I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7198 

To establish a scholarship program to diversify the national security workforce 

through partnership with Historically Black Colleges and Universities 

and other minority institutions, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 15, 2020 

Mr. BROWN of Maryland (for himself and Mr. TURNER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and 

Labor, and in addition to the Committee on Armed Services, for a period 

to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 

concerned 

A BILL 

To establish a scholarship program to diversify the national 

security workforce through partnership with Historically 

Black Colleges and Universities and other minority institutions, 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 ‘‘Pathway for Inclusive 

5 Participation of Emerging Leaders and Institutions in the 


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1 NatSec Enterprise Act of 2020’’ or the ‘‘PIPELINE Act 

2 of 2020’’. 

3 SEC. 2. SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Defense, in co5 ordination with the Director of the Office of Personnel 

6 Management, the Secretary of State, and the Secretary 

7 of Homeland Security, shall establish a Federal scholar8 ship-for-service program known as the ‘‘Ronald V. Del9 lums Federal National Security Pipeline Program’’ to re10 cruit, train, and diversify the next generation of national 

11 security professionals to meet the needs of the national 

12 security mission for Federal, State, local, and Tribal gov13 ernments. 

14 (b) PROGRAM DESCRIPTION AND COMPONENTS.— 

15 The program under subsection (a) shall— 

16 (1) provide scholarships to students who are en17 rolled in programs of study at covered institutions 

18 leading to degrees or specialized program certifi19 cations relating to national security; 

20 (2) provide the scholarship recipients with sum21 mer internship opportunities or other meaningful 

22 temporary appointments in the Federal national se23 curity workforce; and 

24 (3) prioritize the employment placement of 

25 scholarship recipients in the Federal Government. 


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1 (c) SCHOLARSHIP AMOUNTS.—Each scholarship 

2 under subsection (b) shall be in an amount that covers 

3 the student’s tuition and fees at the institution under sub4 section (b)(1) for not more than three years and provides 

5 the student with an additional stipend. 

6 (d) POST-AWARD EMPLOYMENT OBLIGATIONS.— 

7 (1) CIVILIAN EMPLOYMENT.—Each scholarship 

8 recipient, as a condition of receiving a scholarship 

9 under the program, shall enter into an agreement 

10 under which the recipient agrees to work in a posi11 tion related to national security at a Federal, State, 

12 local, or Tribal agency for a period equal to the 

13 length of the scholarship following receipt of the stu14 dent’s degree. 

15 (2) MILITARY SERVICE.—Pursuant to regula16 tions prescribed by the Secretary of Defense for 

17 such purpose, a scholarship recipient may fulfill the 

18 condition described in paragraph (1) by serving in 

19 the Armed Forces. 

20 (e) HIRING AUTHORITY.— 

21 (1) APPOINTMENT IN EXCEPTED SERVICE.— 

22 Notwithstanding any provision of chapter 33 of title 

23 5, United States Code, governing appointments in 

24 the competitive service, an agency shall appoint in 

25 the excepted service an individual who has completed 


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1 the eligible degree program for which a scholarship 

2 was awarded. 

3 (2) NONCOMPETITIVE CONVERSION.—Except as 

4 provided in paragraph (4), upon fulfillment of the 

5 service term, an employee appointed under para6 graph (1) may be converted noncompetitively to 

7 term, career-conditional, or career appointment. 

8 (3) TIMING OF CONVERSION.—An agency may 

9 noncompetitively convert a term employee appointed 

10 under paragraph (2) to a career-conditional or ca11 reer appointment before the term appointment ex12 pires. 

13 (4) AUTHORITY TO DECLINE CONVERSION.—An 

14 agency may decline to make the noncompetitive con15 version or appointment under paragraph (2) for 

16 cause. 

17 (f) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to receive a scholar18 ship under this section, an individual shall— 

19 (1) be a citizen or lawful permanent resident of 

20 the United States; 

21 (2) demonstrate a commitment to a career in 

22 national security; 

23 (3) have demonstrated a high level of pro24 ficiency in a field related to national security; 


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1 (4) be a full-time student in an eligible degree 

2 program at a covered institution; and 

3 (5) accept the terms of a scholarship under this 

4 section. 

5 (g) CONDITIONS OF SUPPORT.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—As a condition of receiving a 

7 scholarship under this section, a scholarship recipi8 ent shall agree to provide the qualified institution of 

9 higher education with annual verifiable documenta10 tion of post-award employment and up-to-date con11 tact information. 

