I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2619

To establish Federal grant programs to identify and address the foreign

language needs within the United States for the purpose of enhancing

economic competitiveness, ensuring national security, and promoting the

national interest.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JULY 13, 1993

Mr. EMERSON introduced the following bill; which was referred jointly to the

Committees on Foreign Affairs and Education and Labor

A BILL

To establish Federal grant programs to identify and address

the foreign language needs within the United States for

the purpose of enhancing economic competitiveness, ensuring national security, and promoting the national

interest.

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 ‘‘Foreign Language

5 Economic Enhancement Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 The Congress finds the following:
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1 (1) Foreign language proficiency will help

2 Americans to understand other customs and cul3 tures, conduct effective foreign policy, expand inter4 national trade, ensure the integrity of national de5 fense and security, and develop a truly broad-based

6 education for all citizens.

7 (2) The business community suffers from

8 United States educational deficiencies, including in9 adequate foreign language instruction. To compete,

10 Americans must know more about their economic

11 partners and competitors. To do business overseas,

12 Americans must understand the customer’s language

13 and customs.

14 (3) Of the world’s 10 most populous languages,

15 representing potential markets, 6 of them, Malay-In16 donesian, Bengali, Hindi, Portuguese, and some dia17 lects of Arabic and Chinese, are not widely taught

18 in the United States.

19 (4) In Europe, there are dozens of universities

20 with schools of practical interpretation and trans21 lation. In the United States, very few institutions of

22 higher education offer training in translation and in23 terpretation, and only one offers an undergraduate

24 degree program.
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1 (5) Most professional interpreters and trans2 lators working in the United States are foreign-born

3 or received their professional training in other coun4 tries.

5 (6) Only 8 percent of our universities require

6 foreign languages for admission, and only 5 percent

7 of our college graduates are fluent in any language

8 other than English. American colleges and univer9 sities must place a new emphasis on improving the

10 teaching of foreign languages, regional studies, and

11 international studies to help meet such challenges.

12 (7) Many teachers lack adequate international

13 preparation. Only 5 percent of current elementary

14 and secondary teachers ever took international rela15 tions, or geography courses while in school.

16 (8) Fewer than 5 percent of the elementary

17 school students in this country receive foreign lan18 guage instruction, and only 17 percent of United

19 States public elementary schools offer any form of

20 language instruction.

21 (9) As new and increased language instruction

22 becomes necessary, educators to teach these lan23 guages are becoming increasingly difficult to find.

24 35 States are currently reporting a shortage in for25 eign language teachers.
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1 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

2 As used in this Act—

3 (1) the term ‘‘institution of higher education’’

4 has meaning provided by section 1201 of the Higher

5 Education Act of 1965;

6 (2) the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary

7 of Education;

8 (3) the term ‘‘State education agency’’ has the

9 meaning provided by section 1201 of the Higher

10 Education Act of 1965; and

11 (4) the term ‘‘local educational agency’’ has the

12 meaning provided by section 1201 of such Act.

13 TITLE I—FOREIGN LANGUAGE

14 TEACHER RECRUITMENT

15 SEC. 101. PURPOSE.

16 It is the purpose of this title to establish a grant pro17 gram that will assist States in recruiting individuals with

18 a demonstrated competence in a foreign language and pro19 viding those individuals with the training required to qual20 ify those individuals to teach.

21 SEC. 102. PROGRAM AUTHORITY.

22 (a) GENERAL AUTHORITY.—The Secretary shall, in

23 accordance with the requirements of this title, establish

24 a program to provide grants to State educational agencies

25 to recruit and train qualified individuals as elementary

26 and secondary school teachers.
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1 (b) ALLOTMENT OF FUNDS.—The Secretary shall pe2 riodically assess the needs for foreign language teachers

3 in each State. The Secretary shall establish by regulation,

4 procedures based on the results of such assessment, for

5 the allotment of funds provided under this title among

6 those States that have submitted applications that meet

7 the requirements of section 203. Such procedures shall

8 provide that no State shall receive a grant of less than

9 $500,000 or more than $2,000,000.

