I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2542

To establish additional international exchange and training programs with

the independent states of the former Soviet Union and the Baltic states.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JUNE 28, 1993

Mr. LEACH introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee

on Foreign Affairs

A BILL

To establish additional international exchange and training

programs with the independent states of the former Soviet Union and the Baltic states.

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 ‘‘Freedom Exchange

5 and Training Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. STATEMENT OF PURPOSE.

7 The purpose of this Act is—

8 (1) to bring young people, teachers, and edu9 cation administrators of the former Soviet Union

10 and the Baltic states to the United States so that
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1 they might experience first-hand how a free market

2 democracy functions;

3 (2) to assist the skill-building process necessary

4 for both institution-building and nation-building; and

5 (3) to provide leadership training and technical

6 assistance to officials and others from the former

7 Soviet Union and Baltic states.

8 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

9 As used in this Act—

10 (1) the term ‘‘Baltic states’’ means Latvia,

11 Lithuania, and Estonia;

12 (2) the term ‘‘eligible organization’’ means, dur13 ing fiscal year 1994, any private nonprofit organiza14 tion which has experience in exchange programs and

15 demonstrates a capacity to carry out such programs

16 in the independent states of the former Soviet Union

17 or in the Baltic states; and

18 (3) the term ‘‘independent states of the former

19 Soviet Union’’ includes the following states that for20 merly were part of the Soviet Union: Armenia, Azer21 baijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,

22 Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan,

23 Ukraine, and Uzbekistan.
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1 TITLE I—EDUCATIONAL

2 EXCHANGE PROGRAMS

3 SEC. 101. AUTHORITIES FOR AWARDING EDUCATIONAL EX4 CHANGE GRANTS.

5 (a) GENERAL AUTHORITY.—The Director shall es6 tablish and carry out an exchange program with the inde7 pendent states of the former Soviet Union and the Baltic

8 states in accordance with this title. In carrying out such

9 a program, the Director shall award, on a competitive

10 basis, grants to eligible organizations to enable such orga11 nizations to finance—

12 (1) the exchange of secondary school students

13 in accordance with section 102;

14 (2) the exchange of secondary school teachers

15 and administrators in accordance with section 103;

16 (3) the exchange of postsecondary students in

17 accordance with section 104; and

18 (4) exchanges of college and university edu19 cators in accordance with section 105.

20 (b) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—The Director may

21 use up to 5 percent of the funds appropriated under this

22 title for administrative expenses.

23 (c) APPLICATION.—(1) Each eligible organization

24 seeking a grant under this section shall submit an applica25 tion to the Director at such time, in such manner, and
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1 accompanied by such information as the Director may rea2 sonably require.

3 (2) Each application submitted pursuant to para4 graph (1) shall—

5 (A) describe the activities for which assistance

6 under this section is sought; and

7 (B) provide such additional assurances as the

8 Director determines to be essential to ensure compli9 ance with the requirements of this title.

10 (d) ELIGIBILITY FOR GRANTS.—Grants may be made

11 to eligible organizations only if such organizations agree

12 to comply with the requirements specified in this title.

13 (e) IMPLEMENTATION.—In carrying out this title, the

14 Director shall—

15 (1) encourage colleges and universities receiving

16 students to supplement public grants with their own

17 resources, to the extent possible; and

18 (2) allow for a wide range of United States in19 stitutions to participate in programs under this title.

20 (f) COMPLIANCE WITH BUDGET ACT.—The author21 ity to make grants under this title shall be effective only

22 to such extent or in such amount as are provided in appro23 priations Acts.

24 (g) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this title—
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1 (1) the term ‘‘Director’’ means the Director of

2 the United States Information Agency;

3 (2) the term ‘‘institution of higher education’’

4 has the same meaning as is given to such term by

5 section 1201(a) of the Higher Education Act of

6 1965; and

7 (3) the term ‘‘secondary school’’ has the same

8 meaning given to such term by section 1471(21) of

9 the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of

10 1965.

11 SEC. 102. SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS.

12 (a) GRANT USES.—(1) Grants awarded under section

13 101(a)(1) shall be used to finance—

14 (A) visits of short duration by eligible secondary

15 school students, to the United States, to any of the

16 independent states of the former Soviet Union, or to

17 any Baltic state; or

18 (B) studies, instruction, and other educational

19 exchange activities in the United States, in any of

20 the independent states of the former Soviet Union,

21 or in any Baltic state, each educational exchange ac22 tivity lasting not less than one semester or more

23 than one year, for eligible secondary school students.
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1 (2) Of the amount of grants awarded under section

2 101(a)(1), not more than 35 percent in fiscal year 1994

3 may be used for the purpose of paragraph (1)(A).

