I

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 5581

To carry out an international fellowship program between the United States

and Vietnam to enable Vietnamese nationals to pursue advanced studies

in science, mathematics, medicine, and technology; to enable United

States citizens to teach in those fields in Vietnam; and to promote

reconciliation between the two countries.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

OCTOBER 26, 2000

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California (for himself and Mr. EVANS) introduced

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on International

Relations

A BILL

To carry out an international fellowship program between

the United States and Vietnam to enable Vietnamese

nationals to pursue advanced studies in science, mathematics, medicine, and technology; to enable United States

citizens to teach in those fields in Vietnam; and to promote reconciliation between the two countries.

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 ‘‘Vietnam Education

5 Foundation Act of 2000’’.
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1 SEC. 2. PURPOSES.

2 The purposes of this Act are the following:

3 (1) To establish an international fellowship pro4 gram under which—

5 (A) Vietnamese nationals can undertake

6 graduate and post-graduate level studies in the

7 sciences (natural, physical, and environmental),

8 mathematics, medicine, and technology (includ9 ing information technology); and

10 (B) United States citizens can teach in the

11 fields specified in subparagraph (A) in appro12 priate Vietnamese institutions.

13 (2) To further the process of reconciliation be14 tween the United States and Vietnam and the build15 ing of a bilateral relationship serving the interests of

16 both countries.

17 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

18 In this Act:

19 (1) BOARD.—The term ‘‘Board’’ means the

20 Board of Directors of the Foundation.

21 (2) FOUNDATION.—The term ‘‘Foundation’’

22 means the Vietnam Education Foundation estab23 lished in section 4.

24 (3) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The

25 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the
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1 meaning given the term in section 101(a) of the

2 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a)).

3 (4) UNITED STATES-VIETNAM DEBT AGREE4 MENT.—The term ‘‘United States-Vietnam debt

5 agreement’’ means the Agreement Between the Gov6 ernment of the United States of America and the

7 Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam Re8 garding the Consolidation and Rescheduling of Cer9 tain Debts Owed to, Guaranteed by, or Insured by

10 the United States Government and the Agency for

11 International Development, dated April 7, 1997.

12 SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT.

13 There is established the Vietnam Education Founda14 tion as an independent establishment of the executive

15 branch under section 104 of title 5, United States Code.

16 SEC. 5. BOARD OF DIRECTORS.

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Foundation shall be subject

18 to the supervision and direction of the Board of Directors,

19 which shall consist of 13 members, as follows:

20 (1) Two members of the House of Representa21 tives appointed by the Speaker of the House of Rep22 resentatives, one of whom shall be appointed upon

23 the recommendation of the Majority Leader and one

24 of whom shall be appointed upon the recommenda-
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1 tion of the Minority Leader, and who shall serve as

2 ex officio, nonvoting members.

3 (2) Two members of the Senate, appointed by

4 the President pro tempore, one of whom shall be ap5 pointed upon the recommendation of the Majority

6 Leader and one of whom shall be appointed upon

7 the recommendation of the Minority Leader, and

8 who shall serve as ex officio, nonvoting members.

9 (3) Secretary of State.

10 (4) Secretary of Education.

11 (5) Secretary of the Treasury.

12 (6) Six members to be appointed by the Presi13 dent from among individuals in the nongovernmental

14 sector who have academic excellence or experience in

15 the fields of concentration specified in section

16 2(1)(A) or a general knowledge of Vietnam, not less

17 than three of whom shall be drawn from academic

18 life.

19 (b) ROTATION OF MEMBERSHIP.—(1) The term of

20 office of each member appointed under subsection (a)(6)

21 shall be 3 years, except that of the members initially ap22 pointed under that subsection, two shall serve for terms

23 of one year, two shall serve for terms of two years, and

24 two shall serve for terms of three years.
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1 (2) A member of Congress appointed under sub2 section (a)(1) or (2) shall not serve as a member of the

3 Board for more than a total of six years.

4 (c) CHAIR.—The Board shall elect one of the mem5 bers appointed under subsection (a)(6) to serve as Chair.

6 (d) MEETINGS.—The Board shall meet upon the call

7 of the Chair but not less frequently than twice each year.

