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both Houses of Congress and in various reports, includ-
ing reports of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Gen-
eral Accounting Office, the Advisory Commission on Pub-
lic Diplomacy, the Heritage Foundation, and the Advi-
sory Group on Public Diplomacy for the Arab and Mus-
lim World; 
Whereas in November 2003, NAFSA: Association of Inter-
national Educators warned that the lack of knowledge of 
the world by people in the United States represents a se-
rious liability in the fight against terrorism; 
Whereas international exchange programs, which have as-
sisted in extending the global influence of the United 
States by educating many of the leaders of other coun-
tries, are suffering from a decline in funding and policy 
priority; 
Whereas only 160,920 United States university-level students 
studied abroad in 2001–2002, representing just over one 
percent of all United States students; 
Whereas two-thirds of United States students studying 
abroad study in Western Europe (18.7 percent in the 
United Kingdom alone), although 95 percent of the world 
population growth in the next 50 years is expected to 
occur outside Western Europe; 
Whereas the number of scholarships for foreign students 
studying at United States institutions has dropped from 
20,000 a year in the 1980s to just 900 in 2003; 
Whereas there are 29,400,000 retired workers in the United 
States as of June 2003, representing a vast pool of older 
Americans who have the talent, maturity, and time to 
volunteer their services abroad;
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Whereas the average United States college graduate who has 
studied one of the less commonly taught languages 
reaches no more than an intermediate level of proficiency 
in the language, which is insufficient to meet national se-
curity requirements; and 
Whereas there are hundreds of well-established organizations 
in the United States that implement educational and pro-
fessional exchanges, international volunteering, and re-
lated programs, and the efforts of those organizations 
could readily be expanded to reach out to more United 
States citizens: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This resolution may be cited as the ‘‘People-to-People 
Engagement in World Affairs Resolution’’. 
SEC. 2. SENSE OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. 
It is the sense of the House of Representatives that—
(1) the Secretary of State should coordinate 
with implementing partners to create an online data-
base to provide information on how United States 
citizens can take advantage of—
(A) international exchange programs of the 
Department of State, the Department of Edu-
cation, and other Federal Government and non-
government entities; 
(B) volunteer opportunities with organiza-
tions that assist refugees and immigrants in the 
United States;
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(C) opportunities to host international stu-
dents and professionals in the United States; 
(D) sister-city organizations in the United 
States; 
(E) international fairs and cultural events 
in the United States; and 
(F) foreign language learning opportuni-
ties; 
(2) United States citizens should become more 
engaged in international affairs and more aware of 
peoples and developments outside the United States; 
and 
(3) United States citizens should take advan-
tage of one or more opportunities to become more 
engaged and more aware, by such means as—
(A) participating in a professional or cul-
tural exchange; 
(B) studying abroad; 
(C) volunteering abroad; 
(D) working with an immigrant or refugee 
group; 
(E) hosting a foreign student or profes-
sional; 
(F) participating in a sister-city program; 
and
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(G) learning a foreign language.
Æ