I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3054 

To establish a grant program in the Department of Labor to assist 

unemployed and under employed workers following the COVID–19 pandemic. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 7, 2021 

Mr. LIEU (for himself and Ms. LEGER FERNANDEZ) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor, and 

in addition to the Committee on House Administration, 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 a grant program in the Department of Labor 

to assist unemployed and under employed workers following the COVID–19 pandemic. 

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 ‘‘21st Century Federal 

5 Writers’ Project Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) In 1935, during the Great Depression, 

2 President Franklin Delano Roosevelt established 

3 The Federal Writers’ Project of the New Deal Era. 

4 This program was organized to employ writers, edi5 tors, historians, researchers, journalists, librarians, 

6 broadcasters, photographers, and others to document 

7 American society. 

8 (2) The Federal Writers Project employed up to 

9 10,000 people between its founding in 1935 during 

10 the Great Depression and the publication of its first 

11 guides in 1943. 

12 (3) The original Federal Writers’ Project had 

13 many successes, such as— 

14 (A) the American Guide Series, which cov15 ered 48 States, 40 cities, 18 regions and terri16 tories and countless counties, with John 

17 Steinbeck calling the Series, ‘‘the most com18 prehensive account of the United States ever 

19 got together, and nothing since has even ap20 proached it. It was compiled during the depres21 sion by the best writers in America’’; 

22 (B) creating opportunities for writers who 

23 went on to become some of America’s greatest 

24 authors, including Ralph Ellison, Richard 

25 Wright, Saul Bellow, and Zora Neale Hurston; 


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1 (C) developing the Slave Narrative Project, 

2 the largest project to document the experience 

3 of formerly enslaved people, which included oral 

4 histories and photography telling the story of 

5 10,000 Americans in 17 States; 

6 (D) creating over 1,000 books and pam7 phlets covering local and regional histories, folk8 lore collections, humor, ethnic studies, and na9 ture studies. 

10 (4) The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the 

11 decline of local newspapers and other local news out12 lets, with more than 60 local newsrooms closing over 

13 the course of 2020 and other newsrooms enduring 

14 cutbacks. More than 200 counties have no daily or 

15 weekly newspaper and 68 percent of these counties 

16 are nonmetro areas, home to small towns and rural 

17 communities. 

18 (5) Following the death of more than 550,000 

19 people due to COVID-19 and more than a year of 

20 physical restrictions, the United States has experi21 enced a historic period with a profound and lasting 

22 impact on society. 

23 (6) The original Federal Writers’ Project pro24 vided the opportunity to observe and document the 

25 Great Depression. Further, the impact of COVIDVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:58 Jun 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3054.IH H3054

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1 19, including the lives lost, should be documented by 

2 a renewed Federal Writers’ Project. 

3 SEC. 3. DOL GRANT PROGRAM. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after the 

5 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Labor, 

6 working through the Employment Training Administra7 tion, shall establish a grant program to provide eligible 

8 entities with funds to assist individuals who are unem9 ployed or under employed in order to document in writing 

10 and images American society and the broad impacts and 

11 effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. 

12 (b) GRANT FEATURES.—In administering the grant 

13 program under subsection (a), the Secretary shall deter14 mine the parameters of the grant program, the amount 

15 and duration of grant awards, with an individual grant 

16 award not to exceed 7.5 percent of the total amounts of 

17 available grant funds, and the eligibility of individuals to 

18 receive funds from a grant recipient (using the Standard 

19 Occupational Classification for categories 25-000 and 27- 

20 000). 

21 (c) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—To be eligible to receive a 

22 grant under this section, an entity shall submit an applica23 tion to the Secretary of Labor at such time and in such 

24 manner as the Secretary may require and be— 


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1 (1) a nonprofit institution of higher education 

2 or a nonprofit organization each of which has experi3 ence in writing, researching, collecting, curating, and 

4 disseminating educational information; 

5 (2) a newsroom that may be a nonprofit or for 

6 profit entity; 

7 (3) a public or nonprofit library; or 

8 (4) a communications union or guild. 

9 (d) GEOGRAPHIC DIVERSITY.—In selecting the re10 cipients for a grant under this section the Secretary shall, 

11 to the extent practicable, ensure equitable geographic dis12 tribution, including urban and rural areas. 

13 (e) REPOSITORY.—The Secretary shall establish a re14 pository of works developed through the grant program 

15 in which grantees submit completed works from sub16 grantees, including giving credit to each writer or artist. 

17 and make such works available to the public. Not later 

18 than 90 days after receipt of a completed work, the Sec19 retary shall forward such work to the Librarian of Con20 gress to archive such material in accordance with sub21 section (f). 

22 (f) ARCHIVE.—The Librarian of Congress shall es23 tablish an archive program in the American Folklife Cen24 ter at the Library of Congress to collect and make publicly 

25 available in a digital format, including giving credit to 


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1 each writer or artist, written and visual works collected 

2 by the Secretary under subsection (e). 

3 (g) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.— 

4 (1) GRANTEE REPORTING.—The Secretary shall 

5 develop reporting guidelines for grant recipients to 

6 include, at a minimum, information regarding— 

7 (A) the amount of funds received by each 

8 grantee, the amount provided to subgrantees, 

9 the number of projects completed; 

10 (B) the race, ethnicity, age, location in 

11 terms of local or rural, and regional diversity of 

12 subgrantees; 

13 (C) the number of requests made to review 

14 the completed projects (when available); and 

15 (D) such other data the Secretary con16 siders important. 

17 (2) REPORTING TO CONGRESS.—Not less than 

18 once each year while the program is in operation, 

19 the Secretary shall submit a report summarizing the 

20 data collected under paragraph (1) to the Commit21 tees on Appropriations and Education and Labor of 

22 the House of Representatives and the Committees 

23 on Appropriations and Health, Education, Labor 

24 and Pensions of the Senate. 


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1 (h) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—The Secretary may 

2 withhold 5 percent of funds made available to carry out 

3 this program for administrative costs. An eligible entity 

4 that receives a grant under this section may reserve not 

5 more than 10 percent of funds received to administer its 

6 program. 

7 (i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

8 authorized to be appropriated $60,000,000 for fiscal year 

9 2022. 

Æ 


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