Sec. 7. Sense of Congress regarding the Foreign Language Award Program

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Congress finds the following: Congress established the Foreign Language Award Program

(FLAP)to incentivize employees at United States ports of entry to utilize their foreign language skills on the job by providing a financial incentive for the use of the foreign language for at least ten percent of their duties after passage of competency tests. FLAP incentivizes the use of more than two dozen languages and has been instrumental in identifying and utilizing United States Customs and Border Protection officers and agents who are proficient in a foreign language. In 1993, Congress provided for dedicated funding for this program by stipulating that certain fees collected by United States Customs and Border Protection to fund FLAP. Through FLAP, foreign travelers are aided by having an officer at a port of entry who speaks their language, and United States Customs and Border Protection benefits by being able to focus its border security efforts in a more effective manner. It is the sense of Congress that FLAP incentivizes United States Customs and Border Protection officers and agents to attain and maintain competency in a foreign language, thereby improving the efficiency of operations for the functioning of United States Customs and Border Protection’s security mission, making the United States a more welcoming place when foreign travelers find officers can communicate in their language, and helping to expedite traveler processing to reduce wait times.