4 (b) CONDITIONS.—(1) The Director may require that

5 a portion of a grant awarded under section 101(a)(1) be

6 used only for educational activities that are conditioned

7 on the reciprocal exchange of American students.

8 (2) Not more than 25 percent of the total amount

9 of grant funds awarded under section 101(a)(1) may be

10 used to finance educational exchanges of American stu11 dents under this section.

12 (c) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this section, the

13 term ‘‘eligible secondary school student’’ means a second14 ary school student from the United States, any of the

15 independent states of the former Soviet Union, or any Bal16 tic state who—

17 (1) is at least 15 years of age;

18 (2) is attending school at a grade level equiva19 lent to any of the grade levels 10 through 12 in

20 United States secondary schools or has just com21 pleted secondary school in any of the independent

22 states of the former Soviet Union or any Baltic

23 state; and

24 (3) has a minimum level of proficiency in Eng25 lish, as determined by testing.
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1 (d) ADMINISTRATION.—(1) To the maximum extent

2 practicable, a grant under this section shall be used to

3 support the activities described in subsection (a) for sec4 ondary school students of widely divergent backgrounds.

5 (2) The recruitment of foreign students under this

6 section shall be carried out in an efficient, uniform man7 ner, preferably under direction of a United States-based

8 group or organization under guidelines established by the

9 Director.

10 (3) The selection and examination of students from

11 the former Soviet Union and Baltic states under this sec12 tion should be a cooperative effort with input from organi13 zations involved in the placement of the exchange stu14 dents.

15 (4) The specific structure for this cooperative effort

16 should be approved by the Director as part of the granting

17 of funds for selection and examination of students.

18 (5) The selection process under this section should

19 be designed to ensure selection of a representative group

20 of students from the former Soviet Union and the Baltic

21 states.

22 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—In addi23 tion to funds otherwise available for such purpose, there

24 are authorized to be appropriated $40,000,000 for fiscal

25 year 1994 to carry out this section.
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1 SEC. 103. SECONDARY SCHOOL TEACHERS AND ADMINIS2 TRATORS.

3 (a) GRANT USES.—(1) Grants awarded under section

4 101(a)(2) shall be used to finance visits of at least four

5 weeks duration for eligible secondary school teachers and

6 administrators to the United States, to any of the inde7 pendent states of the former Soviet Union, or to any Bal8 tic state.

9 (2) Visits financed under this section—

10 (A) shall focus on a particular area of study or

11 project and may involve seminars, with special em12 phasis on classroom practicums; and

13 (B) should, where possible, be developed and co14 ordinated with programs established under section

15 102.

16 (b) PRIORITY EXCHANGES.—Preference under this

17 section is to be given to foreign teachers and administra18 tors interested in the social sciences, the humanities,

19 teaching English, and acquiring knowledge or skills appli20 cable to building democratic institutions.

21 (c) RESTRICTION.—Not more than 25 percent of the

22 total amount of funds awarded under this section may be

23 used to finance educational exchanges of American sec24 ondary teachers and administrators.
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1 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

2 are authorized to be appropriated $5,000,000 for fiscal

3 year 1994 to carry out this section.

4 SEC. 104. POSTSECONDARY STUDENTS.

5 (a) COLLEGE STUDENTS.—

6 (1) GRANT USES.—Grants awarded under sec7 tion 101(a)(3) shall be used to finance studies, re8 search, instruction, and other educational exchange

9 activities for eligible college students in institutions

10 of higher education in the United States, in any of

11 the independent states of the former Soviet Union,

12 or in any Baltic state, each educational exchange ac13 tivity lasting not less than one semester or more

14 than one year, with special emphasis on—

15 (A) those foreign students who are inter16 ested in studying the social sciences and hu17 manities;

18 (B) those foreign students who are study19 ing to become English teachers; and

20 (C) those foreign students who are seeking

21 to acquire knowledge or skills applicable to re22 structuring the economy or building democratic

23 institutions.

24 (2) CONDITION.—(A) The Director may require

25 that an eligible organization, in order to receive a
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1 grant under section 101(a)(3), agree to use a por2 tion of such grant for educational activities that are

3 conditioned on the institution of higher education

4 providing an eligible college student with some finan5 cial resources, either in the form of room and board

6 or as a waiver of tuition.

7 (B) Not more than 25 percent of the total

8 amount of grant funds awarded under this sub9 section may be used to finance educational ex10 changes of American students under this section.

