I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1728 

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 

MARCH 13, 2019 

Mr. GRAVES of Missouri introduced the following bill; which was referred to 

the Committee on Oversight and Reform 

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 Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Cost of Services and 

5 Translations Act’’ or the ‘‘COST 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 Federal Government’s accounting practices, and to 

8 determine the effectiveness of agency programs, poli9 cies, and 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, 2019, the mulVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:04 Mar 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1728.IH H1728

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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) MULTILINGUAL SERVICES.—The term 

13 ‘multilingual services’ includes— 

14 ‘‘(A) the services provided by interpreters 

15 hired by an agency; 

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

17 associated with assisting agency employees or 

18 contractors learn a language other than English 

19 that result in additional expenses, wages, or sal20 aries, or changes to expenses, wages, or sala21 ries, for the agency or agency employees or con22 tractors; 

23 ‘‘(C) agency preparation, translation, 

24 printing, or recordation of documents, records, 

25 Web sites, brochures, pamphlets, flyers, or 


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1 other materials in a language other than 

2 English; 

3 ‘‘(D) the services provided or performed 

4 for the Federal Government by agency employ5 ees or contractors that require speaking a lan6 guage other than English that result in wage 

7 differentials or benefits provided by the agency; 

8 and 

9 ‘‘(E) any other services provided or per10 formed by an agency which utilize languages 

11 other than English and that incur additional 

12 costs to the agency. 

13 ‘‘(2) MULTILINGUAL SERVICES ACCOUNTING IN14 FORMATION.—The term ‘multilingual services ac15 counting information’ means any accounting infor16 mation related to multilingual services.’’. 

17 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of sec18 tions at the beginning of chapter 9 of title 31, United 

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

20 to section 903 the following: 

‘‘904. Definitions.’’. 

21 SEC. 4. MULTILINGUAL SERVICES EXPENSES REPORT. 

22 (a) MULTILINGUAL SERVICES EXPENSES REPORT.— 

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

24 Code is amended— 

25 (1) in section 3512(a)(2)— 


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1 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of sub2 paragraph (E); 

3 (B) by redesignating subparagraph (F) as 

4 subparagraph (G); and 

5 (C) by inserting after subparagraph (E) 

6 the following: 

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

8 year beginning after December 31, 2019, and 

9 for each calendar year thereafter, a Multilingual 

10 Services Expenses Report, which shall include— 

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

12 multilingual services accounting informa13 tion (as defined in section 904 of this title) 

14 prepared by each agency Chief Financial 

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

16 title; 

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

18 the existing financial management struc19 ture of the Federal Government needed to 

20 establish an integrated individual agency 

21 accounting of all multilingual services (as 

22 defined in section 904 of this title) con23 ducted by each agency; and 

24 ‘‘(iii) any other information the Direc25 tor considers appropriate to fully inform 


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1 the Congress and the agency Chief Finan2 cial Officers regarding the accounting of 

3 all multilingual services provided by the 

4 Federal Government; and’’; and 

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

6 ‘‘§ 3517. Multilingual services accounting guidelines. 

7 ‘‘Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact8 ment of this section, the Director of the Office of Manage9 ment and Budget shall issue guidance that each agency 

10 Chief Financial Officer shall follow in compiling the multi11 lingual services accounting information required under 

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

13 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of sec14 tions at the beginning of chapter 35 of title 31, United 

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

16 to section 3516 the following: 

‘‘3517. Multilingual services accounting guidelines.’’. 

Æ 


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