President Bush's National Security
language initiative (NSLI) directed the Department of Defense to
establish a 3-year pilot program administered by the National
Security Education Program (NSEP) for the development and
implementation of the national language Service Corps(NLSC). The
mission of the NLSC is to identify individuals with language and
special skills who may potentially qualify for temporary employment
or service opportunities in the public sector during periods of
national need or emergency.
This information
collection requirement is a direct result of the requirements
outlined in President G. W. Bushs National Security Language
Initiative (NSLI) announced in January, 2006. As a subset to his
Management Agenda of 2002, President Bush announced his National
Security Language Initiative (NSLI) in January, 2006, which
directed the Department of Defense to establish a three-year pilot
program, administered by the National Security Education Program
(NSEP), for the development and implementation of the National
Language Service Corps (NLSC). Originally named the Civilian
Linguist Reserve Corps (CLRC), the NLSC Pilot was initially
authorized in the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year
2005. The actual launch of the NLSC was delayed for almost two
years until authority was transferred to the Secretary of Defense
and funding was provided in the Defense Authorization Act for
Fiscal Year 2007. The NLSC Pilot was formally established in April,
2007, and went public when the DoD published its press release in
January, 2008. Achievement of the goals to complete the pilot by
the end of Fiscal Year 2009 depends on the approval of this
emergency process. Congress has expressed directly to the Secretary
of Defense its strong interest in seeing this effort move ahead as
expeditiously as possible. The successful National Language Service
Corps will not only address vital gaps in federal preparedness, but
also serve to reinforce the importance of language skills in the
American population and the U.S. education system. If this
information collection is not approved under an emergency process,
the progress of the NLSC Pilot will be severely delayed and many of
those who have already expressed interest in this program will be
lost through inertia. Per Congressional order in the Intelligence
Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2005, the NLSC Pilot is directed
to start recruiting. Without the ability to collect information,
there can be no recruiting of this initial cadre of
language-skilled individuals.
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that
the collection of information encompassed by this request complies
with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR
1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding
the proposed collection of information, that the certification
covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a
benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control
number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of
these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked
and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.