IB 

Union Calendar No. 163 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 176 

[Report No. 110–254] 

To authorize assistance to the countries of the Caribbean to fund educational 

development and exchange programs. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 4, 2007 

Ms. LEE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Foreign Affairs 

JULY 23, 2007 

Additional sponsors: Ms. CLARKE, Mr. FATTAH, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mrs. 

CHRISTENSEN, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. MEEHAN, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. TOWNS, Mr. 

LANTOS, Mr. CONYERS, Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida, Mr. ENGEL, 

Mr. BURTON of Indiana, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. DELAHUNT, Mr. WATT, 

Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Mr. HONDA, Ms. 

EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. WYNN, Mr. RUSH, Ms. KILPATRICK of Michigan, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Mr. MORAN of Virginia, 

Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, Mr. CUMMINGS, Ms. ZOE LOFGREN of California, Ms. WATERS, Mr. HINOJOSA, Mr. GUTIERREZ, Mr. JEFFERSON, 

Mr. BERMAN, Mr. MEEKS of New York, Mr. SIRES, Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA, 

Ms. WATSON, Ms. WOOLSEY, Mr. FORTUN ̃O, Ms. LINDA T. SA ́NCHEZ of 

California, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. COSTA, Mr. CLEAVER, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. DAVIS of Alabama, Mrs. JONES

of Ohio, Mr. JACKSON of Illinois, Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California, Mr. 

AL GREEN of Texas, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, Mr. WEXLER, Mr. 

BUTTERFIELD, Mr. MEEK of Florida, Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin, Mr. 

SCOTT of Georgia, and Ms. BORDALLO

JULY 23, 2007 

Reported with amendments, committed to the Committee of the Whole House 

on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 


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[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on January 4, 2007] 

A BILL 

To authorize assistance to the countries of the Caribbean 

to fund educational development and exchange programs. 

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 AND TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Shirley A. Chisholm United States-Caribbean Educational 

6 Exchange Act of 2007’’. 

7 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

8 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title and table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Definitions. 

Sec. 3. Findings and statement of purpose. 

Sec. 4. Shirley A. Chisholm United States-Caribbean Educational Exchange Program. 

Sec. 5. Program to provide educational development assistance for CARICOM 

countries. 

Sec. 6. Administrative provisions. 

Sec. 7. Reporting requirements. 

Sec. 8. Authorization of appropriations. 

9 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

10 In this Act: 

11 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—Except as otherwise pro12 vided, the term ‘‘Administrator’’ means the Adminis13 trator of the United States Agency for International 

14 Development. 


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1 (2) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT2 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional commit3 tees’’ means— 

4 (A) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and 

5 the Committee on Appropriations of the House of 

6 Representatives; and 

7 (B) the Committee on Foreign Relations 

8 and the Committee on Appropriations of the 

9 Senate. 

10 (3) CARICOM COUNTRY.—The term ‘‘CARICOM 

11 country’’— 

12 (A) means a member country of the Carib13 bean Community (CARICOM); but 

14 (B) does not include— 

15 (i) a country having observer status in 

16 CARICOM; or 

17 (ii) a country the government of which 

18 the Secretary of State has determined, for 

19 purposes of section 6(j) of the Export Ad20 ministration Act of 1979 (as continued in 

21 effect pursuant to the International Emer22 gency Economic Powers Act), section 40 of 

23 the Arms Export Control Act, section 620A 

24 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, or 

25 any other provision of law, is a government 


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1 that has repeatedly provided support for 

2 acts of international terrorism. 

3 (4) SECRETARY.—Except as otherwise provided, 

4 the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary of State. 

5 (5) UNITED STATES COOPERATING AGENCY.—The 

6 term ‘‘United States cooperating agency’’ means— 

7 (A) an accredited institution of higher edu8 cation, including, to the maximum extent prac9 ticable, an historically Black college or univer10 sity that is a part B institution (as such term 

11 is defined in section 322(2) of the Higher Edu12 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1061(2))) or an 

13 Hispanic-serving institution (as such term is de14 fined in section 502(5) of such Act (20 U.S.C. 

15 1101a(5))); 

16 (B) a higher education association; 

17 (C) a nongovernmental organization incor18 porated in the United States; or 

19 (D) a consortium consisting of two or more 

20 such institutions, associations, or nongovern21 mental organizations. 

