Bill pushes loans, tuition reimbursement for national security needs

Just as heavy federal investment in science and math education helped win the Cold War, some lawmakers want a similar education investment to help America win the war against terrorism.

December 3, 2001

A number of panels and observers have worried in recent years that the United States is falling behind other nations in scientific, technological and foreign language skills. The U.S. Commission on National Security for the 21st Century, headed by former Sens. Gary Hart and William Rudman, recommended in February that Congress pass a law reinvigorating federal investment in science, math and foreign language education. "In this commission's view, the inadequacies of our systems of research and education pose a greater threat to U.S. national security over the next quarter century than any potential conventional war that we might imagine," the Hart-Rudman Commission's report said. "If we do not invest heavily and wisely in rebuilding these two core strengths, America will be incapable of maintaining its global position long into the 21st century." In 1991, Congress created the National Security Education Program, which helps promote the foreign language capacity of the federal government by awarding several hundred grants per year to students who must then serve in federal agencies. But a 2000-2001 survey conducted by the program found that agencies continue to have trouble recruiting enough people with advanced proficiency in any of 70 languages. "Finding candidates for employment as professionals in the U.S. government has proven increasingly difficult, and many agencies now report shortfalls in hiring, deficits in readiness and adverse impacts on operations," the survey said. For example, after Sept. 11, the FBI put out a plea for translators fluent in Arabic, Pashto and Farsi. But skilled translators in those languages are in relatively short supply. Of the American Translators Association's 8,200 members, only one is qualified to translate Pashto.

Saying that a heavy federal investment in science and math education helped win the Cold War, some lawmakers are seeking a similar investment to help America win the war against terrorism. A group of senators are set to propose a $400 million-a-year program to boost American brainpower in science, math and foreign languages. The proposal will also encourage citizens to use that knowledge by serving in national security positions in the federal government. The proposal is similar to the 1958 National Defense Education Act, which Congress passed after the Soviet Union beat the United States into space with the launch of the Sputnik satellite. That act also invested primarily in math, science and foreign language education. Members of the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, including Sen. Fred Thompson, R-Tenn., Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., and Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii, will introduce the Homeland Security Education Act and the Homeland Security Federal Workforce Act later this month. The bills would:

Pay back the interest on federal loans for people who get undergraduate degrees in math, science or a foreign language, even if they don't choose to put their skills to work in the federal government. The bill would provide $200 million to the program in 2002.
Create a $75 million National Science Foundation grant program that would encourage elementary and secondary schools to beef up their math and science programs.
Establish an $85 million program promoting foreign language education at all levels. One part of the program could be a National Flagship Language Initiative, which would award grants to universities that produce graduates in critical language areas.
Create a National Security Service Corps that would allow certain federal workers to accept rotational assignments at national security agencies.
Repay up to $10,000 a year of student loans for current federal employees and recruits hired into national security positions. Recipients would have to serve the government for at least three years.
Create graduate education fellowships of up to $21,500 for recruits and employees in national security jobs. Twenty percent of fellowships would be set aside for current employees.
Create a National Security Service Board, headed by the director of the Office of Personnel Management with representatives of the Defense, State, Treasury, Energy and Justice departments, the CIA, the FBI, the National Security Agency and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. The board would conduct an assessment of the government's national security workforce and write a strategic plan for addressing personnel needs.

Editors' Note: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that some student loan repayments would be set aside for current employees. We regret the error.

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