II 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3532 

To support the goals of the Commission on the Abraham Lincoln Study 

Abroad Fellowship Program. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 16, 2006 

Mr. LUGAR introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To support the goals of the Commission on the Abraham 

Lincoln Study Abroad Fellowship Program. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Higher Education 

5 Study Abroad Act of 2006’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 

8 (1) According to the report ‘‘Global Competence 

9 & National Needs: One Million Americans Studying 


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1 Abroad’’ by the Commission on the Abraham Lin2 coln Study Abroad Fellowship Program— 

3 (A) business leaders recognize that they 

4 need to draw on people with global skills if their 

5 corporations are to succeed in a world in which 

6 1 American job in 6 is tied to international 

7 trade; 

8 (B) study abroad programs for under9 graduate students provide a unique opportunity 

10 to expand the number of foreign language 

11 speakers and enhance foreign language learn12 ing; 

13 (C) more than 65 Federal agencies, includ14 ing the Central Intelligence Agency and the 

15 Peace Corps, need to fill annually 34,000 posi16 tions requiring foreign language skills, and this 

17 requirement is often unmet or filled only 

18 through outside contractors; 

19 (D) higher education in the United States 

20 is increasingly providing opportunities for study 

21 abroad programs, and some of the finest col22 leges and universities of the United States are 

23 making major commitments to this essential 

24 element of today’s educational experience; and 


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1 (E) it is in the national interest of the 

2 United States to send at least 1,000,000 post3 secondary students abroad each year to study 

4 the languages and cultures of other countries. 

5 (2) The Lincoln Commission report described in 

6 paragraph (1) represents the opinions of some of the 

7 most thoughtful experts on higher education in the 

8 United States. 

9 SEC. 3. RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE LINCOLN COMMIS10 SION. 

11 (a) SENSE OF THE SENATE.—It is the sense of the 

12 Senate that the Federal Government should endorse the 

13 goals outlined by the Commission on the Abraham Lincoln 

14 Study Abroad Fellowship Program, established under sec15 tion 104 of the Miscellaneous Appropriations and Offsets 

16 Act, 2004 (division H of the Consolidated Appropriations 

17 Act, 2004 (Public Law 108–199, 118 Stat. 435) regarding 

18 expanding the opportunity for students at institutions of 

19 higher education in the United States to study abroad. 

20 (b) REVIEW OF RECOMMENDATIONS.—Not later than 

21 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec22 retary of Education shall— 

23 (1) review the recommendations of the Commis24 sion on the Abraham Lincoln Study Abroad Fellow25 ship Program regarding expanding the opportunity 


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1 for students at institutions of higher education in 

2 the United States to study abroad; and 

3 (2) prepare and submit a report to the Com4 mittee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

5 of the Senate and the Committee on Education and 

6 Workforce of the House of Representatives that con7 siders the feasibility of— 

8 (A) implementing the recommendations of 

9 the Commission on the Abraham Lincoln Study 

10 Abroad Fellowship Program; and 

11 (B) establishing a national scholarship pro12 gram, as recommended by the Commission, that 

13 provides opportunities for students at institu14 tions of higher education to study abroad. 

15 (c) DEFINITION OF INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDU16 CATION.—In this section, the term ‘‘institution of higher 

17 education’’ has the meaning given the term in section 101 

18 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001). 

Æ 


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