22 SEC. 3. FINDINGS AND STATEMENT OF PURPOSE. 

23 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

24 (1) The United States and CARICOM countries 

25 have enjoyed long-standing friendly relations. 


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1 (2) As an important regional partner for trade 

2 and democratic values, the Caribbean region con3 stitutes a ‘‘Third Border’’ of the United States. 

4 (3) The decrease in tourism revenue in the after5 math of the tragic terrorist attacks on September 11, 

6 2001, had an adverse affect on the Caribbean region. 

7 (4) According to a 2005 World Bank Report on 

8 the Caribbean region, high rates of unemployment, 

9 particularly youth unemployment, have had severe 

10 implications on poverty and income distributions, as 

11 well as drug trafficking and addiction. 

12 (5) The 2005 World Bank Report also concludes 

13 that better synchronization is needed between cur14 ricula in CARICOM countries and the skills needed 

15 in evolving national and regional job markets and 

16 economies. 

17 (6) Caribbean leaders have highlighted the need 

18 for increased educational opportunities for Caribbean 

19 students in fields that will contribute to and support 

20 an increasingly competitive regional economy. 

21 (7) Enhancing United States cultural and edu22 cational exchange programs in CARICOM countries 

23 will expand human resources, provide opportunities 

24 that promote economic growth, and improve regional 

25 security. 


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1 (8) Many Caribbean leaders studied at the un2 dergraduate or graduate level in the United States be3 fore returning to their respective countries to con4 tribute toward the strengthening of democracy, the 

5 economy, or the provision of social services. 

6 (9) From 2003 through 2005, 217 Caribbean 

7 leaders participated in exchange programs with the 

8 United States that focused on good governance, com9 bating drug trafficking, anti-corruption, and other re10 gional issues of concern. 

11 (10) The Department of State currently admin12 isters public outreach programs that include cultural, 

13 academic, and citizen-exchange initiatives in 

14 CARICOM countries through the public affairs sec15 tions at United States embassies with support from 

16 the Office of Public Diplomacy in the Bureau of West17 ern Hemisphere Affairs. 

18 (11) The Caribbean Center for Excellence in 

19 Teacher Training (C–CETT), a Presidential Initia20 tive funded by the United States Agency for Inter21 national Development and implemented by the Uni22 versity of the West Indies, works to improve the qual23 ity of reading instruction by training classroom and 

24 student teachers in seven countries of the English25 speaking Caribbean. Belize, Jamaica, Grenada, St. 


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1 Lucia, Guyana, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and 

2 Trinidad and Tobago have participated in the C– 

3 CETT as a means to reducing illiteracy in the most 

4 disadvantaged urban and remote rural areas. 

5 (12) In Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, the Ba6 hamas, Barbados, Belize, the Cayman Islands, the 

7 Dominican Republic, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, 

8 Jamaica, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, 

9 St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, and Trin10 idad and Tobago, the Bureau of Educational and 

11 Cultural Affairs of the Department of State sponsors 

12 educational advisors to promote study in the United 

13 States. 

14 (13) In the 2004–2005 academic year, approxi15 mately 14,000 Caribbean students were enrolled in 

16 United States colleges and universities. 

17 (14) Shirley Anita Chisholm, who served as a 

18 member of the United States House of Representatives 

19 from 1968 to 1983, had family roots in the Caribbean 

20 nation of Barbados, was a staunch advocate for edu21 cational opportunity and access, and increased sup22 port for historically Black colleges and universities 

23 and other minority-serving institutions in the United 

24 States. 


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1 (b) STATEMENT OF PURPOSE.—The purpose of this 

2 Act is to establish— 

3 (1) an educational exchange program between 

4 the United States and CARICOM countries, to be 

5 known as the ‘‘Shirley A. Chisholm United States6 Caribbean Educational Exchange Program’’, pursu7 ant to section 4 of this Act to assist in educating 

8 promising students and scholars from CARICOM 

9 countries who will invest the knowledge and experi10 ences they gain in the United States back into the 

11 community of CARICOM countries; and 

12 (2) a program to provide educational develop13 ment assistance for CARICOM countries pursuant to 

14 section 5 of this Act. 