8 A majority of the voting members of the Board shall con9 stitute a quorum.

10 (e) DUTIES.—The Board shall—

11 (1) select the individuals who will be eligible to

12 serve as Fellows; and

13 (2) provide overall supervision and direction of

14 the Foundation.

15 (f) COMPENSATION.—

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para17 graph (2), each member of the Board shall serve

18 without compensation, and members who are officers

19 or employees of the United States shall serve with20 out compensation in addition to that received for

21 their services as officers or employees of the United

22 States.

23 (2) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—The members of the

24 Board shall be allowed travel expenses, including per

25 diem in lieu of subsistence, at rates authorized for
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1 employees of agencies under subchapter I of chapter

2 57 of title 5, United States Code, while away from

3 their homes or regular places of business in the per4 formance of service for the Board.

5 SEC. 6. FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM.

6 (a) AWARD OF FELLOWSHIPS.—

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—To carry out the purposes of

8 this Act, the Foundation shall award fellowships

9 to—

10 (A) Vietnamese nationals to study at insti11 tutions of higher education in the United States

12 at graduate and post-graduate levels in the fol13 lowing fields: physical sciences, natural sciences,

14 mathematics, environmental sciences, medicine,

15 technology, and computer sciences; and

16 (B) United States citizens to teach in Viet17 nam in appropriate Vietnamese institutions in

18 the fields of study described in subparagraph

19 (A).

20 (2) SPECIAL EMPHASIS ON SCIENTIFIC AND

21 TECHNICAL VOCABULARY IN ENGLISH.—Fellowships

22 awarded under paragraph (1) may include funding

23 for the study of scientific and technical vocabulary

24 in English.
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1 (b) CRITERIA FOR SELECTION.—Fellowships under

2 this Act shall be awarded to persons who meet the min3 imum criteria established by the Foundation, including the

4 following:

5 (1) VIETNAMESE NATIONALS.—Vietnamese can6 didates for fellowships shall have basic English pro7 ficiency and must have the ability to meet the cri8 teria for admission into graduate or post-graduate

9 programs in United States institutions of higher

10 learning.

11 (2) UNITED STATES CITIZEN TEACHERS.—

12 American teaching candidates shall be highly com13 petent in their fields and be experienced and pro14 ficient teachers.

15 (c) IMPLEMENTATION.—The Foundation may pro16 vide, directly or by contract, for the conduct of nationwide

17 competition for the purpose of selecting recipients of fel18 lowships awarded under this section.

19 (d) AUTHORITY TO AWARD FELLOWSHIPS ON A

20 MATCHING BASIS.—The Foundation may require, as a

21 condition of the availability of funds for the award of a

22 fellowship under this Act, that an institution of higher

23 education make available funds for such fellowship on a

24 matching basis.
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1 (e) FELLOWSHIP CONDITIONS.—A person awarded a

2 fellowship under this Act may receive payments authorized

3 under this Act only during such periods as the Foundation

4 finds that the person is maintaining satisfactory pro5 ficiency and devoting full time to study or teaching, as

6 appropriate, and is not engaging in gainful employment

7 other than employment approved by the Foundation pur8 suant to regulations of the Board.

9 (f) FUNDING.—

10 (1) FISCAL YEAR 2001.—

11 (A) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIA12 TIONS.—There are authorized to be appro13 priated to the Foundation $5,000,000 for fiscal

14 year 2001 to carry out the activities of the

15 Foundation.

16 (B) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—Amounts

17 appropriated pursuant to subparagraph (A) are

18 authorized to remain available until expended.

19 (2) FISCAL YEAR 2002 AND SUBSEQUENT FIS20 CAL YEARS.—Effective October 1, 2001, the Foun21 dation shall utilize funds transferred to the Founda22 tion under section 7.

23 SEC. 7. VIETNAM DEBT REPAYMENT FUND.

24 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Notwithstanding any other

25 provision of law, there is established in the Treasury a
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1 separate account which shall be known as the Vietnam

2 Debt Repayment Fund (in this subsection referred to as

3 the ‘‘Fund’’).

4 (b) DEPOSITS.—There shall be deposited as offset5 ting receipts into the Fund all payments (including inter6 est payments) made by the Socialist Republic of Vietnam

7 under the United States-Vietnam debt agreement.

