LITE Act
Bill: H.R.1135 | Sponsor: Rep. Hastings, Alcee L. (D-FL)
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
Leadership Institute for Transatlantic Engagement Act or the LITE Act
This bill establishes the Leadership Institute for Transatlantic Engagement to develop a diverse community of transatlantic leaders who are committed to democratic institutions.
The institute shall award grants and develop programs, activities, and services that it considers appropriate for entities and individuals in the United States and abroad to (1) provide training and professional development opportunities for diverse leaders on democratic governance and international affairs, (2) enable international exchanges between leaders to increase understanding and knowledge of democratic models of governance, and (3) increase awareness of the importance of international public service careers in diverse communities.

To establish the Leadership Institute for Transatlantic Engagement to 
   develop a diverse community of transatlantic leaders committed to 
            democratic institutions, processes, and values.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Leadership Institute for 
Transatlantic Engagement Act'' or ``LITE Act''.

SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE FOR TRANSATLANTIC 
              ENGAGEMENT.

    (a) Establishment.--There is established in the legislative branch 
the Leadership Institute for Transatlantic Engagement.
    (b) Board of Trustees.--The Institute shall be subject to the 
supervision and direction of a Board of Trustees which shall be 
composed of five members as follows:
            (1) Two members appointed by the Speaker of the House of 
        Representatives, one of whom shall be designated by the 
        majority leader of the House of Representatives and one of whom 
        shall be designated by the minority leader of the House of 
        Representatives.
            (2) Two members appointed by the President pro tempore of 
        the Senate, one of whom shall be designated by the majority 
        leader of the Senate and one of whom shall be designated by the 
        minority leader of the Senate.
            (3) The Executive Director of the Institute, who shall 
        serve as an ex officio member of the Board.
    (c) Term.--Each member of the Board appointed under this section 
shall serve for a term of three years. Any vacancy shall be filled in 
the same manner as the original appointment and the individual so 
appointed shall serve for the remainder of the term. A Member of 
Congress appointed to the Board may not consecutively serve as a member 
of the Board for more than a total of six years.
    (d) Chair and Vice-Chair.--At the first meeting and at its first 
regular meeting in each calendar year thereafter the Board shall elect 
a Chair and Vice-Chair from among the members of the Board. The Chair 
and Vice-Chair may not be members of the same political party.
    (e) Pay Not Authorized; Expenses.--Members of the Board (other than 
the Executive Director) shall serve without pay, but shall be entitled 
to reimbursement for travel, subsistence, and other necessary expenses 
incurred in the performance of their duties.
    (f) Location of Institute and Regional Offices.--The Institute 
shall be located in Washington, DC, and the Executive Director may also 
establish other offices for the Institute in regions of the United 
States and Europe.

SEC. 3. PURPOSES AND AUTHORITY OF LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE FOR 
              TRANSATLANTIC ENGAGEMENT.

    (a) Purposes.--The purposes of the Institute shall be to develop a 
diverse community of transatlantic leaders, including emerging leaders, 
committed to democratic institutions, processes, and values by--
            (1) providing training and professional development 
        opportunities for racially and ethnically diverse leaders on 
        democratic governance and international affairs;
            (2) enabling international exchanges between leaders to 
        increase understanding and knowledge of democratic models of 
        governance; and
            (3) increasing awareness of the importance of international 
        public service careers in racially and ethnically diverse 
        communities.
    (b) Authority.--The Institute is authorized, consistent with this 
Act, to develop such programs, activities, and services as it considers 
appropriate to carry out the purposes described in subsection (a). Such 
authority shall include the following:
            (1) The development and implementation of training and 
        educational programs and tools for leaders and for students in 
        secondary and postsecondary schools and colleges, including 
        minority serving institutions.
            (2) The development and implementation of media and 
        telecommunications productions, as well as online and social 
        media methods, to assist the Institute in expanding the reach 
        of its programs throughout the United States and abroad.
            (3) The establishment of library and research facilities 
        for the collection, publication, compilation, and distribution 
        of research materials for use in carrying out the programs of 
        the Institute.
    (c) Program Priorities.--The Executive Director shall determine the 
priority of the programs to be carried out under this Act and the 
amount of funds to be allocated for such programs.
    (d) Grant Program.--
            (1) Grant program.--The Institute shall establish a program 
        to awards grants in the United States and abroad on an annual 
        basis to colleges and universities, other research institutions 
        and organizations, public departments and Federal agencies 
        (including State, territorial, and overseas departments), and 
        individuals for the purposes of assisting the Institute's work 
        in conducting research, international exchanges, education or 
        training activities, to develop such programs, activities, and 
        services as it considers appropriate to carry out the purposes 
        described in subsection (a).
            (2) Application.--Each organization that seeks a grant 
        under this subsection shall submit an application to the 
        Institute at such time, in such manner, and accompanied by such 
        information as the Institute may reasonably require.
            (3) Set-aside for centers of excellence.--The Institute 
        shall ensure that not less than 50 percent of amounts made 
        available to carry out this subsection are used to provide 
        grants to minority-serving institutions and entities that have 
        made significant efforts to work with racially and ethnically 
        diverse populations in the United States or abroad.
            (4) Consortium.--One or more research institutions may 
        constitute themselves as a consortium for purposes of seeking a 
        grant under this subsection.

