[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 541 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







107th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 541

                To improve foreign language instruction.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 15, 2001

  Mr. Cochran introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
  referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
                To improve foreign language instruction.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Foreign Language Acquisition and 
Proficiency Improvement Act''.

SEC. 2. SHORT TITLE AMENDMENT.

    Section 7201 of the Foreign Language Assistance Act of 1994 (20 
U.S.C. 7511) is amended to read as follows:

``SEC. 7201. SHORT TITLE.

    ``This part may be cited as the `Foreign Language Acquisition and 
Proficiency Act of 2001.'''.

SEC. 3. FOREIGN LANGUAGE PROGRAM.

    (a) Federal Share.--Section 7203 of the Foreign Language 
Acquisition and Proficiency Act of 2001 (20 U.S.C. 7513) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)(2), by striking ``three years'' and 
        inserting ``not less than three and not more than five years'';
            (2) in subsection (b), by adding at the end the following:
            ``(3) Heavily impacted schools.--The Secretary shall use 50 
        percent of the funds appropriated to carry out this part for a 
        fiscal year to award grants for foreign language programs 
        serving students in elementary schools or secondary schools 
        described in section 1114(a)(1)(B), and notwithstanding 
        subsection (c), the Federal share of the cost of such programs 
        shall be 100 percent.''; and
            (3) in subsection (c)--
                    (A) by striking paragraph (2); and
                    (B) by redesignating paragraphs (3) and (4) as 
                paragraphs (2) and (3), respectively.
    (b) Applications.--Section 7204(b) of the Foreign Language 
Acquisition and Proficiency Act of 2001 (20 U.S.C. 7514(b)) is 
amended--
            (1) by redesignating paragraphs (2) and (3) as paragraphs 
        (4) and (5);
            (2) by inserting after paragraph (1) the following:
            ``(2) make effective use of technology such as computer 
        assisted instruction, language laboratories, or distance 
        learning;
            ``(3) promote innovative activities such as immersion, 
        partial immersion, or content-based instruction;'';
            (3) in paragraph (4) (as redesignated by paragraph (1)), by 
        striking ``or'' after the semicolon;
            (4) in paragraph (5) (as redesignated by paragraph (1)), by 
        striking the period and inserting ``; or''; and
            (5) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(6) involve consortia with elementary schools or 
        secondary schools.''.
    (c) Incentive Payments.--Section 7205(a) of the Foreign Language 
Acquisition and Proficiency Act of 2001 (20 U.S.C. 7515(a)) is amended 
by striking ``provides to students attending such school'' and 
inserting ``initiates''.
    (d) Authorization of Appropriations.--Section 7206 of the Foreign 
Language Acquisition and Proficiency Act of 2001 (20 U.S.C. 7516) is 
amended--
            (1) by striking ``$35,000,000 for the fiscal year 1995'' 
        and inserting ``$50,000,000 for fiscal year 2002''; and
            (2) by striking ``$20,000,000'' and inserting 
        ``$25,000,000''.
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