12 (2) TERMS.—A scholarship recipient under this 

13 section shall be liable to the United States as pro14 vided in subsection (i) if the individual— 

15 (A) fails to maintain an acceptable level of 

16 academic standing at the applicable covered in17 stitution, as determined by the Secretary of De18 fense; 

19 (B) is dismissed from the applicable cov20 ered institution for disciplinary reasons; 

21 (C) withdraws from the eligible degree pro22 gram before completing the program; 

23 (D) declares that the individual does not 

24 intend to fulfill the post-award employment ob25 ligation under this section; or 


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1 (E) fails to fulfill the post-award employ2 ment obligation of the individual under this sec3 tion. 

4 (h) MONITORING COMPLIANCE.—As a condition of 

5 participating in the program, a covered institution shall— 

6 (1) enter into an agreement with the Secretary 

7 of Defense, to monitor the compliance of scholarship 

8 recipients with respect to their post-award employ9 ment obligations; and 

10 (2) provide to the Secretary of Defense, on an 

11 annual basis, the post-award employment docu12 mentation required under subsection (g)(1) for 

13 scholarship recipients through the completion of 

14 their post-award employment obligations. 

15 (i) AMOUNT OF REPAYMENT.— 

16 (1) LESS THAN ONE YEAR OF SERVICE.—If a 

17 circumstance described in subsection (g)(2) occurs 

18 before the completion of one year of a post-award 

19 employment obligation under this section, the total 

20 amount of scholarship awards received by the indi21 vidual under this section shall— 

22 (A) be repaid; or 

23 (B) be treated as a loan to be repaid in ac24 cordance with subsection (j). 


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1 (2) ONE OR MORE YEARS OF SERVICE.—If a 

2 circumstance described in subparagraph (D) or (E) 

3 of subsection (g)(2) occurs after the completion of 

4 one or more years of a post-award employment obli5 gation under this section, the total amount of schol6 arship awards received by the individual under this 

7 section, reduced by the ratio of the number of years 

8 of service completed divided by the number of years 

9 of service required, shall— 

10 (A) be repaid; or 

11 (B) be treated as a loan to be repaid in ac12 cordance with subsection (j). 

13 (j) REPAYMENTS.—A loan described in subsection (i) 

14 shall— 

15 (1) be treated as a Federal Direct Unsubsidized 

16 Stafford Loan under part D of title IV of the High17 er Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087a et seq.); 

18 and 

19 (2) be subject to repayment, together with in20 terest thereon accruing from the date of the scholar21 ship award, in accordance with terms and conditions 

22 specified by the Secretary of Defense (in consulta23 tion with the Secretary of Education, Secretary of 

24 State, and Secretary of Homeland Security) in regu25 lations promulgated to carry out this subsection. 


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1 (k) COLLECTION OF REPAYMENT.— 

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—In the event that a scholar3 ship recipient is required to repay the scholarship 

4 award under this section, the covered institution pro5 viding the scholarship shall— 

6 (A) determine the repayment amounts and 

7 notify the recipient and the Secretary of De8 fense of the amounts owed; and 

9 (B) collect the repayment amounts within 

10 a period of time as determined by the Secretary 

11 of Defense, or the repayment amounts shall be 

12 treated as a loan in accordance with subsection 

13 (j). 

14 (2) RETURNED TO TREASURY.—Except as pro15 vided in paragraph (3), any repayment under this 

16 subsection shall be returned to the Treasury of the 

17 United States. 

18 (3) RETAIN PERCENTAGE.—A covered institu19 tion may retain a percentage of any repayment the 

20 institution collects under this subsection to defray 

21 administrative costs associated with the collection. 

22 The Secretary of Defense shall establish a single, 

23 fixed percentage that will apply to all eligible enti24 ties. 


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1 (l) EXCEPTIONS.—The Secretary of Defense may 

2 provide for the partial or total waiver or suspension of any 

3 service or payment obligation by an individual under this 

4 section whenever compliance by the individual with the ob5 ligation is impossible or would involve extreme hardship 

6 to the individual, or if enforcement of such obligation with 

7 respect to the individual would be unconscionable. 

8 (m) EVALUATION AND REPORT.—The Secretary of 

9 Defense shall evaluate and report periodically to Congress 

10 on the success of recruiting individuals for scholarships 

11 under this section and on hiring and retaining those indi12 viduals in the public sector workforce. 

13 (n) COVERED INSTITUTION DEFINED.—In this sec14 tion, the term ‘‘covered institution’’ has the meaning given 

15 that term in section 262(g)(2) of the National Defense 

16 Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 (Public Law 116– 

17 92). 

Æ 


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