,i #aaeth ,,congress #ast ,session ,h4 ,r4 #abci ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of ,,representatives ,february #bh1 #bjag,mr4 ,price of ,north ,carolina 7for himself1 ,mr4 ,lance1 ,mr4 ,crowley1 ,mr4 ,young of ,alaska1 ,ms4 ,jackson ,lee1 ,mr4 ,moulton1 ,mr4 ,cole1 and ,ms4 ,titus7 introduced the following bill2 which was referred to the ,committee on ,education and the ,workforce1 and in addition to the ,committee on ,armed ,services1 for a period to be subsequently determined by the ,speaker1 in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned ,a ,,bill ,to authorize the ,secretary of ,defense to make grants to support the study of world languages in elementary schools and secondary schools4 #a4 ,short title ,this ,act may be cited as the ,world ,language ,advancement and ,readiness ,act of #bjag4 #b4 ,findings ,congress finds the following3 7#a7 ,the national security of the ,united ,states continues to depend on language readiness1 in particular among the seventeen agencies of the ,intelligence ,community4 7#b7 ,the levels of language proficiency required for national security necessitate long sequences of language training for personnel in the ,intelligence ,community and the ,department of ,defense4 7#c7 ,the future national security and economic well-being of the ,united ,states will depend substantially on the ability of its citizens to communicate and compete by knowing the languages and cultures of other countries4 7#d7 ,the ,federal ,government has an interest in ensuring that the employees of its departments and agencies with national security responsibilities are prepared to meet the challenges of this changing international environment4 7#e7 ,the ,federal ,government also has an interest in taking actions to alleviate the problem of ,american students being inadequately prepared to meet the challenges posed by increasing global interaction among nations4 7#f7 ,american elementary schools1 secondary schools1 colleges1 and universities must place a new emphasis on improving the teaching of foreign languages1 area studies1 counterproliferation studies1 and other international fields to help meet those challenges4 #c4 ,world language advancement and readiness grants 7a7 ,program authority ,the ,secretary of ,defense1 in consultation with the ,director of ,national ,intelligence and the ,secretary of ,education1 shall carry out a program under which the ,secretary of ,defense makes grants1 on a competitive basis1 to ,state educational agencies and local educational agencies to pay the ,federal share of the cost of innovative model programs providing for the establishment1 improvement1 or expansion of world language study for elementary school and secondary school students4 7b7 ,duration ,each grant under this ,act shall be awarded for a period of #c years4 7c7 ,requirements for ,state and local educational agencies 7#a7 ,grants to ,state educational agencies ,in awarding a grant under subsection 7a7 to a ,state educational agency1 the ,secretary of ,defense shall support programs that promote systemic approaches to improving world language learning in the ,state4 7#b7 ,grants to local educational agencies ,in awarding a grant under subsection 7a7 to a local educational agency1 the ,secretary of ,defense shall support programs that-- 7,a7 show the promise of being continued beyond the grant period2 7,b7 demonstrate approaches that can be disseminated to and duplicated in other local educational agencies2 and 7,c7 may include a professional development component4 7d7 ,federal share 7#a7 ,in general ,except as provided in paragraph 7#b71 the ,federal share for each fiscal year shall be #ej percent4 7#b7 ,exception ,the ,secretary of ,defense may determine the ,federal share for any local educational agency that the ,secretary determines does not have adequate resources to pay the non-,federal share4 7e7 ,allocation of funds 7#a7 ,not less than #ge percent of the funds made available to carry out this ,act for a fiscal year shall be used for the expansion of world language learning in elementary schools4 7#b7 ,not less than #ge percent of the funds made available to carry out this ,act for a fiscal year shall be used to support instruction in world languages determined by the ,secretary of ,defense to be critical to the national security interests of the ,united ,states4 7#c7 ,the ,secretary of ,defense may reserve not more than #e percent of funds made available to carry out this ,act for a fiscal year to evaluate the efficacy of programs that receive grants under subsection 7a7 7f7 ,applications 7#a7 ,in general ,to be considered for a grant under subsection 7a71 a ,state educational agency or local educational agency shall submit an application to the ,secretary of ,defense at such time1 in such manner1 and containing such information and assurances as the ,secretary may require4 7#b7 ,special consideration ,the ,secretary of ,defense shall give special consideration to applications describing programs that-- 7,a7 include intensive summer world language programs for professional development of world language teachers2 7,b7 link nonnative ,english speakers in the community with the schools in order to promote two-way language learning2 7,c7 promote the sequential study of a world language for students1 beginning in elementary schools2 7,d7 make effective use of technology1 such as computer-assisted instruction1 language laboratories1 or distance learning1 to promote world language study2 7,e7 promote innovative activities1 such as dual language immersion1 partial world language immersion1 or content-based instruction2 and 7,f7 are carried out through a consortium comprised of the agency receiving the grant1 an elementary school or secondary school1 and an institution of higher education 7as that term is defined in section #ajb of the ,higher ,education ,act of #aife 7#bj ,u4,s4,c4 #ajjb774 #d4 ,definitions ,in this ,act3 7#a7 ,,esea terms ,the terms elementary school1 local educational agency1 secondary school1 and ,state educational agency have the meanings given the terms in section #haja of the ,elementary and ,secondary ,education ,act of #aife 7#bj ,u4,s4,c4 #ghja74 7#b7 ,world language ,the term world language means-- 7,a7 any natural language other than ,english1 including-- 7i7 languages determined by the ,secretary of ,defense to be critical to the national security interests of the ,united ,states2 7ii7 classical languages2 7iii7 ,american sign language2 and 7iv7 ,native ,american languages2 and 7,b7 any language described in subparagraph 7,a7 that is taught in combination with ,english as part of a dual language or immersion learning program4