JNCL-NCLIS analyzes federal & state legislation, provides policy recommendations to decision-makers on Capitol Hill, and tracks the budget & appropriations process in Congress.​

"We empower our stakeholders by connecting them with members of Congress to advance the language agenda in the U.S."

In 1972, the Joint National Committee for Languages (JNCL) began as an informal coalition of several national language teaching associations, and now has grown to over 130 members, including national, regional, and state organizations. In 1981, the “Council for Languages and Other International Studies,” which today is known as the National Council for Languages and International Studies (NCLIS), was incorporated as a nonprofit trade association (501c4). As JNCL’s sister organization and “action-arm,” NCLIS engages in public advocacy and direct lobbying on behalf of the language and international education community by translating professional priorities into national policies within Congress and the Executive Branch.