I

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4461

To provide grants to partnerships to encourage workforce diversity in order

to improve the working conditions of all individuals in the United States

and to help organizations compete more effectively both domestically

and internationally, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 19, 1994

Mr. OWENS (for himself, Mr. WILLIAMS, and Mr. MARTINEZ) introduced the

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor

A BILL

To provide grants to partnerships to encourage workforce

diversity in order to improve the working conditions of

all individuals in the United States and to help organizations compete more effectively both domestically and

internationally, 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 ‘‘Workforce Diversity

5 Partnership Act of 1994’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

7 (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds that—
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1 (1) the workplace in the United States is be2 coming the most diverse workplace in the world at

3 a time of growing economic dissatisfaction and in4 tense global competition;

5 (2) people of color, caucasian women, and im6 migrants will account for 85 percent of the net

7 growth in our Nation’s labor force during the 1990s;

8 (3) the expectations, characteristics, demands,

9 beliefs, work values, motivating factors, and edu10 cational backgrounds of individuals in the workforce

11 are becoming increasingly diverse;

12 (4) employees, managers, administrators, and

13 government officials are inadequately prepared to

14 deal effectively with increased diversity in the

15 workforce;

16 (5) increased domestic and international com17 petition requires that business, industry, and govern18 ment leaders effectively motivate and manage this

19 diverse workforce;

20 (6) as more parents join the workforce, it has

21 become increasingly difficult for employees to bal22 ance the demands of the workplace with the needs

23 of families; and

24 (7) by understanding and valuing diversity

25 which respects differences, employers emphasize cre-
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1 ativity, self initiative, leadership, innovation, and

2 team-work, and thereby improve the working condi3 tions of all individuals in the United States and the

4 chances for economic success.

5 (b) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this Act to estab6 lish a grant program within the Department of Labor to—

7 (1) study and address issues relating to

8 workforce and cultural diversity and their impact on

9 economic competitiveness, employment opportunities,

10 advancement and retention; and

11 (2) develop collaborative public and private sec12 tor education and training materials that address

13 the issues of workforce and cultural diversity.

14 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF WORKFORCE DIVERSITY

15 GRANT PROGRAM.

16 (a) AUTHORIZATION.—The Secretary of Labor (here17 after in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) is author18 ized to provide grants to eligible entities described in sub19 section (b) for the purposes of—

20 (1) targeting and developing issues relating to

21 workforce and cultural diversity;

22 (2) developing public and private sector edu23 cation and training materials that focus on the is24 sues of workforce and cultural diversity;
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1 (3) fostering research, scholarship, innovative

2 curriculum development, development of teaching

3 materials, and other practicable supportive academic

4 activities relating to workforce and cultural diversity;

5 (4) assisting in the dissemination and transfer

6 of such materials for use in private sector training

7 efforts; and

8 (5) developing and establishing cooperative

9 higher education-business training programs to as10 sist public and private industry leaders and workers

11 in addressing the issues of workforce and cultural

12 diversity.

13 (b) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—An institution of higher edu15 cation in partnership with 1 or more of the organi16 zations described in paragraph (2) shall be eligible

17 to receive a grant under subsection (a).

18 (2) ORGANIZATIONS.—An organization de19 scribed in this paragraph is—

20 (A) a corporation, business, or partnership,

21 whether, for profit or nonprofit;

22 (B) a labor organization; or

23 (C) an organization that has a dem24 onstrated interest or expertise in workforce di25 versity issues.
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1 (3) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION DE2 FINED.—For purposes of this subsection, the term

3 ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the meaning

4 given such term by section 1201(a) of the Higher

5 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1141(a)).

6 (c) PERIOD OF GRANT.—The provision of payments

7 under a grant under subsection (a) shall not exceed 3 fis8 cal years and shall be subject to the annual approval of

9 the Secretary and subject to the availability of appropria10 tions for the fiscal year involved to make the payments.

11 SEC. 4. APPLICATION.

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may not provide a

13 grant under section 3 to an eligible entity unless the entity

14 submits to the Secretary an application in such form and

15 containing such information as the Secretary may reason16 ably require.

17 (b) FACULTY PARTICIPATION.—The Secretary shall

18 encourage eligible entities desiring to receive a grant

19 under section 3 to submit applications that are written

20 by teams of faculty from multiple disciplines, student and

21 academic affairs professionals, or student organizations

22 concerned with multicultural education, or any combina23 tion thereof.
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1 SEC. 5. USE OF AMOUNTS.

2 The Secretary may not provide a grant under section

3 3 to an eligible entity unless the entity agrees that it will

4 use all amounts received from such grant to establish and

5 carry out a program in accordance with 1 or more of the

6 following guidelines:

7 (1) The development of instructional material

8 concerning efforts designed to address cultural and

9 workforce diversity issues within the workplace set10 ting.

