Congressman Rush Holt receives 2009 Language Flagship Leadership Award

On May 31 at the Language Flagship annual meeting in Austin Texas, New Jersey Congressman Rush Holt was awarded the 2009 Language Flagship Leadership Award. The award was given to Congressman Holt for his extraordinary contributions to the advancement of language education and learning in the U.S.

Congressman Holt has been a staunch advocate for building U.S. capacity in critical language teaching and learning and has called upon the U. S. Congress and Americans in general ”to reach a political consensus in this country that our government must change course and stop undervaluing and under-investing in foreign language education. Leaders from both parties should recognize the issue's importance and bring forth strategies to increase our interest and our ability in foreign languages.”*

Presenting the award on behalf of Language Flagship Directors, American Councils President Dan E. Davidson noted that Congressman Holt has “remained an articulate and highly informed champion of the study of world languages among members of Congress.”

American Councils currently administers Overseas Language Flagship programs in Russian, Persian, Central Asian Turkic, Arabic, Yoruba and Swahili.

*Why Foreign Language Education Matters, Click Here