15 SEC. 4. SHIRLEY A. CHISHOLM UNITED STATES-CARIBBEAN 

16 EDUCATIONAL EXCHANGE PROGRAM. 

17 (a) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary of State 

18 is authorized to establish an educational exchange program 

19 between the United States and CARICOM countries, to be 

20 known as the ‘‘Shirley A. Chisholm United States-Carib21 bean Educational Exchange Program,’’ under which— 

22 (1) secondary school students from CARICOM 

23 countries will— 

24 (A) attend a public or private secondary 

25 school in the United States; 


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1 (B) participate in activities designed to 

2 promote a greater understanding of the values 

3 and culture of the United States; and 

4 (C) have the option to live with a United 

5 States host family and experience life in a 

6 United States host community; and 

7 (2) undergraduate students, graduate students, 

8 post-graduate students, and scholars from CARICOM 

9 countries will— 

10 (A) attend a public or private college or 

11 university, including a community college, in the 

12 United States; 

13 (B) participate in activities designed to 

14 promote a greater understanding of the values 

15 and culture of the United States; and 

16 (C) have the option to live with a United 

17 States host family and experience life in a 

18 United States host community or live in an on19 campus housing environment. 

20 (b) ELEMENTS OF PROGRAM.—The program author21 ized under subsection (a) shall meet the following require22 ments: 

23 (1) The program will offer scholarships to stu24 dents and scholars based on merit and need. It is the 

25 sense of Congress that scholarships should be offered 


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1 under the program to students and scholars who evi2 dence merit, achievement, and strong potential for the 

3 studies such students and scholars wish to undertake 

4 under the program and 40 percent of scholarships of5 fered under the program should be based on financial 

6 need. 

7 (2) The program will seek to achieve gender 

8 equality in granting scholarships under the program. 

9 (3) The program will limit participation to— 

10 (A) two years of study for secondary school 

11 students; 

12 (B) four years of study for undergraduate 

13 students; 

14 (C) 30 months of study for graduate stu15 dents; and 

16 (D) one year of study for post-graduate stu17 dents and scholars. 

18 (4) For a period of time equal to the period of 

19 time of participation in the program, but not to ex20 ceed 2 years, the program will require participants 

21 who are students and scholars described in subsection 

22 (a)(2) to— 

23 (A) agree to return to live in a CARICOM 

24 country and maintain residence in such country, 


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1 within 6 months of completion of academic stud2 ies; or 

3 (B) agree to obtain employment that di4 rectly benefits the growth, progress, and develop5 ment of one or more CARICOM countries and 

6 the people of such countries. 

7 (5) The Secretary of State shall have the discre8 tion to waive, shorten the duration, or otherwise alter 

9 the requirements of paragraph (5) in limited cir10 cumstances of hardship, humanitarian needs, for spe11 cific educational purposes, or in furtherance of the 

12 national interests of the United States. 

13 (c) ROLE OF UNITED STATES COOPERATING AGEN14 CIES.—The Secretary shall consult with United States co15 operating agencies in developing the program authorized 

16 under subsection (a) and shall make grants to United States 

17 cooperating agencies in carrying out the program author18 ized under subsection (a). 

19 (d) MONITORING AND EVALUATION OF PROGRAM.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish 

21 and implement a system to monitor and evaluate the 

22 effectiveness and efficiency of the program authorized 

23 under subsection (a). In carrying out the system, the 

24 Secretary shall evaluate the program’s positive or 

25 negative effects on brain drain from the participating 


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1 CARICOM countries and suggest ways in which the 

2 program may be improved to promote the basic goal 

3 of alleviating brain-drain from the participating 

4 CARICOM countries. 

5 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—In carrying out para6 graph (1), the Secretary shall review on a regular 

7 basis— 

8 (A) financial information relating to the 

9 program; 

10 (B) budget plans for the program; 

11 (C) adjustments to plans established for the 

12 program; 

13 (D) graduation rates of participants in the 

14 program; 

15 (E) the percentage of participants who are 

16 students described in subsection (a)(1) who pur17 sue higher education; 

18 (F) the percentage of participants who re19 turn to their home country or another 

20 CARICOM country; 

21 (G) the types of careers pursued by partici22 pants in the program and the extent to which 

23 such careers are linked to the political, economic, 

24 and social development needs of CARICOM 

25 countries; and 


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1 (H) the impact of gender, country of origin, 

2 financial need of students, and other relevant 

3 factors on the data collected under subpara4 graphs (D) through (G). 