11 (2) The development of public and private sec12 tor education and training materials that will ad13 dress the issues of workforce and cultural diversity.

14 (3) The development of new approaches to

15 workforce diversity issues and scholarship efforts to

16 be integrated within the curriculum of business

17 schools, ethnic and women’s studies, engineering

18 schools, social science disciplines, humanities and the

19 arts and sciences. In using grant funds under this

20 paragraph, a grantee may employ approaches to be

21 carried out in conjunction with corporate education

22 and training programs.

23 (4) The conduct of research concerning

24 multicultural workplace interactions and team man25 agement and business in multicultural and multi-lin26 gual marketplace settings.
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1 (5) The implementation of faculty development

2 programs that focus on research, appropriate learn3 ing environments, and pedagogical approaches to

4 teaching multicultural management and work diver5 sity issues.

6 (6) The development and dissemination of in7 formation concerning models for summer precollege

8 business internship programs that aid in integrating

9 the workplace and in giving students a better under10 standing of the private sector and of workforce di11 versity issues.

12 (7) The conduct of forums, workshops, and con13 ferences in which representatives from academic,

14 corporate, government, or other institutions with a

15 demonstrated interest or expertise in workforce di16 versity will focus on issues, attitudes, and strategies

17 that sensitize managers, employees, faculty, cor18 porate, government, and other leaders and workers

19 to workplace diversity issues.

20 (8) Any other activities that the Secretary de21 termines to be appropriate to meet the purposes of

22 this Act.
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1 SEC. 6. SELECTION.

2 (a) CRITERIA FOR SELECTION.—In determining

3 whether to provide a grant under section 3, the Secretary

4 shall take into account—

5 (1) the extent to which the eligible entity dem6 onstrates the potential to achieve 1 or more of the

7 guidelines described in section 5;

8 (2) the level of participation and financial com9 mitment of the eligible entity;

10 (3) the likelihood that the program to be estab11 lished under section 5 by the eligible entity will fos12 ter the creation of increased workforce and cultural

13 diversity awareness programs in other institutional

14 environments;

15 (4) the likelihood that the program will result

16 in the development and dissemination of national or

17 regional best practices;

18 (5) the extent to which the program will impact

19 on the international competitiveness of the United

20 States economy; and

21 (6) such other criteria as the Secretary may

22 prescribe.

23 (b) PRIORITY.—In providing grants under section 3,

24 the Secretary shall give priority to those eligible entities

25 that demonstrate the availability of sufficient amounts of
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1 non-Federal contributions or resources from non-govern2 mental entities.

3 SEC. 7. PEER REVIEW.

4 The Secretary shall establish peer review panels to

5 review the merits of applications submitted under section

6 4. In establishing such panels, the Secretary shall seek the

7 widest participation of qualified individuals from eligible

8 entities. Each peer review panel shall report the findings

9 and recommendations of the panel to the Secretary with

10 respect to applications submitted under section 4.

11 SEC. 8. FEDERAL AND NON-FEDERAL SHARE.

12 (a) FEDERAL SHARE.—

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para14 graph (2), the Federal share under a grant provided

15 under section 3 may not exceed 50 percent of the

16 total cost of the program established and carried out

17 under section 5 for any fiscal year.

18 (2) EXCEPTION.—If the Secretary, after con19 sultation with the peer review panel, determines that

20 to do so will further the purposes of this Act, the

21 Secretary may increase the amount of the Federal

22 share with respect to the program.

23 (b) NON-FEDERAL SHARE.—The non-Federal share

24 shall be provided from non-Federal sources and may be

25 in cash or in-kind, fairly evaluated.
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1 SEC. 9. REPORTS.

2 (a) REPORTS TO THE SECRETARY.—The Secretary

3 may not provide a grant under section 3 to an eligible

4 entity unless the entity agrees that it will prepare and sub5 mit an annual report to the Secretary which shall in6 clude—

7 (1) a summary of the progress of the activities

8 established and carried out under the grant to

9 achieve the purposes of this Act;

10 (2) a summary of the expenditures involved in

11 establishing and carrying out such activities;

12 (3) a plan that describes the proposed use of

13 funds for the subsequent fiscal year;

14 (4) a description of the success or failure of the

15 implementation of the program in accordance with 1

16 or more of the guidelines described in section 5,

17 where appropriate; and

18 (5) any other information that the Secretary

19 determines to be appropriate.

20 (b) REPORTS TO THE CONGRESS.—The Secretary

21 shall annually prepare and submit to the Committee on

22 Education and Labor of the House of Representatives and

23 the Committee on Labor and Human Resources of the

24 Senate a report that shall include an evaluation of the

25 progress made in achieving the purposes of this Act.
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1 SEC. 10. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

2 There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out

3 this Act $10,000,000 for fiscal year 1995 and such sums

4 as may be necessary for each of the fiscal years 1996

5 through 1999.

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