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[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 960 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 960

         To establish the United States Public Service Academy.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 22, 2007

 Mrs. Clinton (for herself, Mr. Specter, Ms. Mikulski, Mrs. Boxer, Mr. 
 Biden, Ms. Landrieu, Mr. Kennedy, and Mrs. Hutchison) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
               Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
         To establish the United States Public Service Academy.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Public Service Academy Act of 
2007''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) National disasters such as September 11, 2001, and 
        Hurricane Katrina, along with the United States struggle 
        against international terrorism, have highlighted the 
        importance of public service and the need for the United States 
        to improve its capacity to effectively handle future 
        catastrophes, as well as the daily challenges of life in a 
        global society.
            (2) Young Americans, particularly after the September 11, 
        2001 attacks, have a strong ethic of public service. According 
        to the Higher Education Research Institute, more than \2/3\ of 
        the 2005 freshman class at institutions of higher education in 
        the United States expressed a desire to serve others, the 
        highest rate in a generation. Applications to private programs 
        such as Teach for America and City Year, publicly funded public 
        service programs within USA Freedom Corps, and religious 
        mission trips have increased dramatically since 2001. Yet with 
        the increase in college tuition causing the average college 
        graduate to owe about $20,000, many students often can afford 
        to pursue public service only for short periods of time and 
        avoid public service careers in favor of more lucrative fields.
            (3) The aging of the population of the United States and 
        the subsequent retirement of the Baby Boomer generation will 
        create serious shortages in critically needed public service 
        positions at all levels of our society, as evidenced by the 
        following:
                    (A) A recent study by the Congressional Budget 
                Office highlighted ``the graying of the Federal work 
                force'', while the Partnership for Public Service warns 
                of a ``Federal brain drain'' as 44 percent of all 
                Federal workers become eligible to retire in the next 5 
                years.
                    (B) The National Center for Education Statistics 
                estimates that more than 2,000,000 teachers will be 
                needed in the next 10 years due to teacher retirement 
                and increased student enrollment. The teacher shortages 
                will particularly affect high-need rural and inner-city 
                local educational agencies.
                    (C) More than 80 percent of the Nation's 17,000 law 
                enforcement agencies report that they cannot fill 
                needed positions due to a lack of qualified candidates.
                    (D) In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, 
                personnel shortages were ``perhaps [the] most difficult 
                challenge'' for the Federal Emergency Management 
                Agency, according to a Congressional report on the 
                Federal Government's response to the disaster.
                    (E) The Border Patrol has struggled to recruit and 
                retain college-educated agents who can speak Spanish 
                and navigate the delicate cross-cultural interactions 
                inherent in the job.
            (4) There is a large pool of untapped potential among young 
        women who want to serve our country. Although the military 
        service academies are only 15 percent female, women constitute 
        a majority (57 percent) of college students nationwide. In 
        service organizations, women are an even larger majority: 58 
        percent of Peace Corps, 61 percent of City Year, and 71 percent 
        of Teach for America participants are women.
            (5) American college students lack adequate preparation in 
        fields crucial to public service, including international 
        education and civic education, as evidenced by the following:
                    (A) According to the bipartisan Commission on the 
                Abraham Lincoln Study Abroad Fellowship Program 
                established under section 104 of division H of the 
                Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2004 (Public Law 108-
                199; 118 Stat. 435), students of the United States 
                often graduate from college without knowing a foreign 
                language or having any experience abroad. In the past 3 
                decades, the percentage of undergraduate students of 
                the United States studying a foreign language has 
                dropped from 16 percent to 8.7 percent, and 
                approximately 1 percent of such students participate in 
                a study abroad program.
                    (B) Young adults of the United States scored next 
                to last in a recent National Geographic/Roper survey of 
                geographic knowledge.
                    (C) A University of Connecticut survey of 14,000 
                undergraduate students found a widespread lack of civic 
                literacy, with seniors barely outscoring freshmen on a 
                test of basic multiple choice questions about the 
                history, foreign policy, economics, and government of 
                the United States.
                    (D) The most recent National Assessment of 
                Educational Progress assessment of civic knowledge in 
                grade 12 found that only 25 percent of high school 
                seniors had an ``adequate'' knowledge of civics and 
                government and 35 percent of high school seniors had 
                little or no knowledge of civics and government at all.
            (6) The United States does not have a national 
        undergraduate institution to promote public service and develop 
        well-trained, highly qualified civilian leaders.

