[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 987 Introduced in House (IH)]
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117th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 987
To establish a grant program for domestic maritime workforce training
and education, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 11, 2021
Ms. Garcia of Texas (for herself, Mr. Young, Ms. Pingree, Mr.
Lowenthal, and Mr. Case) introduced the following bill; which was
referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To establish a grant program for domestic maritime workforce training
and education, 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. CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE FOR DOMESTIC MARITIME WORKFORCE
TRAINING AND EDUCATION.
Section 54102 of title 46, United States Code, is amended--
(1) in subsection (a), by striking ``of Transportation'';
(2) in subsection (b), in the subsection heading, by
striking ``Assistance'' and inserting ``Cooperative
Agreements'';
(3) by redesignating subsection (c) as subsection (d);
(4) in subsection (d), as redesignated by paragraph (2), by
adding at the end the following:
``(3) Secretary.--The term `Secretary' means the Secretary
of Transportation.''; and
(5) by inserting after subsection (b) the following:
``(c) Grant Program.--
``(1) Definition of eligible institution.--In this
subsection, the term `eligible institution' means an
institution of higher education (as defined in section 102 of
the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002)) that offers
a 2-year program of study, a 1-year program of training, or is
a postsecondary vocational institution.
``(2) Grant authorization.--
``(A) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the
date of enactment of the Maritime Administration
Authorization and Improvement Act, the Secretary may
award maritime career training grants to eligible
institutions for the purpose of developing, offering,
or improving educational or career training programs
for American workers related to the maritime workforce.
``(B) Guidelines.--Not later than 1 year after the
date of enactment of the Maritime Administration
Authorization and Improvement Act, the Secretary
shall--
``(i) promulgate guidelines for the
submission of grant proposals under this
subsection; and
``(ii) publish and maintain such guidelines
on the website of the Department of
Transportation.
``(3) Limitations.--The Secretary may not award a grant
under this subsection in an amount that is more than
$20,000,000.
``(4) Required information.--
``(A) In general.--An eligible institution that
desires to receive a grant under this subsection shall
submit to the Secretary a grant proposal that includes
a detailed description of--
``(i) the specific project for which the
grant proposal is submitted, including the
manner in which the grant will be used to
develop, offer, or improve an educational or
career training program that is suited to
maritime industry workers;
``(ii) the extent to which the project for
which the grant proposal is submitted will meet
the educational or career training needs of
maritime workers in the community served by the
eligible institution;
``(iii) the extent to which the project for
which the grant proposal is submitted fits
within any overall strategic plan developed by
an eligible community; and
``(iv) any previous experience of the
eligible institution in providing maritime
educational or career training programs.
``(B) Community outreach required.--In order to be
considered by the Secretary, a grant proposal submitted
by an eligible institution under this subsection
shall--
``(i) demonstrate that the eligible
institution--
``(I) reached out to employers to
identify--
``(aa) any shortcomings in
existing maritime educational
and career training
opportunities available to
workers in the community; and
``(bb) any future
employment opportunities within
the community and the
educational and career training
skills required for workers to
meet the future maritime
employment demand; and
``(II) reached out to other
similarly situated institutions in an
effort to benefit from any best
practices that may be shared with
respect to providing maritime
educational or career training programs
to workers eligible for training; and
``(ii) include a detailed description of--
``(I) the extent and outcome of the
outreach conducted under clause (i);
``(II) the extent to which the
project for which the grant proposal is
submitted will contribute to meeting
any shortcomings identified under
clause (i)(I)(aa) or any maritime
educational or career training needs
identified under clause (i)(I)(bb); and
``(III) the extent to which
employers, including small- and medium-
sized firms within the community, have
demonstrated a commitment to employing
workers who would benefit from the
project for which the grant proposal is
submitted.
``(5) Criteria for award of grants.--
``(A) In general.--Subject to the appropriation of
funds, the Secretary shall award a grant under this
subsection based on--
``(i) a determination of the merits of the
grant proposal submitted by the eligible
institution to develop, offer, or improve
maritime educational or career training
programs to be made available to workers;
``(ii) an evaluation of the likely
employment opportunities available to workers
who complete a maritime educational or career
training program that the eligible institution
proposes to develop, offer, or improve;
``(iii) an evaluation of prior demand for
training programs by workers in the community
served by the eligible institution, as well as
the availability and capacity of existing
maritime training programs to meet future
demand for training programs; and
``(iv) any prior designation of an
institution as a Center of Excellence for
Domestic Maritime Workforce Training and
Education.
``(B) Matching requirements.--A grant awarded under
this subsection may not be used to satisfy any private
matching requirement under any other provision of law.
``(6) Public report.--Not later than December 15 in each of
the calendar years 2021 through 2023, the Secretary shall make
available on a publically available website a report and
provide a briefing to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and
Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on
Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of
Representatives--
``(A) describing each grant awarded under this
subsection during the preceding fiscal year; and
``(B) assessing the impact of each award of a grant
under this subsection in a fiscal year preceding the
fiscal year referred to in subparagraph (A) on workers
receiving training.
``(7) Authorization of appropriations.--There is authorized
to be appropriated to carry out this subsection
$200,000,000.''.
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