5 (e) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Congress 

6 that the Secretary should seek to work with CARICOM 

7 countries to establish an educational exchange program 

8 under which— 

9 (1) secondary school students from the United 

10 States will attend a public or private equivalent 

11 school in CARICOM countries; and 

12 (2) undergraduate students, graduate students, 

13 post-graduate students, and scholars from the United 

14 States will attend a public or private college or uni15 versity in CARICOM countries. 

16 SEC. 5. PROGRAM TO PROVIDE EDUCATIONAL DEVELOP17 MENT ASSISTANCE FOR CARICOM COUN18 TRIES. 

19 (a) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary of State, 

20 acting through the Administrator of the United States 

21 Agency for International Development, is authorized to es22 tablish a program to provide educational development as23 sistance for CARICOM countries. 

24 (b) PURPOSE OF PROGRAM.—The purpose of the pro25 gram authorized under subsection (a) is to improve priVerDate Aug 31 2005 00:19 Jul 24, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H176.RH H176

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1 mary and secondary education in CARICOM countries by 

2 enhancing teacher training, strengthening curriculum and 

3 instructional materials, and assisting improvements in 

4 school management and public administration of education. 

5 (c) ELEMENTS OF PROGRAM.—The program author6 ized under subsection (a) shall extend and expand upon ex7 isting primary and secondary school programs in 

8 CARICOM countries to provide— 

9 (1) teacher-training methods and training in 

10 subject area studies; 

11 (2) classroom and school management; 

12 (3) development and modernization of cur13 riculum and instructional materials; 

14 (4) increased community involvement in school 

15 activities; and 

16 (5) local, regional, and national government pol17 icy planning on the elements described in paragraphs 

18 (1) through (4). 

19 (d) ROLE OF UNITED STATES COOPERATING AGEN20 CIES.—The Secretary shall consult with the Secretary of 

21 Education and United States cooperating agencies in devel22 oping the program authorized under subsection (a) and 

23 shall make grants to United States cooperating agencies in 

24 carrying out the program authorized under subsection (a). 


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1 (e) MONITORING AND EVALUATION OF PROGRAM.—The 

2 Secretary shall establish and implement a system to mon3 itor and evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of the pro4 gram authorized under subsection (a). 

5 (f) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Congress 

6 that the Secretary should seek to work with CARICOM 

7 countries to establish an educational development program 

8 under which education in the CARICOM countries is im9 proved and access to quality education for children in 

10 CARICOM countries is increased. 

11 SEC. 6. ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS. 

12 (a) FUNDING FROM PRIVATE SOURCES AND PARTNER13 SHIPS WITH OTHER APPROPRIATE ENTITIES.—To the 

14 maximum extent practicable, the Secretary of State and the 

15 Administrator of the United States Agency for Inter16 national Development should implement the programs au17 thorized under sections 4 and 5 of this Act through utiliza18 tion of funding from private sources to maximize the im19 pact of United States funds under this Act, and through 

20 partnerships with appropriate United States organizations, 

21 institutions, and corporations. 

22 (b) AVOIDANCE OF DUPLICATION.—The Secretary and 

23 the Administrator shall consult with the Secretary of Edu24 cation to ensure that— 


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1 (1) activities under the programs authorized 

2 under sections 4 and 5 of this Act are not duplicative 

3 of other United States educational programs for 

4 CARICOM countries; and 

5 (2) United States cooperating agencies and part6 ner institutions in CARICOM countries are accred7 ited by national or regional accrediting bodies. 

8 (c) REPORTING UNDER SEVIS.—To the extent nec9 essary, the Secretary shall provide support to United States 

10 cooperating agencies that are participating in the program 

11 authorized under section 4 of this Act in order to fulfill 

12 the requirements for student data reporting under the Stu13 dent and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS). 

