded under this Act. 

12 (4) FIELDS OF STUDY.—The Foundation may 

13 award scholarships, fellowships, internships, and 

14 grants to eligible individuals in accordance with the 

15 provisions of this Act for study in fields related to 

16 tribal governance. Such scholarships, fellowships, in17 ternships, and grants shall be awarded only to eligi18 ble individuals who meet the minimum criteria es19 tablished by the Foundation. 

20 (b) SCHOLARSHIP.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Foundation shall award 

22 scholarships to outstanding undergraduate students 

23 who intend to pursue careers related to tribal gov24 ernance and to outstanding Native American and 
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1 Alaska Native undergraduate students who intend to 

2 pursue careers in tribal public policy. 

3 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—An eligible individual 

4 awarded a scholarship under this Act may receive 

5 payments under this Act only during such periods as 

6 the Foundation finds that the individual— 

7 (A) is maintaining satisfactory proficiency; 

8 (B) is engaging full time in study or re9 search; and 

10 (C) is not engaging in gainful employment 

11 other than employment that is— 

12 (i) in addition to such full-time study 

13 or research; and 

14 (ii) approved by the Foundation pur15 suant to regulations of the Board. 

16 (3) REPORTS.—The Foundation may require 

17 any eligible individual awarded a scholarship under 

18 this Act to submit reports at such time, in such 

19 form, and containing such information as the Foun20 dation determines to be necessary. Such reports 

21 shall— 

22 (A) be accompanied by a certificate from 

23 an appropriate official at the institution of 

24 higher education; 

25 (B) be approved by the Foundation; and 
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1 (C) state that the individual is making sat2 isfactory progress, and is engaging full time, in 

3 study or research. 

4 (c) FELLOWSHIPS.—The Foundation shall award fel5 lowships— 

6 (1) to outstanding graduate students who in7 tend to pursue advanced degrees in fields related to 

8 tribal governance and to outstanding Native Amer9 ican and Alaska Native graduate students who in10 tend to pursue advanced degrees in tribal public pol11 icy, including law and medicine; and 

12 (2) to faculty from a variety of disciplines, for 

13 the purpose of bringing the expertise of such faculty 

14 to the Foundation. 

15 (d) INTERNSHIPS.—To achieve the purposes de16 scribed in section 5, the Foundation shall award intern17 ships— 

18 (1) to deserving and qualified individuals to 

19 participate in internships in Federal, State, and 

20 local agencies or in offices of major tribal govern21 ance organizations; and 

22 (2) to deserving and qualified Native American 

23 and Alaska Native individuals to participate in in24 ternships in Federal, State, and local agencies or in 
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1 offices of major public health or public policy organi2 zations. 

3 (e) INSTITUTE PROGRAMS.— 

4 (1) GRANTS.—Subject to paragraph (3), the 

5 Foundation shall award grants to the Institute— 

6 (A) to provide for an annual panel of ex7 perts to discuss contemporary tribal governance 

8 issues; 

9 (B) to conduct tribal governance policy re10 search; 

11 (C) to conduct research on Native Amer12 ican and Alaska Native tribal public policy 

13 issues; and 

14 (D) for visiting policymakers to share their 

15 practical experiences with the Foundation. 

16 (2) COORDINATION.—Subject to paragraph (3), 

17 the Foundation shall assist in the development and 

18 implementation of a Program for Tribal Governance 

19 Research to be located at the Institute. 

20 (3) MATCHING FUNDS; FACILITIES.—The 

21 Foundation may not make any grant or provide any 

22 assistance under this subsection, unless the Institute 

23 agrees— 

24 (A) with respect to the costs of such 

25 grants and assistance, to make available non- 
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1 Federal contributions toward such costs in an 

2 amount that is not less than 25 percent of such 

3 costs; and 

4 (B) to provide adequate space at the Insti5 tute for the Executive Director and other ap6 propriate staff of the Foundation. 

7 (f) ELIZABETH FURSE SCHOLARS.—Recipients of 

8 scholarships, fellowships, internships, and grants under 

9 this Act shall be known as ‘‘Elizabeth Furse Scholars’’. 

