F:\M14\GRAVES\GRAVES_030.XML [112H1715] ..................................................................... (Original Signature of Member) H. R. ll 114TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION To amend title 31, United States Code, to end speculation on the current cost of multilingual services provided by the Federal Government, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Mr. GRAVES of Missouri introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on llllllllllllll A BILL To amend title 31, United States Code, to end speculation on the current cost of multilingual services provided by the Federal Government, and for other purposes. 1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 3 4 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Cost of Services and 5 Translations Act’’ or the ‘‘COST Act’’. 6 7 SEC. 2. PURPOSES. The purposes of this Act are— f:\VHLC\071415\071415.246.xml July 14, 2015 (3:57 p.m.) VerDate Nov 24 2008 15:57 Jul 14, 2015 Jkt 000000 (604010 4) PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 C:\USERS\SLWALKER\APPDATA\ROAMING\SOFTQUAD\XMETAL\7.0\GEN\C\GRAVES~1.X F:\M14\GRAVES\GRAVES_030.XML 2 1 (1) to create a new appendix within each agen- 2 cy’s annual performance and accountability report 3 detailing any cost associated with providing multi- 4 lingual services, such as verbal, written, or other 5 services in languages other than English; 6 7 (2) to end speculation on the current cost of providing multilingual services; 8 (3) to provide for more transparency in the 9 Federal Government’s accounting practices, and to 10 determine the effectiveness of agency programs, poli- 11 cies, and procedures; and 12 13 14 (4) to provide for more accountability with the use of taxpayer money. SEC. 3. MULTILINGUAL SERVICES ACCOUNTING INFORMA- 15 16 17 TION REQUIREMENT. (a) MULTILINGUAL SERVICES ACCOUNTING INFORMATION.—Chapter 9 of title 31, United States Code, is 18 amended— 19 (1) in section 902(a)(6)— 20 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of sub- 21 paragraph (D); 22 (B) by redesignating subparagraph (E) as 23 subparagraph (F); and 24 (C) by inserting after subparagraph (D) 25 the following: f:\VHLC\071415\071415.246.xml July 14, 2015 (3:57 p.m.) VerDate Nov 24 2008 15:57 Jul 14, 2015 Jkt 000000 (604010 4) PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 C:\USERS\SLWALKER\APPDATA\ROAMING\SOFTQUAD\XMETAL\7.0\GEN\C\GRAVES~1.X F:\M14\GRAVES\GRAVES_030.XML 3 1 ‘‘(E) effective for each of the fiscal years 2 beginning on or after October 1, 2015, the mul- 3 tilingual services accounting information of the 4 agency for such fiscal year in accordance with 5 the guidance issued under section 3517 of this 6 title and the procedures of OMB Circular No. 7 A–11, part 6 (as in effect on the date of the en- 8 actment of this subparagraph) and OMB Cir- 9 cular No. A–136 (as in effect on the date of the 10 enactment of this subparagraph); and’’; and 11 (2) by adding at the end the following: 12 ‘‘§ 904. Definitions. 13 ‘‘In this chapter: 14 15 ‘‘(1) SERVICES.—The term ‘multilingual services’ includes— 16 ‘‘(A) the services provided by interpreters 17 hired by an agency; 18 ‘‘(B) the services provided by an agency 19 associated with assisting agency employees or 20 contractors learn a language other than English 21 that result in additional expenses, wages, or sal- 22 aries, or changes to expenses, wages, or sala- 23 ries, for the agency or agency employees or con- 24 tractors; f:\VHLC\071415\071415.246.xml July 14, 2015 (3:57 p.m.) VerDate Nov 24 2008 MULTILINGUAL 15:57 Jul 14, 2015 Jkt 000000 (604010 4) PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 C:\USERS\SLWALKER\APPDATA\ROAMING\SOFTQUAD\XMETAL\7.0\GEN\C\GRAVES~1.X F:\M14\GRAVES\GRAVES_030.XML 4 1 ‘‘(C) agency preparation, translation, 2 printing, or recordation of documents, records, 3 Web sites, brochures, pamphlets, flyers, or 4 other materials in a language other than 5 English; 6 ‘‘(D) the services provided or performed 7 for the Federal Government by agency employ- 8 ees or contractors that require speaking a lan- 9 guage other than English that result in wage 10 differentials or benefits provided by the agency; 11 and 12 ‘‘(E) any other services provided or per- 13 formed by an agency which utilize languages 14 other than English and that incur additional 15 costs to the agency. 