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107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1420

To establish the Bill Emerson and Mickey Leland memorial fellowship

programs, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

APRIL 4, 2001

Mr. HALL of Ohio (for himself, Mr. WOLF, Mrs. EMERSON, Mrs. CLAYTON,

and Mr. GOODLATTE) introduced the following bill; which was referred

to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committee on

International Relations, for a period to be subsequently determined by the

Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within

the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

A BILL

To establish the Bill Emerson and Mickey Leland memorial

fellowship 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; FINDINGS.

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the

5 ‘‘Congressional Hunger Fellows Act of 2001’’.

6 (b) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds as follows:

7 (1) There is a critical need for compassionate

8 individuals who are committed to assisting people
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1 who suffer from hunger as well as a need for such

2 individuals to initiate and administer solutions to the

3 hunger problem.

4 (2) Bill Emerson, the distinguished late Rep5 resentative from the 8th District of Missouri, dem6 onstrated his commitment to solving the problem of

7 hunger in a bipartisan manner, his commitment to

8 public service, and his great affection for the institu9 tion and the ideals of the United States Congress.

10 (3) George T. (Mickey) Leland, the distin11 guished late Representative from the 18th District

12 of Texas, demonstrated his compassion for those in

13 need, his high regard for public service, and his live14 ly exercise of political talents.

15 (4) The special concern that Mr. Emerson and

16 Mr. Leland demonstrated during their lives for the

17 hungry and poor was an inspiration for others to

18 work toward the goals of equality and justice for all.

19 (5) These two outstanding leaders maintained a

20 special bond of friendship regardless of political af21 filiation and worked together to encourage future

22 leaders to recognize and provide service to others,

23 and therefore it is especially appropriate to honor

24 the memory of Mr. Emerson and Mr. Leland by cre25 ating a fellowship program to develop and train the
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1 future leaders of the United States to pursue careers

2 in humanitarian service.

3 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT; BOARD OF TRUSTEES.

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is established as an inde5 pendent entity of the legislative branch of the United

6 States Government the Congressional Hunger Fellows

7 Program (hereinafter in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Pro8 gram’’).

9 (b) BOARD OF TRUSTEES.—The Program shall be

10 subject to the supervision and direction of a Board of

11 Trustees.

12 (1) APPOINTMENT.—The Board shall be com13 posed of 6 voting members appointed under sub14 paragraph (A) and 1 nonvoting ex officio member

15 designated in subparagraph (B) as follows:

16 (A) VOTING MEMBERS.—(i) The Speaker

17 of the House of Representatives shall appoint 2

18 members.

19 (ii) The minority leader of the House of

20 Representatives shall appoint 1 member.

21 (iii) The majority leader of the Senate

22 shall appoint 2 members.

23 (iv) The minority leader of the Senate shall

24 appoint 1 member.
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1 (B) NONVOTING MEMBER.—The Executive

2 Director of the Program shall serve as a non3 voting ex officio member of the Board.

4 (2) TERMS.—Members of the Board shall serve

5 a term of 4 years.

6 (3) VACANCY.—

7 (A) AUTHORITY OF BOARD.—A vacancy in

8 the membership of the Board does not affect

9 the power of the remaining members to carry

10 out this Act.

11 (B) APPOINTMENT OF SUCCESSORS.—A

12 vacancy in the membership of the Board shall

13 be filled in the manner in which the original ap14 pointment was made.

15 (C) INCOMPLETE TERM.—If a member of

16 the Board does not serve the full term applica17 ble to the member, the individual appointed to

18 fill the resulting vacancy shall be appointed for

19 the remainder of the term of the predecessor of

20 the individual.

21 (4) CHAIRPERSON.—As the first order of busi22 ness of the first meeting of the Board, the members

23 shall elect a Chairperson.

24 (5) COMPENSATION.—
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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara2 graph (B), members of the Board may not re3 ceive compensation for service on the Board.

4 (B) TRAVEL.—Members of the Board may

5 be reimbursed for travel, subsistence, and other

6 necessary expenses incurred in carrying out the

7 duties of the Program.

8 SEC. 3. PURPOSES; AUTHORITY OF PROGRAM.

9 (a) PURPOSES.—The purposes of the Program are—

10 (1) to encourage future leaders of the United

11 States to pursue careers in humanitarian service, to

12 recognize the needs of people who are hungry and

13 poor, and to provide assistance and compassion for

14 those in need;

15 (2) to increase awareness of the importance of

16 public service; and

17 (3) to provide training and development oppor18 tunities for such leaders.

19 (b) AUTHORITY.—The Program is authorized to de20 velop such fellowships, activities, and services to carry out

21 the purposes of this Act, including the fellowships de22 scribed in subsection (c).

23 (c) FELLOWSHIPS.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Program shall establish

2 and carry out the Bill Emerson Hunger Fellowship

3 and the Mickey Leland Hunger Fellowship.

4 (2) CURRICULUM.—

5 (A) IN GENERAL.—The fellowships estab6 lished under paragraph (1) shall provide edu7 cation and training to develop the skills and un8 derstanding necessary to improve the humani9 tarian conditions and the lives of individuals

10 who suffer from hunger, including—

11 (i) training in direct service to the

12 hungry in conjunction with community13 based organizations through a program of

14 field placement; and

15 (ii) experience in policy development

16 through placement in a governmental enti17 ty or nonprofit organization.

18 (B) FOCUS OF BILL EMERSON HUNGER

19 FELLOWSHIP.—The Bill Emerson Hunger Fel20 lowship shall address hunger and other humani21 tarian needs in the United States.

