Senate Introduces Simon Study Abroad Foundation Act

On March 27, 2007, Senators Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) and Norm Coleman (R-Minn.), along with 20 other original cosponsors, introduced the Senator Paul Simon Study Abroad Foundation Act of 2007 (S.991). The legislation, which is nearly identical to the House bill, was referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

This bill builds upon legislation Senators Durbin and Coleman introduced in the last Congress to establish the vision of the late Senator Paul Simon and the recommendations of the Commission on the Abraham Lincoln Study Abroad Fellowship Program.

In the last Congress, nearly one half of the Senate, Democrats and Republicans alike, offered their support for the program by cosponsoring S.3744, introduced by Senators Durbin (D-Ill.) and Coleman (R-Minn.).  The bill had also gained strong support from the educational exchange and higher education communities with more than 1,100 letters were sent to U.S. Senators asking for their support of the legislation. University and college presidents around the country also actively worked with their Senators to support the legislation. NAFSA and the higher education presidential associations (NASULGC, AASCU, NAICU, ACE, AACC, and AAU) each endorsed the bill.

It was building on those successes that the Senator Paul Simon Study Abroad Foundation Act of 2007 was introduced. Read Senator Durbin's introductory remarks on S.991.