Title: PIPELINE Act of 2020
Policy area: Education

Summary:
Pathway for Inclusive Participation of Emerging Leaders and Institutions in the NatSec Enterprise Act of 2020 or the PIPELINE Act of 2020
This bill requires the Department of Defense to establish a federal scholarship-for-service program to recruit, train, and diversify the next generation of national security professionals to meet the needs of federal, state, local, and tribal governments.
Specifically, the program must (1) provide scholarships to students who are enrolled in programs of study related to national security at historically Black colleges and universities or at institutions of higher education with at least 50% of total student enrollment from ethnic groups that are underrepresented in the fields of science and engineering, (2) provide scholarship recipients with internship opportunities or other temporary appointments in the federal national security workforce, and (3) prioritize the employment placement of scholarship recipients in the federal government.
Additionally, the post-award employment obligations of a scholarship recipient must include three years of work in a position related to national security at a federal, state, local, or tribal agency. A scholarship recipient may fulfill this condition by serving in the Armed Forces.
Finally, a scholarship recipient who completes less than the required three years of service must repay the scholarship, or the scholarship must be treated as a Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loan that is subject to repayment.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7198 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>






116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 7198

 To establish a scholarship program to diversify the national security 
  workforce through partnership with Historically Black Colleges and 
 Universities and other minority institutions, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 15, 2020

   Mr. Brown of Maryland (for himself and Mr. Turner) introduced the 
 following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and 
Labor, and in addition to the Committee on Armed Services, for a period 
    to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for 
consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the 
                          committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To establish a scholarship program to diversify the national security 
  workforce through partnership with Historically Black Colleges and 
 Universities and other minority institutions, and for other purposes.

    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 ``Pathway for Inclusive Participation 
of Emerging Leaders and Institutions in the NatSec Enterprise Act of 
2020'' or the ``PIPELINE Act of 2020''.

