II 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1010 

To establish a National Foreign Language Coordination Council. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 7, 2009 

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

A BILL 

To establish a National Foreign Language Coordination 

Council. 

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 2009’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF NATIONAL FOREIGN LAN7 GUAGE COORDINATION COUNCIL. 

8 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the 

9 Executive Office of the President a National Foreign Lan10 guage Coordination Council (in this Act referred to as the 


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1 ‘‘Council’’), directed by a National Language Advisor (in 

2 this Act referred to as the ‘‘Advisor’’) appointed by the 

3 President. 

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

5 following members or their designees: 

6 (1) The Advisor, who shall serve as the chair7 person of the Council. 

8 (2) The Secretary of Education. 

9 (3) The Secretary of Defense. 

10 (4) The Secretary of State. 

11 (5) The Secretary of Homeland Security. 

12 (6) The Attorney General. 

13 (7) The Director of National Intelligence. 

14 (8) The Secretary of Labor. 

15 (9) The Secretary of Commerce. 

16 (10) The Secretary of Health and Human Serv17 ices. 

18 (11) The Director of the Office of Personnel 

19 Management. 

20 (12) The heads of such other Federal agencies 

21 as the Council considers appropriate. 

22 (c) RESPONSIBILITIES.— 

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

24 charged with— 


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1 (A) overseeing, coordinating, and imple2 menting continuing national security and edu3 cation language initiatives; 

4 (B) not later than 18 months after the 

5 date of enactment of this Act, developing a na6 tional foreign language strategy, building upon 

7 efforts such as the National Security Language 

8 Initiative, the National Language Conference, 

9 the National Defense Language Roadmap, the 

10 Language Continuum of the Department of 

11 State, and others, in consultation with— 

12 (i) State and local government agen13 cies; 

14 (ii) academic sector institutions; 

15 (iii) foreign language-related interest 

16 groups; 

17 (iv) business associations, including 

18 industry; 

19 (v) heritage associations; and 

20 (vi) other relevant stakeholders; 

21 (C) conducting a survey of the status of 

22 Federal agency foreign language and area ex23 pertise and agency needs for such expertise; 

24 and 


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1 (D) monitoring the implementation of such 

2 strategy through— 

3 (i) application of current and recently 

4 enacted laws; and 

5 (ii) the promulgation and enforcement 

6 of rules and regulations. 

7 (2) STRATEGY CONTENT.—The strategy devel8 oped under paragraph (1) shall include— 

9 (A) recommendations for amendments to 

10 title 5, United States Code, in order to improve 

11 the ability of the Federal Government to recruit 

12 and retain individuals with foreign language 

13 proficiency and provide foreign language train14 ing for Federal employees; 

15 (B) the long-term goals, anticipated effect, 

16 and needs of national security language initia17 tives; 

18 (C) identification of crucial priorities 

19 across all sectors; 

20 (D) identification and evaluation of Fed21 eral foreign language programs and activities, 

22 including— 

23 (i) any duplicative or overlapping pro24 grams that may impede efficiency; 

25 (ii) recommendations on coordination; 


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1 (iii) program enhancements; and 

2 (iv) allocation of resources so as to 

3 maximize use of resources; 

4 (E) needed national policies and cor5 responding legislative and regulatory actions in 

6 support of, and allocation of designated re7 sources to, promising programs and initiatives 

8 at all levels (Federal, State, and local), espe9 cially in the less commonly taught languages 

10 that are seen as critical for national security 

11 and global competitiveness during the next 20 

12 to 50 years; 

13 (F) effective ways to increase public aware14 ness of the need for foreign language skills and 

15 career paths in all sectors that can employ 

16 those skills, with the objective of increasing 

17 support for foreign language study among— 

18 (i) Federal, State, and local leaders; 

19 (ii) students; 

20 (iii) parents; 

21 (iv) elementary, secondary, and post22 secondary educational institutions; and 

23 (v) employers; 


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1 (G) recommendations for incentives for re2 lated educational programs, including foreign 

3 language teacher training; 

4 (H) coordination of cross-sector efforts, in5 cluding public-private partnerships; 

6 (I) coordination initiatives to develop a 

7 strategic posture for language research and rec8 ommendations for funding for applied foreign 

9 language research into issues of national con10 cern; 

11 (J) identification of and means for repli12 cating best practices at all levels and in all sec13 tors, including best practices from the inter14 national community; and 

15 (K) recommendations for overcoming bar16 riers in foreign language proficiency. 

17 (d) SUBMISSION OF STRATEGY TO PRESIDENT AND

18 CONGRESS.—Not later than 18 months after the date of 

19 enactment of this Act, the Council shall prepare and sub20 mit to the President and the relevant committees of Con21 gress the strategy required under subsection (c). 

22 (e) MEETINGS.—The Council may hold such meet23 ings, and sit and act at such times and places, as the 

24 Council considers appropriate, but shall meet in formal 

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1 ernment agencies and other organizations (such as aca2 demic sector institutions, foreign language-related interest 

3 groups, business associations, industry, and heritage com4 munity organizations) shall be invited, as appropriate, to 

5 public meetings of the Council at least once a year. 

6 (f) STAFF.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Advisor may— 

8 (A) appoint, without regard to the provi9 sions of title 5, United States Code, governing 

10 the competitive service, such personnel as the 

11 Advisor considers necessary; and 

12 (B) compensate such personnel without re13 gard to the provisions of chapter 51 and sub14 chapter III of chapter 53 of that title. 

