I 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1657 

To establish a Science and Technology Scholarship Program to award scholarships to recruit and prepare students for careers in the National Weather 

Service and in National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration marine 

research, atmospheric research, and satellite programs. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 22, 2007 

Mr. ROHRABACHER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Science and Technology 

A BILL 

To establish a Science and Technology Scholarship Program 

to award scholarships to recruit and prepare students 

for careers in the National Weather Service and in National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration marine 

research, atmospheric research, and satellite programs. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY SCHOLARSHIP 

4 PROGRAM. 

5 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator is au7 thorized to establish a Science and Technology 


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1 Scholarship Program to award scholarships to indi2 viduals that is designed to recruit and prepare stu3 dents for careers in the National Weather Service 

4 and in Administration marine research, atmospheric 

5 research, and satellite programs. 

6 (2) COMPETITIVE PROCESS.—Individuals shall 

7 be selected to receive scholarships under this section 

8 through a competitive process primarily on the basis 

9 of academic merit, with consideration given to finan10 cial need and the goal of promoting the participation 

11 of individuals identified in section 33 or 34 of the 

12 Science and Engineering Equal Opportunities Act 

13 (42 U.S.C. 1885a or 1885b). 

14 (3) SERVICE AGREEMENTS.—To carry out the 

15 scholarship program, the Administrator shall enter 

16 into contractual agreements with individuals selected 

17 under paragraph (2) under which the individuals 

18 agree to serve as full-time employees of the Adminis19 tration, for the period described in subsection (f)(1), 

20 in positions needed by the Administration in fields 

21 described in paragraph (1) and for which the indi22 viduals are qualified, in exchange for receiving a 

23 scholarship. 


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1 (b) SCHOLARSHIP ELIGIBILITY.—In order to be eligi2 ble to participate in the scholarship program, an individual 

3 shall— 

4 (1) be enrolled or accepted for enrollment as a 

5 full-time student at an institution of higher edu6 cation in an academic program or field of study de7 scribed in the list made available under subsection 

8 (d); 

9 (2) be a United States citizen or permanent 

10 resident; and 

11 (3) at the time of the initial scholarship award, 

12 not be a Federal employee as defined in section 

13 2105 of title 5 of the United States Code. 

14 (c) APPLICATION REQUIRED.—An individual seeking 

15 a scholarship under this section shall submit an applica16 tion to the Administrator at such time, in such manner, 

17 and containing such information, agreements, or assur18 ances as the Administrator may require to carry out this 

19 section. 

20 (d) ELIGIBLE ACADEMIC PROGRAMS.—The Adminis21 trator shall make publicly available a list of academic pro22 grams and fields of study for which scholarships may be 

23 utilized in fields described in subsection (a)(1), and shall 

24 update the list as necessary. 

25 (e) SCHOLARSHIP REQUIREMENT.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator may pro2 vide a scholarship under the scholarship program for 

3 an academic year if the individual applying for the 

4 scholarship has submitted to the Administrator, as 

5 part of the application required under subsection (c), 

6 a proposed academic program leading to a degree in 

7 a program or field of study on the list made avail8 able under subsection (d). 

9 (2) DURATION OF ELIGIBILITY.—An individual 

10 may not receive a scholarship under this section for 

11 more than 4 academic years, unless the Adminis12 trator grants a waiver. 

13 (3) SCHOLARSHIPAMOUNT.—The dollar 

14 amount of a scholarship under this section for an 

15 academic year shall be determined under regulations 

16 issued by the Administrator, but shall in no case ex17 ceed the cost of attendance. 

18 (4) AUTHORIZED USES.—A scholarship pro19 vided under this section may be expended for tuition, 

20 fees, and other authorized expenses as established by 

21 the Administrator by regulation. 

22 (5) CONTRACTS REGARDING DIRECT PAYMENTS

23 TO INSTITUTIONS.—The Administrator may enter 

24 into a contractual agreement with an institution of 

25 higher education under which the amounts provided 


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1 for a scholarship under this section for tuition, fees, 

2 and other authorized expenses are paid directly to 

3 the institution with respect to which the scholarship 

4 is provided. 

