Mr. President, I rise today to urge the passage of two bills vital to our nation's ability to combat terrorism, S. 1799, the Homeland Security Education Act, and S. 1800, the Homeland Security Federal Workforce Act. These bills are designed to assist our nation's national security agencies in recruiting individuals fluent in crucial foreign languages and skilled in other areas of critical concern. I fear that the lack of foreign language-speaking employees has contributed to one of the worst security lapses in the history of our great nation.

The information that has surfaced in recent weeks about our intelligence agencies' inability to articulate a complete intelligence picture in the weeks and months preceding September 11th underscores the need for language-proficient professionals throughout federal agencies to decipher and interpret information from foreign sources, as well as interact with foreign nationals.

I ask unanimous consent to include in the Record an article by Katherine McIntire Peters from the May 1, 2002, Government Executive Magazine, entitled "Lost in Translation." The author demonstrates explicitly how a critical shortage of federal employees with foreign language skills is hurting national security. According to the article, the Army has a 44 percent shortfall in translators and interpreters in five critical languages, including Arabic, Korean, Persian-Farsi, Mandarin-Chinese, and Russian; the Department of State lacks 26 percent of its calculated need in authorized translator and interpreter positions, and the FBI has a 13 percent deficiency in the staffing of similar positions.

With such a startling lack of workers with proficient foreign language skills throughout the federal government, enacting S. 1799 and S. 1800 is essential for our national security. The 107th Congress must act now to alleviate these grave deficiencies to recruit personnel possessing vital skills. To do this, we must promote the pursuit of language skills at all levels of education.

S. 1799 strengthens national security by assisting in the expansion and the improvement of primary through graduate-level foreign language programs. This bill gives a boost to the foreign language programs taught in our nation's schools by promoting concentrated and effective language study and by providing intensive professional development for teachers. Language study from a very early age will open students' minds to the opportunities and benefits of learning foreign languages. These benefits, combined with an across-the-board strengthening in science and engineering programs, will ensure an educated and competitive citizenry while providing a qualified applicant pool for national security positions.

S. 1800 provides incentives for accomplished university students to enter governmental service. The bill provides an enhanced loan repayment program for students with degrees in areas of critical importance and also provides fellowships to graduate students with expertise in similarly sensitive areas. These incentives will result in the recruitment of the highly-trained, dynamic young individuals our nation needs to assist in the war against terrorism.

Our security organizations will benefit tremendously from an influx of proficient foreign language speakers. In addition to increasing the number of security personnel entering the federal service with language proficiency, the legislation encourages current employees to improve their language ability and to hone other skills. We must provide training to improve foreign language skills of our present federal workers and invest in the next generation of employees to ensure a dedicated and capable workforce that will contribute to our national security. The legislation I and the other sponsors have proposed would accomplish this.

Thank you, Mr. President. I urge my colleagues to support S. 1799 and S. 1800.