I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 5517 
To affirm the friendship of the governments of the United States of America 
and the Republic of India, and to establish a bilateral partnership for 
collaboration to advance development and shared values, and for other 
purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
DECEMBER 19, 2019 
Mr. LEWIS (for himself, Mrs. LAWRENCE, Mr. SHERMAN, Mr. KHANNA, Ms. 
JAYAPAL, Mr. MCGOVERN, and Mr. BERA) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 
A BILL 
To affirm the friendship of the governments of the United 
States of America and the Republic of India, and to 
establish a bilateral partnership for collaboration to ad-
vance development and shared values, and for other pur-
poses. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Gandhi-King Scholarly 
Exchange Initiative Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS OF CONGRESS. 
Congress makes the following findings: 
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(1) The peoples of the United States and India 
have a long history of friendship and the interests 
of the peoples of the United States, India, and the 
world will benefit from a stronger United States- 
India partnership. 
(2) Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi and Martin 
Luther King, Jr., were dedicated leaders fighting for 
social justice and social change, peace, and civil 
rights in their respective communities, and countries 
and in the world. 
(3) The use of nonviolent civil disobedience is a 
shared tactic that has played a key role in defeating 
social injustice in India, the United States, and in 
other parts of the world. 
(4) Mohandas Gandhi, who was born on Octo-
ber 2, 1869, was murdered on January 30, 1948, 
after dedicating his life to the peaceful empowerment 
of the people of India and to their liberation from 
British occupation. 
(5) Martin Luther King, Jr., who was born on 
January 15, 1929, was murdered on April 4, 1968, 
after a life dedicated to peaceful movements against 
segregation, discrimination, racial injustice, and pov-
erty. 
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(6) In February 1959, Dr. King and his wife, 
Coretta Scott King, traveled throughout India. By 
the end of his monthlong visit, Dr. King said, ‘‘I am 
more convinced than ever before that the method of 
nonviolent resistance is the most potent weapon 
available to oppressed people in their struggle for 
justice and human dignity.’’. 
(7) Fifty years after Dr. King’s visit, All India 
Radio, the national radio station of India, discovered 
a taped message by Dr. King that emphasized the 
intellectual harmony between the messages of Dr. 
King and Mohandas Gandhi on nonviolent social ac-
tion. 
(8) On August 22, 2011, the Dr. Martin Lu-
ther King, Jr., National Memorial opened to the 
public in Washington, DC. This newest memorial on 
the National Mall pays tribute to Dr. King’s na-
tional and international contributions to world peace 
through nonviolent social change. 
(9) The year 2019 will mark the 150th birth 
anniversary of Mohandas Gandhi and the 90th birth 
anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 
(10) Mohandas Gandhi, who employed the prin-
ciple of satyagraha, or ‘‘fighting with peace’’, has 
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come to represent the moral force inspiring many 
civil and social rights movement around the world. 
(11) Dr. King’s effective use of Gandhi’s prin-
ciples was instrumental to the American civil rights 
movement. 
(12) There is a long history of civil and social 
rights movements in the United States and in India. 
As the relationship between the United States and 
India evolves, a binational foundation through which 
the governments of each country can work together 
and catalyze private investment toward development 
objectives would provide an ongoing, productive in-
stitution and symbol of the friendship and common 
ideals of the respective governments and their peo-
ples. 
(13) There is a global goal of ending tuber-
culosis by 2030, the United States and India seek a 
TB-Free India by 2025, and the United States-India 
Gandhi-King Foundation will help address gaps 
across the TB value chain in prevention, detection, 
diagnosis, and treatment, and would catalyze mar-
ket-based strategies to bridge the service gap for the 
‘‘last mile’’. 
(14) Leaders in both countries belonging to 
both major political parties have prioritized the 
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United States-India relationship and on a bipartisan 
basis continue to support a strengthened United 
States-India partnership, recognizing that it will be 
one of the defining partnerships of the 21st century. 
SEC. 3. GANDHI-KING SCHOLARLY EXCHANGE INITIATIVE. 
In order to further the shared ideals and values of 
Mohandas Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr., the Sec-
retary of State shall establish, in cooperation with the ap-
propriate representatives of the Government of India, a 
professional exchange program known as the ‘‘Gandhi- 
King Scholarly Exchange Initiative’’. The initiative should 
be comprised of the following: 
(1) An annual educational forum for scholars 
from the United States and India that focuses on 
the social justice and human and civil rights legacies 
of Mohandas Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr., 
which shall— 
(A) be held alternately in the United 
States and in India; 
(B) include representatives from govern-
ments, nongovernmental organizations, civic or-
ganizations, and educational, cultural, women’s, 
civil, and human rights groups, including reli-
gious and ethnic minorities and marginalized 
communities; and 
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(C) focus on studying the works of Gandhi 
and King, and applying their philosophies of 
nonviolent resistance to addressing current 
issues, including poverty alleviation, conflict 
mitigation, human and civil rights challenges, 
refugee crises, and threats to democracy and 
democratic norms in countries around the 
world. 