SEC. 3. PURPOSE.

    The purpose of this Act is to establish a United States Public 
Service Academy that will--
            (1) strengthen and protect the United States by providing 
        an annual influx of career-motivated public servants and future 
        leaders into the Nation's public institutions;
            (2) be the first national civilian institution of higher 
        education in the United States; and
            (3) provide competitive, federally subsidized, public 
        service-focused undergraduate education to students from across 
        the United States and the world.

SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Public service.--The term ``public service'' means 
        employment with, or work for, a public institution that is 
        funded primarily by the Federal Government or by a State or 
        local government.
            (2) State.--The term ``State'' means each of the several 
        States of the United States and the District of Columbia.

SEC. 5. ESTABLISHMENT.

    (a) Establishment.--There is established, in the Department of 
Homeland Security, a United States Public Service Academy (referred to 
in this Act as the ``Academy''), at the location to be determined by an 
Act of Congress, for the instruction in and preparation for public 
service of selected individuals, who shall be called Academy students.
    (b) Organization.--The Secretary of the Department of Homeland 
Security shall prescribe the organization of the Academy, in accordance 
with the requirements of this section.
    (c) Key Positions.--There shall be at the Academy the following:
            (1) A Superintendent.
            (2) A Dean of the Academic Board, who is a permanent 
        professor.
            (3) A Director of Admissions.
            (4) A Director of Placement.
    (d) Superintendent.--
            (1) Appointment.--The President shall, by and with the 
        advice and consent of the Senate, appoint the Superintendent of 
        the Academy, who shall serve for a 6-year term.
            (2) Duties.--The Superintendent shall be responsible for 
        the day-to-day operation of the Academy and the welfare of the 
        students, and staff of the Academy.
    (e) Dean of the Academic Board.--
            (1) Appointment.--The Superintendent shall appoint the Dean 
        of the Academic Board as an additional permanent professor from 
        the permanent professors who have served as heads of 
        departments of instruction at the Academy, except that for the 
        first year of the Academy the Superintendent shall appoint the 
        Dean of the Academic Board from qualified applicants.
            (2) Duties.--The Dean of the Academic Board shall perform 
        such duties as the Superintendent may prescribe, with the 
        approval of the Board of Visitors.

SEC. 6. FACULTY AND DEPARTMENTS.

    (a) Number of Faculty.--The Superintendent of the Academy may 
employ as many professors, instructors, and lecturers at the Academy as 
the Superintendent considers necessary to achieve academic excellence.
    (b) Faculty Compensation.--The Superintendent may prescribe the 
compensation of persons employed under this section. Compensation and 
benefits for faculty members of the Academy shall be sufficiently 
competitive to achieve academic excellence, as determined by the 
Superintendent.
    (c) Faculty Expectations.--Faculty members shall--
            (1) possess academic expertise and teaching prowess;
            (2) exemplify high standards of conduct and performance;
            (3) be expected to participate in the full spectrum of 
        academy programs, including providing leadership for the 
        curricular and extracurricular activities of students;
            (4) comply with the standards of conduct and performance 
        established by the Superintendent; and
            (5) participate actively in the development of the students 
        through the enforcement of standards of behavior and conduct, 
        to be established in the Academy's rules and regulations.
    (d) Department Titles.--The Superintendent may prescribe the titles 
of each of the departments of instruction and the professors of the 
Academy.

SEC. 7. STUDENT QUALIFICATIONS AND REQUIREMENTS FOR ADMISSION.

    (a) Student Qualifications.--A student wishing to be admitted to 
the Academy shall--
            (1) be 17 years of age or older;
            (2) be unmarried; and
            (3) have no dependents, as defined in section 152(a) of the 
        Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
    (b) Admission Requirements.--A student wishing to be admitted to 
the Academy shall fulfill the following requirements:
            (1) Earn a secondary school diploma.
            (2) Take the SAT or ACT or an equivalent college-level 
        aptitude test.
            (3) Sit for a personal interview with a representative of 
        the Academy.
            (4) Any further admissions requirements, as determined by 
        the Director of Admissions.
    (c) Honor Code.--A student wishing to be admitted to the Academy 
shall sign an Honor Code developed by the Superintendent of the Academy 
and approved by the Board of Visitors. A violation of the honor code 
may constitute a basis for dismissal from the Academy.

SEC. 8. APPOINTMENT OF STUDENTS.