11 (3) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this sub12 section, the term ‘‘eligible college student’’ means a

13 student enrolled in four-year programs of study at

14 a college or university in the United States, any of

15 the independent states of the former Soviet Union,

16 or any Baltic state, including any American-founded

17 school in the former Soviet Union, and who—

18 (A) has completed at least one year of

19 study and is not in the last year of such study;

20 and

21 (B) in the case of a foreign student, is suf22 ficiently proficient in English to undertake the

23 course of study proposed, as determined by

24 testing.
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1 (4) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—In

2 addition to funds otherwise available for such pur3 pose, there are authorized to be appropriated

4 $9,000,000 for fiscal year 1994 to carry out this

5 subsection.

6 (b) GRADUATE STUDENTS.—

7 (1) GRANTS USES.—Grants awarded under sec8 tion 101(a)(3) shall be used to finance studies, re9 search, instruction, and other educational exchange

10 activities for eligible graduate students in the United

11 States, in any of the independent states of the

12 former Soviet Union, or in any Baltic state, each

13 educational exchange activity lasting not less than

14 one semester or more than one year, with special

15 emphasis on—

16 (A) those foreign students who are inter17 ested in studying the social sciences and hu18 manities;

19 (B) those foreign students who are study20 ing to become English teachers; and

21 (C) those foreign students who are seeking

22 to acquire knowledge or skills applicable to re23 structuring the economy or building democratic

24 institutions.
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1 (2) CONDITION.—Not more than 25 percent of

2 the total amount of grant funds awarded under this

3 subsection may be used to finance educational ex4 changes of American students under this section.

5 (3) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this section,

6 the term ‘‘eligible graduate student’’ means a stu7 dent from the United States, any of the independent

8 states of the former Soviet Union, or any Baltic

9 state, including any student attending an American10 founded university in the former Soviet Union,

11 who—

12 (A) is enrolled in a graduate course of

13 study at a college or university;

14 (B) has completed one year of such study;

15 and

16 (C) in the case of a foreign student, is suf17 ficiently proficient in English to undertake the

18 course of study proposed, as determined by

19 testing.

20 (4) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—In

21 addition to funds otherwise available for such pur22 pose, there are authorized to be appropriated

23 $9,000,000 for fiscal year 1994 to carry out this

24 subsection.
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1 (c) COMMUNITY COLLEGES.—(1) Grants awarded

2 under this subsection shall be used to finance—

3 (A) studies and research in any of the inde4 pendent states of the former Soviet Union, or in any

5 Baltic state;

6 (B) vocational retraining of foreign students

7 from the former Soviet Union or Baltic states; and

8 (C) faculty and student exchange activity last9 ing not less than one semester or more than one

10 year,

11 with special emphasis on—

12 (i) those foreign students who are inter13 ested in studying the social sciences and hu14 manities;

15 (ii) those foreign students who are study16 ing to become English teachers; and

17 (iii) those foreign students who are seeking

18 to acquire knowledge or skills applicable to re19 structuring the economy or building democratic

20 institutions.

21 (2) An individual is eligible for a grant under this

22 section who—

23 (A) is least 18 years of age;
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1 (B) has completed secondary school in the Unit2 ed States, any of the independent states of the

3 former Soviet Union, or any Baltic states;

4 (C) if an American, is enrolled in a community

5 college and has completed at least one year of study;

6 and

7 (D) in the case of foreign students, is suffi8 ciently proficient in English to undertake the course

9 of study proposed, as determined by testing.

10 (3) In addition to funds otherwise available for such

11 purpose, there are authorized to be appropriated

12 $6,000,000 for fiscal year 1994 to carry out this sub13 section.

14 SEC. 105. ‘‘SISTER’’ UNIVERSITY PROGRAM.

15 (a) GRANT USES.—(1) Grants awarded under section

16 101(a)(4) shall be used to finance exchanges of college and

17 university educators of eligible paired institutions for the

18 purpose of developing curriculum and otherwise strength19 ening ties between the independent states of the former

20 Soviet Union and the Baltic states and the United States

21 at the institutional level.

22 (2) Each grant awarded under this subsection shall

23 not exceed $100,000.
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1 (3) Each grant awarded under this subsection to eli2 gible paired institutions may be disbursed during a period

3 of two fiscal years.

4 (b) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this section, the

5 term ‘‘eligible paired institutions’’ means, in fiscal year

6 1994, a pairing by the Director of one United States insti7 tution of higher education with a college or university in

8 any of the independent states of the former Soviet Union

9 or any Baltic state wherever such pairing is likely to pro10 mote a continuing relationship between the institutions

11 after the termination of assistance under this title.

