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More Steps We Can Take Right Now to Beef Up the Country's Foreign Language Skills Paul Simon Tuesday, October 23, 2001; Page A23 Washington Post 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. © 2001 The Washington Post Company [Courtesy of Milagros Lanauze

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