    (a) Nomination Process.--Prospective applicants to the Academy for 
seats described in paragraphs (1) and (3) of subsection (b) shall 
follow a nomination process established by the Director of Admissions 
of the Academy that is similar to the process used for admission to the 
military academies of the United States Armed Forces.
    (b) Appointments.--
            (1) Nominees for congressional seats.--
                    (A) Number of seats.--For each incoming first-year 
                class at the Academy, the Director of Admissions shall 
                reserve a number of congressional seats in such class 
                that is twice the number of electoral votes for all 
                States, except that such number of seats may be reduced 
                if the Superintendent of the Academy determines that a 
                smaller class size is necessary in order to gradually 
                build the Academy to its full capacity.
                    (B) Nominees required per each senator and 
                representative.--Each member of the Senate or the House 
                of Representatives shall nominate a minimum of 5 
                candidates from the State that the member represents 
                for each incoming first-year class of the Academy.
                    (C) Competition.--In selecting students for the 
                congressional seats in a first-year incoming class, the 
                Director of Admissions shall--
                            (i) proportionally allocate the 
                        congressional seats reserved under subparagraph 
                        (A) among the States based on the number of 
                        electoral votes of each State; and
                            (ii) for each congressional seat allocated 
                        to a State, select a candidate that has been 
                        nominated by a member of Congress from the 
                        State under subparagraph (B).
            (2) International students.--
                    (A) Seats.--The Director of Admissions shall 
                reserve, from the total number of seats in each 
                incoming first-year class of the Academy, not less than 
                5 percent of such total for international students.
                    (B) Tuition; agreement.--In order for an 
                international student to attend the Academy, the 
                student's home country shall--
                            (i) be responsible for subsidizing the 
                        student's tuition, fees, room and board, and 
                        other expenses at the Academy; and
                            (ii) enter into an agreement described in 
                        section 10(b) with the student.
            (3) Executive branch nominees.--
                    (A) Seats.--The Director of Admissions shall 
                reserve in each incoming first-year class of the 
                Academy not more than 25 seats for executive branch 
                nominees.
                    (B) Nominees.--The President shall nominate a 
                minimum of 75 candidates to compete for the executive 
                branch seats.
            (4) Other nominees.--The Director of Admissions shall 
        reserve in each incoming first-year class of the Academy not 
        more than 75 seats for at-large selections from the remaining 
        pool of congressional nominees described in paragraph (1)(B).

SEC. 9. ACADEMIC FOCUS OF THE UNITED STATES PUBLIC SERVICE ACADEMY.

    (a) Curriculum; Leadership.--
            (1) Curriculum.--Each Academy student shall follow a 
        structured curriculum that is self-reinforcing to emphasize 
        leadership development (in accordance with paragraph (2)) and 
        public service.
            (2) Leadership.--The purposes of the leadership development 
        system are to motivate Academy students to seek leadership 
        responsibilities upon graduation and enable Academy students to 
        think clearly, decide wisely, and act decisively under pressure 
        and in a variety of leadership situations. Direct support to 
        leadership development shall be provided by concurrent and 
        relevant coursework to create an interplay between learning the 
        science of leadership in the classroom, while learning the art 
        of leadership outside the classroom.
    (b) Degree.--
            (1) Degree conferred upon graduation.--Under such 
        conditions as the Board of Visitors may prescribe, the 
        Superintendent of the Academy may confer a baccalaureate of 
        science or baccalaureate of arts degree upon a graduate of the 
        Academy.
            (2) Majors.--Each Academy student shall pursue a program of 
        study for a baccalaureate of arts or a baccalaureate of 
        sciences degree in traditional liberal arts subjects.
    (c) Breadth of Required Subject Areas Studied.--Each Academy 
student shall take courses in a broad array of subject areas as part of 
the student's program of study.
    (d) Public Service Concentration.--Not later than the completion of 
the fourth semester, each Academy student shall choose a public service 
concentration, which shall be the field in which the student ultimately 
will serve upon graduation.
    (e) Public Service Requirements Before Graduation.--
            (1) Public service programming.--Each Academy student shall 
        participate in regular programming related to public service, 
        as determined by the Dean of the Academic Board.
            (2) Public service project.--Each Academy student shall 
        plan and implement a 1-year public service project during the 
        student's final year at the Academy.
    (f) Study Abroad Requirements.--
            (1) In general.--Each Academy student shall spend not less 
        than 6 weeks engaged in a study abroad program approved by the 
        Dean of the Academic Board.
            (2) Classes in preparation for study abroad.--In 
        preparation for the study abroad program, each Academy student 
        shall take courses in foreign languages and international 
        relations.
    (g) Summer Learning Program Requirements.--For each year of 
attendance at the Academy, each Academy student shall spend 8 weeks 
each summer participating in a structured learning program established 
by the Superintendent of the Academy and the Dean of the Academic 
Board.

