II 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3097 

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 

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’’. 

6 SEC. 2. TRANSFER OF THE FOUNDATION TO THE DEPART7 MENT OF STATE. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 204 of the Vietnam Edu9 cation Foundation Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 2452 note) is 

10 amended to read as follows: 

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1 ‘‘SEC. 204. ESTABLISHMENT. 

2 ‘‘There is established, within the Bureau of Edu3 cational and Cultural Affairs of the Department of State, 

4 the Vietnam Education Foundation (referred to in this 

5 title as the ‘Foundation’).’’. 

6 (b) REPLACEMENT OF BOARD OF DIRECTORS WITH

7 ADVISORY COMMITTEE.—Section 205 of such Act is 

8 amended to read as follows: 

9 ‘‘SEC. 205. VIETNAM EDUCATION FOUNDATION ADVISORY 

10 COMMITTEE. 

11 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There is established a Viet13 nam Education Foundation Advisory Committee (re14 ferred to in this section as the ‘Advisory Com15 mittee’), which shall provide advice to the Secretary 

16 and the Assistant Secretary for Educational and 

17 Cultural Affairs regarding the Foundation’s activi18 ties. 

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

20 shall be composed of 7 members, of whom— 

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

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

23 leader of the Senate; 

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

25 leader of the Senate; 

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

2 of the House of Representatives; and 

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

4 leader of the House of Representatives. 

5 ‘‘(3) APPOINTMENT OF INCUMBENT MEMBERS

6 OF BOARD OF DIRECTORS.—Members appointed to 

7 the Advisory Committee under paragraph (2) may 

8 include individuals who were members of the Board 

9 of Directors of the Foundation on the date imme10 diately preceding the date of the enactment of the 

11 Vietnam Education Foundation Amendments Act of 

12 2008. 

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

14 to the supervision and direction of the Secretary, working 

15 through the Assistant Secretary for Educational and Cul16 tural Affairs, and in consultation with the Advisory Com17 mittee established under subsection (a).’’. 

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

19 Act is amended— 

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

21 at institutions of higher education in the United 

22 States at graduate and post-graduate levels’’ and in23 serting ‘‘for post-secondary studies at institutions of 

24 higher education in the United States’’; 

25 (2) in paragraph (2)— 

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

2 improve’’ and inserting the following: ‘‘may in3 clude funding to— 

4 ‘‘(A) improve’’; and 

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

6 inserting the following: ‘‘; and 

7 ‘‘(B) prepare the fellowship recipient for 

8 post-secondary education in any field described 

9 in paragraph (1)(A).’’; and 

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

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

12 awarding fellowships under this subsection, the 

13 Foundation shall give priority to individuals de14 scribed in paragraph (1)(A) who are studying the 

15 basic sciences.’’. 

16 (d) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Such Act is 

17 amended— 

18 (1) in section 203— 

19 (A) by striking paragraph (1); 

20 (B) by redesignating paragraphs (2) and 

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

22 (C) by inserting after paragraph (2), as re23 designated, the following: 

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

25 the Secretary of State.’’; 

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

2 Board’’ and inserting ‘‘promulgated by the Sec3 retary’’; 

4 (3) in section 208— 

5 (A) in subsection (a)— 

6 (i) in the subsection heading, by strik7 ing ‘‘BOARD’’ and inserting ‘‘SECRETARY’’; 

8 and 

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

10 appears and inserting ‘‘Secretary’’; and 

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

12 and inserting ‘‘Secretary’’; and 

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

14 inserting ‘‘Secretary’’. 

15 (e) MUTUAL EDUCATIONAL AND CULTURAL EX16 CHANGE ACT OF 1961.—Section 112(a) of the Mutual 

17 Educational and Cultural Exchange Act of 1961 (22 

18 U.S.C. 2460(a)) is amended— 

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

20 end; 

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

22 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

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

24 ‘‘(10) programs administered by the Vietnam 

25 Education Foundation.’’. 

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1 (f) TRANSFER OF FUNCTIONS.—All functions and as2 sets of the Vietnam Education Foundation are transferred 

3 to the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the 

4 Department of State. The Assistant Secretary for Edu5 cational and Cultural Affairs may hire personnel who were 

6 employed by the Vietnam Education Foundation on the 

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

8 such other personnel as may be necessary to support the 

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

10 States Code. 

11 SEC. 3. AMERICAN RESEARCH COLLEGE IN VIETNAM. 

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

13 acting through the Assistant Secretary for Educational 

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

15 grants to institutions of higher education (as defined in 

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

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

18 partnership with the Government of the Socialist Republic 

19 of Vietnam to establish an American Research College in 

20 Vietnam. The purpose of the American Research College 

21 shall be to provide a high quality general education to Vi22 etnamese undergraduate students. 

23 (b) APPLICATION.— 

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

25 education desiring the grant under this section shall 

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1 submit an application to the Secretary of State at 

2 such time, in such manner, and accompanied by 

3 such information as the Secretary may reasonably 

4 require. 

5 (2) COMPETITIVE BASIS.—Each grant author6 ized under subsection (a) shall be awarded on a 

7 competitive basis. 

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

9 State may use funds made available to the Vietnam Edu10 cation Foundation under section 207(c) of the Vietnam 

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

12 for the grant awarded under this section. 

13 (d) LIMITATION.—The Secretary of State shall en14 courage the Government of the Socialist Republic of Viet15 nam to make an appropriate financial or in-kind contribu16 tion to establish and maintain the college established with 

17 grant funds awarded under this section. 

18 SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

19 This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall 

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

21 the enactment of this Act. 

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