On March 27, Senators Richard Durbin (D-IL) and Norm Coleman (R-MN), along with 20 additional original co-sponsors, introduced the Senator Paul Simon Study Abroad Foundation Act of 2007 (S.991). This is nearly identical to the House Resolution 1469, introduced by Tom Lantos (D-CA) and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) on March 12.
Below is an excerpt from Senator Durbin's introductory remarks about this resolution:
The goal of this legislation remains the same (as the Abraham Lincoln Study Abroad Commission): to encourage and support the experience of studying abroad in developing countries—in countries whose people, culture, language, government, and religion might be very different from ours. This bill aims to have at least 1 million undergraduate students study abroad annually within 10 years and to expand study abroad opportunities for students who are currently underrepresented.
The Senator Paul Simon Study Abroad Foundation Act would establish study abroad as a national priority and provide the catalyst for the education community to commit to making study abroad an institutional priority.
This legislation would create an independent public-private entity, the Senator Paul Simon Foundation, that would award grants to carry out the goal of making study abroad in high-quality programs in diverse locations around the world the routine, rather than the exception, for college students. Students who were previously unable to study abroad due to financial constraints would be eligible for grants. Grants also would provide colleges, universities and nongovernmental institutions with the financial incentive to develop programs that make it easier for college students to study abroad.
I strongly encourage all of you to support this legislation by writing to your Senators and Representatives. Abroadco has endorsed this bill on the NAFSA: Association of International Educators website. To learn more about the Simon bills, visit the NAFSA website (http://www.nafsa.org/public_policy.sec/commission_on_the_abraham). This link will tell you more about this important piece of legislation and how you can take action.