II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4118 

To establish the Open Translation Center, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 11 (legislative day, APRIL 10), 2024 

Ms. BALDWIN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

To establish the Open Translation Center, and for other 

purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Open Translation Cen5 ter Authorization Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) The success of United States foreign policy 

9 depends on the ability to accurately perceive and un10 derstand other countries’ foreign and domestic poli11 cies. 


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1 (2) Open source materials published by the 

2 People’s Republic of China and other nations offer 

3 a uniquely valuable window into the politics, policy, 

4 ideology, intentions, and activities of those countries. 

5 (3) A lack of foreign language speakers greatly 

6 hinders United States policymakers, journalists, aca7 demics, students, and others’ ability to understand 

8 the People’s Republic of China and other nations 

9 and governments. 

10 (4) During the Cold War, the Foreign Broad11 cast Information Service provided translations and 

12 open source analysis that nourished generations of 

13 diplomats, journalists, academics, students, and oth14 ers. 

15 (5) A public translation and analysis organiza16 tion is currently needed to support the development 

17 of United States foreign policy and to enrich public 

18 understanding. 

19 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

20 In this Act: 

21 (1) DESIGNATED COUNTRIES.—The term ‘‘des22 ignated countries’’ means— 

23 (A) the People’s Republic of China; and 

24 (B) any other country designated by the 

25 board of directors established under section 


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1 5(b), after consultation with the Secretary of 

2 State. 

3 (2) DESIGNATED LANGUAGES.—The term ‘‘des4 ignated languages’’ means— 

5 (A) languages identified as critical lan6 guages by the Department of State’s Critical 

7 Language Scholarship Program; and 

8 (B) any other language designated by the 

9 board of directors established pursuant to sec10 tion 5(b), after consultation with the Secretary 

11 of State. 

12 (3) GOVERNING ORGANIZATION.—The term 

13 ‘‘governing organization’’ means any national body 

14 separate from a foreign government that maintains 

15 ultimate control over such government, including po16 litical parties that exercise functions normally re17 served for governments. 

18 (4) RELEVANT CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT19 TEES.—The term ‘‘relevant congressional commit20 tees’’ means— 

21 (A) the Committee on Foreign Relations of 

22 the Senate; 

23 (B) the Select Committee on Intelligence 

24 of the Senate; 


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1 (C) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of 

2 the House of Representatives; and 

3 (D) the Permanent Select Committee on 

4 Intelligence of the House of Representatives. 

5 SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT. 

6 There is established a federally funded research and 

7 development center, to be known as the ‘‘Open Translation 

8 Center’’ (referred to in this Act as ‘‘OTAC’’). 

9 SEC. 5. INCORPORATION. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—OTAC shall be— 

11 (1) administered as a separate entity by an or12 ganization managing a federally funded research and 

13 development center as of the date of the enactment 

14 of this Act; or 

15 (2) incorporated as a nonprofit membership 

16 corporation. 

17 (b) BOARD OF DIRECTORS.—OTAC shall be headed 

18 by a board of directors that consists of 5 members, of 

19 whom— 

20 (1) 2 members shall be appointed by the Sec21 retary of State; 

22 (2) 2 members shall be appointed by the Direc23 tor of National Intelligence; and 

24 (3) 1 member shall be appointed by the Reg25 ister of Copyrights. 


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1 (c) TERM; QUALIFICATIONS.— 

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para3 graph (2), each member appointed to the board of 

4 directors pursuant to subsection (b) shall serve for 

5 a term of 3 years and may be reappointed to addi6 tional, consecutive terms. 

7 (2) INITIAL TERM.—Notwithstanding para8 graph (1)— 

9 (A) the initial term of 1 of the first 2 

10 members appointed by the Secretary of State 

11 shall be 2 years; and 

12 (B) the initial term of 1 of the first 2 

13 members appointed by the Director of National 

14 Intelligence shall be 2 years. 

15 (3) QUALIFICATIONS.—Members of the board 

16 of directors— 

17 (A) shall be appointed from among individ18 uals with expertise in translation, publishing, 

19 domestic and international copyright law, 

20 media, foreign languages, area studies, or inter21 national relations; 

22 (B) shall make all decisions for which the 

23 board of directors is responsible independently 

24 from any official of the United States Govern25 ment; and 


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1 (C) may not be employees or officials of 

2 the United States during their respective terms 

3 on the board of directors. 

