College Access and Opportunity Act of 2005

COLLEGE ACCESS AND OPPORTUNITY ACT OF 2005 -- (House of Representatives - March 30, 2006)

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Mr. LARSEN of Washington. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume, and I rise today to offer the Kirk-Larsen amendment to articulate our Nation's need to promote Chinese and Arabic cultural exchange and language education. I want to thank my fellow co-chair of the U.S.-China Working Group, Mr. Kirk of Illinois, on his work in drafting this important amendment.

Today's global landscape is increasingly interconnected. China and the Middle East play critical roles towards international peace and security. Our ability to effectively engage China and the Arab world rests on shared economic and political interests and mutual understanding.

From 1998 to 2002, foreign language enrollment in United States colleges and universities increased by 20 percent for Chinese and 92.3 percent for Arabic. By comparison, the learning of more traditional languages, such as French and German, grew by under 3 percent.

Our schools and universities are already leading the movement towards Chinese and Arabic language. Congress must build on this infrastructure and support the education of future diplomats, business professionals, and teachers who are proficient in Arabic and Chinese. We must answer the call for an increased American competitiveness and national security, and in today's world we cannot answer that call just in English.

So I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on this amendment, which is merely a sense of Congress amendment to promote language education in Arabic and Chinese.

Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

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