15 (2) DETAIL OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES.— 

16 Upon request of the Council, any Federal Govern17 ment employee may be detailed to the Council with18 out reimbursement, and such detail shall be without 

19 interruption or loss of civil service status or privi20 lege. 

21 (3) EXPERTS AND CONSULTANTS.—With the 

22 approval of the Council, the Advisor may procure 

23 temporary and intermittent services under section 

24 3109(b) of title 5, United States Code. 


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1 (4) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—Council members and 

2 staff shall be allowed travel expenses, including per 

3 diem in lieu of subsistence, at rates authorized for 

4 employees of agencies under subchapter I of chapter 

5 57 of title 5, United States Code, while away from 

6 their homes or regular places of business in the per7 formance of services for the Council. 

8 (5) SECURITY CLEARANCE.— 

9 (A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara10 graph (B), the appropriate Federal agencies or 

11 departments shall cooperate with the Council in 

12 expeditiously providing to the Council members 

13 and staff appropriate security clearances to the 

14 extent possible pursuant to existing procedures 

15 and requirements. 

16 (B) EXCEPTION.—No person shall be pro17 vided with access to classified information 

18 under this section without the appropriate re19 quired security clearance access. 

20 (6) COMPENSATION.—The rate of pay for any 

21 employee of the Council (including the Advisor) may 

22 not exceed the rate payable for level V of the Execu23 tive Schedule under section 5316 of title 5, United 

24 States Code. 

25 (g) POWERS.— 


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

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

3 any action that the Council is authorized to take in 

4 this Act. 

5 (2) INFORMATION.— 

6 (A) COUNCIL AUTHORITY TO SECURE.— 

7 The Council may secure directly from any Fed8 eral agency such information, consistent with 

9 Federal privacy laws, including The Family 

10 Educational Rights and Privacy Act (20 U.S.C. 

11 1232g) and Department of Education’s General 

12 Education Provisions Act (20 U.S.C. 1232(h)), 

13 the Council considers necessary to carry out its 

14 responsibilities. 

15 (B) REQUIREMENT TO FURNISH RE16 QUESTED INFORMATION.—Upon request of the 

17 Advisor, the head of such agency shall furnish 

18 such information to the Council. 

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

20 and dispose of gifts or donations of services or prop21 erty. 

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

23 States mail in the same manner and under the same 

24 conditions as other Federal agencies. 


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1 (h) CONFERENCES, NEWSLETTER, AND WEBSITE.— 

2 In carrying out this Act, the Council— 

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

4 local conferences for the purpose of developing and 

5 coordinating effective programs and activities to im6 prove foreign language education; 

7 (2) may publish a newsletter concerning Fed8 eral, State, and local programs that are effectively 

9 meeting the foreign language needs of the Nation; 

10 and 

11 (3) shall create and maintain a website con12 taining information on the Council and its activities, 

13 best practices on language education, and other rel14 evant information. 

15 (i) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than 90 days after 

16 the date of the enactment of this Act, and annually there17 after, the Council shall prepare and transmit to the Presi18 dent and the relevant committees of Congress a report 

19 that describes— 

20 (1) the activities of the Council; 

21 (2) the efforts of the Council to improve foreign 

22 language education and training; and 

23 (3) impediments to the use of a National For24 eign Language program, including any statutory and 

25 regulatory restrictions. 


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1 (j) ESTABLISHMENT OF A NATIONAL LANGUAGE AD2 VISOR.— 

3 (1) IN GENERAL.—The National Language Ad4 visor appointed by the President shall be a nation5 ally recognized individual with credentials and abili6 ties across the sectors to be involved with creating 

7 and implementing long-term solutions to achieving 

8 national foreign language and cultural competency. 

9 (2) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The Advisor shall— 

10 (A) develop and monitor the implementa11 tion of a national foreign language strategy, 

12 built upon the efforts of the National Security 

13 Language Initiative, across all sectors; 

14 (B) establish formal relationships among 

15 the major stakeholders in meeting the needs of 

16 the Nation for improved capabilities in foreign 

17 languages and cultural understanding, including 

18 Federal, State, and local government agencies, 

19 academia, industry, labor, and heritage commu20 nities; and 

21 (C) coordinate and lead a public informa22 tion campaign that raises awareness of public 

23 and private sector careers requiring foreign lan24 guage skills and cultural understanding, with 

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1 port for the study of foreign languages among 

2 national leaders, the business community, local 

3 officials, parents, and individuals. 

4 (k) ENCOURAGEMENT OF STATE INVOLVEMENT.— 

5 (1) STATE CONTACT PERSONS.—The Council 

6 shall consult with each State to provide for the des7 ignation by each State of an individual to serve as 

8 a State contact person for the purpose of receiving 

9 and disseminating information and communications 

10 received from the Council. 

11 (2) STATE INTERAGENCY COUNCILS AND LEAD

12 AGENCIES.—Each State is encouraged to establish a 

13 State interagency council on foreign language co14 ordination or designate a lead agency for the State 

15 for the purpose of assuming primary responsibility 

16 for coordinating and interacting with the Council 

17 and State and local government agencies as nec18 essary. 

19 (l) CONGRESSIONAL NOTIFICATION.—The Council 

20 shall provide to Congress such information as may be re21 quested by Congress, through reports, briefings, and other 

22 appropriate means. 


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1 (m) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

2 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as necessary 

3 to carry out this Act. 

Æ 


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