Modernize the Au Pair Program Act of 2024

[Congressional Bills 118th Congress] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office] [H.R. 9677 Introduced in House (IH)] <DOC> 118th CONGRESS 2d Session H. R. 9677 To clarify the Department of State's exclusive regulatory authority over the au pair cultural exchange program, and for other purposes. _______________________________________________________________________ IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES September 19, 2024 Mr. Reschenthaler (for himself, Mr. Issa, and Ms. Salazar) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs _______________________________________________________________________ A BILL To clarify the Department of State's exclusive regulatory authority over the au pair cultural exchange program, 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 ``Modernize the Au Pair Program Act of 2024''. SEC. 2. FINDINGS. Congress finds the following: (1) Congress authorized in the Mutual Educational and Cultural Exchange Act of 1961, (22 U.S.C. 2451 et. seq. (known as the ``Fulbright-Hays Act'')) the creation of international educational and cultural exchange programs pursued through private-public partnerships between the Federal agency responsible for foreign affairs (initially the United States Information Agency or ``USIA'') and designated sponsoring organizations. (2) In 1986, the USIA launched a pilot program referred to as the Federal ``au pair exchange program'', whereby young foreign students would travel to the United States to live with and provide childcare to an American family, immerse themselves in American culture, and pursue academic credits at an accredited institution. (3) In 1994, Congress amended the Eisenhower Exchange Fellowship Act of 1990 (Public Law 103-415, 108 Stat. 4299 (1994)) to clarify that the USIA should continue to administer the Federal au pair program con