10 SEC. 7. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE MARK O. HATFIELD-ELIZA11 BETH FURSE SCHOLARSHIP AND EXCEL12 LENCE IN TRIBAL GOVERNANCE TRUST 

13 FUND. 

14 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF FUND.—There is estab15 lished in the Treasury of the United States a trust fund 

16 to be known as the ‘‘Mark O. Hatfield-Elizabeth Furse 

17 Scholarship and Excellence in Tribal Governance Trust 

18 Fund’’ to be administered by the Foundation. The Fund 

19 shall consist of amounts appropriated to the Fund pursu20 ant to section 10 and amounts credited to the Fund under 

21 subsection (b). 

22 (b) INVESTMENT OF FUND ASSETS.—The Secretary 

23 of the Treasury, at the direction of the Board, shall invest 

24 in full the amounts appropriated to the Fund. Such invest25 ments shall be in public debt securities with maturities 
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1 suitable to the needs of the Fund and shall bear interest 

2 at rates determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, tak3 ing into consideration the current average market yield on 

4 outstanding marketable obligations of the United States 

5 of comparable maturity. 

6 SEC. 8. EXPENDITURES AND AUDIT OF TRUST FUND. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Foundation shall pay from 

8 the interest and earnings of the Fund such sums as the 

9 Board determines are necessary and appropriate to enable 

10 the Foundation to carry out this Act. 

11 (b) AUDIT BY GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OF12 FICE.—The activities of the Foundation and the Institute 

13 under this Act may be audited by the Government Ac14 countability Office under such rules and regulations as 

15 may be prescribed by the Comptroller General of the 

16 United States. Representatives of the Government Ac17 countability Office shall have access to all papers, things, 

18 or property (including all books, accounts, records, and re19 ports filed) belonging to or in use by the Foundation or 

20 the Institute, pertaining to such federally assisted activi21 ties and necessary to facilitate the audit. 

22 SEC. 9. ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS. 

23 To carry out this Act, the Foundation may— 

24 (1) appoint and fix the compensation of such 

25 personnel as may be necessary to carry out the pro-
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1 visions of this Act, except that in no case may em2 ployees other than the Executive Director be com3 pensated at a rate to exceed the maximum rate of 

4 basic pay for GS–15 of the General Schedule under 

5 section 5332 of title 5, United States Code; 

6 (2) procure or fund the Institute to procure 

7 temporary and intermittent services of experts and 

8 consultants as are necessary to the extent authorized 

9 by section 3109 of title 5, United States Code, but 

10 at rates not to exceed the rate specified for level IV 

11 of the Executive Schedule under section 5315 of title 

12 5, United States Code; 

13 (3) prescribe such regulations as the Founda14 tion considers necessary governing the manner in 

15 which its functions shall be carried out; 

16 (4) accept, hold, administer, and use gifts, both 

17 real and personal, for the purpose of aiding or facili18 tating the work of the Foundation; 

19 (5) accept and use the services of voluntary and 

20 noncompensated personnel and reimburse such per21 sonnel for travel expenses, including per diem, as au22 thorized by section 5703 of title 5, United States 

23 Code; 

24 (6) enter into contracts, grants, or other ar25 rangements or modifications thereof, to carry out 
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1 the provisions of this Act, and such contracts or 

2 modifications thereof may, with the concurrence of 

3 two-thirds of the members of the Board, be entered 

4 into without performance or other bonds, and with5 out regard to section 3709 of the Revised Statutes 

6 (41 U.S.C. 5); and 

7 (7) make other expenditures necessary to carry 

8 out this Act. 

9 SEC. 10. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—To carry out this Act, there are 

11 authorized to be appropriated to the Fund $50,000,000 

12 for fiscal year 2006, and such sums as may be necessary 

13 for each subsequent fiscal year. 

14 (b) ALLOCATION.—Of the amounts appropriated to 

15 carry out this Act, the Secretary shall allocate— 

16 (1) not less than 50 percent of such amounts 

17 to carry out subsections (b), (c), and (d) of section 

18 6; 

19 (2) not more than 15 percent of such amounts 

20 for salaries and other administrative purposes; and 

21 (3) not less than 20 percent of such amounts 

22 to carry out section 6(e). 

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