II 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2865 

To reauthorize the Congressional Award Act (2 U.S.C. 801 et seq.), and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 10, 2009 

Mr. LIEBERMAN (for himself and Ms. COLLINS) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To reauthorize the Congressional Award Act (2 U.S.C. 801 

et seq.), 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 ‘‘Congressional Award 

5 Program Reauthorization Act of 2009’’. 

6 SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL AWARD PROGRAM. 

7 (a) IMPLEMENTATION AND PRESENTATION.—Section 

8 102 of the Congressional Award Act (2 U.S.C. 802) is 

9 amended— 


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1 (1) in the matter following subsection (b)(5), by 

2 striking ‘‘under paragraph (3)’’; and 

3 (2) in subsection (c), in the second sentence, by 

4 striking ‘‘during’’ and inserting ‘‘in connection 

5 with’’. 

6 (b) TERMS OF APPOINTMENT AND REAPPOINT7 MENTS.—Section 103 of the Congressional Award Act (2 

8 U.S.C. 803) is amended by striking subsection (b) and in9 serting the following: 

10 ‘‘(b) TERMS OF APPOINTED MEMBERS; REAPPOINT11 MENT.— 

12 ‘‘(1) Appointed members of the Board shall 

13 continue to serve at the pleasure of the officer by 

14 whom they are appointed, and (unless reappointed 

15 under paragraph (2)) shall serve for a term of 4 

16 years. 

17 ‘‘(2)(A) Subject to the limitations in subpara18 graph (B), members of the Board may be re19 appointed, except that no member may serve more 

20 than 2 full consecutive terms. Members may be re21 appointed to 2 full consecutive terms after being ap22 pointed to fill a vacancy on the Board. 

23 ‘‘(B) Members of the Board shall not be subject 

24 to the limitation on reappointment in subparagraph 

25 (A) during their period of service as Chairman of 


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1 the Board and may be reappointed to an additional 

2 full term after termination of such Chairmanship. 

3 ‘‘(3)(A) Notwithstanding paragraph (1) or (2), 

4 the term of each member of the Board shall begin 

5 on October 1 of the even numbered year which 

6 would otherwise apply with one-half of the Board po7 sitions having terms which begin in each even num8 bered year. 

9 ‘‘(B) Subparagraph (A) shall apply to appoint10 ments made to the Board on or after the date of en11 actment of the Congressional Award Program Reau12 thorization Act of 2009.’’. 

13 (c) REQUIREMENTS REGARDING FINANCIAL OPER14 ATIONS.—Section 104(c) of the Congressional Award Act 

15 (2 U.S.C. 804(c)) is amended— 

16 (1) in paragraph (1), in the third sentence, by 

17 striking ‘‘, in any calendar year,’’ and inserting ‘‘in 

18 any fiscal year’’; and 

19 (2) by striking paragraph (2) and inserting the 

20 following 

21 ‘‘(2)(A) The Comptroller General of the United 

22 States shall determine for each fiscal year whether 

23 the Director has substantially complied with para24 graph (1). The findings made by the Comptroller 

25 General under the preceding sentence shall be inVerDate Nov 24 2008 00:18 Dec 11, 2009 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2865.IS S2865

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1 cluded in the reports submitted under section 

2 107(b). 

3 ‘‘(B) If the Director fails to substantially com4 ply with paragraph (1), the Board shall instruct the 

5 Director to take such actions as may be necessary 

6 to correct such deficiencies, and shall remove and re7 place the Director if such deficiencies are not 

8 promptly corrected.’’. 

9 (d) FUNDING AND EXPENDITURES.—Section 106(a) 

10 of the Congressional Award Act (2 U.S.C. 806(a)) is 

11 amended by striking paragraph (1) and inserting the fol12 lowing: 

13 ‘‘(1) the Board shall carry out its functions and 

14 make expenditures with— 

15 ‘‘(A) such resources as are available to the 

16 Board from sources other than the Federal 

17 Government; and 

18 ‘‘(B) funds awarded in any grant program 

19 administered by a Federal agency in accordance 

20 with the law establishing that grant program.’’. 

21 (e) STATEWIDE CONGRESSIONAL AWARD COUN22 CILS.—Section 106(c) of the Congressional Award Act (2 

23 U.S.C. 806(c)) is amended by striking paragraph (4) and 

24 inserting the following: 


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1 ‘‘(4) Each Statewide Council established under 

2 this section may receive contributions, and use such 

3 contributions for the purposes of the Program. The 

4 Board shall adopt appropriate financial management 

5 methods in order to ensure the proper accounting of 

6 these funds. Each Statewide Council shall comply 

7 with subsections (a), (d), (e), and (h) governing the 

8 Board.’’. 

9 (f) CONTRACTING AND USE OF FUNDS FOR SCHOL10 ARSHIPS.—Section 106 of the Congressional Award Act 

11 (2 U.S.C. 806) is amended— 

12 (1) in subsection (d), by inserting ‘‘to be’’ after 

13 ‘‘expenditure is’’; and 

14 (2) in subsection (e)(1)(A), by inserting ‘‘or for 

15 scholarships’’ after ‘‘local program’’. 

16 (g) NONPROFIT CORPORATION.—Section 106 of the 

17 Congressional Award Act (2 U.S.C. 806) is amended by 

18 striking subsection (i) and inserting the following: 

19 ‘‘(i)(1) The Board shall provide for the incorporation 

20 of a nonprofit corporation to be known as the Congres21 sional Award Foundation (together with any subsidiary 

22 nonprofit corporations determined desirable by the Board, 

23 collectively referred to in this title as the ‘Corporation’) 

24 for the sole purpose of assisting the Board to carry out 

25 the Congressional Award Program, and shall delegate to 


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1 the Corporation such duties as it considers appropriate, 

2 including the employment of personnel, expenditure of 

3 funds, and the incurrence of financial or other contractual 

4 obligations. 

5 ‘‘(2) The articles of incorporation of the Congres6 sional Award Foundation shall provide that— 

7 ‘‘(A) the members of the Board of Directors of 

8 the Foundation shall be the members of the Board, 

9 with up to 24 additional voting members appointed 

10 by the Board, and the Director who shall serve as 

11 a nonvoting member; and 

12 ‘‘(B) the extent of the authority of the Founda13 tion shall be the same as that of the Board. 

14 ‘‘(3) No director, officer, or employee of any corpora15 tion established under this subsection may receive com16 pensation, travel expenses, or benefits from both the Cor17 poration and the Board.’’. 

18 (h) TERMINATION.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 108 of the Congres20 sional Award Act (2 U.S.C. 808) is amended by 

21 striking ‘‘October 1, 2009’’ and inserting ‘‘October 

22 1, 2013’’. 

23 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This subsection shall 

24 take effect as of October 1, 2009. 

Æ 


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