I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3589 
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 
JULY 28, 2017 
Mr. GRAVES of Missouri 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 Federal Government, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Cost of Services and 
Translations Act’’ or the ‘‘COST Act’’. 
SEC. 2. PURPOSES. 
The purposes of this Act are— 
(1) to create a new appendix within each agen-
cy’s annual performance and accountability report 
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detailing any cost associated with providing multi-
lingual services, such as verbal, written, or other 
services in languages other than English; 
(2) to end speculation on the current cost of 
providing multilingual services; 
(3) to provide for more transparency in the 
Federal Government’s accounting practices, and to 
determine the effectiveness of agency programs, poli-
cies, and procedures; and 
(4) to provide for more accountability with the 
use of taxpayer money. 
SEC. 3. MULTILINGUAL SERVICES ACCOUNTING INFORMA-
TION REQUIREMENT. 
(a) MULTILINGUAL SERVICES ACCOUNTING INFOR-
MATION.—Chapter 9 of title 31, United States Code, is 
amended— 
(1) in section 902(a)(6)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of sub-
paragraph (D); 
(B) by redesignating subparagraph (E) as 
subparagraph (F); and 
(C) by inserting after subparagraph (D) 
the following: 
‘‘(E) effective for each of the fiscal years 
beginning on or after October 1, 2017, the mul-
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tilingual services accounting information of the 
agency for such fiscal year in accordance with 
the guidance issued under section 3517 of this 
title and the procedures of OMB Circular No. 
A–11, part 6 (as in effect on the date of the en-
actment of this subparagraph) and OMB Cir-
cular No. A–136 (as in effect on the date of the 
enactment of this subparagraph); and’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘§ 904. Definitions. 
‘‘In this chapter: 
‘‘(1) MULTILINGUAL
SERVICES.—The term 
‘multilingual services’ includes— 
‘‘(A) the services provided by interpreters 
hired by an agency; 
‘‘(B) the services provided by an agency 
associated with assisting agency employees or 
contractors learn a language other than English 
that result in additional expenses, wages, or sal-
aries, or changes to expenses, wages, or sala-
ries, for the agency or agency employees or con-
tractors; 
‘‘(C) 
agency 
preparation, 
translation, 
printing, or recordation of documents, records, 
Web sites, brochures, pamphlets, flyers, or 
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other materials in a language other than 
English; 
‘‘(D) the services provided or performed 
for the Federal Government by agency employ-
ees or contractors that require speaking a lan-
guage other than English that result in wage 
differentials or benefits provided by the agency; 
and 
‘‘(E) any other services provided or per-
formed by an agency which utilize languages 
other than English and that incur additional 
costs to the agency. 
‘‘(2) MULTILINGUAL SERVICES ACCOUNTING IN-
FORMATION.—The term ‘multilingual services ac-
counting information’ means any accounting infor-
mation related to multilingual services.’’. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of sec-
tions at the beginning of chapter 9 of title 31, United 
States Code, is amended by adding after the item relating 
to section 903 the following: 
‘‘904. Definitions.’’. 
SEC. 4. MULTILINGUAL SERVICES EXPENSES REPORT. 
(a) MULTILINGUAL SERVICES EXPENSES REPORT.— 
Subchapter II of chapter 35 of title 31, United States 
Code is amended— 
(1) in section 3512(a)(2)— 
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(A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of sub-
paragraph (E); 
(B) by redesignating subparagraph (F) as 
subparagraph (G); and 
(C) by inserting after subparagraph (E) 
the following: 
‘‘(F) effective for the first full calendar 
year beginning after December 31, 2017, and 
for each calendar year thereafter, a Multilingual 
Services Expenses Report, which shall include— 
‘‘(i) a summary and analysis of the 
multilingual services accounting informa-
tion (as defined in section 904 of this title) 
prepared by each agency Chief Financial 
Officer under section 902(a)(6)(E) of this 
title; 
‘‘(ii) a description of any changes to 
the existing financial management struc-
ture of the Federal Government needed to 
establish an integrated individual agency 
accounting of all multilingual services (as 
defined in section 904 of this title) con-
ducted by each agency; and 
‘‘(iii) any other information the Direc-
tor considers appropriate to fully inform 
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the Congress and the agency Chief Finan-
cial Officers regarding the accounting of 
all multilingual services provided by the 
Federal Government; and’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘§ 3517. Multilingual Services Accounting Guidelines. 
‘‘Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact-
ment of this section, the Director of the Office of Manage-
ment and Budget shall issue guidance that each agency 
Chief Financial Officer shall follow in compiling the multi-
lingual services accounting information required under 
section 902(a)(6)(E) of this title.’’. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of sec-
tions at the beginning of chapter 35 of title 31, United 
States Code, is amended by adding after the item relating 
to section 3516 the following: 
‘‘3517. Multilingual Services Accounting Guidelines.’’. 
Æ 
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