FYI: Op-ed piece for Senator Paul Simon in 23 October WASHINGTON POST

[Scott McGinnis]

To view the entire article, go to
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A36489-2001Oct22.html

Beef Up the Country's Foreign Language Skills




In the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, FBI Director Robert
Mueller put out an urgent call for Arabic and Farsi translators, going
so far as to post an 800 number for applicants. His announcement once
again exposed our nation's appalling deficiencies in foreign language
expertise. This is not a new problem.

Almost 10 years ago, with many of my Senate colleagues and under the
leadership of Sen. David Boren, now president of the University of
Oklahoma, I supported the creation of the National Security Education
Program, which addresses critical national security deficiencies in
language and cultural expertise. Nearly three decades ago William Casey,
then head of the CIA, told me of the nation's urgent foreign language
situation. This past August, the University of Maryland's National
Foreign Language Center warned in a major study of language and national
security that "the United States . . . faces a critical shortage of
linguistically competent professionals across federal agencies and
departments responsible for national security."

Clearly, the urgency of the FBI's needs just scratches the surface of
our international deficiencies. Americans are proficient in almost none
of the languages of Southwest and Central Asia, nor do opportunities to
learn these languages exist. Yet today some 80 federal agencies need
proficiency in nearly 100 foreign languages to deal with threats from
terrorism, narcotrafficking and communicable diseases -- and to advance
our commercial and economic interests.

While the demand is great, the supply remains almost nonexistent. Only 8
percent of American college students study another language -- a
proportion that has not changed in 25 years.

Now is the time to renew and expand our federal investment in the
National Security Education Program (NSEP), as well as in other language
programs. NSEP participants work throughout the federal government and
provide expertise in the languages and cultures of more than 50 nations.
The program is currently working with the FBI to provide the agency with
Arabic- and Farsi-speaking participants as translators and analysts to
help in the short-term crisis. Former senators Gary Hart and Warren
Rudman, in their "Road Map for National Security" report, called upon
Congress to expand it. Yet NSEP has not received the financial support
it needs,

Similarly, several long-established foreign language programs are
suffering from benign neglect. Institutions such as the Pentagon's
Defense Language Institute and the State Department's Foreign Service
Institute need recognition and funds if they are to provide sufficient
language instruction for federal employees. Department of Education
programs, such as Title VI of the Higher Education Act and the
Fulbright-Hays exchange programs, also require renewed federal attention
to strengthen our nation's language infrastructure.

In every national crisis from the Cold War through Vietnam, Desert
Storm, Bosnia and Kosovo, our nation has lamented its foreign language
shortfalls. But then the crisis "goes away," and we return to business
as usual. One of the messages of Sept. 11 is that business as usual is
no longer an acceptable option.

 -- Paul Simon

The writer, a former Democratic senator from Illinois,

 is chairman of the board of the National Foreign

 Language Center at the University of Maryland.