I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1414 

To amend title 31, United States Code, to end speculation on the current 

cost of multilingual services provided by the Government, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 10, 2009 

Ms. FOXX (for herself, Mr. JONES, Mr. PAUL, Mr. ROHRABACHER, Mr. AKIN, 

and Mr. BILBRAY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Oversight and Government Reform 

A BILL 

To amend title 31, United States Code, to end speculation 

on the current cost of multilingual services provided by 

the Government, 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 ‘‘Multilingual Services 

5 Accounting Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSES. 

7 The purposes of this Act are— 

8 (1) to create a new appendix within each agen9 cy’s annual performance and accountability report 


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1 detailing any cost associated with providing multi2 lingual services, such as verbal, written, or other 

3 services in languages other than English; 

4 (2) to end speculation on the current cost of 

5 providing multilingual services; 

6 (3) to provide for more transparency in the 

7 Government’s accounting practices, and to determine 

8 the effectiveness of agency programs, policies, and 

9 procedures; and 

10 (4) to provide for more accountability with the 

11 use of taxpayer money. 

12 SEC. 3. MULTILINGUAL SERVICES ACCOUNTING INFORMA13 TION REQUIREMENT. 

14 (a) MULTILINGUAL SERVICES ACCOUNTING INFOR15 MATION.—Chapter 9 of title 31, United States Code, is 

16 amended— 

17 (1) in section 902(a)(6)— 

18 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of sub19 paragraph (D); 

20 (B) by redesignating subparagraph (E) as 

21 subparagraph (F); and 

22 (C) by inserting after subparagraph (D) 

23 the following: 

24 ‘‘(E) effective for each of the fiscal years 

25 beginning on or after October 1, 2010, the mulVerDate Nov 24 2008 23:33 Mar 10, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1414.IH H1414

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1 tilingual services accounting information of the 

2 agency for such fiscal year in accordance with 

3 the guidance issued under section 3517 of this 

4 title and the procedures of OMB Circular No. 

5 A–11, part 6 (as in effect on the date of the en6 actment of this subparagraph) and OMB Cir7 cular No. A–136 (as in effect on the date of the 

8 enactment of this subparagraph); and’’; and 

9 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘§ 904. Definitions. 

11 ‘‘In this chapter— 

12 ‘‘(1) the term ‘multilingual services’ includes— 

13 ‘‘(A) the services provided by interpreters 

14 hired by an agency; 

15 ‘‘(B) the services provided by an agency 

16 associated with assisting agency employees or 

17 contractors learn a language other than English 

18 that result in additional expenses, wages, or sal19 aries, or changes to expenses, wages, or sala20 ries, for the agency or agency employees or con21 tractors; 

22 ‘‘(C) agency preparation, translation, 

23 printing, or recordation of documents, records, 

24 websites, brochures, pamphlets, flyers, or other 

25 materials in a language other than English; 


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1 ‘‘(D) the services provided or performed 

2 for the Federal Government by agency employ3 ees or contractors that require speaking a lan4 guage other than English that result in wage 

5 differentials or benefits provided by the agency; 

6 and 

7 ‘‘(E) any other services provided or per8 formed by an agency which utilize languages 

9 other than English and that incur additional 

10 costs to the agency; and 

11 ‘‘(2) the term ‘multilingual services accounting 

12 information’ means any accounting information re13 lated to multilingual services.’’. 

14 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of sec15 tions at the beginning of chapter 9 of title 31, United 

16 States Code, is amended by adding after the item relating 

17 to section 903 the following: 

‘‘904. Definitions.’’. 

18 SEC. 4. MULTILINGUAL SERVICES EXPENSES REPORT. 

19 (a) MULTILINGUAL SERVICES EXPENSES REPORT.— 

20 Subchapter II of chapter 35 of title 31, United States 

21 Code is amended— 

22 (1) in section 3512(a)(2)— 

23 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of sub24 paragraph (E); 


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1 (B) by redesignating subparagraph (F) as 

2 subparagraph (G); and 

3 (C) by adding after subparagraph (E) the 

4 following: 

5 ‘‘(F) effective for the first full calendar 

6 year beginning after December 31, 2010, and 

7 for each calendar year thereafter, a Multilingual 

8 Services Expenses Report, which shall include— 

9 ‘‘(i) a summary and analysis of the 

10 multilingual services accounting informa11 tion (as defined in section 904 of this title) 

12 prepared by each agency Chief Financial 

13 Officer under section 902(a)(6)(E) of this 

14 title; 

15 ‘‘(ii) a description of any changes to 

16 the existing financial management struc17 ture of the Federal Government needed to 

18 establish an integrated individual agency 

19 accounting of all multilingual services (as 

20 defined in section 904 of this title) con21 ducted by each agency; and 

22 ‘‘(iii) any other information the Direc23 tor considers appropriate to fully inform 

24 the Congress and the agency Chief Finan25 cial Officers regarding the accounting of 


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1 all multilingual services provided by the 

2 Federal Government; and’’; and 

3 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘§ 3517. Multilingual Services Accounting Guidelines. 

5 ‘‘Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact6 ment of this section, the Director of the Office of Manage7 ment and Budget shall issue guidance that each agency 

8 Chief Financial Officer shall follow in compiling the multi9 lingual services accounting information required under 

10 section 902(a)(6)(E) of this title.’’. 

11 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of sec12 tions at the beginning of chapter 35 of title 31, United 

13 States Code, is amended by adding after the item relating 

14 to section 3516 the following: 

‘‘3517. Multilingual Services Accounting Guidelines.’’. 

Æ 


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