 
 CHAPTER 70--STRENGTHENING AND IMPROVEMENT OF ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY 
                                 SCHOOLS
 
SUBCHAPTER VII--BILINGUAL EDUCATION, LANGUAGE ENHANCEMENT, AND LANGUAGE 
                          ACQUISITION PROGRAMS
 
               Part B--Foreign Language Assistance Program
 
Sec. 7512. Findings

    The Congress finds as follows:
        (1) Foreign language proficiency is crucial to our Nation's 
    economic competitiveness and national security. Significant 
    improvement in the quantity and quality of foreign language 
    instruction offered in our Nation's elementary and secondary schools 
    is necessary.
        (2) All Americans need a global perspective. To understand the 
    world around us, we must acquaint ourselves with the languages, 
    cultures, and history of other nations.
        (3) Proficiency in two or more languages should be promoted for 
    all American students. Multilingualism enhances cognitive and social 
    growth, competitiveness in the global marketplace, national 
    security, and understanding of diverse people and cultures.
        (4) The United States lags behind other developed countries in 
    offering foreign language study to elementary and secondary school 
    students.
        (5) Four out of five new jobs in the United States are created 
    from foreign trade.
        (6) The optimum time to begin learning a second language is in 
    elementary school, when children have the ability to learn and excel 
    in several foreign language acquisition skills, including 
    pronunciation, and when children are most open to appreciating and 
    valuing a culture other than their own.
        (7) Foreign language study can increase childrens' capacity for 
    critical and creative thinking skills and children who study a 
    second language show greater cognitive development in areas such as 
    mental flexibility, creativity, tolerance, and higher order thinking 
    skills.
        (8) Children who have studied a foreign language in elementary 
    school achieve expected gains and score higher on standardized tests 
    of reading, language arts, and mathematics than children who have 
    not studied a foreign language.

(Pub. L. 89-10, title VII, Sec. 7202, as added Pub. L. 103-382, title I, 
Sec. 101, Oct. 20, 1994, 108 Stat. 3737.)
