On floor, Hill touts Fulbright program

U.S. Rep. French Hill praised the Fulbright Scholar Program last week during a speech on the House floor.

The Republican from Little Rock noted the Fulbright program’s Arkansas roots. J. William Fulbright, a former president of the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1944.

He championed legislation creating the program. Signed into law in 1946 by President Harry Truman, it is named in the Arkansan’s honor.

“This exceptionally American contribution to the world has educated over 360,000 students from 165 countries, including 52 Nobel laureates and 31 heads of state,” Hill told his colleagues. “This program has funded the academic pursuits of countless American and international scholars while building economic prosperity and promoting America’s respect for freedom, the rule of law and our Democratic values.”

The Fulbright program has a “uniquely American mission of friendship,” he added.

Since elected to Congress, Hill has emphasized the importance of the Fulbright program.

In April of 2016, he helped plant a tree on the U.S. Capitol grounds marking the program’s 70th anniversary.

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