(2) An undergraduate, graduate, and post-grad-
uate student exchange for students in the United 
States and India to— 
(A) study the history and legacies of Mar-
tin Luther King, Jr., and Mohandas 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. 
SEC. 4. GANDHI-KING GLOBAL ACADEMY. 
The president and chief executive officer of the 
United States Institute of Peace shall develop a profes-
sional development training initiative on conflict resolution 
tools based on the principles of nonviolence. Such training 
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initiative shall be known as the Gandhi-King Global Acad-
emy and shall— 
(1) target representatives from governments, 
nongovernmental organizations, civic organizations, 
and educational, cultural, women’s, civil, and human 
rights groups, including religious and ethnic minori-
ties and marginalized communities in countries with 
ongoing political, social, ethnic, or violent conflict; 
(2) include a specific focus on the success of 
nonviolent movements, inclusion, and representation 
in conflict resolution; 
(3) develop a curriculum on conflict resolution 
tools based on the principles of nonviolence; and 
(4) make the curriculum publicly available on-
line, in person, and through a variety of media. 
SEC. 5. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE UNITED STATES-INDIA 
GANDHI-KING DEVELOPMENT FOUNDATION. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Administrator of the 
United States Agency for International Development 
(USAID), with the concurrence of the Secretary of State 
and in coordination with appropriate counterparts in the 
Government of India, is authorized to establish, on such 
terms and conditions as are determined necessary and not-
withstanding any other provision of law, one or more legal 
entities to compose the United States-India Gandhi-King 
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Development Foundation (in this section referred to as the 
‘‘Foundation’’). Each such legal entity within the Founda-
tion shall be organized under the laws of India and shall 
not be considered to be an agency or establishment of the 
United States Government and shall not have the full faith 
and credit of the United States. 
(b) FUNCTIONS.—The Foundation, through one or 
more entities referred to in subsection (a)— 
(1) shall identify development priorities and ad-
minister and oversee competitively awarded grants to 
private nongovernmental entities to address such 
priorities in India, including— 
(A) health initiatives addressing tuber-
culosis (TB), water, sanitation, and health 
(WASH), and pollution and related health im-
pacts (PHI); 
(B) pollution and climate change; 
(C) education; and 
(D) empowerment of women; and 
(2) should provide credible platforms and mod-
els, including returnable capital to attract and blend 
public and private capital, which can then be de-
ployed efficiently and effectively to address the prior-
ities identified in paragraph (1). 
(c) ADDITIONALITY.— 
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(1) IN GENERAL.—Before an entity within the 
Foundation makes a grant under subsection (b)(1) 
to address a priority identified under such sub-
section, the Foundation shall ensure that private 
sector entities are afforded an opportunity to sup-
port the projects funded by such grants. 
(2) 
SAFEGUARDS, 
POLICIES, 
AND
GUIDE-
LINES.—The Foundation shall develop appropriate 
safeguards, policies, and guidelines to ensure that 
grants made under subsection (b)(1) operate accord-
ing to internationally recognized best practices and 
standards. 
(d) LIMITATIONS.—No party receiving a grant made 
under subsection (b)(1) may receive such grant in an 
amount that is more than five percent of amounts appro-
priated or otherwise made available under section 7(a)(3) 
to the entity in the Foundation making such grant. 
(e) GOVERNING COUNCIL.— 
(1) PURPOSE.—The Government of the United 
States and the Government of India shall convene a 
Governing Council to provide guidance and direction 
to the Foundation. 
(2) APPOINTMENT OF MEMBERS.—The Admin-
istrator of the United States Agency for Inter-
national Development, with the concurrence of the 
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Secretary of State, shall appoint a majority of the 
Governing Council of the Foundation for a period of 
five years following the establishment of the Founda-
tion. 