16 ‘‘(2) MULTILINGUAL SERVICES ACCOUNTING IN- 17 FORMATION.—The 18 counting information’ means any accounting infor- 19 mation related to multilingual services.’’. 20 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of sec- term ‘multilingual services ac- 21 tions at the beginning of chapter 9 of title 31, United 22 States Code, is amended by adding after the item relating 23 to section 903 the following: ‘‘904. Definitions.’’. f:\VHLC\071415\071415.246.xml July 14, 2015 (3:57 p.m.) VerDate Nov 24 2008 15:57 Jul 14, 2015 Jkt 000000 (604010 4) PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 C:\USERS\SLWALKER\APPDATA\ROAMING\SOFTQUAD\XMETAL\7.0\GEN\C\GRAVES~1.X F:\M14\GRAVES\GRAVES_030.XML 5 1 2 SEC. 4. MULTILINGUAL SERVICES EXPENSES REPORT. (a) MULTILINGUAL SERVICES EXPENSES REPORT.— 3 Subchapter II of chapter 35 of title 31, United States 4 Code is amended— 5 (1) in section 3512(a)(2)— 6 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of sub- 7 paragraph (E); 8 (B) by redesignating subparagraph (F) as 9 subparagraph (G); and 10 (C) by inserting after subparagraph (E) 11 the following: 12 ‘‘(F) effective for the first full calendar 13 year beginning after December 31, 2015, and 14 for each calendar year thereafter, a Multilingual 15 Services Expenses Report, which shall include— 16 ‘‘(i) a summary and analysis of the 17 multilingual services accounting informa- 18 tion (as defined in section 904 of this title) 19 prepared by each agency Chief Financial 20 Officer under section 902(a)(6)(E) of this 21 title; 22 ‘‘(ii) a description of any changes to 23 the existing financial management struc- 24 ture of the Federal Government needed to 25 establish an integrated individual agency 26 accounting of all multilingual services (as f:\VHLC\071415\071415.246.xml July 14, 2015 (3:57 p.m.) VerDate Nov 24 2008 15:57 Jul 14, 2015 Jkt 000000 (604010 4) PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 C:\USERS\SLWALKER\APPDATA\ROAMING\SOFTQUAD\XMETAL\7.0\GEN\C\GRAVES~1.X F:\M14\GRAVES\GRAVES_030.XML 6 1 defined in section 904 of this title) con- 2 ducted by each agency; and 3 ‘‘(iii) any other information the Direc- 4 tor considers appropriate to fully inform 5 the Congress and the agency Chief Finan- 6 cial Officers regarding the accounting of 7 all multilingual services provided by the 8 Federal Government; and’’; and 9 (2) by adding at the end the following: 10 ‘‘§ 3517. Multilingual Services Accounting Guidelines. 11 ‘‘Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact- 12 ment of this section, the Director of the Office of Manage13 ment and Budget shall issue guidance that each agency 14 Chief Financial Officer shall follow in compiling the multi15 lingual services accounting information required under 16 section 902(a)(6)(E) of this title.’’. 17 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of sec- 18 tions at the beginning of chapter 35 of title 31, United 19 States Code, is amended by adding after the item relating 20 to section 3516 the following: ‘‘3517. Multilingual Services Accounting Guidelines.’’. f:\VHLC\071415\071415.246.xml July 14, 2015 (3:57 p.m.) VerDate Nov 24 2008 15:57 Jul 14, 2015 Jkt 000000 (604010 4) PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 C:\USERS\SLWALKER\APPDATA\ROAMING\SOFTQUAD\XMETAL\7.0\GEN\C\GRAVES~1.X