Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii, has reintroduced the National Foreign Language Coordination Act with several co-sponsors aimed at improving the federal government’s foreign language competency, and more generally, the nation’s.
The bill calls for a new position in the executive branch charged with assessing and addressing language needs.
Akaka said at a recent hearing before the management oversight subcommittee he chairs that federal government badly needs more multi-lingual workers to translate counterterrorism intelligence, and that in a global economy there needs to be more than the 9.3 percent of Americans who speak both their native language and another language fluently – something closer to the European Union’s 56 percent average.
Rep. Brian Baird, D-Wash., introduced a House companion bill and called for more translators of Arabic and Persian-Farsi, also stating that there are not enough foreign language proficient workers for the country to compete with other leading economies in the long-term.
At the Senate hearing Akaka said the administration’s effort to implement new programs and address language shortfalls has only left the country scrambling to find linguists with each major international event.
The bills would establish the National Foreign Language Coordination Council within the executive office of the President charged with developing and overseeing the implementation of a foreign language strategy.
Baird said the legislation would unify all existing government efforts in the council, and engage federal, state, and local agencies and the private sector in solutions.
