II 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3701 

To provide assistance to Best Buddies to support the expansion and 

development of mentoring programs, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 19, 2008 

Mr. DODD (for himself and Mr. HATCH) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, 

Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To provide assistance to Best Buddies to support the expansion and development of mentoring programs, 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 ‘‘Best Buddies Em5 powerment for People with Intellectual Disabilities Act of 

6 2008’’. 

7 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 

8 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) Best Buddies operates the first national so2 cial and recreational program in the United States 

3 for people with intellectual disabilities. 

4 (2) Best Buddies is dedicated to helping people 

5 with intellectual disabilities become part of main6 stream society. 

7 (3) Best Buddies is determined to end social 

8 isolation for people with intellectual disabilities by 

9 establishing meaningful friendships between them 

10 and their non-disabled peers in order to help in11 crease the self-esteem, confidence, and abilities of 

12 people with and without intellectual disabilities. 

13 (4) Since 1989, Best Buddies has enhanced the 

14 lives of people with intellectual disabilities by pro15 viding opportunities for 1-to-1 friendships and inte16 grated employment. 

17 (5) Best Buddies is an international organiza18 tion spanning 1,300 middle school, high school, and 

19 college campuses. 

20 (6) Best Buddies implements programs that 

21 will positively impact more than 350,000 individuals 

22 in 2008 and expects to impact 500,000 people by 

23 2010. 

24 (7) The Best Buddies Middle Schools program 

25 matches middle school students with intellectual disVerDate Aug 31 2005 02:51 Nov 20, 2008 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3701.IS S3701

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1 abilities with other middle school students and cre2 ates 1-to-1 friendships between them. 

3 (8) The Best Buddies High Schools program 

4 matches high school students with intellectual dis5 abilities with other high school students and creates 

6 1-to-1 friendships between them. 

7 (9) The Best Buddies Colleges program 

8 matches adults with intellectual disabilities with col9 lege students and creates 1-to-1 friendships between 

10 them. 

11 (10) The Best Buddies e-Buddies program cre12 ates e-mail friendships between people with and 

13 without intellectual disabilities. 

14 (11) The Best Buddies Citizens program pairs 

15 adults with intellectual disabilities in 1-to-1 friend16 ships with other individuals in the corporate and 

17 civic communities. 

18 (12) The Best Buddies Jobs program promotes 

19 the integration of people with intellectual disabilities 

20 into the community through supported employment. 

21 (b) PURPOSE.—The purposes of this Act are to— 

22 (1) provide support to Best Buddies to increase 

23 participation in and public awareness about Best 

24 Buddies programs that serve people with intellectual 

25 disabilities; 


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1 (2) dispel negative stereotypes about people 

2 with intellectual disabilities; and 

3 (3) promote the extraordinary gifts of people 

4 with intellectual disabilities. 

5 SEC. 3. ASSISTANCE FOR BEST BUDDIES. 

6 (a) EDUCATION ACTIVITIES.—The Secretary of Edu7 cation may award grants to, or enter into contracts or co8 operative agreements with, Best Buddies to carry out ac9 tivities to promote the expansion of Best Buddies, includ10 ing activities to increase the participation of people with 

11 intellectual disabilities in social relationships and other as12 pects of community life, including education and employ13 ment, within the United States. 

14 (b) LIMITATIONS.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—Amounts appropriated to 

16 carry out this Act may not be used for direct treat17 ment of diseases, medical conditions, or mental 

18 health conditions. 

19 (2) ADMINISTRATIVE ACTIVITIES.—Not more 

20 than 5 percent of amounts appropriated to carry out 

21 this Act for a fiscal year may be used for adminis22 trative activities. 

23 (c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this Act 

24 shall be construed to limit the use of non-Federal funds 

25 by Best Buddies. 


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1 SEC. 4. APPLICATION AND ANNUAL REPORT. 

2 (a) APPLICATION.— 

3 (1) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible for a grant, 

4 contract, or cooperative agreement under section 

5 3(a), Best Buddies shall submit an application at 

6 such time, in such manner, and containing such in7 formation as the Secretary of Education may re8 quire. 

9 (2) CONTENT.—At a minimum, an application 

10 under this subsection shall contain the following: 

11 (A) A description of activities to be carried 

12 out under the grant, contract, or cooperative 

13 agreement. 

14 (B) Information on specific measurable 

15 goals and objectives to be achieved through ac16 tivities carried out under the grant, contract, or 

17 cooperative agreement. 

18 (b) ANNUAL REPORT.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—As a condition of receipt of 

20 any funds under section 3(a), Best Buddies shall 

21 agree to submit an annual report at such time, in 

22 such manner, and containing such information as 

23 the Secretary of Education may require. 

24 (2) CONTENT.—At a minimum, each annual re25 port under this subsection shall describe the degree 

26 to which progress has been made toward meeting the 


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1 specific measurable goals and objectives described in 

2 the applications submitted under subsection (a). 

3 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

4 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Sec5 retary of Education for grants, contracts, or cooperative 

6 agreements under section 3(a), $10,000,000 for fiscal year 

7 2009, and such sums as may be necessary for each of the 

8 4 succeeding fiscal years. 

Æ 


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