II 

Calendar No. 957 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3097 

[Report No. 110–458] 

To amend the Vietnam Education Foundation Act of 2000. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 6, 2008 

Mr. KERRY (for himself, Mr. HAGEL, Mr. BIDEN, and Mr. LUGAR) introduced 

the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee 

on Foreign Relations 

SEPTEMBER 12, 2008 

Reported by Mr. BIDEN, without amendment 

A BILL 

To amend the Vietnam Education Foundation Act of 2000. 

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 ‘‘Vietnam Education 

5 Foundation Amendments Act of 2008’’. 


hsrobinson on PROD1PC76 with BILLS
2 

•S 3097 RS

1 SEC. 2. TRANSFER OF THE FOUNDATION TO THE DEPART2 MENT OF STATE. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 204 of the Vietnam Edu4 cation Foundation Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 2452 note) is 

5 amended to read as follows: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 204. ESTABLISHMENT. 

7 ‘‘There is established, within the Bureau of Edu8 cational and Cultural Affairs of the Department of State, 

9 the Vietnam Education Foundation (referred to in this 

10 title as the ‘Foundation’).’’. 

11 (b) REPLACEMENT OF BOARD OF DIRECTORS WITH

12 ADVISORY COMMITTEE.—Section 205 of such Act is 

13 amended to read as follows: 

14 ‘‘SEC. 205. VIETNAM EDUCATION FOUNDATION ADVISORY 

15 COMMITTEE. 

16 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There is established a Viet18 nam Education Foundation Advisory Committee (re19 ferred to in this section as the ‘Advisory Com20 mittee’), which shall provide advice to the Secretary 

21 and the Assistant Secretary for Educational and 

22 Cultural Affairs regarding the Foundation’s activi23 ties. 

24 ‘‘(2) MEMBERSHIP.—The Advisory Committee 

25 shall be composed of 7 members, of whom— 

26 ‘‘(A) 3 shall be appointed by the Secretary; 


hsrobinson on PROD1PC76 with BILLS
3 

•S 3097 RS

1 ‘‘(B) 1 shall be appointed by the majority 

2 leader of the Senate; 

3 ‘‘(C) 1 shall be appointed by the minority 

4 leader of the Senate; 

5 ‘‘(D) 1 shall be appointed by the Speaker 

6 of the House of Representatives; and 

7 ‘‘(E) 1 shall be appointed by the minority 

8 leader of the House of Representatives. 

9 ‘‘(3) APPOINTMENT OF INCUMBENT MEMBERS

10 OF BOARD OF DIRECTORS.—Members appointed to 

11 the Advisory Committee under paragraph (2) may 

12 include individuals who were members of the Board 

13 of Directors of the Foundation on the date imme14 diately preceding the date of the enactment of the 

15 Vietnam Education Foundation Amendments Act of 

16 2008. 

17 ‘‘(b) SUPERVISION.—The Foundation shall be subject 

18 to the supervision and direction of the Secretary, working 

19 through the Assistant Secretary for Educational and Cul20 tural Affairs, and in consultation with the Advisory Com21 mittee established under subsection (a).’’. 

22 (c) FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM.—Section 206(a) of such 

23 Act is amended— 

24 (1) in paragraph (1)(A), by striking ‘‘to study 

25 at institutions of higher education in the United 


hsrobinson on PROD1PC76 with BILLS
4 

•S 3097 RS

1 States at graduate and post-graduate levels’’ and in2 serting ‘‘for post-secondary studies at institutions of 

3 higher education in the United States’’; 

4 (2) in paragraph (2)— 

5 (A) by striking ‘‘may include funding to 

6 improve’’ and inserting the following: ‘‘may in7 clude funding to— 

8 ‘‘(A) improve’’; and 

9 (B) by striking the period at the end and 

10 inserting the following: ‘‘; and 

11 ‘‘(B) prepare the fellowship recipient for 

12 post-secondary education in any field described 

13 in paragraph (1)(A).’’; and 

14 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

15 ‘‘(3) PRIORITY FOR BASIC SCIENCES.—In 

16 awarding fellowships under this subsection, the 

17 Foundation shall give priority to individuals de18 scribed in paragraph (1)(A) who are studying the 

19 basic sciences.’’. 

