I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7189 

To establish a youth study abroad program in the Department of State 

for United States secondary school students to study in Normandy, 

France, to learn about the relationship between the United States and 

France, the World War II military operation known as Operation Overlord, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 11, 2020 

Mr. TIPTON (for himself and Ms. SHERRILL) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

A BILL 

To establish a youth study abroad program in the Department of State for United States secondary school students to study in Normandy, France, to learn about 

the relationship between the United States and France, 

the World War II military operation known as Operation 

Overlord, 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 ‘‘Operation Overlord 

5 Study Abroad Program Act of 2020’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) The United States and France have shared 

4 close cultural, economic, social, and diplomatic rela5 tions since 1776 when French forces supported the 

6 American Colonies during the Revolutionary War to 

7 gain freedom from Great Britain. 

8 (2) World War II cemented this positive rela9 tionship between the United States and France. 

10 (3) On June 6, 1944, the United States, as a 

11 member of the Allied Forces, led the military oper12 ation known as Operation Overlord. 

13 (4) Operation Overlord consisted of a series of 

14 prolonged parachute and glider landings, large naval 

15 bombardments, massive air attacks, and amphibious 

16 landings on the beaches of Normandy known as 

17 Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno, and Sword. 

18 (5) Over 2,000,000 military service members of 

19 the Allied Forces landed in France during Operation 

20 Overlord, which resulted in approximately 226,000 

21 casualties. Of those casualties, approximately 

22 153,000 were injured, and 72,000 were either killed 

23 or declared missing in action. 

24 (6) Operation Overlord resulted in a victory for 

25 the Allied Forces as they forced Nazi Germany to 


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1 withdraw from Normandy and move eastward to2 ward Paris. 

3 (7) June 6, 2020, is the 76th anniversary of 

4 the start of Operation Overlord. 

5 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

6 It is the sense of Congress that— 

7 (1) the United States owes to the generation of 

8 Americans known as the Greatest Generation an im9 mense level of respect and gratitude for risking their 

10 lives by serving in the Allied Forces to defeat Nazi 

11 Germany; 

12 (2) it is vital that the stories of the men and 

13 women who fought in Operation Overlord are not 

14 forgotten, allowing our youth to remember some of 

15 the greatest acts of heroism recorded in human his16 tory; and 

17 (3) the United States hopes to maintain strong 

18 ties with the Government of France and ensure the 

19 lessons learned from Operation Overlord are not for20 gotten. 

21 SEC. 4. OPERATION OVERLORD ACADEMIC STUDY ABROAD 

22 PROGRAM. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State, in co24 operation with the Government of France, may establish 

25 in the Department of State a 2-week academic study 


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1 abroad program (referred to in this section as the ‘‘study 

2 abroad program’’), during either the month of July or Au3 gust, in Normandy, France, for eligible individuals to 

4 learn about the historical relationship between the United 

5 States and France by— 

6 (1) attending a secondary school or post-sec7 ondary school in France for the duration of the 

8 study abroad program with academic course work 

9 emphasizing— 

10 (A) the history, constitution, and political 

11 development of France; and 

12 (B) the relationship between the United 

13 States and France during World War II, focus14 ing on the military operation known as Oper15 ation Overlord; and 

16 (2) visiting historical sites. 

17 (b) ELIGIBILITY.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to participate 

19 in this study abroad program, an individual shall— 

20 (A) be a citizen of the United States be21 tween 16 to 18 years of age; 

22 (B) be a freshman, sophomore, or junior at 

23 the time such individual submits an application 

24 for participation in the study abroad program; 


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1 (C) have an overall grade point average of 

2 at least 2.8 on a 4.0 scale at the time of the 

3 submission of the application; 

4 (D) provide at least 1 letter of rec5 ommendation from a secondary school teacher 

6 who knows the individual; 

7 (E) agree to participate in the presentation 

8 under subsection (f); 

9 (F) either be enrolled in, or have com10 pleted, at least one college preparatory history 

11 course; and 

12 (G) satisfy any other qualifications the 

13 Secretary of State determines appropriate. 

14 (2) PREFERENCE.—Preference for participation 

15 in the study abroad program shall be given to indi16 viduals who speak the French language conversa17 tionally. 

