Faced with a huge public debt, Japanese lawmakers are considering cuts in the Japan Exchange and Teaching Program, or JET, a government effort that brings people, including many recent college graduates from the United States, to Japan each year to teach English, reports the Associated Press. JET supporters say the 23-year-old program is a valuable diplomacy tool and important cultural exchange. But detractors argue it has outlived its usefulness. “Bringing thousands of JETs to Japan is not a good investment for the country’s taxpayers in this day and age of an already globalized world,” said Kumiko Torikai, dean of Rikkyo University’s graduate school of intercultural communications.