22 (C) FOCUS OF MICKEY LELAND HUNGER

23 FELLOWSHIP.—The Mickey Leland Hunger

24 Fellowship shall address international hunger

25 and other humanitarian needs.
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1 (3) PERIOD OF FELLOWSHIP.—A fellowship

2 awarded under this subsection shall be for a period

3 of not less than 12 months and not more than 24

4 months.

5 (4) SELECTION OF FELLOWS.—

6 (A) IN GENERAL.—A fellowship shall be

7 awarded pursuant to a nationwide competition

8 established by the Program.

9 (B) QUALIFICATION.—A successful appli10 cant shall be an individual who has dem11 onstrated both a desire to pursue a career in

12 humanitarian service and outstanding potential

13 for such a career.

14 (C) AMOUNT OF AWARD.—Each individual

15 awarded a fellowship under this subsection shall

16 receive an educational award and living allow17 ance as determined by the Program.

18 (D) RECOGNITION OF FELLOWSHIP

19 AWARD.—

20 (i) EMERSON FELLOW.—An individual

21 awarded a fellowship from the Bill Emer22 son Hunger Fellowship shall be known as

23 an ‘‘Emerson Fellow’’.

24 (ii) LELAND FELLOW.—An individual

25 awarded a fellowship from the Mickey Le-
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1 land Hunger Fellowship shall be known as

2 a ‘‘Leland Fellow’’.

3 (d) EVALUATION.—The Program shall conduct peri4 odic evaluations of the Bill Emerson and Mickey Leland

5 Hunger Fellowships.

6 SEC. 4. TRUST FUND.

7 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established the Con8 gressional Hunger Fellows Trust Fund (hereinafter in this

9 Act referred to as the ‘‘Fund’’) in the Treasury of the

10 United States, consisting of amounts appropriated to the

11 Fund under section 7(a), amounts credited to it under

12 subsection (c), and amounts received under section

13 6(c)(2).

14 (b) INVESTMENT OF FUNDS.—The Secretary of the

15 Treasury shall invest the full amount of the Fund. Each

16 investment shall be made in an interest bearing obligation

17 of the United States or an obligation guaranteed as to

18 principal and interest by the United States that, as deter19 mined by the Secretary in consultation with the Board,

20 has a maturity suitable for the Fund.

21 (c) RETURN ON INVESTMENT.—Except as provided

22 in section 5(a), the Secretary of the Treasury shall credit

23 to the Fund the interest on, and the proceeds from sale

24 or redemption of, obligations held in the Fund.
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1 SEC. 5. EXPENDITURES; AUDITS.

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Treasury

3 shall transfer to the Program from the amounts described

4 in section 4(c) and section 6(c)(2) such sums as the Board

5 determines are necessary to enable the Program to carry

6 out the provisions of this Act.

7 (b) LIMITATION.—The Secretary may not transfer to

8 the Program the amounts appropriated to the Fund under

9 section 7(a).

10 (c) AUDIT BY GAO.—

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Comptroller General of

12 the United States shall conduct an annual audit of

13 the accounts of the Program.

14 (2) BOOKS.—The Program shall make available

15 to the Comptroller General all books, accounts, fi16 nancial records, reports, files, and all other papers,

17 things, or property belonging to or in use by the

18 Program and necessary to facilitate such audit.

19 (3) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The Comptroller

20 General shall submit a copy of the results of each

21 such audit to the Congress.

22 SEC. 6. STAFF; POWERS OF PROGRAM.

23 (a) EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR.—

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Board shall appoint an

25 Executive Director of the Program who shall admin26 ister the Program. The Executive Director shall
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1 carry out such other functions consistent with the

2 provisions of this Act as the Board shall prescribe.

3 (2) RESTRICTION.—The Executive Director

4 may not serve as Chairperson of the Board.

5 (3) COMPENSATION.—The Executive Director

6 shall be paid at a rate not to exceed the rate of basic

7 pay payable for level III of the Executive Schedule

8 under section 5314 of title 5, United States Code.

9 (b) STAFF.—

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—With the approval of a ma11 jority of the Board, the Executive Director may ap12 point and fix the pay of additional personnel as the

13 Executive Director considers necessary and appro14 priate to carry out the functions of the provisions of

15 this Act.

16 (2) COMPENSATION.—An individual appointed

17 under paragraph (1) shall be paid at a rate not to

18 exceed the rate of basic pay payable for level GS–

19 15 of the General Schedule.

20 (c) POWERS.—In order to carry out the provisions

21 of this Act, the Program may perform the following func22 tions:

23 (1) GIFTS.—The Program may accept, use, and

24 dispose of gifts, bequests, or devises of services or

25 property, both real and personal, for the purpose of
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1 aiding or facilitating the work of the Program. Gifts,

2 bequests, or devises of money and proceeds from

3 sales of other property received as gifts, bequests, or

4 devises shall be deposited in the Fund and shall be

5 available for disbursement upon order of the Board.

6 (2) EXPERTS AND CONSULTANTS.—The Pro7 gram may procure temporary and intermittent serv8 ices under section 3109 of title 5, United States

9 Code, but at rates for individuals not to exceed the

10 daily equivalent of the maximum annual rate of

11 basic pay payable for GS–15 of the General Sched12 ule.

13 (3) CONTRACT AUTHORITY.—The Program may

14 contract with and compensate government and pri15 vate agencies or persons without regard to section

16 3709 of the Revised Statutes (41 U.S.C. 5).

17 (4) OTHER NECESSARY EXPENDITURES.—The

18 Program shall make such other expenditures which

19 the Program considers necessary to carry out the

20 provisions of this Act.

21 SEC. 7. REPORT.

22 Not later than December 31 of each year, the Board

23 shall submit to Secretary of Agriculture and to Congress

24 a report on the activities of the Program carried out dur25 ing the previous fiscal year.
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1 SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

2 There are authorized to be appropriated $18,000,000

3 to carry out the provisions of this Act.

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