[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 79 (Friday, June 14, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1060]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       ARTICLE BY GEOFF D. PORTER

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                         HON. GERALD D. KLECZKA

                              of wisconsin

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 13, 2002

  Mr. KLECZKA. Mr. Speaker, I submit for the record a June 1 New York 
Times op-ed by Geoff D. Porter, a professor of Middle Eastern studies 
who expresses frustration at what he says is a slow and ineffective 
means by which the Federal Bureau of Investigation has been trying to 
recruit those proficient in Arabic. Since his insight as to the need 
for experts in the various dialects makes a compelling argument, I've 
also forwarded a copy of the article to FBI Director Robert Mueller.
  I thank my friend, Professor David Randall Luce of the University of 
Wisconsin-Milwaukee for bringing this article to my attention.

                [From the New York Times, June 1, 2002]

                   Lost in Translation at the F.B.I.

                          (By Geoff D. Porter)

       In announcing his restructuring of the Federal Bureau of 
     Investigation, Robert S. Mueller III, its director, stressed 
     the importance of upgrading the F.B.I.'s intelligence 
     capabilities by recruiting ``the right people with the right 
     experience.'' If my own experience with the agency is any 
     guide, that should include an urgent recruiting drive for 
     people with the right Arabic language skills.
       Less than a week after the attacks on the World Trade 
     Center and the Pentagon, I responded to the F.B.I.'s calls 
     for Arabic translators. I know of a half-dozen other Middle 
     Eastern studies graduates who also applied--Ph.D.s who, like 
     me, are proficient in one or more Arabic dialects, as well as 
     in Modern Standard Arabic. Ultimately--dismayed by what 
     seemed to us the agency's flawed understanding of what 
     proficiency in Arabic means--none of us pursued our 
     candidacies.
       I applied less than a week after Sept. 11 but wasn't called 
     for the four-and-a-half hour translation test until January. 
     It wasn't until February that I sat for a four-hour interview 
     and polygraph test. The F.B.I. was then to begin a six- to 
     eight-month background check. At the earliest, I might have 
     started translating more than a year after I applied.
       The slow pace, however, wasn't the most unsettling 
     characteristic of the process. There was something more 
     worrisome: The F.B.I.'s Arabic translation test simply does 
     not measure all the language skills needed for intelligence 
     gathering focused on Arabic speakers.
       The Arabic-language test--copyrighted in 1994 by the 
     Defense Language Institute, according to the back of my exam 
     booklet--was solely in Modern Standard Arabic, the Arabic 
     most frequently studied at American universities. This is the 
     form used for official speeches and in the news media in Arab 
     countries--but almost never in conversation. It differs 
     substantially from the spoken varieties of Arabic in 
     vocabulary, syntax and idioms--enough so that a non-native 
     speaker who learned only Modern Standard Arabic would not be 
     able to understand Arabic speakers talking to one another.
       The regional dialects also differ from one another--varying 
     considerably from one end of the Arabic-speaking world (in 
     Morocco) to the other (in Oman). The dialects are, for some 
     Arabic speakers, mutually unintelligible. (Once, I mistakenly 
     gave a Cairo taxi driver directions in Moroccan Arabic, and 
     he responded: ``Ich spreche kein Deutsch.'')
       These varieties of Arabic are the language of the market, 
     the home and the street for the world's 200 million Arabic 
     speakers. Yet no colloquial Arabic, in any dialect, appeared 
     anywhere on the F.B.I.'s Arabic translation test, which 
     included a listening-comprehension section.
       During my post-exam interview, I tried to offer some 
     feedback about the test's failure to measure skills in 
     everyday spoken Arabic, but the interviewer brusquely moved 
     on to his next question. Nor was there a chance for me to 
     name the two Arabic dialects in which I am proficient. The 
     interview is scripted; there is no room for unscripted 
     interaction. All the other Middle East studies applicants 
     with whom I spoke said they, too, noticed the test's 
     shortcoming but couldn't find an opening to comment on it.
       As the F.B.I. reorganizes, it should improve its 
     recruitment of Arabic translators by adding tests that 
     measure fluency in one or more of these numerous Arabic 
     dialects. Otherwise, its translators may be limited to 
     reading Arabic newspapers or listening to Al Jazeera 
     broadcasts. They may misunderstand wiretapped phone 
     conversations or be unable to identify crucial information. 
     Until the F.B.I. shows more willingness to listen to the 
     experts it is trying to attract, it will not get the 
     expertise it needs.

     

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