10 SEC. 103. GRANT APPLICATIONS.

11 Any State desiring to receive a grant under this title

12 shall submit to the Secretary an application at such time,

13 in such form, and containing or accompanied by such in14 formation and assurances as the Secretary may require

15 by regulation. Such application shall—

16 (1) contain assurances that 50 percent of the

17 funds made available under the grant for each fiscal

18 year will be used to provide grants of not more than

19 $5,000 per year to qualified individuals to cover the

20 costs of instruction required to obtain certification to

21 teach;

22 (2) provide that the State educational agency

23 will allocate funds provided under the grant on the

24 basis of the following factors;
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1 (A) the local educational agencies need for

2 qualified teachers of foreign languages;

3 (B) the extent to which the local edu4 cational agency has established model programs

5 to address foreign language instruction in effec6 tive ways;

7 (C) the need for development of new pro8 grams to recruit and train qualified foreign lan9 guage teachers; and

10 (D) such additional factors as the State

11 educational agency considers appropriate;

12 (3) contain assurances that the State edu13 cational agency will not provide funds under the

14 grant to any institution of higher education unless

15 the institution of higher education requires 2 years

16 of foreign language instruction as a condition of ad17 mission or graduation; and

18 (4) specify the procedures by which the State

19 educational agency will select the institutions or or20 ganizations to provide the training required for

21 teacher certification, which may include an institu22 tion of higher education, local educational agency, or

23 consortia of institutions of higher education and

24 local educational agencies.
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1 SEC. 104. QUALIFIED INDIVIDUALS.

2 (a) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this title, an indi3 vidual is qualified if such individual has competence in a

4 foreign language at a level consistent with the standards

5 established by the Secretary under subsection (b).

6 (b) SELECTION.—In selecting individuals for receipt

7 for assistance under this title, a State educational agency

8 shall include qualified individuals who are—

9 (1) retired or returning Government employees

10 who served abroad;

11 (2) retired or returning business persons or

12 professionals who served abroad;

13 (3) foreign-born nationals with a degree from a

14 domestic or overseas institution of higher education;

15 and

16 (4) individuals with a baccalaureate degree

17 whose major or minor was in a foreign language or

18 international studies.

19 SEC. 105. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

20 There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out

21 this title $50,000,000 for fiscal year 1994 and each of

22 the 3 succeeding fiscal years.
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1 TITLE II—GRANTS TO INSTITU2 TIONS OF HIGHER EDU3 CATION FOR TRANSLATORS

4 AND INTERPRETERS

5 SEC. 201. NEEDS ASSESSMENT COUNCIL.

6 (a) PROGRAM AUTHORITY.—The Department of

7 State shall establish a Translation and Interpretation

8 Needs Assessment Council.

9 (b) COMPOSITION.—

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Council shall be com11 posed of the following individuals or the designated

12 representatives of such individuals:

13 (A) The Secretary of State, or a designee,

14 who shall serve as the chairperson of the Board.

15 (B) The Secretary of Education.

16 (C) The Secretary of Defense.

17 (D) The Secretary of Commerce.

18 (E) The Director of the Central Intel19 ligence Agency.

20 (F) The Director of the United States In21 formation Agency.

22 (G) The Director of the National Security

23 Council.

24 (H) 6 individuals appointed by the Presi25 dent, who have the expertise in the fields of
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1 translation and interpretation, language and

2 linguistics, international studies, business, and

3 area studies education.

4 (2) SPECIAL RULE.—Individuals appointed to

5 the Board pursuant to paragraph (1)(H) shall be

6 appointed for a period not to exceed 4 years. Such

7 individuals shall receive no compensation for service

8 on the Council, but may receive reimbursement for

9 travel and other necessary expenses.

10 (c) FUNCTIONS.—The Council shall—

11 (1) establish qualifications for students and in12 stitutions of higher education desiring fellowships

13 and grants for institutional support under this title;

14 (2) coordinate and determine the translation

15 and interpretation needs of the Government for the

16 purposes of economic competitiveness and coopera17 tion, diplomacy, and national security; and

18 (3) after determining these needs, make grants

19 to institutions of higher education for training trans20 lation and interpretation specialists and personnel.

21 SEC. 202. PROCEDURES FOR THE SELECTION OF GRANT

22 AND FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM.

23 (a) GRANTS.—The Council shall award grants under

24 this title to institutions of higher education or consortia

25 of institutions of higher education (in conjunction with
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1 nonprofit or Federal agencies, or both) that provide evi2 dence that they are developing a degree or certificate pro3 gram in translation and interpretation.

4 (b) FELLOWSHIPS.—The Council shall award fellow5 ships under this title to individuals who are enrolled in

6 a degree or certificate program and agree to enter govern7 ment or public service for 2 years for each year of study

8 for which a fellowship under this title is received.

9 SEC. 203. ESTABLISHMENT OF GRANT AND FELLOWSHIP

10 PROGRAM.

11 (a) INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT.—Funds provided by a

12 grant under this title may be used for the purposes of—

13 (1) developing physical plant and interpretation

14 facilities,

15 (2) instructor training,

16 (3) materials,

17 (4) curriculum development,

18 (5) internships,

19 (6) faculty development and support in trans20 lation and interpretation,

21 (7) certificate and degree programs, and

22 (8) the development and enhancement of grad23 uate programs.

