House Concurrent Resolution 201, 107th Congress
On July 26, 2001, Representatives Jim Kolbe (R-Ariz.) and James L. Oberstar (D-Minn.) introduced a concurrent resolution (H.Con.Res.201) in the U.S. House of Representatives calling for a national international education policy to significantly "further United States foreign policy and economic competitiveness, and promote mutual understanding and cooperation among nations."
The full Senate unanimously approved a similar resolution (S.Con.Res.7), introduced by Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Richard Lugar (R-Ind.), on April 6, 2001.
The House resolution states that such a policy should work to achieve the following outcomes:
- Strengthen citizen and professional international exchanges and promote the exchange of scholars.
- Support visa and employment policies that promote increased numbers of international students.
- Significantly increase the number of U.S. students participating in study abroad.
- Promote greater diversity of locations, subjects, and languages involved in study abroad programs.
- Ensure that U.S. college graduates have knowledge of a second language and a world area.
- Strengthen the educational system through which Americans gain international expertise.
The bipartisan resolution, cosponsored by Representatives David Dreier (R-Calif.), Benjamin A. Gilman (R-N.Y.), Maurice D. Hinchey (D-N.Y.), James A. Leach (R-Iowa), James P. McGovern (D-Mass.), Ralph Regula (R-Ohio), and Fred Upton (R-Mich.), highlights the importance of international education to "meet national security, foreign policy, economic, and other global challenges facing the United States."
