II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2307 

To authorize the Secretary of Defense to make grants to support the study 

of world languages in elementary schools and secondary schools. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 29, 2019 

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

to the Committee on Armed Services 

A BILL 

To authorize the Secretary of Defense to make grants to 

support the study of world languages in elementary 

schools and secondary schools. 

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 ‘‘World Language Ad5 vancement and Readiness Act of 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) The national security of the United States 

9 continues to depend on language readiness, in parVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:45 Aug 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2307.IS S2307

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1 ticular among the 17 agencies of the intelligence 

2 community. 

3 (2) The levels of language proficiency required 

4 for national security necessitate long sequences of 

5 language training for personnel in the intelligence 

6 community and the Department of Defense. 

7 (3) The future national security and economic 

8 well-being of the United States will depend substan9 tially on the ability of its citizens to communicate 

10 and compete by knowing the languages and cultures 

11 of other countries. 

12 (4) The Federal Government has an interest in 

13 ensuring that the employees of its departments and 

14 agencies with national security responsibilities are 

15 prepared to meet the challenges of this changing 

16 international environment. 

17 (5) The Federal Government also has an inter18 est in taking actions to alleviate the problem of 

19 American students being inadequately prepared to 

20 meet the challenges posed by increasing global inter21 action among nations. 

22 (6) American elementary schools, secondary 

23 schools, colleges, and universities must place a new 

24 emphasis on improving the teaching of world lan25 guages, area studies, counterproliferation studies, 


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1 and other international fields to help meet those 

2 challenges. 

3 (7) The United States needs more people to 

4 speak languages other than English in order to pro5 vide social and legal services for a changing popu6 lation. 

7 (8) The study of a second language has been 

8 linked to improved learning outcomes in other sub9 jects, enhanced cognitive ability, and the develop10 ment of empathy and effective interpretive skills. 

11 The use of a second language has been linked to a 

12 delay in certain manifestations of aging. 

13 (9) The United States lags behind most nations 

14 of the world, including European nations and China, 

15 in the percentage of its citizens who have some 

16 knowledge of a second language. 

17 (10) Native American languages are distinct in 

18 political status and history and should therefore re19 ceive targeted support to ensure their retention in 

20 alignment with the Native American Languages Act 

21 (25 U.S.C. 2901 et seq.). 

22 SEC. 3. WORLD LANGUAGE ADVANCEMENT AND READINESS 

23 GRANTS. 

24 (a) PROGRAM AUTHORITY.—The Secretary of De25 fense, in consultation with the Director of National IntelVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:45 Aug 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2307.IS S2307

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1 ligence and the Secretary of Education, shall carry out 

2 a program under which the Secretary of Defense makes 

3 grants, on a competitive basis, to State educational agen4 cies and local educational agencies to pay the Federal 

5 share of the cost of innovative model programs providing 

6 for the establishment, improvement, or expansion of world 

7 language study for elementary school and secondary school 

8 students. 

9 (b) DURATION.—Each grant under this Act shall be 

10 awarded for a period of 3 years. 

11 (c) REQUIREMENTS FOR STATE AND LOCAL EDU12 CATIONAL AGENCIES.— 

13 (1) GRANTS TO STATE EDUCATIONAL AGEN14 CIES.—In awarding a grant under subsection (a) to 

15 a State educational agency, the Secretary of Defense 

16 shall support programs that promote systemic ap17 proaches to improving world language learning in 

18 the State. 

19 (2) GRANTS TO LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGEN20 CIES.—In awarding a grant under subsection (a) to 

21 a local educational agency, the Secretary of Defense 

22 shall support programs that— 

23 (A) show the promise of being continued 

24 beyond the grant period; 


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1 (B) demonstrate approaches that can be 

2 disseminated to and duplicated in other local 

3 educational agencies; and 

4 (C) may include a professional develop5 ment component. 

6 (d) FEDERAL SHARE.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para8 graph (2), the Federal share under this Act for each 

9 fiscal year shall be 50 percent. 

10 (2) EXCEPTION.—The Secretary of Defense 

11 may determine the Federal share under this Act for 

12 any local educational agency that the Secretary de13 termines does not have adequate resources to pay 

14 the non-Federal share. 

15 (e) ALLOCATION OF FUNDS.— 

16 (1) EXPANSION OF WORLD LANGUAGES IN ELE17 MENTARY SCHOOLS.—Not less than 75 percent of 

18 the funds made available to carry out this Act for 

19 a fiscal year shall be used for the expansion of world 

20 language learning in elementary schools. 

21 (2) CRITICAL LANGUAGES.—Not less than 75 

22 percent of the funds made available to carry out this 

23 Act for a fiscal year shall be used to support instruc24 tion in world languages determined by the Secretary 


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1 of Defense to be critical to the national security in2 terests of the United States. 

3 (3) RESERVATION.—The Secretary of Defense 

4 may reserve not more than 5 percent of funds made 

5 available to carry out this Act for a fiscal year to 

6 evaluate the efficacy of programs that receive grants 

7 under subsection (a). 

8 (f) APPLICATIONS.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—To be considered for a grant 

10 under subsection (a), a State educational agency or 

11 local educational agency shall submit an application 

12 to the Secretary of Defense at such time, in such 

13 manner, and containing such information and assur14 ances as the Secretary may require. 

15 (2) SPECIAL CONSIDERATION.—The Secretary 

16 of Defense shall give special consideration to appli17 cations describing programs that— 

18 (A) include intensive summer world lan19 guage programs for professional development of 

20 world language teachers; 

21 (B) link nonnative English speakers in the 

22 community with the schools in order to promote 

23 two-way language learning; 


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1 (C) promote the sequential study of a 

2 world language for students, beginning in ele3 mentary schools; 

4 (D) make effective use of technology, such 

5 as computer-assisted instruction, language lab6 oratories, or distance learning, to promote 

7 world language study; 

8 (E) promote innovative activities, such as 

9 dual language immersion, partial world lan10 guage immersion, or content-based instruction; 

11 and 

12 (F) are carried out through a consortium 

13 comprised of the agency receiving the grant, an 

14 elementary school or secondary school, and an 

15 institution of higher education (as that term is 

16 defined in section 102 of the Higher Education 

17 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002)). 

18 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

19 In this Act: 

20 (1) ESEA TERMS.—The terms ‘‘elementary 

21 school’’, ‘‘local educational agency’’, ‘‘secondary 

22 school’’, and ‘‘State educational agency’’ have the 

23 meanings given the terms in section 8101 of the Ele24 mentary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

25 U.S.C. 7801). 


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1 (2) WORLD LANGUAGE.—The term ‘‘world lan2 guage’’ means— 

3 (A) any natural language other than 

4 English, including— 

5 (i) languages determined by the Sec6 retary of Defense to be critical to the na7 tional security interests of the United 

8 States; 

9 (ii) classical languages; 

10 (iii) American sign language; and 

11 (iv) Native American languages; and 

12 (B) any language described in subpara13 graph (A) that is taught in combination with 

14 English as part of a dual language or immer15 sion learning program. 

Æ 


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