International Education Week

Floor Speech

Mr. FEINGOLD. Mr. President, in honor of the eighth annual International Education Week, which runs Monday, November 12 to 16, 2007, I would like to emphasize the importance of international education and exchange programs and the key role they play in strengthening our own educational system, shaping our young citizens to become successful in our interconnected world, and improving our image as Americans overseas.

In so doing, I want to share a number of stories from my constituents about how their international education and exchange experiences have changed their lives. While I do not have time to read all of their stories, I will ask to have them printed in the Record as each and every one of these stories demonstrates how critical it is that we support international education and exchange programs and initiatives.

You will see in all of my constituents' stories a common theme--international education has opened their eyes to the fact that we are an interconnected global community and that we have responsibilities as Americans to reach out to that global community. A constituent, Claire from River Falls, WI, wrote to me that:

I was an AFS student in high school (in Brazil) and since then firmly believe that if we could lift every 16 year old out of their ``comfort zone'' and have them live somewhere else in the world for a few months; we'd end war and certainly increase global understanding.

I agree with this statement and firmly believe that if we all stepped out of our ``comfort zone,'' we would be facing a future that is more stable and secure than where we appear to be today.

International education and exchange strengthens our own educational system in a variety of ways. First and foremost, educational exchanges better prepare our children for the workforce and competing in the global economy. Katherine from River Falls shared her experience working through a nongovernmental organization called Building Tomorrow. She wrote:

While in Uganda [with Building for Tomorrow], I was fortunate enough to have a home-stay experience with a Ugandan family ...... I and two other Building Tomorrow members were paired with a doctor because we all had an interest in some aspect of health care ..... This experience was remarkable and contributed to my decision to pursue a career in public health.

International education and exchange strengthens our own educational system. Teachers and students participating in exchange programs are able not only to broaden their own horizons, they also inform their peers of their experiences and thinking and, in so doing, contribute to their school systems for the lasting benefit of others. Sandra, a teacher in Sun Prairie, wrote to me that she participated in two separate Fulbright Hayes Group Projects Abroad and that, ``both Fulbright-Hayes Group Projects Abroad inspired me to develop innovative interdisciplinary curriculum units, made infinitely richer by my newly acquired photographs, video footage, cultural artifacts, interview notes, books published outside of the U.S., and personal reflections ..... As a result of ongoing internationally focused literacy programming, my middle school students, including reluctant and struggling readers, seek out books on other cultures and countries, are intrigued by world maps, and pay more attention to world news and global concerns.''

International education and exchange programs foster greater cultural understanding. Today's students are tomorrow's leaders--and the better they understand other cultures, the better prepared they will be to make informed and balanced decisions for the benefit of our Nation's and our world's security and well-being. Thanks to the disastrous policies of this administration, anti-American sentiment around the world is at alarming levels. Those policies were based, in part, on inadequate information or misinformation about the rest of the world. As a result, future American leaders are facing a world that is fraught with mistrust. Their overseas experiences today will build relationships for tomorrow. Those experiences will form their future decisions and provide them with a broader appreciation of others' views and interests.

Sarah, a senior at University of Wisconsin Stevens Point, wrote to explain to me about her semester abroad program:

Traveling and studying abroad in general taught me about American and other cultures, societies, views, and ideas, different forms of government, a greater sense of independence, and how to look at cultures and traditions that are different from my own with an open mind, rather than making judgment[s] before I know all the facts.

As U.S. citizens, many of us have privileges that countless millions of people throughout the world will never experience. International educational opportunities encourage a greater sense of social responsibility to assist those who face lives of poverty, disease, and the effects of natural disasters. Lacey, a 25 year-old graduate of UW Madison, e-mailed me upon her return from spending a summer studying in China which impacted her so much that she is returning to be a volunteer interpreter at the Beijing 2008 Olympics. She wrote:

I use my travels and the things I learn from each place to bring back to my community with me and try to give back in whatever way I can as much as possible.

Finally, our citizens are our best diplomats. International education and exchange programs offer them the opportunity to reach out to others to reverse negative or inaccurate images that the rest of the world has formed. Kathy from Oshkosh shared with me how her experiences changed her perceptions:

I recall with distinct clarity a conversation I had with my host mother in Spain about the people of Islam in our country. She was very surprised that I had friends who are Muslim and that I respect their culture and religion. She told me that I changed the way she views Americans ..... Senator Feingold, I am no longer just a citizen of the United States of America. I am a citizen of the World.

Congress has an important role to play in enabling and promoting these experiences for our constituents. I was a strong supporter of the creation of the Commission on the Abraham Lincoln Study Abroad Fellowship Program, an independent commission created in 2004 for the purpose of recommending a program to greatly expand the opportunity for students at institutions of higher education in the United States to study abroad, with special emphasis on studying in developing countries. One of my colleagues--Senator Durbin--has taken an important step in working to implement the commission's published recommendations by introducing the Senator Paul Simon Study Abroad Foundation Act of 2007, S. 991. But this bill is not enough. We also need to be supporting opportunities for every American to study overseas. And if not study, then to volunteer or participate in one-on-one exchanges. Cultural misunderstanding makes our world more dangerous, and, as you have heard from the accounts I have read, it is our citizens who make the biggest, longest lasting change.

As we recognize and celebrate International Education Week, I call on all Americans to take a little time to learn something new this week about another culture, and I encourage all Americans to recognize and support international education and exchange throughout the year.

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