White House Accountability for Language Diversity Act

Bill: 116-hr-4809
Sponsor: full_name: Rep. Correa, J. Luis [D-CA-46]
Introduced: 2019-10-23
Policy area: Government Operations and Politics
Subjects: Executive agency funding and structure

Foreign language and bilingual programs

Government information and archives
Latest action: action_date: 2019-10-23
text: Referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Reform.

Summaries:
action_date: 2019-10-23
action_desc: Introduced in House
text: <p><b>White House Accountability for Language Diversity Act</b></p> <p>This bill requires the White House and each federal agency to establish official websites in the five most commonly used languages in the United States other than English to increase accessibility. The websites must be of a similar scope and content as the English version.</p> <p> The President and each agency shall maintain and update the websites on a regular basis. </p>

tv_txt: I 116th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 4809 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES October 23, 2019 Mr. Correa (for himself, Mrs. Napolitano , Mr. Vargas , Mr. Costa , Ms. Sánchez , Ms. Ocasio-Cortez , Ms. Garcia of Texas , Ms. Haaland , Ms. Roybal-Allard , Mr. Huffman , Ms. Norton , Ms. Judy Chu of California , Ms. Escobar , Ms. Lofgren , Mr. Lowenthal , Mr. Blumenauer , Ms. Barragán , Mr. Cisneros , Mr. Smith of Washington , Mr. Rouda , Ms. Porter , Mr. Khanna , Mr. Foster , Mr. Cárdenas , Ms. Lee of California , Ms. Eshoo , Mr. Soto , Ms. Velázquez , Mrs. Watson Coleman , Ms. Schakowsky , Mr. Takano , Mrs. Trahan , Mr. Gallego , Mr. García of Illinois , Ms. Titus , and Mr. Espaillat ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Reform A BILL To require the White House and each agency to provide an official website in the five most commonly used languages in the United States other than English as determined by the Census data and any other languages determined to be appropriate by the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, and for other purposes.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the White House Accountability for Language Diversity Act . 2. Findings Congress finds the following: (1) In the past decades it has become standard practice to publish versions of the White House and other agency websites in Spanish. (2) At least 36,000,000 United States residents who speak Spanish as their first language depend upon these websites to access important information that can play a critical role in their life. (3) In 2010, for 59,000,000 people, English was not their first language. (4) In addition to English, the top languages in the United States are Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog, Vietnamese, and French. (5) Millions of people within the United States will benefit by having websites translated into multiple languages. (6) The United States of America is a diverse Nation and, as such, does not have an official language. (7) Since our founding, our country has been in a constant state of growth. We have consistently grown more multilingual because of people from across the world seeking a better future while carrying a hope of achieving the American dream. (8) As this is happening, the United States must adapt and make our democracy more accessible for everyone. 3. Purpose The purpose of this Act is to— (1) require the White House and agencies to provide resources in multiple languages so that people can read information in the language they are most comfortable with; and (2) acknowledge the diversity of our country and use creative solutions to make sure that there is equity in accessing information from our government. 4. Five most commonly used language websites required (a) In general Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the White House and the head of each agency shall establish an official website in the five most commonly used languages in the United States other than English as determined by the Census data and any other language determined to be appropriate by the Director of the Office of Management and Budget to increase accessibility to everyone residing in the United States. Any such website may only include official content and is not required to translate external websites that are not official content. Any website in a language other than English shall be substantially similar in design and scope of content to the English version. (b) Link on main page A link to the website required under subsection (a) shall be easily accessible and in plain view on the main page of the English version of the White House and agency website. The link shall be in the language of that website. (c) Maintenance of website The President and the head of each agency shall maintain and update the website required under subsection (a) on a regular basis. (d) Agency defined The term agency has the meaning given that term in section 551 of title 5, United States Code.