5 (f) PERIOD OF OBLIGATED SERVICE.— 

6 (1) DURATION OF SERVICE.—Except as pro7 vided in subsection (h)(2), the period of service for 

8 which an individual shall be obligated to serve as an 

9 employee of the Administration shall be 24 months 

10 for each academic year for which a scholarship 

11 under this section is provided. 

12 (2) SCHEDULE FOR SERVICE.— 

13 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

14 subparagraph (B), obligated service under para15 graph (1) shall begin not later than 60 days 

16 after the individual obtains the educational de17 gree for which the scholarship was provided. 

18 (B) DEFERRAL.—The Administrator may 

19 defer the obligation of an individual to provide 

20 a period of service under paragraph (1) if the 

21 Administrator determines that such a deferral 

22 is appropriate. The Administrator shall pre23 scribe the terms and conditions under which a 

24 service obligation may be deferred through reg25 ulation. 


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1 (g) PENALTIES FOR BREACH OF SCHOLARSHIP

2 AGREEMENT.— 

3 (1) FAILURE TO COMPLETE ACADEMIC TRAIN4 ING.—Scholarship recipients who fail to maintain a 

5 high level of academic standing, as defined by the 

6 Administrator by regulation, who are dismissed from 

7 their educational institutions for disciplinary rea8 sons, or who voluntarily terminate academic training 

9 before graduation from the educational program for 

10 which the scholarship was awarded, shall be in 

11 breach of their contractual agreement and, in lieu of 

12 any service obligation arising under such agreement, 

13 shall be liable to the United States for repayment 

14 not later than 1 year after the date of default of all 

15 scholarship funds paid to them and to the institution 

16 of higher education on their behalf under the agree17 ment, except as provided in subsection (h)(2). The 

18 repayment period may be extended by the Adminis19 trator when determined to be necessary, as estab20 lished by regulation. 

21 (2) FAILURE TO BEGIN OR COMPLETE THE

22 SERVICE OBLIGATION OR MEET THE TERMS AND

23 CONDITIONS OF DEFERMENT.—A scholarship recipi24 ent who, for any reason, fails to begin or complete 

25 a service obligation under this section after compleVerDate Aug 31 2005 06:35 Mar 27, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1657.IH H1657

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1 tion of academic training, or fails to comply with the 

2 terms and conditions of deferment established by the 

3 Administrator pursuant to subsection (f)(2)(B), 

4 shall be in breach of the contractual agreement. 

5 When a recipient breaches an agreement for the rea6 sons stated in the preceding sentence, the recipient 

7 shall be liable to the United States for an amount 

8 equal to— 

9 (A) the total amount of scholarships re10 ceived by such individual under this section; 

11 plus 

12 (B) the interest on the amounts of such 

13 awards which would be payable if at the time 

14 the awards were received they were loans bear15 ing interest at the maximum legal prevailing 

16 rate, as determined by the Treasurer of the 

17 United States. 

18 (h) WAIVER OR SUSPENSION OF OBLIGATION.— 

19 (1) DEATH OF INDIVIDUAL.—Any obligation of 

20 an individual incurred under the scholarship pro21 gram (or a contractual agreement thereunder) for 

22 service or payment shall be canceled upon the death 

23 of the individual. 

24 (2) IMPOSSIBILITY OR EXTREME HARDSHIP.— 

25 The Administrator shall by regulation provide for 


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1 the partial or total waiver or suspension of any obli2 gation of service or payment incurred by an indi3 vidual under the scholarship program (or a contrac4 tual agreement thereunder) whenever compliance by 

5 the individual is impossible or would involve extreme 

6 hardship to the individual, or if enforcement of such 

7 obligation with respect to the individual would be 

8 contrary to the best interests of the Government. 

9 (i) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act the following defini10 tions apply: 

11 (1) ADMINISTRATION.—The term ‘‘Administra12 tion’’ means the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

13 Administration. 

14 (2) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis15 trator’’ means the Administrator of the National 

16 Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 

17 (3) COST OF ATTENDANCE.—The term ‘‘cost of 

18 attendance’’ has the meaning given that term in sec19 tion 472 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 

20 U.S.C. 1087ll). 

21 (4) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

22 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 

23 meaning given that term in section 101(a) of the 

24 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a)). 


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1 (5) SCHOLARSHIPPROGRAM.—The term ‘‘schol2 arship program’’ means the Science and Technology 

3 Scholarship Program established under this section. 

Æ 


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