[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4213 Introduced in House (IH)]
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117th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 4213
To establish the Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative, and for
other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 29, 2021
Mr. Castro of Texas (for himself and Ms. Tenney) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To establish the Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative, 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 ``Young Southeast Asian Leaders
Initiative Act'' or the ``YSEALI Act''.
SEC. 2. YOUNG SOUTHEAST ASIAN LEADERS INITIATIVE.
(a) Establishment.--There is established in the Department of State
the Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative (``YSEALI'') program.
(b) Goals.--The YSEALI program shall seek to build to capacity of
young leaders in Southeast Asia to--
(1) support young leaders from Southeast Asia by offering
professional development and a global network to share
expertise, including in the areas of civic engagement, economic
empowerment and social entrepreneurship, education and
environmental issues; and
(2) further strengthen the enduring partnership between the
United States and Southeast Asia and connect United States
experts with YSEALI participants.
(c) YSEALI Programs.--
(1) YSEALI academic fellows program.--There is established
the YSEALI Academic Fellows Program to bring students from
YSEALI partner countries to the United States for the purposes
of building practical expertise, leadership skills, and
professional networks relating to one or more of the YSEALI
themes. The Secretary of State may award fellowships under the
Academic Fellows Program to eligible individuals based on the
following:
(A) Citizenship and residency in a YSEALI partner
country.
(B) Status as a full-time undergraduate student, or
recent graduate of college, university, or other
institutions of higher learning.
(C) Other criteria determined appropriate by the
Secretary.
(2) YSEALI professional fellows program.--There is
established the YSEALI Professional Fellows Program to bring
professionals from YSEALI partner countries to the United
States for the purposes of building practical expertise,
leadership skills, and professional networks relating to one or
more of the YSEALI themes. The Secretary of State may award
fellowships under the Professional Fellows Program to eligible
individuals based on the following:
(A) Citizenship and residency in a YSEALI partner
country.
(B) Status as an emerging leader in government,
civil society, or the private sector, and demonstrated
expertise relating to one or more of the YSEALI themes.
(C) Current employment, and two or more years of
professional work experience relevant to one or more
YSEALI themes.
(D) Other criteria determined appropriate by the
Secretary.
(3) Other initiatives.--The Secretary of State may
designate other initiatives as YSEALI initiatives under this
section if they advance the goals of the YSEALI program as
described in subsection (b).
(d) Activities.--
(1) United states-based activities.--The Secretary of State
shall oversee all United States-based activities carried out
under the YSEALI program, including the participation of YSEALI
Academic Fellows in a program at a United States university or
college, and the participation of YSEALI Professional Fellows
at United States private and public sector organizations for
individually tailored work placements. Both fellowships may
include site visits, professional networking opportunities,
leadership training, community service, and organized cultural
activities, as appropriate.
(2) Southeast asia-based activities.--The Secretary of
State should continue to support overseas initiatives of the
program, including the following:
(A) Quality leadership training, professional
development, and networking opportunities for YSEALI
alumni.
(B) Reciprocal exchanges for YSEALI Professional
Fellows Program's United States professional hosts and
interlocutors to support post-United States exchange
action plans and other related public diplomacy goals,
as appropriate.
(C) Opportunities for networking with YSEALI alumni
and professionals and experts who are American and
Southeast Asian.
(D) The YSEALI Regional Workshop program, offering
networking, mentoring, hands-on training, and the tools
necessary to lead communities in addressing economic,
environmental, educational, and civic engagement
issues.
(E) The YSEALI Seeds for the Future program,
providing small, competitive grants to young leaders in
Southeast Asia to improve their communities, countries,
and the region towards one or more of the themes of
civic engagement, economic empowerment and social
entrepreneurship, education, or environmental issues.
(F) The YSEALI Academy at Fulbright University
Vietnam, offering executive-level seminars for entry to
mid-level professionals around the themes of technology
and innovation, public policy, and entrepreneurship.
(G) The YSEALI Women's Leadership Academy Program,
enhancing people-to-people ties and engagement with
young and emerging leaders by promoting gender equality
and advancing the status of women and girls, such as in
the public health sector.
(3) Alumni platform.--The Secretary of State is authorized
to convene current YSEALI participants and YSEALI alumni
through a platform to promote networking opportunities within
the YSEALI community.
(4) Implementation.--To carry out this subsection, United
States diplomatic and consular posts, the Secretary of State,
and agency external partners managing and implementing the
YSEALI program--
(A) shall promote United States policy goals in
Southeast Asia by providing tools and resources to help
young Southeast Asian leaders develop important skills
and connections, including through online campaigns and
public diplomacy initiatives;
(B) shall establish a system for monitoring,
evaluating, and improving the YSEALI program; and
(C) may accept financial contributions from
foundations, corporations, private donors, program
partners, and implementing agency external partners
intended to foster the goals of the YSEALI program.
(e) Reports.--
(1) Strategy.--The Secretary of State shall submit to the
appropriate congressional committees a strategy for
implementing the YSEALI program, including the following:
(A) YSEALI program goals, targets, and planned
outcomes for each year and, separately, for the YSEALI
program generally during the duration of its
implementation.
(B) The continuation of YSEALI program monitoring
and evaluation plan, including metrics for measuring
YSEALI program progress identification of annual YSEALI
program goals, and targets.
(2) Annual reports.--Not later than 1 year after the date
of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter for 4
years, the Secretary of State shall submit to the appropriate
congressional committees and publish on a publicly available
website of the Department a report on--
(A) YSEALI program progress and an assessment of
the metrics, goals, targets, and outcomes described in
paragraph (1)(A), including information relating to
YSEALI program implementation and outcome activities
during the year covered by each report; and
(B) recommendations for improvements or amendments
to the YSEALI program and strategy, if any, that would
improve their effectiveness during subsequent years of
YSEALI program implementation.
(3) Final report.--Not later than the date of the
submission of the last report required under paragraph (2), the
Secretary of State shall submit to the appropriate
congressional committees a final assessment report that
evaluates YSEALI program implementation and outcomes during the
entire duration of YSEALI program operation, including
recommendations regarding whether the YSEALI program should be
reauthorized and any changes that would improve its
effectiveness.
(f) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term
``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
(A) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House
of Representatives;
(B) the Committee on Appropriations of the House of
Representatives;
(C) the Committee on Foreign Relations of the
Senate; and
(D) the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate.
(2) Implementing agency external partners.--The term
``implementing agency external partners'' means any external
partner that is not a United States Government agency, and may
include one or more of the following entities:
(A) Local or multinational corporations.
(B) Nongovernmental organizations.
(C) Universities.
(D) Regional institutions.
(3) YSEALI theme.--The term ``YSEALI theme'' means--
(A) civic engagement;
(B) economic empowerment and social
entrepreneurship;
(C) education;
(D) environmental issues; or
(E) any other theme included by the Secretary of
State.
(4) YSEALI partner countries.--The term ``YSEALI partner
countries'' includes each member country of the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations and each other country or political
entity the Secretary of State determines appropriate to include
in the programs established under this section.
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