Congressional Record (House of Representatives)
Page: H5948
June 5, 2007
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Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise in support of H.R. 1469, the Senator Paul Simon Study Abroad Act of 2007. This important piece of legislation seeks to enhance the enrollment, diversity, and range of countries relating to U.S. college study abroad programs.
The United States is failing to take full advantage of a valuable tool that should be used to enhance our standing in the world and to improve our national security. Opportunities for students to study abroad is integral to creating intercultural awareness, a globally competent workforce, ensuring America's economic competitiveness, and protecting national security. Students can be powerfully effective diplomats for American culture, democratic values, and foreign policy.
H.R. 1469 aims to improve the diversity, the range of countries, and number of students that study abroad while in college. Only about 1 percent of all U.S. college students study abroad, and the vast majority study in Europe. Just 9 percent of those students are minority students, even though African American, Native American, and Hispanic students make up 30 percent of the total U.S. college enrollment.
Inspired by the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission and the congressionally chartered Lincoln Commission, the Senator Paul Simon Act will create a new government corporation charged with democratizing study abroad for American students the way that the GI Bill democratized higher education.
The Simon Foundation Act is visionary legislation sponsored by Senators Richard Durbin and Norm Coleman, and the chairman and ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Mr. Lantos and Ms. Ros-Lehtinen. The legislation authorizes $80 million annually for 10 years in order to assist 1 million American students study abroad each year by 2018. This funding from the Department of State budget will directly support student scholarships and organizations like Bardoli Global around the Nation.
Bardoli Global is an organization that originated in my congressional district. It exists to provide greater access to study abroad opportunities for outstanding African American, Native American, and Hispanic American student leaders and to make those students globally competent change agents for their communities. The organization's Houston pilot program will soon expand to five other cities across the Nation in 2008.
Mr. Speaker, we must act now to enact the vision of the late Senator Paul Simon from Illinois who worked tirelessly to promote a public-private partnership to democratize study abroad. We must act quickly to achieve equity and diversity in study abroad, especially targeting traditionally underrepresented students. I strongly urge my colleagues to support this bill.