4 (d) CHAIR.—The Chair of the board of directors shall 

5 be elected from among the members of the board. 

6 SEC. 6. PURPOSE AND MISSION. 

7 The purpose and mission of OTAC shall be— 

8 (1) to translate, analyze, and publicly dissemi9 nate foreign language government documents and 

10 other documents from designated countries for the 

11 purposes of enhancing the understanding of such 

12 countries’ governments, governing organizations, 

13 militaries, economies, and cultures; 

14 (2) to provide proper context and explanations 

15 of translated foreign language material to enhance 

16 the ability of consumers to understand the meaning 

17 and significance of such translated material; 

18 (3) to strive to make as much translated for19 eign language material publicly available as possible 

20 and to provide summaries of important foreign lan21 guage material that cannot be made public; and 

22 (4) to train and develop exceptional analysts 

23 and linguists with specialization regarding des24 ignated countries. 


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1 SEC. 7. DUTIES. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—In furtherance of the purpose and 

3 mission specified in section 6, OTAC shall— 

4 (1) translate documents and information from 

5 designated countries into the English language; 

6 (2) provide analyses, summaries, and important 

7 context for material translated pursuant to para8 graph (1), and other untranslated material, includ9 ing— 

10 (A) biographical sketches and information 

11 on important leaders; 

12 (B) descriptions and background on polit13 ical processes, important bodies, companies, 

14 economic systems, and military weapons sys15 tems and doctrines; 

16 (C) definitions and analysis of important 

17 concepts and phrases; 

18 (D) information regarding changes over 

19 time in the policies and intentions of govern20 ments, militaries, and governing organizations; 

21 and 

22 (E) other issues that are of significance for 

23 understanding designated countries; 

24 (3) cooperate with other relevant Federal agen25 cies regarding any effort consistent with such pur26 pose and mission; 


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1 (4) make available on a publicly accessible 

2 website— 

3 (A) all analyses and summaries created 

4 pursuant to paragraph (2); and 

5 (B) all materials translated pursuant to 

6 paragraph (1), except for any material that 

7 OTAC determines not to make available pursu8 ant to subsection (b)(1)(F); and 

9 (5) with respect to translated materials that 

10 OTAC determines not to make available pursuant to 

11 subsection (b)(1)(F)— 

12 (A) to the extent possible, provide such 

13 materials free of charge to— 

14 (i) all United States Government em15 ployees, including Members of Congress 

16 and congressional staff; and 

17 (ii) organizations and individuals who 

18 have relevant contracts or grants with the 

19 United States Government; or 

20 (B) as appropriate, provide summaries and 

21 analyses of such materials to the persons and 

22 organizations described in subparagraph (A). 

23 (b) METHODOLOGY.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out this section 

25 and section 6, OTAC shall— 


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1 (A) establish the capability to acquire, re2 tain, train, and develop exceptional analytical 

3 and linguistic expertise in designated countries 

4 and designated languages; 

5 (B) use software, programs, artificial intel6 ligence, and other technologies to ensure timely 

7 translations; 

8 (C) seek input from technical, regional, 

9 and subject matter experts from a wide range 

10 of relevant disciplines, to review, provide feed11 back, and evaluate translations and analyses; 

12 (D) maximize cooperation with the public 

13 and private sectors in the United States, includ14 ing Federal agencies, and United States allies 

15 and partners, to maximize efficiencies, acquire 

16 source materials, and eliminate duplication of 

17 efforts; 

18 (E) select materials, such as the materials 

19 described in paragraph (2), to translate and 

20 analyze on the basis of— 

21 (i) the significance of the material for 

22 United States policymakers, journalists, 

23 academics, and the general public; and 

24 (ii) the ability of such material to en25 hance the understanding of the politics, 


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1 policies, intentions, ideologies, militaries, 

2 businesses, technologies, science, or cul3 tures of designated countries; and 

4 (F) in selecting material to translate pur5 suant to subparagraph (E) and in making ma6 terial available under subsection (a)(4), con7 sider whether the translation or dissemination 

8 of such material would be consistent with do9 mestic and international commitments on copy10 right, including title 17, United States Code. 