SEC. 10. PUBLIC SERVICE REQUIREMENTS FOLLOWING GRADUATION.

    (a) Public Service Agreement.--Each Academy student from the United 
States shall sign an agreement with respect to the student's length of 
public service to the United States. The agreement shall provide that 
the student agrees to the following:
            (1) The student will complete the course of instruction at 
        the Academy, culminating in graduation from the Academy.
            (2) Unless the student pursues graduate education under 
        subsection (h), upon graduation from the Academy, the student--
                    (A) will accept a public service assignment under 
                subsection (g), if tendered, at the assigned location; 
                and
                    (B) will serve in the public service assignment for 
                not less than the 5 years immediately following the 
                first day of the assignment.
    (b) International Student Agreement.--Each international Academy 
student who was selected for the Academy under section 8(b)(2) shall 
sign an agreement with the student's home country regarding employment 
in the national or local government of the country that meets the same 
conditions set forth in subsection (a).
    (c) Failure To Graduate.--
            (1) In general.--An Academy student who has completed a 
        minimum of 4 semesters at the Academy but fails to fulfill the 
        Academy's requirements for graduation within 4 years shall be--
                    (A) dishonorably discharged from the Academy; and
                    (B) obligated to repay the Academy for the cost of 
                the delinquent student's education in the amount 
                described in paragraph (2).
            (2) Amount of repayment.--The delinquent student shall be 
        financially responsible for the costs relating to each semester 
        that the student was officially enrolled in the Academy.
    (d) Failure To Accept or Complete Assigned Public Service.--
            (1) In general.--A delinquent graduate shall be--
                    (A) dishonorably discharged from the Academy; and
                    (B) obligated to repay the Academy for the cost of 
                the delinquent graduate's education in the amount 
                described in paragraph (2).
            (2) Amount of repayment.--In the case of a delinquent 
        graduate who fails to complete all years of public service 
        required under subsection (a)(2) (including any additional 
        years required for graduate education under subsection (h)), 
        the delinquent graduate shall be financially responsible for 
        the cost of the delinquent graduate's education (including the 
        costs of any graduate education), except that the amount of 
        financial responsibility under this paragraph shall be reduced 
        by 10 percent for each year of public service under subsection 
        (a)(2) that the delinquent graduate did complete.
            (3) Definition of delinquent graduate.--In this subsection, 
        the term ``delinquent graduate'' means a graduate of the 
        Academy who violates the agreement entered into under 
        subsection (a) by--
                    (A) not accepting the graduate's public service 
                assignment upon graduation from the Academy; or
                    (B) not completing the required years of public 
                service in the assignment due to--
                            (i) voluntarily quitting the assignment; or
                            (ii) being fired from the assignment.
    (e) Exceptions.--The Superintendent may provide for the partial or 
total waiver or suspension of any public service or payment obligation 
by an individual under this section whenever compliance by the 
individual with the obligation is impossible or deemed to involve 
extreme hardship to the individual, or if enforcement of such 
obligation with respect to the individual would be unconscionable.
    (f) Student Salaries and Benefits.--The Academy shall not be 
responsible for the salaries and benefits of graduates of the Academy 
while the graduates are fulfilling the public service assignment under 
this section. All salaries and benefits shall be paid by the employer 
with whom the Academy graduate is placed.
    (g) Determining Student Public Service Assignments.--
            (1) In general.--The Superintendent, acting through the 
        Academy Placement Office, shall place each graduating student 
        in a public service assignment, which shall consist of--
                    (A) civil service employment at the Federal, State, 
                or local level; or
                    (B) civilian service in the United States Armed 
                Forces.
            (2) Factors.--In making an assignment under paragraph (1), 
        the Academy Placement Office shall assess the following 
        factors:
                    (A) National security needs.
                    (B) State and local community needs.
                    (C) The student's experience.
                    (D) The student's academic performance.
            (3) Review and approval of student assignments.--The 
        Superintendent of the Academy shall review and approve each 
        Academy graduating student's public service assignment.
    (h) Graduate Education.--An Academy student and the Superintendent 
may modify the agreement under subsection (a) to provide that--
            (1) the Academy shall--
                    (A) subsidize an Academy student's graduate 
                education at a public institution; and
                    (B) postpone the public service assignment required 
                under subsection (a)(2); and
            (2) the student shall--
                    (A) accept a public service assignment under 
                subsection (g) upon the student's completion of the 
                graduate program; and
                    (B) add 2 additional years to the student's public 
                service commitment required under the agreement 
                described in subsection (a) for every year of 
                subsidized graduate education.

