Dan Boren: “I rise today in support of H.R. 2701, the Intelligence Authorization Act of 2010. This bill is an excellent product and…”

“I rise today in support of H.R. 2701, the Intelligence Authorization Act of 2010. This bill is an excellent product and addresses many critical areas, including those that have previously received little attention. One of the most important provisions in the bill is the commitment to developing foreign language capability, specifically in African languages that have historically been underrepresented in the intelligence community. The bill creates a pilot program under the National Security Education Program, or the NSEP. It expands the David L. Boren Scholars by requiring the Director of National Intelligence to identify five high-priority African languages for which language education programs do not currently exist. The NSEP would then develop intensive training programs for implementation in both the United States and in countries where the languages are spoken. Let's not forget that 10 years ago, we didn't anticipate conflicts along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border and the need for Dari, Pashto, and Urdu speakers. When the need arose, we didn't have the capabilities to meet immediate demands, and to this day, we are still playing catchup.”