I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 512 

To encourage students from American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the 

Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, and the United States Virgin Islands 

to become civically engaged through local and Federal Government fellowships. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 5, 2013 

Mr. SABLAN (for himself, Ms. BORDALLO, Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA, and Mrs. 

CHRISTENSEN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To encourage students from American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, and 

the United States Virgin Islands to become civically engaged through local and Federal Government fellowships. 

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 referred to as the ‘‘Dr. Rita Hocog 

5 Inos Territorial Fellowship Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM FOR STUDENTS FROM 

2 AMERICAN SAMOA, THE COMMONWEALTH OF 

3 THE NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS, GUAM, 

4 AND THE UNITED STATES VIRGIN ISLANDS. 

5 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM.— 

6 To encourage civic engagement among students from 

7 American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern 

8 Mariana Islands, Guam, and the United States Virgin Is9 lands, the Secretary of the Interior shall carry out a pro10 gram, to be known as the ‘‘Dr. Rita Hocog Inos Terri11 torial Fellowship Program’’, to award local and Federal 

12 Government fellowships to qualified students from those 

13 territories, subject to the availability of amounts described 

14 in subsection (i). 

15 (b) TYPES OF FELLOWSHIP.—The fellowships that 

16 may be awarded under the program are as follows: 

17 (1) A local government fellowship with a co18 operating agency or entity of the territory in which 

19 the qualified student is domiciled. 

20 (2) A Federal Government fellowship with a co21 operating— 

22 (A) Executive agency (as defined in section 

23 105 of title 5, United States Code); or 

24 (B) office of a Representative or Senator 

25 in, or a Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, 

26 the Congress. 


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1 (c) QUALIFIED STUDENT.—For purposes of this sec2 tion, the term ‘‘qualified student’’ means a student who 

3 is— 

4 (1) a citizen of the United States; 

5 (2) domiciled in American Samoa, the Common6 wealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, or 

7 the United States Virgin Islands; and 

8 (3) enrolled in a degree or certificate program 

9 at an institution of higher education (as defined in 

10 section 101 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 

11 (20 U.S.C. 1001)). 

12 (d) TERM OF FELLOWSHIP.—The term of a fellow13 ship under the program shall be an academic semester or 

14 a summer, as designated by the Secretary. 

15 (e) FELLOWSHIP AWARD.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—Under the program, a fel17 lowship award shall consist of either a stipend de18 scribed in paragraph (2) or academic credit toward 

19 graduation. Such award may also include a travel 

20 stipend of not more than $1,500 for each fellowship 

21 term, based on the distance of the student awarded 

22 the fellowship from the site of the fellowship. 

23 (2) STIPEND.—Subject to paragraph (3), a sti24 pend described in this paragraph is as follows: 


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1 (A) $6,000 for an academic semester fel2 lowship. 

3 (B) $4,000 for a summer fellowship. 

4 (3) FISCAL YEARS AFTER 2013.—In the case of 

5 any fiscal year beginning after September 30, 2013, 

6 each dollar amount in paragraph (2) shall be such 

7 dollar amount in effect for the preceding fiscal year, 

8 increased by the sum of— 

9 (A) the percentage of the dollar amount in 

10 effect for such preceding fiscal year that is 

11 equal to the percentage (if any) by which— 

12 (i) the Consumer Price Index for the 

13 most recent calendar year ending prior to 

14 the beginning of the fiscal year, exceeds 

15 (ii) the Consumer Price Index for the 

16 next previous calendar year; plus 

17 (B) one percent of the dollar amount in ef18 fect for such previous year. 

19 (f) APPLICATION AND SELECTION.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall develop 

21 and administer an application and selection process 

22 for awarding a fellowship under the program. 

23 (2) PRIORITY.—In awarding a fellowship under 

24 the program, the Secretary shall give priority to a 


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1 qualified student who has already completed one 

2 such fellowship. 

3 (3) LIMITATION ON NUMBER OF FELLOWSHIPS

4 AWARDED TO EACH STUDENT.—Under the program, 

5 a qualified student may be awarded no more than— 

6 (A) one local government fellowship; and 

7 (B) one Federal Government fellowship. 

8 (g) REPORTING.—The Secretary shall submit to Con9 gress, not later than 3 years after the date of the enact10 ment of this Act, a report on the Dr. Rita Hocog Inos 

11 Territorial Fellowship Program. The report shall include 

12 information on— 

13 (1) the use of funds appropriated for the pur14 pose of carrying out the program; and 

15 (2) barriers to participation in the program. 

16 (h) OTHER DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

17 (1) The term ‘‘Consumer Price Index’’ means 

18 the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers 

19 published by the Department of Labor. 

20 (2) The term ‘‘program’’ means the Dr. Rita 

21 Hocog Inos Territorial Fellowship Program. 

22 (3) The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary 

23 of the Interior. 

24 (i) FUNDING.—To carry out the fellowship program, 

25 the Secretary may use amounts appropriated to the DeVerDate Mar 15 2010 22:54 Feb 12, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H512.IH H512

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1 partment of the Interior for technical assistance to terri2 tories under the heading ‘‘ASSISTANCE TO TERRITORIES’’ 

3 in an appropriation Act for the Department of the Interior 

4 for fiscal year 2013 or any subsequent fiscal year. The 

5 Secretary may use no other amounts for such purpose. 

Æ 


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