Can the Republican controlled Senate move legislation? That’s been a key political question, asked nowadays in connection with immigration reform. I’m asking the question, too, but with another piece of legislation in mind. The battle to reform Title VI of the Higher Education Act (which subsidizes university departments of Middle East Studies) is heating up.

The House just re-authorized the Higher Education Act, including Title VI reform, on a party-line vote. The House passed a similar bill last session, but the Democrats bottled it up in the Senate. So the question is, can Majority Leader Bill Frist finally shake the Higher Education Act loose in the Senate and get it re-authorized, with Title VI reform in tact?

Fortunately, Frist seems to be making a serious effort. In a speech this past Sunday, Frist not only put the Higher Education Act on the Senate agenda, he also pointedly endorsed Title VI reform. Frist wants to restore accountability to a program that no longer performs one of its core functions: training a pool of linguistically competent potential recruits to government service, including our defense and intelligence agencies. Thank you, Senator Frist.

If Frist can move this bill and get Title VI reform passed (without gutting by the higher education lobby), it will be a feather in his cap. It will also be the first real reform of our long-abused federal subsidies to higher education in memory. Coming on the heels of the Supreme Court’s decision on the Solomon Amendment, that would be welcome news indeed. Good luck, Leader Frist. Congressional Republicans need to show they can produce, and Title VI reform would be a wonderful way to do it.