SEC. 4. LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE FOR TRANSATLANTIC ENGAGEMENT TRUST FUND.

    (a) Establishment.--There is established in the Treasury of the 
United States a trust fund to be known as the ``Leadership Institute 
for Transatlantic Engagement Trust Fund''. The Fund shall consist of 
amounts which may be appropriated, credited, or transferred to it under 
this section.
    (b) Donations.--Any money or other property donated, bequeathed, or 
devised to the Institute under the authority of this section shall be 
credited to the Fund.
    (c) Fund Management and Investment.--
            (1) Investment.--At the request of the Institute, it shall 
        be the duty of the Secretary of the Treasury to invest in full 
        the amounts appropriated to the Fund. Such investments may be 
        made only in interest-bearing obligations of the United States 
        issued directly to the Fund.
            (2) Issuance of obligations.--The purposes for which 
        obligations of the United States may be issued under chapter 31 
        of title 31, United States Code, are hereby extended to 
        authorize the issuance at par of special obligations directly 
        to the Fund. Such special obligations shall bear interest at a 
        rate equal to the average rate of interest, computed as to the 
        end of the calendar month next preceding the date of such 
        issue, borne by all marketable interest-bearing obligations of 
        the United States then forming a part of the public debt, 
        except that if such average rate is not a multiple of one-
        eighth of 1 per centum, the rate of interest of such special 
        obligations shall be the multiple of one-eighth of 1 per centum 
        next lower than such average rate. All requests of the 
        Institute to the Secretary of the Treasury provided for in this 
        section shall be binding upon the Secretary.
    (d) Authority To Sell Obligations.--At the request of the 
Institute, the Secretary of the Treasury shall redeem any obligation 
issued directly to the Fund. Obligations issued to the Fund under 
subsection (c)(2) shall be redeemed at par plus accrued interest. Any 
other obligations issued directly to the Fund shall be redeemed at the 
market price.
    (e) Proceeds From Certain Transactions Credited to Fund.--In 
addition to the appropriations received pursuant to this Act, the 
interest on, and the proceeds from the sale or redemption of, any 
obligations held in the Fund pursuant to this Act, shall be credited to 
and form a part of the Fund.
    (f) Fund Reserves.--No less than five percent of the original 
amount appropriated to the Fund must remain in the Fund at all times.
    (g) Expenditures.--The Secretary of the Treasury is authorized to 
pay to the Institute from the interests and earnings of the Fund, and 
moneys credited to the Fund pursuant to this section, such sums as the 
Board determines are necessary and appropriate to enable the Institute 
to carry out the provisions of this Act.

SEC. 5. ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS.

    (a) Executive Director.--The Board shall appoint an Executive 
Director who shall be the chief executive officer and principal 
executive of the Institute and who shall supervise the affairs of, 
assist the directions of, and carry out the functions of the Board to 
administer the Institute. The Executive Director of the Institute shall 
be compensated at an annual rate specified by the Board.
    (b) Other Duties.--The Executive Director, in consultation with the 
Board shall appoint and fix the compensation of such personnel as may 
be necessary to carry out this Act, including personnel to carry out 
duties at any locations of the Institute which are established outside 
of Washington, DC.
    (c) Institute Personnel.--
            (1) Staff appointments.--All staff appointments shall be 
        made without regard to the provisions of title 5, United States 
        Code, governing appointments in the competitive service, and 
        without regard to the provisions of chapter 51 and subchapter 
        III of chapter 53 of such title relating to classification and 
        general schedule pay rates.
            (2) Treatment as congressional employees.--For purposes of 
        pay and other employment benefits, rights, and privileges and 
        for all other purposes, any employee of the Institute shall be 
        considered to be a Congressional employee under section 2107 of 
        title 5, United States Code.
            (3) Coverage under congressional accountability act of 
        1995.--
                    (A) Treatment of employees as covered employees.--
                Section 101(3) of the Congressional Accountability Act 
                of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1301(3)) is amended--
                            (i) by striking ``or'' at the end of 
                        subparagraph (J);
                            (ii) by striking the period at the end of 
                        subparagraph (K) and inserting ``; or''; and
                            (iii) by adding at the end the following 
                        new subparagraph:
                    ``(L) the Leadership Institute for Transatlantic 
                Engagement.''.
                    (B) Treatment of institute as employing office.--
                Section 101(9)(D) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 1301(9)(D)) is 
                amended by striking ``and the John C. Stennis Center'' 
                and inserting ``the Leadership Institute for 
                Transatlantic Engagement, and the John C. Stennis 
                Center''.