SEC. 2. SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of Defense, in coordination with the 
Director of the Office of Personnel Management, the Secretary of State, 
and the Secretary of Homeland Security, shall establish a Federal 
scholarship-for-service program known as the ``Ronald V. Dellums 
Federal National Security Pipeline Program'' to recruit, train, and 
diversify the next generation of national security professionals to 
meet the needs of the national security mission for Federal, State, 
local, and Tribal governments.
    (b) Program Description and Components.--The program under 
subsection (a) shall--
            (1) provide scholarships to students who are enrolled in 
        programs of study at covered institutions leading to degrees or 
        specialized program certifications relating to national 
        security;
            (2) provide the scholarship recipients with summer 
        internship opportunities or other meaningful temporary 
        appointments in the Federal national security workforce; and
            (3) prioritize the employment placement of scholarship 
        recipients in the Federal Government.
    (c) Scholarship Amounts.--Each scholarship under subsection (b) 
shall be in an amount that covers the student's tuition and fees at the 
institution under subsection (b)(1) for not more than three years and 
provides the student with an additional stipend.
    (d) Post-Award Employment Obligations.--
            (1) Civilian employment.--Each scholarship recipient, as a 
        condition of receiving a scholarship under the program, shall 
        enter into an agreement under which the recipient agrees to 
        work in a position related to national security at a Federal, 
        State, local, or Tribal agency for a period equal to the length 
        of the scholarship following receipt of the student's degree.
            (2) Military service.--Pursuant to regulations prescribed 
        by the Secretary of Defense for such purpose, a scholarship 
        recipient may fulfill the condition described in paragraph (1) 
        by serving in the Armed Forces.
    (e) Hiring Authority.--
            (1) Appointment in excepted service.--Notwithstanding any 
        provision of chapter 33 of title 5, United States Code, 
        governing appointments in the competitive service, an agency 
        shall appoint in the excepted service an individual who has 
        completed the eligible degree program for which a scholarship 
        was awarded.
            (2) Noncompetitive conversion.--Except as provided in 
        paragraph (4), upon fulfillment of the service term, an 
        employee appointed under paragraph (1) may be converted 
        noncompetitively to term, career-conditional, or career 
        appointment.
            (3) Timing of conversion.--An agency may noncompetitively 
        convert a term employee appointed under paragraph (2) to a 
        career-conditional or career appointment before the term 
        appointment expires.
            (4) Authority to decline conversion.--An agency may decline 
        to make the noncompetitive conversion or appointment under 
        paragraph (2) for cause.
    (f) Eligibility.--To be eligible to receive a scholarship under 
this section, an individual shall--
            (1) be a citizen or lawful permanent resident of the United 
        States;
            (2) demonstrate a commitment to a career in national 
        security;
            (3) have demonstrated a high level of proficiency in a 
        field related to national security;
            (4) be a full-time student in an eligible degree program at 
        a covered institution; and
            (5) accept the terms of a scholarship under this section.
    (g) Conditions of Support.--
            (1) In general.--As a condition of receiving a scholarship 
        under this section, a scholarship recipient shall agree to 
        provide the qualified institution of higher education with 
        annual verifiable documentation of post-award employment and 
        up-to-date contact information.
            (2) Terms.--A scholarship recipient under this section 
        shall be liable to the United States as provided in subsection 
        (i) if the individual--
                    (A) fails to maintain an acceptable level of 
                academic standing at the applicable covered 
                institution, as determined by the Secretary of Defense;
                    (B) is dismissed from the applicable covered 
                institution for disciplinary reasons;
                    (C) withdraws from the eligible degree program 
                before completing the program;
                    (D) declares that the individual does not intend to 
                fulfill the post-award employment obligation under this 
                section; or
                    (E) fails to fulfill the post-award employment 
                obligation of the individual under this section.
    (h) Monitoring Compliance.--As a condition of participating in the 
program, a covered institution shall--
            (1) enter into an agreement with the Secretary of Defense, 
        to monitor the compliance of scholarship recipients with 
        respect to their post-award employment obligations; and
            (2) provide to the Secretary of Defense, on an annual 
        basis, the post-award employment documentation required under 
        subsection (g)(1) for scholarship recipients through the 
        completion of their post-award employment obligations.
    (i) Amount of Repayment.--
            (1) Less than one year of service.--If a circumstance 
        described in subsection (g)(2) occurs before the completion of 
        one year of a post-award employment obligation under this 
        section, the total amount of scholarship awards received by the 
        individual under this section shall--
                    (A) be repaid; or
                    (B) be treated as a loan to be repaid in accordance 
                with subsection (j).
            (2) One or more years of service.--If a circumstance 
        described in subparagraph (D) or (E) of subsection (g)(2) 
        occurs after the completion of one or more years of a post-
        award employment obligation under this section, the total 
        amount of scholarship awards received by the individual under 
        this section, reduced by the ratio of the number of years of 
        service completed divided by the number of years of service 
        required, shall--
                    (A) be repaid; or
                    (B) be treated as a loan to be repaid in accordance 
                with subsection (j).
    (j) Repayments.--A loan described in subsection (i) shall--
            (1) be treated as a Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford 
        Loan under part D of title IV of the Higher Education Act of 
        1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087a et seq.); and
            (2) be subject to repayment, together with interest thereon 
        accruing from the date of the scholarship award, in accordance 
        with terms and conditions specified by the Secretary of Defense 
        (in consultation with the Secretary of Education, Secretary of 
        State, and Secretary of Homeland Security) in regulations 
        promulgated to carry out this subsection.
    (k) Collection of Repayment.--
            (1) In general.--In the event that a scholarship recipient 
        is required to repay the scholarship award under this section, 
        the covered institution providing the scholarship shall--
                    (A) determine the repayment amounts and notify the 
                recipient and the Secretary of Defense of the amounts 
                owed; and
                    (B) collect the repayment amounts within a period 
                of time as determined by the Secretary of Defense, or 
                the repayment amounts shall be treated as a loan in 
                accordance with subsection (j).
            (2) Returned to treasury.--Except as provided in paragraph 
        (3), any repayment under this subsection shall be returned to 
        the Treasury of the United States.
            (3) Retain percentage.--A covered institution may retain a 
        percentage of any repayment the institution collects under this 
        subsection to defray administrative costs associated with the 
        collection. The Secretary of Defense shall establish a single, 
        fixed percentage that will apply to all eligible entities.
    (l) Exceptions.--The Secretary of Defense may provide for the 
partial or total waiver or suspension of any service or payment 
obligation by an individual under this section whenever compliance by 
the individual with the obligation is impossible or would involve 
extreme hardship to the individual, or if enforcement of such 
obligation with respect to the individual would be unconscionable.
    (m) Evaluation and Report.--The Secretary of Defense shall evaluate 
and report periodically to Congress on the success of recruiting 
individuals for scholarships under this section and on hiring and 
retaining those individuals in the public sector workforce.
    (n) Covered Institution Defined.--In this section, the term 
``covered institution'' has the meaning given that term in section 
262(g)(2) of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 
2020 (Public Law 116-92).
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