Foreign Service Language Readiness Act

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office] [H.R. 10064 Introduced in House (IH)] <DOC> 119th CONGRESS 2d Session H. R. 10064 To amend the Foreign Service Act of 1980 to require a list of critical foreign languages for purposes of that Act. _______________________________________________________________________ IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES August 6, 2026 Mr. Olszewski (for himself and Mr. Baumgartner) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs _______________________________________________________________________ A BILL To amend the Foreign Service Act of 1980 to require a list of critical foreign languages for purposes of that Act. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the ``Foreign Service Language Readiness Act''. SEC. 2. LIST OF CRITICAL FOREIGN LANGUAGES. (a) In General.--Section 701 of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 (22 U.S.C. 4021) is amended by adding at the end the following: ``(h) List of Critical Foreign Languages.-- ``(1) In general.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this subsection, and not less frequently than once every three years thereafter, the Secretary should designate, and make available to the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate, a list of critical foreign languages for purposes of this Act. ``(2) Matters to be included.--For each critical foreign language designated pursuant to paragraph (1), the Secretary shall include information in the list describing-- ``(A) minimum tested levels at which a member of the Service shall be considered to be proficient in the language; and ``(B) criteria for determining positions for which such critical foreign language capability is mission essential. ``(3) Coordination.--In carrying out this subsectio