II 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1089 

To establish the National Foreign Language Coordination Council to develop 

and implement a foreign language strategy, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 19, 2005 

Mr. AKAKA (for himself, Mr. COCHRAN, and Mr. DODD) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 

Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL

To establish the National Foreign Language Coordination 

Council to develop and implement a foreign language 

strategy, and for other purposes.

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 ‘‘National Foreign Lan5 guage Coordination Act of 2005’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that— 

8 (1) there is a severe shortage of qualified lan9 guage professionals, including teachers, translators, 
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1 and interpreters, especially in less commonly taught 

2 languages, across the United States; 

3 (2) Federal, State, and local governments need 

4 individuals with bilingual and bicultural capabilities, 

5 including— 

6 (A) diplomats; 

7 (B) defense and intelligence analysts; 

8 (C) military personnel; 

9 (D) foreign language instructors; 

10 (E) health professionals; 

11 (F) medical and social services providers; 

12 (G) court interpreters; 

13 (H) translators; and 

14 (I) law enforcement officers; 

15 (3) deficiencies in the national language capa16 bilities have— 

17 (A) undermined cross-cultural communica18 tion and understanding at home and abroad; 

19 (B) restrained social mobility; 

20 (C) lessened national commercial competi21 tiveness; 

22 (D) limited the effectiveness of public di23 plomacy; 

24 (E) restricted justice and government serv25 ices to sectors of society; and 
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1 (F) threatened national security; 

2 (4) ample resources are not available to develop 

3 language and cultural capabilities in all of the 

4 world’s languages, requiring prioritization of such 

5 resources; and 

6 (5) a National Foreign Language Coordination 

7 Council and a National Language Director can help 

8 to raise public awareness and provide top-down co9 ordination and direction. 

10 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE NATIONAL FOREIGN LAN11 GUAGE COORDINATION COUNCIL. 

12 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established the Na13 tional Foreign Language Coordination Council (referred 

14 to as the ‘‘Council’’ in this Act), which shall be an inde15 pendent establishment as defined under section 104 of 

16 title 5, United States Code. 

17 (b) MEMBERSHIP.—The Council shall consist of the 

18 following members or their designees: 

19 (1) The National Language Director, who shall 

20 serve as the chairperson of the Council. 

21 (2) The Secretary of Education. 

22 (3) The Secretary of Defense. 

23 (4) The Secretary of State. 

24 (5) The Secretary of Homeland Security. 

25 (6) The Attorney General. 
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1 (7) The Director of National Intelligence. 

2 (8) The Secretary of Labor. 

3 (9) The Director of the Office of Personnel 

4 Management. 

5 (10) The Director of the Office of Management 

6 and Budget. 

7 (11) The Secretary of Commerce. 

8 (12) The Secretary of Health and Human Serv9 ices. 

10 (13) The Secretary of the Treasury. 

11 (14) The Secretary of Housing and Urban De12 velopment. 

13 (15) The Secretary of Agriculture. 

14 (16) The heads of such other Federal agencies 

15 as the Council considers appropriate. 

16 (c) RESPONSIBILITIES.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Council shall be 

18 charged with— 

19 (A) developing a national foreign language 

20 strategy within 18 months of the date of enact21 ment of this Act; and 

22 (B) overseeing the implementation of such 

23 strategy. 

24 (2) STRATEGY CONTENT.—The strategy devel25 oped under paragraph (1) shall include— 
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1 (A) identification of crucial priorities 

2 across all sectors; 

3 (B) identification and evaluation of Fed4 eral foreign language programs and activities, 

5 including— 

6 (i) recommendations on coordination; 

7 (ii) program enhancements; and 

8 (iii) allocation of resources so as to 

9 maximize use of resources; 

10 (C) needed national policies and cor11 responding legislative and regulatory actions in 

12 support of, and allocation of designated re13 sources to, promising programs and initiatives 

14 at all levels (Federal, State, and local), espe15 cially in the less commonly taught languages 

16 that are seen as critical for national security 

17 and global competitiveness in the next 20 to 50 

18 years; 

19 (D) effective ways to increase public 

20 awareness of the need for foreign language 

21 skills and career paths in all sectors that can 

22 employ those skills, with the objective of in23 creasing support for foreign language study 

24 among— 

25 (i) Federal, State, and local leaders; 
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1 (ii) students; 

2 (iii) parents; 

3 (iv) elementary, secondary, and post4 secondary educational institutions; and 

5 (v) potential employers; 

6 (E) incentives for related educational pro7 grams, including foreign language teacher 

8 training; 

9 (F) coordination of cross-sector efforts, in10 cluding public-private partnerships; 

11 (G) coordination initiatives to develop a 

12 strategic posture for language research and rec13 ommendations for funding for applied foreign 

14 language research into issues of national con15 cern; 

16 (H) assistance for— 

17 (i) the development of foreign lan18 guage achievement standards; and 

19 (ii) corresponding assessments for the 

20 elementary, secondary, and postsecondary 

21 education levels, including the National As22 sessment of Educational Progress in for23 eign languages; 

24 (I) development of— 
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1 (i) language skill-level certification 

2 standards; 

3 (ii) an ideal course of pre-service and 

4 professional development study for those 

5 who teach foreign language; 

6 (iii) suggested graduation criteria for 

7 foreign language studies and appropriate 

8 non-language studies, such as— 

9 (I) international business; 

10 (II) national security; 

11 (III) public administration; and 

12 (IV) health care; and 

13 (J) identification of and means for repli14 cating best practices at all levels and in all sec15 tors, including best practices from the inter16 national community. 

