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Rep. Lantos' Introductory Remarks on the Simon Study Abroad Act
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD
EXTENSION OF REMARKS
PAGE E519
March 12, 2007
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Mr. LANTOS. Madam Speaker, today I rise in partnership with my distinguished Foreign Affairs Committee Ranking Member, Ms. Ros-Lehtinen of Florida, to introduce a very significant piece of legislation, the “Senator Paul Simon Study Abroad Foundation Act.” This measure will create a new government corporation with an annual budget of $80 million—authorized for 10 years—to dramatically increase the number of non-traditional U.S. students studying abroad in non-traditional destinations.
This bill will a provide significant long-term boost to our effort to prevail in the global war against terrorism. It will do so by dramatically increasing foreign understanding of the enduring strength and value of America’s democratic culture by exposing foreign students and their families to one million of our best and most authentic diplomats, our American students. It will also vastly increase the talent pool of young Americans with foreign cultural experience and language knowledge to support our foreign affairs agencies, U.S. global NGOs and U.S. global corporations.
The bill responds to a landmark Congressionally commissioned November 2005 study entitled, “Global Competence and National Needs”, authored by the Commission on the Abraham Lincoln Study Abroad Fellowship Program, which proposed “. . . a broad vision for the U.S.: send one million students to study abroad within a decade.” The idea behind this vision, as articulated in the study, was that “making study abroad the norm and not the exception can position this and other future generations for success in the world much as the establishment of the land-grant university system and enactment of the GI Bill helped create the ‘American Century’ .” The Lincoln Commission which was headed up by former AID Administrator Mr. Peter McPherson and included my colleagues, Ms. Slaughter from New York and Mr. Kirk from Illinois, was established by Congress in 2004 at the urging of Senator Paul Simon who tirelessly advocated for this agenda.
Madam Speaker, I believe this is an incredibly important legislative initiative. If enacted it will democratize study abroad in the way that the GI bill democratized higher education. Today, many American college students still face financial and institutional impediments to study abroad. The Senator Paul Simon Act and the Foundation it creates will tear down these barriers and make foreign study a normal rather than an exceptional part of an American college education.
Today our Nation faces a deficit of cultural knowledge that is a clear impediment to our effort to prevail in the global war on terrorism and to keep America competitive in a global economy. Our foreign affairs agencies are struggling mightily to find recruits who have firsthand understanding of critical cultures and languages such as Arabic, Chinese, Pashto, and Dari. The Senator Paul Simon Act will rectify this by vastly expanding the talent pool of young Americans with global skills.
I urge my colleagues to join this important effort by supporting this legislation.
EXTENSION OF REMARKS
PAGE E519
March 12, 2007
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INTRODUCING THE “SENATOR PAUL SIMON STUDY ABROAD FOUNDATION ACT”
HON. TOM LANTOS
OF CALIFORNIA
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Monday, March 12, 2007
HON. TOM LANTOS
OF CALIFORNIA
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Monday, March 12, 2007
Mr. LANTOS. Madam Speaker, today I rise in partnership with my distinguished Foreign Affairs Committee Ranking Member, Ms. Ros-Lehtinen of Florida, to introduce a very significant piece of legislation, the “Senator Paul Simon Study Abroad Foundation Act.” This measure will create a new government corporation with an annual budget of $80 million—authorized for 10 years—to dramatically increase the number of non-traditional U.S. students studying abroad in non-traditional destinations.
This bill will a provide significant long-term boost to our effort to prevail in the global war against terrorism. It will do so by dramatically increasing foreign understanding of the enduring strength and value of America’s democratic culture by exposing foreign students and their families to one million of our best and most authentic diplomats, our American students. It will also vastly increase the talent pool of young Americans with foreign cultural experience and language knowledge to support our foreign affairs agencies, U.S. global NGOs and U.S. global corporations.
The bill responds to a landmark Congressionally commissioned November 2005 study entitled, “Global Competence and National Needs”, authored by the Commission on the Abraham Lincoln Study Abroad Fellowship Program, which proposed “. . . a broad vision for the U.S.: send one million students to study abroad within a decade.” The idea behind this vision, as articulated in the study, was that “making study abroad the norm and not the exception can position this and other future generations for success in the world much as the establishment of the land-grant university system and enactment of the GI Bill helped create the ‘American Century’ .” The Lincoln Commission which was headed up by former AID Administrator Mr. Peter McPherson and included my colleagues, Ms. Slaughter from New York and Mr. Kirk from Illinois, was established by Congress in 2004 at the urging of Senator Paul Simon who tirelessly advocated for this agenda.
Madam Speaker, I believe this is an incredibly important legislative initiative. If enacted it will democratize study abroad in the way that the GI bill democratized higher education. Today, many American college students still face financial and institutional impediments to study abroad. The Senator Paul Simon Act and the Foundation it creates will tear down these barriers and make foreign study a normal rather than an exceptional part of an American college education.
Today our Nation faces a deficit of cultural knowledge that is a clear impediment to our effort to prevail in the global war on terrorism and to keep America competitive in a global economy. Our foreign affairs agencies are struggling mightily to find recruits who have firsthand understanding of critical cultures and languages such as Arabic, Chinese, Pashto, and Dari. The Senator Paul Simon Act will rectify this by vastly expanding the talent pool of young Americans with global skills.
I urge my colleagues to join this important effort by supporting this legislation.
