JNCL-NCLIS Executive Summary
July, 2005-January, 2006

· On January 5, 2006, the U.S. President announced the National Security Language Initiative (NSLI). This $114 million program has fourteen components intended to “expand the number of Americans mastering critical need languages” starting at an earlier age; “increase the number of advanced-level speakers of foreign languages”; and “increase the number of foreign language teachers and the resources for them”.

· In December, Congress finally passed the last of the appropriations bills. In the Department of Education, all programs experienced a one percent across-the board cut. For example, International Education and Foreign Language Studies went from $106.8 million to $105.7 million. A number of programs that were zero-funded by the President and/or the House such as Star Schools, Javits, and Civic Education were preserved but their funding was significantly decreased. One of only a few programs to receive an increase was the Foreign Language Assistance Program (FLAP) which went from $17.8 million to $21.7 million.

· Elsewhere, the National Security Education Program (NSEP) was continued at $16 million. The National Endowment for the Humanities increased from $138.0 million to $143.1 million. In the State Department, Education and Cultural Affairs Programs grew from $360.7 million to 437.1 million. Programs with decreased funding include Assistance for Eastern European and Baltic States (SEED) ($393.4 million to $361.0 million) and Assistance for the Independent States of the Former Soviet Union (FSA) ($555.5 million to $514 million).

· Section 8003 of the Budget Reconciliation Act now includes foreign languages as eligible for Academic Competitiveness Grants in Higher Education.

· In the final days of the First Session of the 109th Congress, Rep. Rush Holt introduced two bills: H.R. 4630 amending the David L. Boren National Security Education Program to allow scholarship and fellowship recipients to work in the field of education if no position is available in the Federal government; H.R. 4629, the “K-16 Critical Foreign Language Pipeline Act” creating five new programs in NSEP.

· The Senate has passed its reauthorization of Higher Education, S. 1614, the Higher Education Amendments Act of 2005 strengthening outreach, study abroad, IIPP, and making undergraduates eligible for FLAS fellowships. It contains no Advisory Board for Title VI, but it does refer a number of times to reflecting “diverse and balanced perspectives” and generating “debate on world regions and international affairs.”
· S. 1614 also includes foreign languages in Title IV, Financial Assistance, as well as Title II, Teacher Preparation and Title VII, Graduate and Postsecondary Improvement Programs as a “high-need academic subject area”.

· The House Education Committee has passed H.R. 609, the College Access and Opportunity Act of 2005. This bill makes a number of improvements to Title VI such as increased outreach, greater opportunities to study abroad, and it expands the Institute for International Public Policy (IIPP). However, H.R. 609 retains a revised and softened, but nonetheless, an expensive and unnecessary Advisory Board.

· Of note, H.R. 609 includes foreign languages in Title IV, Financial Assistance, as an Area of National Need. Under these new provisions, foreign language students are eligible for loan forgiveness if they go to work for the federal government or go into elementary or secondary education teaching.

· The Senate Appropriations bill contains report language for FLAP that recommends providing increased funding for a new grant competition to “school districts with poverty rates of 15 percent or more, to help the highest-need elementary schools within such districts establish foreign language instruction programs.”

· The National Security Education Program (NSEP) will provide $8 million for undergraduate scholarships and graduate fellowships. Additional funding has been appropriated for the Flagship programs, the K-16 Chinese Flagship Initiative, and an English Heritage Language Speakers Initiative.

· A companion bill to Senator Akaka’s the National Foreign Language Coordination Act, S. 1089, was introduced in the House by Rep. Brian Baird (D-WA) as H.R. 4196, to establish a National Foreign Language Coordination Council.

· The Abraham Lincoln Commission released their report, Global Competence and National Needs: One Million Americans Studying Abroad, on November 15, 2005. It recommended that fellowships and scholarships be awarded to Institutions of Higher Education and to students for study abroad. They recommended funding of $50 million in FY 2007 increasing to $125 million by FY 2011.

· S. 1376, Teaching Geography is Fundamental was introduced this summer by Senator Thad Cochran and five co-sponsors. The bill “expands geography literacy among kindergarten through 12th grade students by improving their teachers’ professional development…”

· A 12-point policy statement, Languages in the National Interest, was finalized and distributed to our members, government agencies, congressional contacts, and other interested and appropriate parties.