S.Amdt. 4139

1. Adds SEC. __. ESTABLISHMENT OF A NATIONAL PUBLIC ACHIEVEMENT PILOT PROGRAM FOR NEW IMMIGRANTS AND CROSS-CULTURAL UNDERSTANDING wherever appropriate

   Adds a section

   Inserted: SEC. __. ESTABLISHMENT OF A NATIONAL PUBLIC ACHIEVEMENT PILOT PROGRAM FOR NEW IMMIGRANTS AND CROSS-CULTURAL UNDERSTANDING.

   Inserted: (a) Findings.--Congress finds that--

   Inserted: (1) it is desirable to educate new immigrants about American civic rights and duties;

   Inserted: (2) fostering civic dialogue between new immigrants and American citizens will help to bring new immigrants into the fabric of the communities in which they live;

   Inserted: (3) for over 15 years, the Public Achievement program at the University of Minnesota has given people the opportunity to be producers and creators of their communities; (4) through that program, participants have learned basic methods for becoming civically engaged citizens;

   Inserted: (5) the Public Achievement program was created in 1990 as a partnership between the city of St. Paul, Minnesota and the Center for Democracy and Citizenship at the Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs;

   Inserted: (6) as of the date of enactment of this Act, public achievement programs have been established in the States of Minnesota, New York, Colorado, Florida, New Hampshire, Wisconsin, California, and Missouri;

   Inserted: (7) internationally, the Public Achievement program (and similar programs) are active in Northern Ireland, Turkey, Palestine, Israel, Poland, Moldova, Ukraine, Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia, Macedonia, Albania, Kosovo, and Scotland;

   Inserted: (8) the Public Achievement program has been recognized nationally as a promising model of youth civic engagement by the National Commission on Civic Renewal and in the Civic Mission of Schools report by the Carnegie Corporation of New York and the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE);

   Inserted: (9) the Public Achievement program model of civic engagement is a valuable model for programs that assist new immigrants in integrating their lives into American society;

   Inserted: (10) working alongside American-born citizens to practice the skills of citizenship, new immigrants involved in public achievement programs will begin to understand and embrace American civic values; (11) through public achievement programs, American citizens will put their values into action and gain understanding of and appreciation for new cultures; and (12) through public work and reflection, immigrants and American citizens will continue to foster the true American spirit that includes freedom, democracy, citizenship, and other ideals that are at the core of American society.

   Inserted: (b) Establishment.--The Director of the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services shall establish a National Public Achievement Pilot Program for new immigrants and to increase cross-cultural understanding that is carried out at elementary, middle, and high schools in the United States for the purposes described in subsection (c).

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   Inserted: (c) Purposes.--The purposes of the National Public Achievement Pilot Program for new immigrants and cross-cultural understanding shall be--

   Inserted: (1) to assist the integration into American society by developing civic skills and engaging immigrants and American citizens in creative opportunities for enhancing public life;

   Inserted: (2) to promote sustained productive efforts between people of different backgrounds, views, and interests;

   Inserted: (3) to educate new immigrant groups regarding methods to become involved in local and national civics, while teaching others about the culture of such groups; and

   Inserted: (4) to enable American citizens and immigrants to work together and with civic, educational, community-based, and faith-based organizations to create a broad culture of citizenship, civic renewal, and inter-cultural understanding.

   The amendment doesn't say where this goes; the clerk decides.

   Original wording

   At the appropriate place, insert the following:

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As printed