John Barrow: “I rise to commend Chairman Reyes for including in the manager's amendment my amendment to develop a competitive grant…”

“I rise to commend Chairman Reyes for including in the manager's amendment my amendment to develop a competitive grant program that will encourage the U.S. intelligence community to partner with Historically Black Colleges and Universities to recruit, train, and retain an ethnically and culturally diverse intelligence workforce. We face a diverse and growing array of threats around the globe. As the means used by our enemies become more advanced, so must our defenses. Cultural, language, and educational barriers affect the quality of intelligence we can gather, and it's critical that our intelligence community have the human assets to overcome these barriers. The area of Georgia that I represent is home to several HBCUs with specific expertise in languages and computer sciences. Engaging these centers of academic excellence, as this amendment does, will produce more sophisticated intelligence officers, who will in turn make our country more secure. I want to thank Chairman Reyes for his work on this important legislation, and I urge my colleagues to support passage of this bill.”