17 (d) MEETINGS.—The Council may hold such meet18 ings, and sit and act at such times and places, as the 

19 Council considers appropriate, but shall meet in formal 

20 session at least 2 times a year. State and local government 

21 agencies and other organizations (such as academic sector 

22 institutions, foreign language-related interest groups, 

23 business associations, industry, and heritage community 

24 organizations) shall be invited, as appropriate, to public 

25 meetings of the Council at least once a year. 
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1 (e) STAFF.— 

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Director may appoint 

3 and fix the compensation of such additional per4 sonnel as the Director considers necessary to carry 

5 out the duties of the Council. 

6 (2) DETAILS FROM OTHER AGENCIES.—Upon 

7 request of the Council, the head of any Federal 

8 agency may detail, on a reimbursable basis, any of 

9 the personnel of such agency to the Council. 

10 (3) EXPERTS AND CONSULTANTS.—With the 

11 approval of the Council, the Director may procure 

12 temporary and intermittent services under section 

13 3109(b) of title 5, United States Code. 

14 (f) POWERS.— 

15 (1) DELEGATION.—Any member or employee of 

16 the Council may, if authorized by the Council, take 

17 any action that the Council is authorized to take in 

18 this Act. 

19 (2) INFORMATION.—The Council may secure di20 rectly from any Federal agency such information the 

21 Council considers necessary to carry out its respon22 sibilities. Upon request of the Director, the head of 

23 such agency shall furnish such information to the 

24 Council. 
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1 (3) DONATIONS.—The Council may accept, use, 

2 and dispose of gifts or donations of services or prop3 erty. 

4 (4) MAIL.—The Council may use the United 

5 States mail in the same manner and under the same 

6 conditions as other Federal agencies. 

7 (g) CONFERENCES, NEWSLETTER, AND WEBSITE.—

8 In carrying out this Act, the Council— 

9 (1) may arrange Federal, regional, State, and 

10 local conferences for the purpose of developing and 

11 coordinating effective programs and activities to im12 prove foreign language education; 

13 (2) may publish a newsletter concerning Fed14 eral, State, and local programs that are effectively 

15 meeting the foreign language needs of the nation; 

16 and 

17 (3) shall create and maintain a website con18 taining information on the Council and its activities, 

19 best practices on language education, and other rel20 evant information. 

21 (h) REPORTS.—Not later than 90 days after the date 

22 of enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the 

23 Council shall prepare and transmit to the President and 

24 Congress a report that describes the activities of the Coun25 cil and the efforts of the Council to improve foreign lan-
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1 guage education and training and impediments, including 

2 any statutory and regulatory restrictions, to the use of 

3 each such program. 

4 SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF A NATIONAL LANGUAGE DI5 RECTOR. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is established a National 

7 Language Director who shall be appointed by the Presi8 dent. The National Language Director shall be a nation9 ally recognized individual with credentials and abilities 

10 across all of the sectors to be involved with creating and 

11 implementing long-term solutions to achieving national 

12 foreign language and cultural competency. 

13 (b) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The National Language Di14 rector shall— 

15 (1) develop and oversee the implementation of 

16 a national foreign language strategy across all sec17 tors; 

18 (2) establish formal relationships among the 

19 major stakeholders in meeting the needs of the Na20 tion for improved capabilities in foreign languages 

21 and cultural understanding, including Federal, 

22 State, and local government agencies, academia, in23 dustry, labor, and heritage communities; and 

24 (3) coordinate and lead a public information 

25 campaign that raises awareness of public and private 
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1 sector careers requiring foreign language skills and 

2 cultural understanding, with the objective of increas3 ing interest in and support for the study of foreign 

4 languages among national leaders, the business com5 munity, local officials, parents, and individuals. 

6 (c) COMPENSATION.—The National Language Direc7 tor shall be paid at a rate of pay payable for a position 

8 at level V of the Executive Schedule under section 5316 

9 of title 5, United States Code. 

10 SEC. 5. ENCOURAGEMENT OF STATE INVOLVEMENT. 

11 (a) STATE CONTACT PERSONS.—The Council shall 

12 consult with each State to provide for the designation by 

13 each State of an individual to serve as a State contact 

14 person for the purpose of receiving and disseminating in15 formation and communications received from the Council. 

16 (b) STATE INTERAGENCY COUNCILS AND LEAD

17 AGENCIES.—Each State is encouraged to establish a State 

18 interagency council on foreign language coordination or 

19 designate a lead agency for the State for the purpose of 

20 assuming primary responsibility for coordinating and 

21 interacting with the Council and State and local govern22 ment agencies as necessary. 
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1 SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

2 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums 

3 as necessary to carry out this Act.

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