8 (c) AVAILABILITY OF THE FUNDS.—

9 (1) FISCAL YEAR LIMITATION.—Beginning with

10 fiscal year 2002, and each subsequent fiscal year

11 through fiscal year 2018, $5,000,000 of the amounts

12 deposited into the Fund (or accrued interest) each

13 fiscal year shall be available to the Foundation,

14 without fiscal year limitation, under paragraph (2).

15 (2) DISBURSEMENT OF FUNDS.—The Secretary

16 of the Treasury, at least on a quarterly basis, shall

17 transfer to the Foundation amounts allotted to the

18 Foundation under paragraph (1) for the purpose of

19 carrying out its activities.

20 (3) TRANSFER OF EXCESS FUNDS TO MIS21 CELLANEOUS RECEIPTS.—Beginning with fiscal year

22 2002, and each subsequent fiscal year through fiscal

23 year 2018, the Secretary of the Treasury shall with24 draw from the Fund and deposit in the Treasury of

25 the United States as miscellaneous receipts all mon-
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1 eys in the Fund in excess of amounts made available

2 to the Foundation under paragraph (1).

3 (d) ANNUAL REPORT.—The Board shall prepare and

4 submit annually to Congress statements of financial condi5 tion of the Fund, including the beginning balance, re6 ceipts, refunds to appropriations, transfers to the general

7 fund, and the ending balance.

8 SEC. 9. FOUNDATION PERSONNEL MATTERS.

9 (a) APPOINTMENT BY BOARD.—There shall be an

10 Executive Secretary of the Foundation who shall be ap11 pointed by the Board without regard to the provisions of

12 title 5, United States Code, or any regulation thereunder,

13 governing appointment in the competitive service. The Ex14 ecutive Director shall be the Chief Executive Officer of

15 the Foundation and shall carry out the functions of the

16 Foundation subject to the supervision and direction of the

17 Board. The Executive Director shall carry out such other

18 functions consistent with the provisions of this Act as the

19 Board shall prescribe. The decision to employ or terminate

20 an Executive Director shall be made by an affirmative vote

21 of at least 6 of the 9 voting members of the Board.

22 (b) PROFESSIONAL STAFF.—The Executive Director

23 shall hire Foundation staff on the basis of professional

24 and nonpartisan qualifications.
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1 (c) EXPERTS AND CONSULTANTS.—The Executive

2 Director may procure temporary and intermittent services

3 of experts and consultants as are necessary to the extent

4 authorized by section 3109 of title 5, United States Code

5 to carry out the purposes of the Foundation.

6 (d) COMPENSATION.—The Board may fix the com7 pensation of the Executive Director and other personnel

8 without regard to the provisions of chapter 51 and sub9 chapter III of chapter 53 of title V, United States Code,

10 relating to classification of positions and General Schedule

11 pay rates, except that the rate of pay for the Executive

12 Director and other personnel may not exceed the rate pay13 able for level V of the Executive Schedule under section

14 5316 of such title.

15 SEC. 9. ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS.

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—In order to carry out this title,

17 the Foundation may—

18 (1) prescribe such regulations as it considers

19 necessary governing the manner in which its func20 tions shall be carried out;

21 (2) receive money and other property donated,

22 bequeathed, or devised, without condition or restric23 tion other than it be used for the purposes of the

24 Foundation, and to use, sell, or otherwise dispose of
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1 such property for the purpose of carrying out its

2 functions;

3 (3) accept and use the services of voluntary and

4 noncompensated personnel;

5 (4) enter into contracts or other arrangements,

6 or make grants, to carry out the provisions of this

7 title, and enter into such contracts or other arrange8 ments, or make such grants, with the concurrence of

9 a majority of the members of the Board, without

10 performance or other bonds and without regard to

11 section 3709 of the Revised Statutes (41 U.S.C. 5);

12 (5) rent office space in the District of Colum13 bia; and

14 (6) make other necessary expenditures.

15 (b) ANNUAL REPORT.—The Foundation shall submit

16 to the President and to the Committee on Foreign Rela17 tions of the Senate and the Committee on International

18 Relations of the House of Representatives an annual re19 port of its operations under this Act.

20 SEC. 10. TERMINATION.

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Foundation may not award

22 any new fellowship, or extend any existing fellowship, after

23 September 30, 2016.
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1 (b) ABOLISHMENT.—Effective 120 days after the ex2 piration of the last fellowship in effect under this Act, the

3 Foundation is abolished.

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