I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 6075 

To establish a program to make grants to institutions of higher education 

to provide courses relating to critical legacy computer languages, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 26, 2023 

Mr. CARTWRIGHT (for himself, Ms. ADAMS, Mr. BOWMAN, Ms. LEE of California, and Mr. SOTO) introduced the following bill; which was referred 

to the Committee on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL 

To establish a program to make grants to institutions of 

higher education to provide courses relating to critical 

legacy computer languages, 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 ‘‘Grace Hopper Code 

5 for Us Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) AUTHORIZING COMMITTEES.—The term 

9 ‘‘authorizing committees’’ has the meaning given 


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1 such term in section 103 of the Higher Education 

2 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1003). 

3 (2) INFORMATION SYSTEM.—The term ‘‘infor4 mation system’’ has the meaning given the term in 

5 section 3502(8) of title 44, United States Code. 

6 (3) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

7 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 

8 meaning given the term in section 101(a) of the 

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

10 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

11 the Secretary of Education. 

12 (5) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ has the mean13 ing given the term in section 311 of title 5, United 

14 States Code. 

15 SEC. 3. REPORT CONCERNING CRITICAL LEGACY COM16 PUTER LANGUAGES USED BY FEDERAL GOV17 ERNMENT. 

18 (a) REPORT.—Not later than 90 days after the date 

19 of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of 

20 the United States shall submit to the authorizing commit21 tees a report identifying not fewer than 3 computer lan22 guages, in addition to COBOL, Assembly, and PL/I, and 

23 to be known as ‘‘critical legacy computer languages’’, that 

24 are— 


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1 (1) used by, and necessary to support the needs 

2 and national security of, the Federal Government; 

3 and 

4 (2) computer languages not commonly taught 

5 in a course at an institution of higher education. 

6 (b) PUBLICATION.—The Comptroller General shall 

7 make the report publicly available, including by publishing 

8 the report on the internet website of the Government Ac9 countability Office. 

10 SEC. 4. GRACE HOPPER SUSTAINMENT AND MODERNIZA11 TION GRANT PROGRAM. 

12 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established a pro13 gram to award grants to institutions of higher education, 

14 to be known as the ‘‘Grace Hopper Sustainment and Mod15 ernization Grant Program (in this section referred to as 

16 the ‘Program’)’’, to support the development and imple17 mentation of courses of instruction regarding maintaining, 

18 developing, and modernizing information systems utilizing 

19 critical legacy computer languages identified in the report 

20 required under section 3. 

21 (b) GRANTS.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—During fiscal year 2024 and 

23 each of the 3 succeeding fiscal years, the Secretary 

24 annually shall award grants to 5 institutions of highVerDate Sep 11 2014 17:22 Oct 28, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6075.IH H6075

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1 er education to carry out the activities described in 

2 subsection (a). 

3 (2) 2-YEAR INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDU4 CATION.—For each fiscal year, at least 2 of the 

5 grants awarded under paragraph (1) shall be award6 ed to 2-year institutions of higher education that— 

7 (A) award an associate’s degree; or 

8 (B) offer university-based continuing edu9 cation programs for information technology pro10 fessionals. 

11 (c) PRIORITIES.—When awarding grants under the 

12 Program, the Secretary will give priority to applications 

13 that— 

14 (1) demonstrate a plan to continue their efforts 

15 to carry out the activities described in subsection (a) 

16 after the end of the grant period; 

17 (2) demonstrate plans to recruit and include the 

18 participation of women and other under-represented 

19 minority groups; 

20 (3) demonstrate plans to engage with local stu21 dents in grades 6 through 12 regarding career op22 portunities relating to critical legacy languages; 

23 (4) offer scholarship or other support, which 

24 may include books and supplies (including hardware, 


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1 software, and connectivity), to students enrolled in 

2 projects supported by the Program; 

3 (5) incorporate perspectives into the challenges 

4 of modernizing legacy information technology sys5 tems from disciplines such as history, public policy, 

6 public administration, political science, business ad7 ministration, management, economics, sociology, or 

8 other humanistic or social science disciplines; 

9 (6) address the extent to which the grant recipi10 ent intends to utilize and support open source tech11 nology and other best industry practices in software 

12 development, software maintenance, and software 

13 modernization in connection with the Program; and 

14 (7) demonstrate the ability to make agreements 

15 to place students in the projects funded by the grant 

16 in paid internships or similar arrangements with 

17 Federal, State, local, or private sector organizations 

18 where they can ensure that each such student works 

19 with computer programmers in maintaining, devel20 oping, or modernizing information systems utilizing 

21 critical legacy computer languages, with a preference 

22 for such placements lasting longer than 60 days. 

23 (d) SPECIAL RULE RELATED TO GEOGRAPHY.—Re24 cipients of a grant under the Program may not be located 

25 in the same State. 


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1 (e) APPLICATION.—To be eligible to receive a grant 

2 under the Program, an institution of higher education 

3 shall submit to the Secretary an application in such form, 

4 and containing such information, as the Secretary may re5 quire. 

6 (f) GRANT AMOUNT.—The amount of a grant under 

7 this section may not exceed $5,000,000. 

8 (g) PERIOD OF A GRANT.—The period of a grant 

9 under this section may not exceed 3 years. 

10 (h) REPORTS.— 

11 (1) ANNUAL REPORTS BY INSTITUTIONS OF

12 HIGHER EDUCATION.—Each institution of higher 

13 education that receives a grant under the Program 

14 shall annually submit to the Secretary a report on 

15 the activities pursued under the Program, including 

16 to the extent practical, the employment outcomes of 

17 students who complete the program (including earn18 ings, job placement type, and employment rate). 

19 (2) ANNUAL REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—The 

20 Secretary shall annually submit to the authorizing 

21 committees a report relating to the use of grants 

22 awarded under the Program. The Secretary shall 

23 make each such report publicly available, including 

24 by publishing each such report on the internet 

25 website of the Department of Education. 


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1 (i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

2 are authorized to be appropriated $100,000,000 to carry 

3 out this section. 

Æ 


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