SEC. 6. ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS.

    In order to carry out this Act, the Institute may carry out any of 
the following:
            (1) Prescribe such regulations as it considers necessary 
        for governing the manner in which its functions shall be 
        carried out.
            (2) Procure temporary and intermittent services of experts 
        and consultants as are necessary to the extent authorized by 
        section 3109 of title 5, United States Code.
            (3) Accept and utilize the services of voluntary and 
        uncompensated personnel and reimburse them for travel expenses, 
        including per diem, as authorized by section 5703 of title 5, 
        United States Code.
            (4) Request and utilize the assignment of any Federal 
        officer or employee from a department, agency, or Congressional 
        office to the Institute, including on a rotating basis, by 
        entering into an agreement for such assignment.
            (5) Solicit and receive money and other property donated, 
        bequeathed, or devised, without condition or restriction other 
        than it be used for the purposes of the Institute, and to use, 
        sell, or otherwise dispose of such property for the purpose of 
        carrying out its functions.
            (6) Enter into contracts, grants, or other arrangements, or 
        modifications thereof, to carry out the provisions of this Act, 
        including with any office of the Federal government or of any 
        State or any subdivision thereof, and international public and 
        private sector entities.
            (7) Make expenditures for any expenses in connection with 
        official training sessions or other authorized programs or 
        activities of the Institute.
            (8) Apply for, receive, and use for the purposes of the 
        Institute grants or other assistance from Federal sources.
            (9) Establish, receive, and use for the purposes of the 
        Institute fees or other charges for goods or services provided 
        in fulfilling the Institute's purposes.
            (10) Invest, as specified in section 4(c), monies 
        authorized to be received under this Act.
            (11) Establish advisory committees or other bodies composed 
        of persons eminent in international affairs, global security, 
        and civil and human rights, to advise the Board without 
        compensation (other than travel related expenses) on matters 
        determined to be necessary by the Board.
            (12) Respond to the request of offices of Congress and 
        other departments or agencies of the Federal government to 
        examine, study, or report on any issue within the Institute's 
        competence, including the use of classified materials if 
        necessary.
            (13) Work with the appropriate security offices of the 
        House of Representatives and Senate to obtain or retain need-
        based security clearances for Institute personnel.
            (14) Assign Institute personnel to temporary duty with 
        offices of the Federal government, international organizations, 
        agencies and other entities to fulfill this Act.
            (15) Make other necessary expenditures.

SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) The term ``Institute'' means the ``Leadership Institute 
        for Transatlantic Engagement'' established under section 2.
            (2) The term ``Board'' means the Board of Trustees of the 
        Institute.
            (3) The term ``Fund'' means the Leadership Institute for 
        Transatlantic Engagement Trust Fund under section 4.
            (4) The term ``minority serving institutions'' as defined 
        in section 365(3) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 
        U.S.C. 1067k(3)).

SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS; DISBURSEMENTS.

    (a) Authorization of Appropriations.--
            (1) In general.--There are authorized to be appropriated 
        such sums as may be necessary to carry out this Act.
            (2) Availability.--Amounts authorized to be appropriated 
        under paragraph (1) are authorized to remain available until 
        expended.
    (b) Disbursements.--Amounts made available to the Institution shall 
be disbursed on vouchers approved by the Chair and Vice-Chair of the 
Board or by a majority vote of the Board.
    (c) Use of Foreign Currencies.--For purposes of section 502(b) of 
the Mutual Security Act of 1954 (22 U.S.C. 1754(b)), the Institute 
shall be deemed to be a standing committee of the Congress and shall be 
entitled to use funds in accordance with such section.
    (d) Foreign Travel.--Foreign travel for official purposes by 
Members of the Institute who are Members of Congress and Institute 
staff may be authorized by the Chair, Vice-Chair, or Executive Director 
of the Institute.
    (e) Effective Date.--This section shall take effect on the date of 
enactment of this Act.
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