There is established in the Treasury of the United States a trust fund to be known as the Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Fund. The fund shall consist of amounts appropriated to it pursuant to section 4711 of this title and amounts credited to it under subsection (d).

It shall be the duty of the Secretary of the Treasury to invest in full the amounts appropriated to the fund. Such investments may be made only in public debt securities of the United States with maturities suitable to the fund. For such purpose, such obligations may be acquired (1) on original issue at the issue price, or (2) by purchase of outstanding obligations at the market place. The purposes for which obligations of the United States may be issued under chapter 31 of title 31 are hereby extended to authorize the issuance at par of special obligations exclusively to the fund. Such special obligations shall bear interest at a rate equal to the average rate of interest, computed as to the end of the calendar month next preceding the date of such issue, borne by all marketable interest-bearing obligations of the United States then forming a part of the public debt, except that where such average rate is not a multiple of ⅛ of 1 percent, the rate of interest of such special obligations shall be the multiple of ⅛ of 1 percent next lower than such average rate. Such special obligations shall be issued only if the Secretary determines that the purchases of other interest-bearing obligations of the United States, or of obligations guaranteed as to both principal and interest by the United States or original issue or at the market price, is not in the public interest.

Any obligation acquired by the fund may be sold by the Secretary at the market price.

The interest on, and the proceeds from the sale or redemption of, any obligations held in the fund shall be credited to and form a part of the fund.

(Pub. L. 99–661, div. A, title XIV, § 1408, Nov. 14, 1986, 100 Stat. 4010; Pub. L. 102–190, div. A, title X, § 1089(2), Dec. 5, 1991, 105 Stat. 1485; Pub. L. 102–484, div. A, title X, § 1054(h), Oct. 23, 1992, 106 Stat. 2503.)