,i #aaith ,,congress #ast ,session ,h4 ,r4 #cihi ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of ,,representatives ,june #ab1 #bjbe,mr4 ,panetta 7for himself1 ,mr4 ,tony ,gonzales of ,texas1 and ,mrs4 ,kiggans of ,virginia7 introduced the following bill2 which was referred to the ,committee on ,armed ,services ,a ,,bill ,to retain language proficiency and readiness to support national security goals of the ,united ,states4 #a4 ,short title ,this ,act may be cited as the ,fluent ,forces ,act4 #b4 ,findings ,congress finds the following3 7#a7 ,since #aida1 the ,united ,states has recognized the need for military intelligence units to have a competitive edge through language proficiency4 ,although investments in linguists were made since ,world ,war ,two to support ,american military and foreign policy1 the terrorist attacks on ,september #aa1 #bjja1 exposed a shortage of members of the ,armed ,forces who speak highly valuable languages4 ,the terrorist attacks highlighted the persistent and continuous need for the ,department of ,defense to maintain a designated cohort of qualified linguists to respond to crises or contingencies anywhere in the world4 ,in response1 the ,defense ,language ,institute ,foreign ,language ,center 7,,dliflc7 was created4 ,today1 ,,dliflc remains the premier school of the ,department of ,defense for culturally based foreign language education and training4 7#b7 ,fluency in foreign languages and cultures underpins successful foreign policy and national security1 as evidenced across an array of conflicts1 including counterinsurgency1 counterterrorism1 and great power competition4 7#c7 ,despite growing developments in technology and artificial intelligence1 person-to-person engagement remains an intimate component of ,america's military strategy1 including in multinational conflicts throughout the ,middle ,east and ,europe4 7#d7 ,the skillset provided by language and cultural training supports effective communication and interoperability between members of the ,armed ,forces of the ,united ,states and partner forces1 allows for connections with local populations in politically sensitive environments1 and offers more efficient diplomatic engagement with state representatives or negotiation teams4 7#e7 ,with foreign language skills1 members of the ,armed ,forces1 including members of both active and reserve components1 can make informed and potentially lifesaving judgements regarding strategy and operations that can be culturally-sensitive both at home and abroad4 ,as information plays a more considerable role in military and foreign policy1 linguistic skills provide increased support for intelligence gathering and subsequent interpretation4 7#f7 ,the ,foreign ,area ,officer program1 with language instruction completed at the ,,dliflc1 serves as another indispensable component of ,america's foreign policy strategy4 ,through their foreign language and cultural expertise1 ,foreign ,area ,officers are members of the ,armed ,forces grounded in the profession of arms who-- 7,a7 provide leadership and expertise in diverse organizations in joint1 interagency1 intergovernmental1 and multinational environments2 7,b7 advise senior leaders as regional experts2 and 7,c7 offer unique war fighting competencies1 including cross-cultural capabilities1 interpersonal communications1 and foreign language skills1 that are critical to mission readiness of the ,department of ,defense in a dynamic national security environment4 #c4 ,annual ,assessment on ,recruiting ,practices to ,increase ,attendance at the ,defense ,language ,institute ,foreign ,language ,center 7a7 ,assessments ,not later than ,december #ca1 #bjbe1 and annually thereafter until ,december #ca1 #bjcj1 the ,secretary of ,defense shall submit to the ,committees on ,armed ,services of the ,senate and the ,house of ,representatives an assessment of recruiting methods of the ,department of ,defense to increase attendance at the ,defense ,language ,institute ,foreign ,language ,center4 7b7 ,elements of ,assessment ,each assessment submitted under subsection 7a7 shall include1 with respect to the #ab-month period ending the month before the date of the submission of the assessment1 the following3 7#a7 ,an identification of the public and private secondary schools engaged by military recruiters for the purpose of increasing attendance at the ,defense ,language ,institute ,foreign ,language ,center4 7#b7 ,an identification of the number of persons recruited from such schools who completed enlistment or accession into the ,armed ,forces and subsequently enrolled at the ,defense ,language ,institute ,foreign ,language ,center4 7#c7 ,an identification of challenges to recruiting qualified individuals from such schools that limit progress toward increasing the number of personnel attending the ,defense ,language ,institute ,foreign ,language ,center1 including challenges with respect to-- 7,a7 procedures for recruiters to gain access to such schools2 7,b7 the conduct of relationship-building activities between military recruiters and high schools2 7,c7 the ability of military recruiters to follow-up with interested students2 and 7,d7 any other issues the ,secretary considers appropriate4 7#d7 ,recommendations for new recruitment methods to increase attendance at the ,defense ,language ,institute ,foreign ,language ,center through increased awareness of linguist professions in the ,united ,states ,armed ,forces and similar professions within the ,united ,states ,government that might require proficiency in a foreign language4 7#e7 ,recommendations for how the ,department of ,defense can develop procedures to systematically document effective engagement and activities with high schools4 7#f7 ,the plan of each ,secretary of a military department to implement the recommendations described in paragraphs 7#d7 and 7#e74 7#g7 ,measurable benchmarks of progress of current initiatives by the ,department of ,defense to recruit qualified individuals to attend the ,defense ,language ,institute ,foreign ,language ,center4 7c7 ,disaggregation ,requirement ,each assessment submitted under subsection 7a7 shall1 with respect to the information required by paragraphs 7#a71 7#b71 and 7#c7 of subsection 7b7 that relates to public secondary schools1 include such information in a form that is disaggregated by local educational agency4 7d7 ,definitions ,in this ,act1 the terms local educational agency and secondary school have the meaning given the terms in section #haja of the ,elementary and ,secondary ,education ,act of #aife 7#bj ,u4,s4,c4 #ghja74