SEC. 11. REVIEW AND OVERSIGHT.

    (a) Board of Visitors.--
            (1) Establishment.--There shall be established a Board of 
        Visitors for the Academy (referred to in this Act as the 
        ``Board of Visitors'') to oversee the Academy and to inquire 
        into the efficiency and effectiveness of the operations of the 
        Academy.
            (2) Membership.--The Board of Visitors shall consist of not 
        more than 15 members, including the Secretary of the Department 
        of Homeland Security. The remaining members of the Board of 
        Visitors shall be appointed by the President, by and with the 
        advice and consent of the Senate.
            (3) Visits; reports.--
                    (A) Annual visits.--In order to ensure the 
                efficiency and effectiveness of the Academy, the Board 
                of Visitors shall annually visit the Academy.
                    (B) Additional visits.--The Board, or a member of 
                the Board, may visit the Academy in addition to the 
                annual visit described in subparagraph (A) with the 
                approval of the Superintendent of the Academy.
                    (C) Annual reports.--Not later than 60 days after 
                an annual visit described in subparagraph (A), the 
                Board of Visitors shall prepare and submit an annual 
                report regarding the operations of the Academy to the 
                President and Congress.
    (b) Superintendent.--Not later than November 30 of each year, using 
data as of September 30 of such year, the Superintendent shall provide 
to the President and Congress a report assessing the progress of, and 
changes at, the Academy in the following areas:
            (1) Recruitment and admissions.
            (2) Faculty compensation.
            (3) Curriculum.
            (4) Resources and facilities.
            (5) Attrition and graduation.
            (6) Public service placement.

SEC. 12. FUNDING THE UNITED STATES PUBLIC SERVICE ACADEMY.

    (a) Fully-Subsidized Education.--Each Academy student's tuition at 
the Academy shall be fully subsidized.
    (b) Public-Private Partnership.--The Academy will be a public-
private partnership funded by the following:
            (1) Public funds.--Congress shall fund 80 percent of the 
        Academy's annual budget.
            (2) Private funds.--The Academy officials shall raise 20 
        percent of the Academy's annual budget in private funds.
    (c) Initial Appropriations.--For each of the first 2 fiscal years 
for which funds are appropriated under section 14, the Superintendent 
shall use such funds, and any matching private funds, to acquire land, 
construct facilities, recruit faculty and students, hire employees, and 
develop curricula in preparation for the opening of the Academy.
    (d) Subsequent Appropriations.--For each of the 4 subsequent fiscal 
years following the second fiscal year described in subsection (c) and 
for which funds are appropriated under section 14, the Superintendent 
shall use such funds, and any matching private funds, to fund the 
Academy as it grows 1 class at a time into a 4-year institution.

SEC. 13. USE OF CERTAIN GIFTS TO THE ACADEMY.

    (a) Gifts Not Exceeding $20,000.--Under regulations prescribed by 
the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, the 
Superintendent of the Academy may accept, hold, administer, invest, and 
spend any gift, devise, or bequest of personal property of a value of 
$20,000 or less made to the United States on the condition that such 
gift, devise, or bequest be used for the benefit of the Academy or any 
entity thereof. The Superintendent may pay or authorize the payment of 
all reasonable and necessary expenses in connection with the conveyance 
or transfer of a gift, devise, or bequest under this section.
    (b) Gifts Exceeding $20,000.--The Board of Visitors may accept, 
hold, administer, invest, and spend any gift, devise, or bequest of 
personal property of a value of more than $20,000 made to the United 
States on the condition that such gift, devise, or bequest be used for 
the benefit of the Academy or any entity thereof. The Board of Visitors 
may pay or authorize the payment of all reasonable and necessary 
expenses in connection with the conveyance or transfer of a gift, 
devise, or bequest under this section.

SEC. 14. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act 
$164,000,000 for fiscal year 2008 and each of the 5 succeeding fiscal 
years.
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