Sec. 7323. Department of State Student Internship Program
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/bill/117/hr/4350/eh/section-7323A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
The Secretary of State shall establish the Department of State Student Internship Program (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 objectives. To be eligible to participate in the Program, an applicant shall— be enrolled, not less than half-time, at— an institution of higher education (as such term is defined section 102 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 ( 20 U.S.C. 1002 )); or an institution of higher education based outside the United States, as determined by the Secretary of State; be able to receive and hold an appropriate security clearance; and satisfy such other criteria as established by the Secretary.
The Secretary of State shall establish selection criteria for students to be admitted into the Program that includes the following: Demonstrable interest in a career in foreign affairs. Academic performance. Such other criteria as determined by the Secretary. The Secretary of State shall advertise the Program widely, including on the internet, through the Department of State’s Diplomats in Residence program, and through other outreach and recruiting initiatives targeting undergraduate and graduate students.
The Secretary shall actively encourage people belonging to traditionally under-represented groups in terms of racial, ethnic, geographic, and 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) ). Students participating in the Program shall be paid at least— the amount specified in section 6(a)(1) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 ( 29 U.S.C. 206(a)(1) ), or the minimum wage of the jurisdiction in which the internship is located, whichever is greater.
The Secretary of State shall provide housing assistance to a student participating in the Program whose permanent address is within the United States if the location of the internship in which such student is participating is outside the United States. The Secretary of State is authorized to provide housing assistance to a student participating in the Program whose permanent address is within the United States if the location of the internship in which such student is participating is more than 50 miles away from such student’s permanent address.
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, including travel by air, train, bus, or other transit as appropriate, if the location of such internship is— more than 50 miles from such student’s permanent address; or outside the United States. 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.
Not later than two years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall transition all unpaid internship programs of the Department, including the Foreign Service Internship Program, to internship programs that offer compensation. Upon selection as a candidate for entry into an internship program of the Department after such date, a participant in such internship program shall be afforded the opportunity to forgo compensation, including if doing so allows such participant to receive college or university curricular credit.
The transition required under paragraph
(1)shall not apply in the case of unpaid internship programs of the Department of State that are part of the Virtual Student Federal Service internship program. The Secretary may waive the requirement under this subsection to transition an unpaid internship program of the Department to an internship program that offers compensation if the Secretary determines and not later than 30 days after any such determination submits to the appropriate congressional committees a report that to do so would not be consistent with effective management goals. The report required under subparagraph
(A)shall describe the reason why transitioning an unpaid internship program of the Department to an internship program that offers compensation would not be consistent with effective management goals, including any justification for maintaining such unpaid status indefinitely, or any additional authorities or resources necessary to transition such unpaid program to offer compensation in the future. 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: Data, to the extent collection of such information is permissible by law, regarding the number of students, disaggregated by race, ethnicity, gender, institution of higher learning, home State, State where each student graduated from high school, and disability status, who applied to the Program, were offered a position, and participated. Data on the number of security clearance investigations started for such students and the timeline for such investigations, including whether such investigations were completed or if, and when, an interim security clearance was granted. Information on expenditures on the Program. Information regarding the Department of State’s compliance with subsection (g). Nothing in this section may be construed to compel any student who is a participant in an internship program of the Department of State to participate in the collection of the data or divulge any personal information. Such students shall be informed that their participation in the data collection contemplated by this section is voluntary. Any data collected under this section shall be subject to the relevant privacy protection statutes and regulations applicable to Federal employees. The Department of State may offer compensated internships for not more than 52 weeks, and select, appoint, employ, and remove individuals in such compensated internships without regard to the provisions of law governing appointments in the competitive service. Internships offered and compensated by the Department subject to this section shall be funded by funds authorized to be appropriated by section 7101.