I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4745 
To establish a program to make grants to institutions of higher education 
to provide courses relating to critical legacy computer languages, and 
for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 28, 2021 
Mr. CARTWRIGHT (for himself, Ms. ADAMS, Mr. BUTTERFIELD, Mrs. HAYES, 
Mr. KHANNA, and Mr. SOTO) introduced the following bill; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on Education and Labor 
A BILL 
To establish a program to make grants to institutions of 
higher education to provide courses relating to critical 
legacy computer languages, 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 ‘‘Grace Hopper Code 
for Us Act’’. 
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) AUTHORIZING
COMMITTEES.—The term 
‘‘authorizing committees’’ has the meaning given 
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such term in section 103 of the Higher Education 
Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1003). 
(2) INFORMATION SYSTEM.—The term ‘‘infor-
mation system’’ has the meaning given the term in 
section 3502(8) of title 44, United States Code. 
(3) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 
term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 
meaning given the term in section 101(a) of the 
Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a)). 
(4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 
the Secretary of Education. 
(5) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ has the mean-
ing given the term in section 311 of title 5, United 
States Code. 
SEC. 3. REPORT CONCERNING CRITICAL LEGACY COM-
PUTER LANGUAGES USED BY FEDERAL GOV-
ERNMENT. 
(a) REPORT.—Not later than 90 days after the date 
of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of 
the United States shall submit to the authorizing commit-
tees a report identifying not fewer than 3 computer lan-
guages, in addition to COBOL, Assembly, and PL/I, and 
to be known as ‘‘critical legacy computer languages’’, that 
are— 
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(1) used by, and necessary to support the needs 
and national security of, the Federal Government; 
and 
(2) computer languages not commonly taught 
in a course at an institution of higher education. 
(b) PUBLICATION.—The Comptroller General shall 
make the report publicly available, including by publishing 
the report on the internet website of the Government Ac-
countability Office. 
SEC. 4. GRACE HOPPER SUSTAINMENT AND MODERNIZA-
TION GRANT PROGRAM. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established a pro-
gram to award grants to institutions of higher education, 
to be known as the ‘‘Grace Hopper Sustainment and Mod-
ernization Grant Program (in this section referred to as 
the ‘Program’)’’, to support the development and imple-
mentation of courses of instruction regarding maintaining, 
developing, and modernizing information systems utilizing 
critical legacy computer languages identified in the report 
required under section 3. 
(b) GRANTS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—During fiscal year 2022 and 
each of the 3 succeeding fiscal years, the Secretary 
annually shall award grants to 5 institutions of high-
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er education to carry out the activities described in 
subsection (a). 
(2) 2-YEAR
INSTITUTION
OF
HIGHER
EDU-
CATION.—For each fiscal year, at least 2 of the 
grants awarded under paragraph (1) shall be award-
ed to 2-year institutions of higher education that— 
(A) award an associate’s degree; or 
(B) offer university-based continuing edu-
cation programs for information technology pro-
fessionals. 
(c) PRIORITIES.—When awarding grants under the 
Program, the Secretary will give priority to applications 
that— 
(1) demonstrate a plan to continue their efforts 
to carry out the activities described in subsection (a) 
after the end of the grant period; 
(2) demonstrate plans to recruit and include the 
participation of women and other under-represented 
minority groups; 
(3) demonstrate plans to engage with local stu-
dents in grades 6 through 12 regarding career op-
portunities relating to critical legacy languages; 
(4) offer scholarship or other support, which 
may include books and supplies (including hardware, 
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software, and connectivity), to students enrolled in 
projects supported by the Program; 
(5) incorporate perspectives into the challenges 
of modernizing legacy information technology sys-
tems from disciplines such as history, public policy, 
public administration, political science, business ad-
ministration, management, economics, sociology, or 
other humanistic or social science disciplines; 
(6) address the extent to which the grant recipi-
ent intends to utilize and support open source tech-
nology and best practices in connection with the 
Program; and 
(7) demonstrate the ability to make agreements 
to place students in the projects funded by the grant 
in paid internships or similar arrangements with 
Federal, State, local, or private sector organizations 
where they can ensure that each such student works 
with computer programmers in maintaining, devel-
oping, or modernizing information systems utilizing 
critical legacy computer languages, with a preference 
for such placements lasting longer than 60 days. 
(d) SPECIAL RULE RELATED TO GEOGRAPHY.—Re-
cipients of a grant under the Program may not be located 
in the same State. 
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(e) APPLICATION.—To be eligible to receive a grant 
under the Program, an institution of higher education 
shall submit to the Secretary an application in such form, 
and containing such information, as the Secretary may re-
quire. 
(f) GRANT AMOUNT.—The amount of a grant under 
this section may not exceed $5,000,000. 
(g) PERIOD OF A GRANT.—The period of a grant 
under this section may not exceed 3 years. 
(h) REPORTS.— 
(1) ANNUAL
REPORTS
BY
INSTITUTIONS
OF 
HIGHER
EDUCATION.—Each institution of higher 
education that receives a grant under the Program 
shall annually submit to the Secretary a report on 
the activities pursued under the Program, including 
to the extent practical, the employment outcomes of 
students who complete the program (including earn-
ings, job placement type, and employment rate). 
(2) ANNUAL
REPORTS
TO
CONGRESS.—The 
Secretary shall annually submit to the authorizing 
committees a report relating to the use of grants 
awarded under the Program. The Secretary shall 
make each such report publicly available, including 
by publishing each such report on the internet 
website of the Department of Education. 
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