[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 50 (Friday, April 22, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E748]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       PAYING TRIBUTE TO THE AMERICAN FORUM FOR GLOBAL EDUCATION

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. MAURICE D. HINCHEY

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 21, 2005

  Mr. HINCHEY. Mr. Speaker, at no time in our nation's history have 
Americans been more connected to the world than we are now--by trade 
and finance, media and culture, crisis and conflict. Yet there is 
mounting evidence that today's young students are ill equipped by our 
education system to serve themselves, or their country, in the 
international arena. It's no surprise that Bill Gates recently termed 
America's high schools as ``obsolete'' and as relevant as a 1950s 
mainframe computer.
   A recent Gallup poll of 13- to 17-year-olds revealed that less than 
half could link Napoleon, Churchill and Indira Gandhi to their native 
countries. One in three could not identify Hitler with Germany. A 
Stanford University study notes that, while high school attendance 
broadened to near-universal enrollment over the last century, 
``students'' ignorance of history has marched stolidly in place.''
   Retired IBM Chairman Lou Gerstner noted this perspective when 
addressing the National Education Summit: ``Countries that have better 
education systems have stronger economies and are tougher competitors 
in the worldwide marketplace. America, therefore, is not so much 
becoming a nation of haves and have-nots as we are a nation of educated 
and uneducated.''
   I therefore am pleased to honor one organization dedicated to 
broadening the international focus of our education system, the 
American Forum for Global Education, which celebrates its 35th 
anniversary this year. The American Forum has been working to close the 
ignorance and apathy gap for hundreds of thousands of K-12 students for 
more than a generation. They have led the nation in shaping American 
teaching systems and providing opportunities for worldwide interaction 
and learning.
   The American Forum has developed programs in partnership with the 
United Nations and the U.S. Departments of State and Education; other 
programs have dispatched scores of teachers and students to China, 
Turkey, Morocco, Vietnam and other important but relatively neglected 
outposts.
   The American Forum's China Project is an excellent example of the 
organization's commitment to promoting a 21st century education. It 
addresses, in part, a Christian Science Monitor editorial citing 
Chinese as ``a critical language . . . Without an emerging generation 
of Chinese speakers, the U.S. faces growing holes in intelligence 
gathering, trade relations, and cultural understanding.'' Chinese is 
the mother tongue to 874 million people (compared to 341 million who 
speak English), but far too few American children study it.
   China Project participants are notable exceptions. Vanessa Baehr-
Jones, a Tufts University graduate who majored in Chinese, is now 
looking for a government position to utilize her second-language 
skills. ``Without the (American Forum's) China trip,'' she writes, ``I 
would never have ended up studying the Chinese language.'' Patrick 
Franco, an Oxford University graduate, credits the program with his 
interest in ``a career in diplomacy or business that would offer 
further exposure to China.''
   Dozens of other young adults who have benefited from American Forum 
programs here and in far-flung regions overseas now are benefiting the 
nation, as well as themselves. For 35 years, the American Forum for 
Global Education has led the way, and I applaud them.




                          ____________________