(3) CHARTER.—The Governing Council of the 
Foundation shall adopt a charter for the operation 
of the Foundation, which shall include provisions 
to— 
(A) identify development priorities or a 
process to identify development priorities; 
(B) define criteria for application, merit 
review, and awarding of grants by the Founda-
tion; 
(C) establish an annual organization-wide 
audit by an independent auditor in accordance 
with generally accepted auditing standards, the 
results of which shall be made immediately 
available to the Board, the Administrator of the 
United States Agency for International Devel-
opment, and the appropriate Government of 
India counterpart; 
(D) assist in the creation of project spe-
cific timetables for each of the projects funded 
by a grant from the Foundation; 
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(E) establish an oversight role and march- 
in audit rights for the Administrator of the 
United States Agency for International Devel-
opment and the appropriate Government of 
India counterpart; and 
(F) establish an annual report on the ac-
tivities of the Foundation to be made publicly 
available. 
(f) PUBLICLY AVAILABLE PROJECT INFORMATION.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Foundation shall main-
tain a user-friendly, publicly available, machine read-
able database with detailed project level information, 
as appropriate and to the extent practicable, includ-
ing a description of the grants made by the Founda-
tion under this section and project level performance 
metrics. 
(2) BRIEFINGS.—The Administrator of the 
United States Agency for International Development 
shall provide in an unclassified format regular brief-
ings to the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the 
House of Representatives and the Committee on 
Foreign Relations of the Senate on the status of the 
Foundation. 
(g) DETAIL OF UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PER-
SONNEL TO THE FOUNDATION.— 
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(1) IN GENERAL.—Whenever the Administrator 
of the United States Agency for International Devel-
opment or the Secretary of State determines it to be 
in furtherance of the purposes of this Act, the Ad-
ministrator and the Secretary are authorized to de-
tail or assign any officer or employee of the Agency 
or the Department, respectively, to any position in 
the Foundation to provide technical, scientific, or 
professional assistance to the Foundation or, in co-
operation with the Foundation, to implementing 
partners of the Foundation, without reimbursement 
to the United States Government. 
(2) STATUS.—Any United States Government 
officer or employee, while detailed or assigned under 
this subsection, shall be considered, for the purpose 
of preserving their allowances, privileges, rights, se-
niority, and other benefits as such, an officer or em-
ployee of the United States Government and of the 
agency of the United States Government from which 
detailed or assigned, and shall continue to receive 
compensation, allowances, and benefits from pro-
gram funds appropriated to that agency or made 
available to that agency for purposes related to the 
activities of the detail or assignment, in accordance 
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with authorities related to their employment status 
and agency policies. 
(3) SUNSET.—The authorities provided under 
this subsection shall terminate on the date that is 
five years after the establishment of the Foundation. 
SEC. 6. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS. 
(a) INITIAL REPORTS.—Not later than 120 days 
after the date of the enactment of this Act— 
(1) 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 Com-
mittee on Appropriations of the Senate a report on 
the Secretary of State’s plan to establish the initia-
tive authorized under section 3; 
(2) the president and chief executive officer of 
the United States Institute of Peace shall submit to 
the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Com-
mittee on Appropriations of the House of Represent-
atives and the Committee on Foreign Relations and 
the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate a re-
port on the president and chief executive officer’s 
plan to establish the initiative authorized under sec-
tion 4; and 
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(3) the Administrator of the United States 
Agency for International Development shall submit 
to the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Com-
mittee on Appropriations of the House of Represent-
atives and the Committee on Foreign Relations and 
the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate a re-
port on the Administrator’s plan to establish the or-
ganization authorized under section 5. 
(b) PERIODIC UPDATES.—Upon the request of the 
committees specified in subsection (a), the Secretary of 
State, president and chief executive officer of the United 
States Institute of Peace, and Administrator of the United 
States Agency for International Development shall submit 
to such committees an update on the progress in imple-
menting each of the initiatives or establishing the organi-
zation referred to in such subsection. 
SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be appro-
priated to carry out— 
(1) section 3, up to $2,000,000 for each of fis-
cal years 2020 through 2025 to the Secretary of 
State; 
(2) section 4, up to $2,000,000 for each of fis-
cal years 2020 through 2025 to the United States 
Institute of Peace; and 
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(3) section 5, up to $30,000,000 for each of fis-
cal years 2020 through 2025 to the Administrator 
of the United States Agency for International Devel-
opment. 
(b) AVAILABILITY.—Amounts authorized to be appro-
priated pursuant to subsection (a) shall be in addition to 
amounts otherwise available for the purposes referred to 
in such subsection. 
(c) SENSE OF CONGRESS ON FOREIGN ASSISTANCE 
FUNDS.—It is the sense of Congress that the authoriza-
tion of appropriations under subsection (a) should be re-
newable for one or more periods of not more than 5 years 
if the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Adminis-
trator of the United States Agency for International De-
velopment, determines that the Foundation’s work is suc-
cessful in addressing the priorities identified in section 
5(b)(1). 
Æ 
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