Congress has introduced a new bill to award federal grants to colleges that will create new programs in languages viewed as important to the nation’s interests.

Introduced in December 2003 as the National Security Language Act, the bill aims to ensure that more students will be able to speak languages fluently in areas that are currently critical to national security.

The bill was introduced by U.S. Representative Rush D. Holt (D-N.J.), who noted that Americans need to be become more familiar with using and applying these languages in light of recent international events.

“There are not enough Americans studying these languages [critical to national security],” Holt said. “It has actually become a security problem.”

If passed, the bill would allot $12 million in grants to U.S. universities and colleges to establish high quality, intensive in-country language study programs in a broad range of countries around the world.

“Any university would be eligible for the grant money to start a program, but those with a better track record in foreign language education would be in a better position to win a part of the grant,” Jim Kapsis, Holt’s director of communications, said.

Evidence shows that the United States does not currently possess the qualities of readiness in speaking languages important to national security. The Sept. 11, 2001, Joint Inquiry released reports this past July saying that the Intelligence Community has a 30 percent readiness in languages critical to national security.

“The government has a list of critical need languages each year. The national security board determines where there’s a lack of speakers in certain languages,” Kapsis said.

Kapsis noted that Farsi is one such language of national security interest where there is a need of speakers. This instance accompanies the fact that more American college students study ancient Greek than Arabic, Korean, Farsi and Pashto combined, according to a recent Congressional inquiry.

Furthermore, statistics show that 67 percent of all American students studying abroad in 2000-01 enrolled in programs in Western Europe, Australia, Canada and New Zealand, all areas that are not critical to U.S. national security.

Another study showed that fewer than 8 percent of all U.S. students studying abroad enrolled in full academic year programs, allowing insufficient time to acquire cultural and language skills.

“A lot of study-abroad programs also don’t focus on producing results of coming back with fluency,” Kapsis said. “This program will ensure that students would be held accountable to the standards of the program by testing and further regulations set by the universities.”

Another $15 million would go toward colleges and universities to establish programs that encourage students to develop foreign language proficiency as well as science and technological knowledge. Eligible institutions would be able to develop programs in which students take courses in science, math and technology taught in a foreign language.

The bill would also offer up to $10,000 for student-loan repayment to student borrowers who obtained a degree in a critical need foreign language. To qualify the recipient would need to be employed by the government or in a full-time position as a secondary or elementary school teacher.

“This is a matter of supply and demand,” Kapsis said. “We want to help give the U.S. funding and give students more reasons to enroll in language programs and stick with the languages. It is also in our interests to learn more about the world around us.”

Although Georgetown currently offers languages such as Arabic and Korean, the university does not offer languages such as Farsi, the official language of Iran, or Pashto, the official language of Afghanistan.

Georgetown’s Office of Federal Relations was not available for comment on the bill.