12 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—In addi13 tion to funds otherwise available for such purpose, there

14 are authorized to be appropriated $8,000,000 for fiscal

15 year 1994 to carry out this section.

16 TITLE II—OTHER TRAINING AND

17 EXCHANGE PROGRAMS

18 SEC. 201. PROGRAMS OF THE AGENCY FOR INTER19 NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT.

20 (a) GENERAL AUTHORITY.—The President shall es21 tablish and carry out technical assistance and exchange

22 programs with the independent states of the former Soviet

23 Union and the Baltic states in accordance with this title.

24 Such programs may be implemented by grants to eligible
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1 organizations or otherwise. Programs funded by this title

2 are as follows:

3 (1) PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION AND GOVERN4 ANCE.—Funds made available under this paragraph

5 shall be used for programs of up to 8 weeks dura6 tion for—

7 (A) exchanges and training of local and re8 gional government officials, practitioners, and

9 experts in public administration to assist the

10 former Soviet Union and Baltic states in estab11 lishing and sustaining democratic institutions;

12 (B) exchanges and training that will assist

13 the former Soviet Union and Baltic states in

14 the establishment of social services programs;

15 and

16 (C) exchanges and training in the area of

17 political science.

18 It is the sense of the Congress that technical assist19 ance and training of public officials under this para20 graph should be conducted by American organiza21 tions that are representative of elected officials.

22 (2) RULE OF LAW.—Funds made available

23 under this paragraph shall be used for legal initia24 tives to assist the former Soviet Union and Baltic

25 states in modifying or restructuring their laws and
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1 legal systems to reflect democratic principles and be

2 compatible with a democratic society and free mar3 ket principles.

4 (3) AGRICULTURE AND AGRIBUSINESS.—Funds

5 made available under this paragraph shall be used

6 for—

7 (A) technical assistance and training for

8 the development of market-oriented policies, ag9 ricultural financial institutions and marketing

10 systems, agribusiness organization, and privat11 ization of state agricultural organizations; and

12 (B) agricultural exchanges that will allow

13 foreign farmers to come to the United States to

14 acquire agriculture skills.

15 (4) ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT.—Funds made

16 available under this paragraph shall be used for a

17 comprehensive exchange and training program for

18 enhancing environmental management and sustain19 able economic development, emphasizing the active

20 participation of local scientific expertise, nongovern21 mental organizations, and the public, and includ22 ing—

23 (A) environmental monitoring and protec24 tion,
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1 (B) establishment of appropriate environ2 mental institutions and infrastructure,

3 (C) programs to enhance energy conserva4 tion and efficiency, and

5 (D) nuclear safety and other appropriate

6 initiatives consistent with this paragraph.

7 (5) HEALTH AND MEDICINE.—Funds made

8 available under this paragraph shall be used for ex9 change and training programs that will enhance

10 medical delivery systems, assist in establishment of

11 pharmaceutical industry, and provide general medi12 cal training and education.

13 (6) TRADE AND INVESTMENT.—Funds made

14 available under this paragraph shall be used to as15 sist in the development of American business centers

16 and the expansion of the Special American Business

17 Internship Training (SABIT) program of the De18 partment of Commerce.

19 (7) LEADERS TRAINING.—Funds made avail20 able under this paragraph shall be used for training

21 by United States business, universities, and others

22 to build a cadre of young technocrats with strong

23 grounding in market economics principles who are

24 likely to rise to positions of responsibility in the pub25 lic and private sectors and influence future national
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1 development. Training under this paragraph shall be

2 targeted on the priority sectoral areas of the United

3 States technical assistance program, including

4 health, energy, environment, banking, and agri5 culture, and educational training shall be combined

6 with on-the-job training experiences and practical in7 ternships.

8 (b) DEGREE OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE PRO9 FICIENCY.—Foreign participants in the programs under

10 this section shall be sufficiently proficient in English to

11 fulfill the purposes of this section.

12 (c) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—The President

13 may use up to 5 percent of the funds appropriated under

14 this title for administrative expenses.

15 (d) GENERAL AUTHORITY FOR AWARDING

16 GRANTS.—Training and other exchange programs carried

17 out under this section shall be administered by the Agency

18 for International Development or such other Government

19 agency as has experience and expertise in carrying out

20 such programs.

21 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

22 are authorized to be appropriated $20,000,000 for fiscal

23 year 1994 to carry out this section.

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