20 (d) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Such Act is 

21 amended— 

22 (1) in section 203— 

23 (A) by striking paragraph (1); 

24 (B) by redesignating paragraphs (2) and 

25 (3) as paragraphs (1) and (2), respectively; and 


hsrobinson on PROD1PC76 with BILLS
5 

•S 3097 RS

1 (C) by inserting after paragraph (2), as re2 designated, the following: 

3 ‘‘(3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘Secretary’ means 

4 the Secretary of State.’’; 

5 (2) in section 206(e), by striking ‘‘of the 

6 Board’’ and inserting ‘‘promulgated by the Sec7 retary’’; 

8 (3) in section 208— 

9 (A) in subsection (a)— 

10 (i) in the subsection heading, by strik11 ing ‘‘BOARD’’ and inserting ‘‘SECRETARY’’; 

12 and 

13 (ii) by striking ‘‘Board’’ each place it 

14 appears and inserting ‘‘Secretary’’; and 

15 (B) in subsection (d), by striking ‘‘Board’’ 

16 and inserting ‘‘Secretary’’; and 

17 (4) in section 209(b), by striking ‘‘Board’’ and 

18 inserting ‘‘Secretary’’. 

19 (e) MUTUAL EDUCATIONAL AND CULTURAL EX20 CHANGE ACT OF 1961.—Section 112(a) of the Mutual 

21 Educational and Cultural Exchange Act of 1961 (22 

22 U.S.C. 2460(a)) is amended— 

23 (1) in paragraph (8), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

24 end; 


hsrobinson on PROD1PC76 with BILLS
6 

•S 3097 RS

1 (2) in paragraph (9), by striking the period at 

2 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

3 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘(10) programs administered by the Vietnam 

5 Education Foundation.’’. 

6 (f) TRANSFER OF FUNCTIONS.—All functions and as7 sets of the Vietnam Education Foundation are transferred 

8 to the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the 

9 Department of State. The Assistant Secretary for Edu10 cational and Cultural Affairs may hire personnel who were 

11 employed by the Vietnam Education Foundation on the 

12 date before the date of the enactment of this Act, and 

13 such other personnel as may be necessary to support the 

14 Foundation, in accordance with part III of title 5, United 

15 States Code. 

16 SEC. 3. AMERICAN RESEARCH COLLEGE IN VIETNAM. 

17 (a) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary of State, 

18 acting through the Assistant Secretary for Educational 

19 and Cultural Affairs, is authorized to award 1 or more 

20 grants to institutions of higher education (as defined in 

21 section 101(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 

22 U.S.C. 1001(a))), which shall be used to participate in a 

23 partnership with the Government of the Socialist Republic 

24 of Vietnam to establish an American Research College in 

25 Vietnam. The purpose of the American Research College 


hsrobinson on PROD1PC76 with BILLS
7 

•S 3097 RS

1 shall be to provide a high quality general education to Vi2 etnamese undergraduate students. 

3 (b) APPLICATION.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each institution of higher 

5 education desiring the grant under this section shall 

6 submit an application to the Secretary of State at 

7 such time, in such manner, and accompanied by 

8 such information as the Secretary may reasonably 

9 require. 

10 (2) COMPETITIVE BASIS.—Each grant author11 ized under subsection (a) shall be awarded on a 

12 competitive basis. 

13 (c) SOURCE OF GRANT FUNDS.—The Secretary of 

14 State may use funds made available to the Vietnam Edu15 cation Foundation under section 207(c) of the Vietnam 

16 Education Foundation Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 2452 note) 

17 for the grant awarded under this section. 

18 (d) LIMITATION.—The Secretary of State shall en19 courage the Government of the Socialist Republic of Viet20 nam to make an appropriate financial or in-kind contribu21 tion to establish and maintain the college established with 

22 grant funds awarded under this section. 


hsrobinson on PROD1PC76 with BILLS
8 

•S 3097 RS

1 SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

2 This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall 

3 take effect on the date that is 90 days after the date of 

4 the enactment of this Act. 


hsrobinson on PROD1PC76 with BILLS

hsrobinson on PROD1PC76 with BILLS
Calendar No. 957 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3097 

[Report No. 110–458] 

A BILL 

To amend the Vietnam Education Foundation Act 

of 2000. 

SEPTEMBER 12, 2008 

Reported without amendment 


hsrobinson on PROD1PC76 with BILLS