(7) In February 2009, a congressional delega-
tion traveled to India to commemorate the 50th an-
niversary of the pilgrimage of Martin Luther King, 
Jr., and his wife, Coretta Scott King, to that coun-
try in 1959, and to study Gandhi’s life and work, 
highlighting the need for further progress in peace-
ful conflict resolution and combating poverty. 
(8) According to the 2017 Global Peace Index 
prepared by the Institute for Economics and Peace, 
the economic impact of violence on the global econ-
omy in 2016 was $14.3 trillion, which equals 12.6 
percent of the world’s gross domestic product. 
SEC. 3. GANDHI-KING SCHOLARLY EXCHANGE INITIATIVE. 
(a) INITIATIVE ESTABLISHED.—The Secretary of 
State is authorized to carry out, in cooperation with the 
appropriate representatives of the Government of India, 
an initiative to be known as the ‘‘Gandhi-King Scholarly 
Exchange Initiative’’. The initiative shall be comprised of 
educational, scholarly, and professional exchange pro-
grams, including the following: 
(1) An annual public diplomacy forum for 
scholars from the United States and India that fo-
cuses on the legacies of Mahatma Gandhi and Mar-
tin Luther King, Jr., which shall— 
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(A) be held alternately in the United 
States and in India; 
(B) include representatives from govern-
ments, nongovernmental organizations, edu-
cational institutions, cultural organizations, and 
civic organizations; and 
(C) focus on studying the work of Gandhi 
and King, and applying their philosophies to 
current issues, including the status of poverty, 
conflict, human rights, civil rights, peace, non-
violence, and democracy in the United States 
and India. 
(2) A professional development training initia-
tive for government employees to develop inter-
national conflict solutions based on the principles of 
nonviolence developed in consultation with the presi-
dent and chief executive officer of the United States 
Institute of Peace, the Under Secretary for Public 
Diplomacy and Public Affairs of the Department of 
State, and United States cooperating partners, 
which shall— 
(A) target Federal, State, and local gov-
ernment employees in countries with ongoing 
political, social, ethnic, or violent conflict; 
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(B) include a specific focus on the success 
of nonviolent movements in conflict resolution; 
(C) develop a curriculum for teaching con-
flict resolution and make such curriculum avail-
able to participating government employees; and 
(D) be made publically available through a 
variety of media. 
(3) An undergraduate, graduate, and post-grad-
uate student exchange for students to— 
(A) study the history and legacies of Mar-
tin Luther King, Jr., and Mahatma Gandhi; 
(B) visit historic sites in India and the 
United States that were integral to the Amer-
ican civil rights movement and the Indian inde-
pendence movement; and 
(C) research and develop papers on the im-
portance of peace, nonviolence, and reconcili-
ation in current conflict regions. 
(b) UNITED STATES COOPERATING PARTNERS DE-
FINED.—The term ‘‘United States cooperating partners’’ 
means— 
(1) an institution of higher education (as such 
term is defined in section 101(a) of the Higher Edu-
cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a))), including, 
to the maximum extent practicable, a historically 
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Black college or university that is a part B institu-
tion (as such term is defined in section 322(2) of 
such Act (20 U.S.C. 1061(2))) or a Hispanic-serving 
institution (as such term is defined in section 
502(a)(5) of such Act (20 U.S.C. 1101a(a)(5))); 
(2) a combination of institutions of higher edu-
cation (as such term is defined in section 103(2) of 
the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
1003(2))); 
(3) a nongovernmental organization incor-
porated in the United States; or 
(4) a consortium consisting of two or more such 
institutions of higher education, higher education as-
sociations, or nongovernmental organizations. 
SEC. 4. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS. 
(a) INITIAL REPORT.—Not later than 120 days after 
the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 
State shall submit to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 
and the Committee on Appropriations of the House of 
Representatives and the Committee on Foreign Relations 
and the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate a re-
port on the Secretary’s plan to carry out the initiative au-
thorized under section 3. 
(b) PERIODIC UPDATES.—Upon the request of the 
committees referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary of 
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State shall submit to such committees an update on the 
Secretary’s progress in implementing the plan referred to 
in such subsection. 
SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 
To carry out this Act, there are authorized to be ap-
propriated to the Secretary of State such sums as may 
be necessary for each of fiscal years 2018 through 2023. 
Amounts appropriated pursuant to the authorization of 
appropriations under this section are in addition to 
amounts otherwise available for such purpose. 
Æ 
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