Press Release

The Fulbright Association 34th annual conference will be held from Nov. 3 to Nov. 6, 2011, in Washington, D.C.  Conference sessions and events will be held at the Madison Hotel and the National Association of Home Builders auditorium, where the 34th  annual banquet will occur.

On May 11, House Appropriations Chairman Hal Rogers (R-KY) announced the schedule for the completion of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2012 Appropriations bills by September 30th. The plan includes the markup of the State Foreign Operations and Related Agencies Appropriations bill, which includes State Department-sponsored exchanges and the Fulbright Program.

After six months of negotiations, Congress finally passed an appropriations bill for the remainder of FY 2011. Yesterday the House passed H.R. 1473, a continuing resolution (CR) to fund the federal government through September 30, with a vote of 260-167 (59 House Republicans voted against the bill, including 28 of the 87 freshmen, while 81 Democrats voted in favor). The Senate then passed the bill, with a bipartisan 81-19 vote. The legislation will go to the President today for his expected signature.

Fifty international students and scholars in the New York metropolitan area on Fulbright grants will participate in the Fulbright Lifetime Achievement Medal dinner at the New York Public Library Stephen A. Schwarzman building on April 13. The event honors soprano Renée Fleming, graphic designer Milton Glaser, and John Lithgow, all of whom participated early in their careers in the Fulbright Program, the U.S. government’s flagship international exchange program.

The Institute of International Education (IIE), with support from the Freeman Foundation, has created an emergency grants program to help students from Japan on U.S. campuses whose home country support has been devastated by the recent earthquake and tsunami in northeastern Japan.

Last week, Congress passed a three-week extension of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2011 Continuing Resolution (CR) to allow time for further negotiations on a final FY11 spending agreement. The extension, which lasts until April 8, cuts an additional $6 billion in overall discretionary spending, including $17 million from the International Affairs Budget, all from the International Fund for Ireland. Fulbright Program and other State Department exchange programs funding were kept intact at the FY10 level.

On behalf of its members and of Fulbright alumni worldwide, the Fulbright Association sends its condolences for the devastating loss of life caused by the earthquake and tsunami in Japan and for the massive damage to the country. For a listing of organizations that are responding to the earthquake and tsunami and that offer ways to help, please see http://www.interaction.org/crisis-list/interaction-members-support-japan-earthquake-response.

A potential government shutdown was avoided, at least for now, when the Senate passed yesterday a two-week extension to the FY 2011 continuing resolution (CR), funding the government at FY 2010 levels until March 18. President Obama quickly signed the bill into law. This two-week CR cuts $4.01 billion in spending by targeting programs President Obama had already slated for elimination.