14 SEC. 7. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS. 

15 (a) REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than 90 days after 

16 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State 

17 shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a 

18 report on plans to implement the programs authorized 

19 under sections 4 and 5 of this Act. 

20 (b) MATTERS TO BE INCLUDED.—The report required 

21 by subsection (a) shall include— 

22 (1) with respect to implementation of the pro23 gram authorized under section 4— 

24 (A) a plan for selecting participants in the 

25 program, including an estimate of the number of 


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1 secondary school students, undergraduate stu2 dents, graduate students, post-graduate students, 

3 and scholars from each country, by educational 

4 level, who will be selected as participants in the 

5 program for each fiscal year; 

6 (B) a timeline for selecting United States 

7 cooperating agencies that will assist in imple8 menting the program; 

9 (C) a financial plan that— 

10 (i) identifies budget plans for each edu11 cational level under the program; and 

12 (ii) identifies plans or systems to en13 sure that the costs to public school, college, 

14 and university education under the pro15 gram and the costs to private school, college, 

16 and university education under the pro17 gram are reasonably allocated; and 

18 (D) a plan to provide outreach to and link19 ages with schools, colleges and universities, and 

20 nongovernmental organizations in both the 

21 United States and CARICOM countries for im22 plementation of the program; and 

23 (2) a plan outlining implementation of the pro24 gram authorized under section 5, identifying the iniVerDate Aug 31 2005 00:19 Jul 24, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00017 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H176.RH H176

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1 tial countries in which the program will be imple2 mented and a timeline for implementation. 

3 (c) UPDATES OF REPORT.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall submit to 

5 the appropriate congressional committees updates of 

6 the report required by subsection (a) for each fiscal 

7 year for which amounts are appropriated pursuant to 

8 the authorization of appropriations under section 8 of 

9 this Act. 

10 (2) MATTERS TO BE INCLUDED.—Such updates 

11 shall include the following: 

12 (A) Information on United States cooper13 ating agencies that are selected to assist in im14 plementing the programs authorized under sec15 tions 4 and 5 of this Act. 

16 (B) An analysis of the positive and negative 

17 impacts the program authorized under section 4 

18 will have or is having on brain drain from the 

19 participating CARICOM countries. 

20 (C) A description of efforts made by the 

21 Secretary of State, acting through the Adminis22 trator of the United States Agency for Inter23 national Development, to implement the pro24 gram authorized under section 5. 


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1 (D) A description of the programs estab2 lished in each CARICOM country receiving as3 sistance under the program authorized under sec4 tion 5 that provides a detailed explanation of the 

5 extent to which the program and the assistance 

6 provided are contributing to the purpose of the 

7 program described in section 5(b) in the 

8 CARICOM country. 

9 (E) An evaluation of additional educational 

10 development goals in CARICOM countries, iden11 tifying those goals that could be maximized or 

12 achieved with United States assistance through 

13 the program authorized under section 5. In addi14 tion to standard or necessary areas of education 

15 review, the evaluation should give attention to 

16 factors affecting academic achievement, attrition, 

17 and graduation rates in CARICOM countries. 

18 The evaluation should suggest ways in which 

19 United States assistance can maximize success 

20 factors and address factors contributing to poor 

21 achievement. 

22 SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

23 To carry out this Act, there are authorized to be appro24 priated such sums as may be necessary for each of the fiscal 

25 years 2008 through 2012. Amounts appropriated pursuant 


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1 to the authorization of appropriations under this section 

2 are in addition to amounts otherwise available for such 

3 purposes. 

Amend the title so as to read: ‘‘A bill to authorize 

the establishment of educational exchange and development programs for member countries of the Caribbean 

Community (CARICOM).’’. 


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Union Calendar No. 163 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 176 

[Report No. 110

–254] 

A BILL 

To authorize assistance to the countries of the Carchange programs. ibbean to fund educational development and exJULY 23, 2007 Reported with amendments, committed to the Committee 

dered to be printed of the Whole House on the State of the Union, and orVerDate Aug 31 2005 00:19 Jul 24, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00022 Fmt 6651 Sfmt 6651 E:\BILLS\H176.RH H176

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