24 (b) FELLOWSHIPS.—Fellowships under this title shall

25 be awarded to individuals who are United States citizens
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1 or resident aliens to enable such students to pursue edu2 cation in the United States in the areas of practical inter3 pretation and translation.

4 SEC. 204. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

5 There are authorized to be appropriated $15,000,000

6 for fiscal year 1994, of which no less than $10,000,000

7 shall be available for section 202(a), and such sums as

8 may be necessary for each of the fiscal years 1995, 1996,

9 and 1997 to carry out the provisions of this title.

10 TITLE III—LESSER KNOWN AND

11 STUDIED LANGUAGES

12 SEC. 301. LESSER KNOWN AND STUDIED LANGUAGES

13 GRANTS AND FELLOWSHIPS.

14 Effective October 1, 1993, the Soviet-Eastern Euro15 pean Research and Training Act of 1983 (22 U.S.C.

16 4501) is amended by adding after section 809 the follow17 ing new section:

18 ‘‘SEC. 810. LESSER KNOWN AND STUDIED LANGUAGES

19 GRANTS AND FELLOWSHIPS.

20 ‘‘(a) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this section to

21 promote the teaching and study of lesser known and stud22 ied languages.

23 ‘‘(b) DEFINITION.—For the purposes of this section,

24 the term ‘lesser known and studied languages’ means lan25 guages considered important to the national interest, na-
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1 tional security, and economic competitiveness which have

2 less than 1,000 students engaged in study at institutions

3 of higher education in the United States.

4 ‘‘(c) PROGRAM AUTHORITY.—

5 ‘‘(1) LIST OF LESSER KNOWN AND STUDIED

6 LANGUAGES.—The Secretary of State, in consulta7 tion with other appropriate agencies, shall develop a

8 list of the lesser known and studied languages.

9 ‘‘(2) GRANTS.—The Secretary of State shall

10 award grants under this section to institutions of

11 higher education or consortia of institutions of high12 er education (in conjunction with nonprofit or Fed13 eral agencies, or both) that provide evidence that

14 they are developing programs, classes, curriculum

15 material, and faculty for study in the lesser known

16 and studied languages. No such grant may exceed

17 $1,000,000.

18 ‘‘(3) FELLOWSHIPS.—The Secretary of State

19 shall award fellowships under this section to individ20 uals who are enrolled at an accredited institution of

21 higher education in a degree or certificate program

22 in a lesser known and studied language leading to

23 proficiency in such language. Fellowships under this

24 section shall be $5,000 for each semester of study.

25 ‘‘(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—
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1 ‘‘(1) GRANTS.—There are authorized to be ap2 propriated $10,000,000 for fiscal year 1994 to carry

3 out subsection (c)(2).

4 ‘‘(2) FELLOWSHIPS.—There are authorized to

5 be appropriated $5,000,000 for fiscal year 1994 to

6 carry out subsection (c)(3).’’.

7 TITLE IV—EXPORT EDUCATION

8 SEC. 401. PURPOSE.

9 It is the purpose of this title to assist American com10 panies to develop and expand into export markets by pro11 viding education and support services necessary for do12 mestic businesses to succeed in international markets by

13 increasing their basic knowledge of world markets, foreign

14 cultures and languages.

15 SEC. 402. GRANTS AUTHORIZED.

16 (a) GRANTS BY SECRETARY.—The Secretary of Com17 merce shall, in accordance with this title, make grants to

18 States to carry out the purpose described in section 401.

19 (b) SELECTION OF GRANTS.—The State shall submit

20 to the Secretary a proposal indicating the qualifications

21 of the eligible entity for carrying out the provisions of sec22 tion 403.

23 (c) DISTRIBUTION OF FUNDS BY STATES.—Each

24 State that receives a grant under this title shall determine

25 the eligibility of an appropriate State-based entity accord-
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1 ing to the needs of the State’s primary trade and economic

2 development agency and model programs serving such

3 needs or for the development of such programs.

4 SEC. 403. AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.

5 Funds provided under this title may be used for the

6 purpose of, but are not limited to—

7 (1) education, support and referral services in

8 developing marketing materials in foreign languages

9 and appropriate to other cultures,

10 (2) assisting companies in trade missions,

11 (3) holding seminars and classes for companies

12 on topics such as export regulations, trading tech13 niques, working in foreign cultures and foreign lan14 guages,

15 (4) providing consulting services with experts to

16 assist companies in export and marketing planning,

17 and

18 (5) acting as a clearinghouse in supplying com19 panies with information and updates to assist them

20 in identifying international and trade opportunities.

21 SEC. 404. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

22 There are authorized to be appropriated $12,500,000

23 in fiscal years 1994, 1995, 1996, and 1997 to carry out

24 the provisions of this title.

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