18 (c) SELECTION.— 

19 (1) NUMBER OF ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUALS.—The 

20 Secretary shall select not more than 100 eligible in21 dividuals for participation in the study abroad pro22 gram from a compiled list of eligible individuals 

23 nominated by United States Senators pursuant to 

24 paragraph (2). 


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1 (2) NOMINATION BY SENATORS.—Each United 

2 States Senator shall nominate and submit to the 

3 Secretary the name of one eligible individual from 

4 their State to participate in the study abroad pro5 gram. 

6 (d) USE OF FUNDS.—Funds donated pursuant to 

7 subsection (h) and appropriated under subsection (i) to 

8 carry out the study abroad program shall be used for the 

9 following purposes: 

10 (1) Room and board. 

11 (2) Round trip international airfare, including 

12 airport transfers. 

13 (3) Entrance fees to all sites, museums, and 

14 historic attractions. 

15 (4) Transportation while outside of the United 

16 States. 

17 (5) Any tuition and academic materials re18 quired by the host secondary school or post-sec19 ondary school in France. 

20 (6) Gratuities to guides, drivers, porters, and 

21 servers. 

22 (7) Backpack, luggage tags, and customized 

23 name badge. 

24 (8) Pre-tour required readings and books. 


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1 (e) APPLICATION.—To be eligible to participate in 

2 the study abroad program, an eligible individual shall sub3 mit to the Secretary of State an application at such time, 

4 in such manner, and containing such information as the 

5 Secretary of State may require. 

6 (f) PRESENTATION.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—As a condition on participa8 tion in the study abroad program, not later than 2 

9 months after the study abroad program has con10 cluded, each individual participating in the study 

11 abroad program under this section shall present to 

12 one history teacher from their school a 30-minute 

13 presentation on their study abroad experience. 

14 (2) VERIFICATION REQUIRED.—Not later than 

15 30 days after the completion of the presentation re16 quired under paragraph (1), each individual partici17 pating in the study abroad program under this sec18 tion shall submit to the Secretary— 

19 (A) a digital copy of all presentation mate20 rials used by the individual for purposes of the 

21 presentation; and 

22 (B) a letter signed by a history teacher 

23 who witnessed the presentation. 

24 (g) ANNUAL REPORT.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after 

2 the conclusion of the scholarship program each year, 

3 the Secretary of State shall submit to the Committee 

4 on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives 

5 and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Sen6 ate a report on the study abroad program. 

7 (2) MATTERS INCLUDED.—Each report re8 quired under paragraph (1) shall include informa9 tion relating to the following: 

10 (A) The implementation of the study 

11 abroad program. 

12 (B) A financial report, including— 

13 (i) the number and amount of chari14 table contributions to the study abroad 

15 program; and 

16 (ii) a comparison of such contribu17 tions from the preceding year of the study 

18 abroad program. 

19 (C) The number of participants. 

20 (D) The names and locations of the sec21 ondary schools and post-secondary schools in 

22 France attended by the participants. 

23 (E) A description of the academic cur24 ricula. 


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1 (F) A description of any other activities 

2 the participants carried out during their partici3 pation. 

4 (h) ACCEPTANCE AND USE OF DONATIONS.—The 

5 Secretary of State may accept and use donations to carry 

6 out the study abroad program. Amounts received by the 

7 Secretary of State in the form of donations shall be ex8 pended prior to the use of funds appropriated under sub9 section (i). The Secretary of State may reject a gift under 

10 this section when the rejection is in the interest of the 

11 Government. 

12 (i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

13 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 

14 necessary to carry out the study abroad program for each 

15 of fiscal years 2021 through 2025. 

Æ 


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