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[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 557 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 557

To provide that Executive Order 13166 shall have no force or effect, to 
prohibit the use of funds for certain purposes, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 8, 2005

  Mr. Coburn introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
To provide that Executive Order 13166 shall have no force or effect, to 
prohibit the use of funds for certain purposes, and for other purposes.

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

SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) On June 3, 1998, a Federal court ruled, in the case of 
        Sandoval v. Hagan (7 F. Supp. 2d 1234), that the prohibition 
        against discrimination on account of ``national origin'' in the 
        Civil Rights Act of 1964 includes a prohibition against 
        discrimination on the basis of language, and therefore States 
        are required to provide public services in any language of the 
        recipient's choice.
            (2) On August 11, 2000, relying on that erroneous court 
        opinion, President Clinton issued Executive Order 13166 
        mandating that all Federal agencies provide services in the 
        language of the eligible recipient.
            (3) On April 24, 2001, the United States Supreme Court 
        reversed the lower court rulings in Alexander v. Sandoval (532 
        U.S. 275), eliminating any legal basis for Executive Order 
        13166.
            (4) The United States Constitution vests all lawmaking 
        authority in the Congress of the United States, not in the 
        executive or judicial branches.
            (5) Executive Order 13166 imposes upon the Federal 
        Government the open-ended and incalculably expensive burden of 
        providing translation services into potentially every language 
        known to the human race.
            (6) Persons who are not proficient in English but who are 
        entitled to access government services can often find more 
        convenient and more reliable translation services from among 
        their families, communities, and similar affinity groups than 
        from professional translators.

SEC. 2. NULLIFICATION OF EFFECT OF EXECUTIVE ORDER.

    Executive Order 13166, issued August 16, 2000 (65 Fed. Reg. 50121) 
(relating to improving access to services for persons with limited 
English proficiency), is null and void and shall have no force or 
effect.

SEC. 3. PROHIBITION AGAINST USE OF FUNDS FOR CERTAIN PURPOSES.

    No funds appropriated pursuant to any provision of law may be used 
to promulgate or enforce any executive order that creates an 
entitlement to services provided in any language other than English.
                                 <all>
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