II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1163 

To direct the Secretary of Transportation to establish a grant program 

to increase racial and gender minority access and representation in 

the aviation workforce, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 30, 2023 

Mr. MARKEY introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Transportation to establish a 

grant program to increase racial and gender minority 

access and representation in the aviation workforce, 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 ‘‘Aviation Minority 

5 Workforce Development Act of 2023’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. GRANT PROGRAM TO INCREASE RACIAL AND GEN2 DER MINORITY ACCESS AND REPRESENTA3 TION IN THE AVIATION WORKFORCE. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 6 months after the 

5 date of enactment of this section, the Secretary of Trans6 portation shall establish a program to award grants to eli7 gible entities to increase racial and gender minority access 

8 and representation in the aviation workforce. 

9 (b) USE OF FUNDS.—Grant funds awarded under 

10 this section to an eligible entity shall be used to— 

11 (1) facilitate the creation of programs that edu12 cate and train students from under-represented ra13 cial and gender groups to participate in the aviation 

14 workforce; 

15 (2) increase access to, and the availability of, 

16 resources at existing aviation workforce programs 

17 for the express purpose of increasing representation 

18 of racial and gender minorities, including at minor19 ity serving institutions; 

20 (3) assist students from under-represented ra21 cial and gender minorities with education, appren22 ticeship, internship, transportation, and certification 

23 costs; and 

24 (4) increase outreach and recruitment to stu25 dents from racial and gender minorities who are in26 terested in working in the aviation industry. 


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1 (c) REQUIREMENT.—The Secretary shall ensure that 

2 not less than 40 percent of the total amount of funds ap3 propriated in each fiscal year to carry out this section are 

4 awarded to minority-serving institutions. 

5 (d) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 1 year 

6 after the first grant is awarded under the grant program 

7 under this section, and annually thereafter for as long as 

8 the Secretary is conducting such program, the Secretary 

9 shall submit to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 

10 Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on 

11 Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Rep12 resentatives a report that evaluates such program, includ13 ing— 

14 (1) a description of the number of grants 

15 awarded; 

16 (2) the amount of each grant; 

17 (3) the activities funded under each grant; and 

18 (4) the effectiveness of such funded activities in 

19 meeting the objective described in subsection (a). 

20 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

21 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section, 

22 $80,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2024 through 2028. 

23 (f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

24 (1) COMMUNITY COLLEGE.—The term ‘‘commu25 nity college’’ has the meaning given the term ‘‘junior 


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1 or community college’’ in section 312(f) of the High2 er Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1058(f)). 

3 (2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti4 ty’’ means— 

5 (A) a minority-serving institution; and 

6 (B) a consortium of 1 or more institutions 

7 of higher education that has a partnership with 

8 1 or more of the following entities: 

9 (i) A member of the aviation industry, 

10 such as a company or industry association. 

11 (ii) A labor-management organization. 

12 (iii) An aviation industry registered 

13 apprenticeship program. 

14 (iv) A nonprofit organization dedi15 cated to helping individuals gain employ16 ment in the aviation industry. 

17 (v) A community college or a postsec18 ondary vocational institution with experi19 ence in providing relevant education or 

20 training for individuals seeking employ21 ment in the aviation industry or a similar 

22 industry. 

23 (3) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

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


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1 meaning given that term in section 101 of the High2 er Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001). 

3 (4) MINORITY-SERVING INSTITUTION.—The 

4 term ‘‘minority-serving institution’’ means an insti5 tution described in section 371(a) of the Higher 

6 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1067q(a)). 

7 (5) POSTSECONDARY VOCATIONAL INSTITU8 TION.—The term ‘‘postsecondary vocational institu9 tion’’ has the meaning given that term in section 

10 102(c) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 

11 U.S.C. 1002(c)). 

12 (6) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

13 the Secretary of Transportation. 

Æ 


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