11 (2) EXAMPLES OF MATERIALS TO BE TRANS12 LATED.—The materials described in this paragraph 

13 are, with respect to a designated country— 

14 (A) official and unofficial government, gov15 erning organization, and military documents 

16 and reports; 

17 (B) speeches of relevant government, polit18 ical, governing organization, and military offi19 cials; 

20 (C) official and semiofficial government, 

21 governing organization, and military journals; 

22 (D) news articles and commentary from 

23 government, governing organization, or other 

24 quasi-official sources; 


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1 (E) documents and other information by 

2 state-owned businesses and entities; and 

3 (F) other information, including internet 

4 and social media posts. 

5 (c) COPYRIGHTS.— 

6 (1) TRANSLATIONS DEEMED GOVERNMENT

7 WORKS.—A work prepared by an employee or con8 tractor of the OTAC for the purpose of the dissemi9 nation of such work by OTAC shall be deemed a 

10 work of the United States Government under section 

11 105(a) of title 17, United States Code. 

12 (2) NO LESS FAVORABLE TREATMENT.—In ac13 cordance with the Agreement on the Trade-Related 

14 Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights of the World 

15 Trade Organization (commonly known as the 

16 ‘‘TRIPS Agreement’’), the Berne Convention for the 

17 Protection of Literary and Artistic Works (as 

18 amended on September 28, 1979), other World In19 tellectual Property Organization regulations and 

20 treaties, and other relevant international treaties 

21 and agreements, OTAC shall treat foreign material 

22 no less favorably than national materials are treated 

23 for the purpose of copyrights. 


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1 (d) LIMITATION.—OTAC may not publish any trans2 lation until after OTAC has reviewed and approved such 

3 translation for accuracy. 

4 SEC. 8. COOPERATION AND CONSULTATION. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the duties de6 scribed in section 7, OTAC may consult and cooperate 

7 with— 

8 (1) relevant Federal agencies and grantees of 

9 the United States Agency for Global Media regard10 ing any effort consistent with the purposes of this 

11 Act, including— 

12 (A) collecting source material; 

13 (B) avoiding duplication of effort; 

14 (C) details of employees; and 

15 (D) training; and 

16 (2) other relevant stakeholders, including— 

17 (A) nonprofit research institutes; 

18 (B) institutions of higher education; and 

19 (C) media organizations. 

20 (b) FOREIGN GOVERNMENTS.—OTAC may consult 

21 and cooperate with any foreign government beginning on 

22 the date that is 14 days after the Secretary of State— 

23 (1) certifies that it is in the national interest 

24 for OTAC to cooperate and consult with such for25 eign government; and 


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1 (2) provides such certification to the relevant 

2 congressional committees. 

3 SEC. 9. SPONSORSHIP. 

4 (a) SPONSORS.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State shall 

6 be the primary sponsor of OTAC. 

7 (2) AGREEMENTS.—The Secretary of State may 

8 enter into agreements with other relevant Federal 

9 agencies to provide additional sponsors of OTAC. 

10 (3) NOTIFICATION.—Not later than 15 days 

11 after entering into an agreement described in para12 graph (2), the Secretary of State shall notify the rel13 evant congressional committees of any additional 

14 sponsors for OTAC. 

15 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con16 gress that the Secretary of State should enter into a spon17 sorship agreement pursuant to subsection (a)(2) with the 

18 Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. 

19 (c) AGREEMENT.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

21 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec22 retary of State shall seek to enter into a sponsoring 

23 agreement with respect to OTAC that requires 

24 OTAC to carry out the duties described in sections 

25 6 and 7. 


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1 (2) CONSISTENCY WITH REQUIREMENTS PRE2 SCRIBED BY ADMINISTRATOR FOR FEDERAL PRO3 CUREMENT POLICY.—The Administrator for Federal 

4 Procurement Policy shall prescribe general require5 ments for the sponsoring agreement described in 

6 paragraph (1). 

7 SEC. 10. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

8 There are authorized to be appropriated for OTAC— 

9 (1) $85,000,000 for fiscal year 2025; 

10 (2) $80,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 

11 2026 through 2029; and 

12 (3) such sums as may be necessary for each fis13 cal year thereafter. 

Æ 


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