1. Short title This Act may be cited as the National Center for the Right to Counsel Act . 2. Findings Congress finds the following: (1) The Sixth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States provides that In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to … have the Assistance of Counsel for his defense. . (2) In Gideon v. Wainwright, 372 U.S. 335 (1963), the United States Supreme Court held that the States were required to provide counsel for indigent defendants in all felony cases. (3) In Argersinger v. Hamlin, 407 U.S. 25 (1972), the United States Supreme Court held that indigent defendants are entitled to court-appointed counsel in any case that leads to actual imprisonment. (4) For more than 50 years, the States and local governments have been struggling to satisfy this mandate. 3. Definitions In this Act: (1) The term Board means the Board of Directors of the National Center for the Right to Counsel. (2) The term Center means the National Center for the Right to Counsel established in this Act. (3) The term indigent defendant means a defendant in a criminal case who is unable to afford a reasonable attorney’s fee in the case against such person. (4) The term public defense services means legal assistance provided to an indigent defendant in a criminal case against such person. (5) The term public defense system means a system that provides public defense services, and includes a system that is run by a State or local unit of government, and a system that is run by a private entity or individual that provides such services by reason of a contract with a State or local unit of government. (6) The term State means any State of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. 4. Establishment of Center (a) In general There is established in the District of Columbia a private nonmembership nonprofit corporation, which shall be known as the National