; (B) the Young African Leaders Initiative, which supports United States Government efforts to invest in the next generation of African leaders; and (C) USAID's Minority Serving Partnership Initiative to facilitate research partnerships and engagements with minority-serving institutions, including HBCUs. 3. Sense of Congress It is the sense of Congress that— (1) the United States should promote and expand collaborative research partnerships between Federal agencies and HBCUs that advance joint partnerships in education, economic growth, food security, democracy and governance, agriculture, environmental conservation, small and medium-sized business development, humanitarian assistance, and conflict stabilization in developing countries; and (2) the United States should continue to facilitate and deepen partnerships between HBCUs and Sub-Saharan Africa. 4. Purposes The purposes of this Act are— (1) to strengthen the capacity of HBCUs to partner with relevant Federal departments and agencies in support of United States and African joint interests, including in the areas of democracy and good governance, food and agricultural security, education and human capital, youth development, trade and economic development, and public health infrastructure; (2) to help integrate the work of HBCUs with the foreign policy and foreign assistance priorities of the United States, as appropriate; (3) to bolster and facilitate productive interactions between HBCUs and relevant Federal departments and agencies; (4) to encourage HBCU participation in relevant Federal programs, grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements; (5) to expand existing partnership initiatives between HBCUs and relevant Federal departments and agencies; and (6) to recognize the historic contributions of HBCUs to relations between the United States and Africa. 5. Definitions In this Act: (1) Appropriate congressional committees The term appropriate congressional committees means— (A) the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate