Contact:
Bernadette Green
(202) 225-2476
(Washington, D.C.) – Congressman Glenn Grothman (R-Glenbeulah) led a letter to House appropriators, along with Congressmen Rick Allen (R-Ga.), Tom Garrett (R-Va.) and Doug Lamborn (R-Colo.), requesting that Title VI of the Higher Education Act be defunded in the House Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill, and that taxpayer dollars formerly used for Title VI be reinvested for deficit reduction or reallocated to fund the National Security Education Program (NSEP).
Excerpts from the letter:
“… at too many Title VI centers across the country, academic diversity is severely lacking, with many centers using the young, malleable minds of college-aged students as a one-sided sounding board for professors’ anti-American and anti-Semitic political agendas. These professor’s significant biases seep into how their students approach their academic course of study and prevent students from being exposed to alternative viewpoints—perspectives that often reflect the positive aspects of long-practiced and accepted American foreign policies and norms.
“Despite efforts to require a diversity of perspective presented to students at these centers in the 2008 Reauthorization of the HEA, the reality at many centers is a continuation of the troubling trend that has plagued centers receiving tens of millions of taxpayer dollars each year to educate and equip students for service on America’s behalf.
“Rather than continuing to provide funding to these centers through Title VI, Congress should follow through with President Trump’s budget request to zero-out Title VI in FY18. In the absence of funding—which totaled $72,000,000 in FY17—for Title VI in FY18, taxpayer dollars saved from going to Title VI in FY18 should either be used to draw down the FY18 deficit or reinvested in the National Security Education Program (NSEP).
“Similar to Title VI centers, NSEP ‘promotes language skills, cultural awareness, and understanding of national security issues’ that are critical to the safety of the American people and the promotion of American interests abroad. However, unlike many Title VI centers, NSEP does not have a long, documented history of anti-American and anti-Semitic bias.”
Background:
Title VI of the Higher Education Act dates back to the National Defense Education Act (NDEA) of 1958, when Congress recognized a significant shortage in languages spoken by American citizens who were willing and able to serve the United States’ interest at home and overseas.
Discussion about eliminating Title VI of the Higher Education Act began in the 1970s and ‘80s when Cold War tensions relaxed. At that time, the focus of Title VI began shifting from international education to general education on subject matters that are frequently taught at colleges and universities across the country.
Today, NESP does a far better job of educating without a political agenda in an increasingly-globalized world. NESP also has a much stronger focus on placing program participants in critical national security jobs at the Department of Defense, Department of State, Department of Homeland Security, and America’s vital intelligence agencies, such as the Central Intelligence Agency and the Defense Intelligence Agency.
