I 
116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 8409 
To establish the Department of State Student Internship Program as a 
paid internship program to provide students with the opportunity to 
learn about a career in diplomacy and foreign affairs, and for other 
purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 29, 2020 
Mr. CASTRO of Texas (for himself, Mr. ZELDIN, Mr. ENGEL, and Mr. 
MCCAUL) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and 
Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 
each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdic-
tion of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To establish the Department of State Student Internship 
Program as a paid internship program to provide stu-
dents with the opportunity to learn about a career in 
diplomacy and foreign affairs, and for other purposes. 
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 ‘‘Department of State 
Student Internship Program Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. DEPARTMENT OF STATE STUDENT INTERNSHIP 
PROGRAM. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State shall es-
tablish the Department of State Student Internship Pro-
gram (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Program’’) to 
offer internship opportunities at the Department of State 
to eligible students to raise awareness of the essential role 
of diplomacy in the conduct of United States foreign policy 
and the realization of United States foreign policy objec-
tives. 
(b) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to participate in the 
Program, an applicant shall— 
(1) be a current student at— 
(A) an institution of higher education (as 
such term is defined in section 102 of the High-
er Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002)); or 
(B) an institution of higher education 
based outside the United States, as determined 
by the Secretary of State; 
(2) be able to receive and hold an appropriate 
security clearance; and 
(3) satisfy such other criteria as established by 
the Secretary. 
(c) SELECTION.—The Secretary of State shall estab-
lish selection criteria for students to be admitted into the 
Program that includes the following: 
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(1) Demonstrable interest in a career in foreign 
affairs. 
(2) Academic performance. 
(3) Such other criteria as determined by the 
Secretary. 
(d) OUTREACH.—The Secretary of State shall adver-
tise the Program widely, including on the internet, 
through the Department of State’s Diplomats in Resi-
dence program, and through other outreach and recruiting 
initiatives targeting undergraduate and graduate students. 
The Secretary shall actively encourage people belonging to 
traditionally underrepresented groups in terms of racial, 
ethnic, geographic, gender diversity, and disability status 
to apply to the Program, including by conducting targeted 
outreach at minority serving institutions (as such term is 
described in section 371(a) of the Higher Education Act 
of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1067q(a))). 
(e) COMPENSATION.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Students participating in the 
Program shall be paid at least— 
(A) the amount specified in section 6(a)(1) 
of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 
U.S.C. 206(a)(1)), or 
(B) the minimum wage of the jurisdiction 
in which the internship is located, 
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whichever is greatest. 
(2) HOUSING ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary of 
State shall provide housing to a student partici-
pating in the Program whose permanent address is 
within the United States if the location of the in-
ternship in which such student is participating is 
outside the United States. 
(3) TRAVEL
ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary of 
State shall provide a student participating in the 
Program whose permanent address is within the 
United States financial assistance to cover the costs 
of travel once to and once from the location of the 
internship in which such student is participating, in-
cluding travel by air, train, bus, or other transit as 
appropriate, if the location of such internship is— 
(A) more than 100 miles from such stu-
dent’s permanent address; or 
(B) outside the United States. 
(4) ASSISTANCE
EXEMPT
FROM
TAXATION.— 
For purposes of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, 
any amount which (but for this paragraph) would be 
includible in gross income of the eligible recipient by 
reason of housing assistance described in paragraph 
(2) or travel assistance described in paragraph (3) 
shall be excluded from gross income. 
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(f) WORKING WITH INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDU-
CATION.—The Secretary of State is authorized to enter 
into agreements with institutions of higher education to 
structure internships to ensure such internships satisfy 
criteria for academic programs in which participants in 
such internships are enrolled. 
(g) TRANSITION PERIOD.—Not later than one year 
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 
of State shall transition all unpaid internship programs 
of the Department of State to internship programs that 
offer compensation, including the Foreign Service Intern-
ship Program. 
(h) REPORTS.—Not later than 18 months after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State 
shall submit to the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the 
House of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign 
Relations of a Senate a report that includes the following: 
(1) Information regarding the number of stu-
dents, disaggregated by race, ethnicity, gender, insti-
tution of higher learning, home State, State where 
each student graduated from high school, and dis-
ability status, who applied to the Program, were of-
fered a position, and participated. 
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(2) Information on the number of security 
clearance investigations started and the timeline for 
completion of such investigations. 
(3) Information on expenditures on the Pro-
gram. 
(4) Information regarding the Department of 
State’s compliance with subsection (h). 
(i) VOLUNTARY PARTICIPATION.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Nothing in this section may 
be construed to compel any employee of the Depart-
ment of State to participate in the collection of the 
data or divulge any personal information. Depart-
ment employees shall be informed that their partici-
pation in the data collection contemplated by this 
title is voluntary. 
(2) PRIVACY PROTECTION.—Any data collected 
under this section shall be subject to the relevant 
privacy protection statutes and regulations applica-
ble to Federal employees. 
Æ 
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