NEAR AND MIDDLE EAST RESEARCH AND TRAINING.

SEC. 228. NEAR AND MIDDLE EAST RESEARCH AND TRAINING. (a) Near and Middle East Studies.—The Director of the United States Information Agency may expend from the amount authorized for the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, such sums as are appropriate to assist graduate and postdoctoral studies by United States scholars on the Near and Middle East. (b) Report.—The Director of the United States Information Agency shall prepare and submit to the President and the Congress at the end of each fiscal year in which assistance is provided under subsection (a) a report concerning such assistance. (c) Recommendations.—Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Director of the United States Information Agency, in consultation with qualified government agencies and appropriate private organizations and individuals, shall submit to the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives recommendations concerning the conduct of educational and cultural exchange programs administered and funded by the Agency. (d) Definition.—For purposes of this section, the term “Near and Middle East” refers to the region consisting of those countries and peoples covered by the Bureau of Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs of the Department of State on the day before the date of the enactment of this Act.