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108th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1733
To authorize the Attorney General to award grants to States to develop
and implement State court interpreter programs.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
October 15, 2003
Mr. KOHL (for himself and Mr. KENNEDY) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To authorize the Attorney General to award grants to States to develop
and implement State court interpreter programs.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United
States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the `State Court Interpreter Grant Program Act'.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds that--
(1) the fair administration of justice depends on the ability of all participants
in a courtroom proceeding to understand that proceeding, regardless of
their English proficiency;
(2) 18 percent of the population of the United States over
5 years of age speaks a language other than English at home;
(3) only qualified court interpreters can ensure that persons with limited
English proficiency comprehend judicial proceedings in which they are
a party;
(4) the knowledge and skills required of a qualified court interpreter
differ substantially from those required in other interpretation settings,
such as social service, medical, diplomatic, and conference interpreting;
(5) the Federal Government has demonstrated its commitment to equal administration
of justice regardless of English proficiency;
(6) Executive Order 13166, issued August 11, 2000, requires Federal Agencies,
including courts, to improve access for persons who have limited English
proficiency;
(7) 29 States have developed, or are developing, court interpreting programs;
(8) robust, effective court interpreter programs--
(A) actively recruit skilled individuals to be court interpreters;
(B) train those individuals in the interpretation of court proceedings;
(C) develop and use a thorough, systematic certification process for court
interpreters;
(D) have sufficient funding to ensure that a qualified interpreter will
be available to the court whenever necessary; and
(9) Federal funding is necessary to--
(A) encourage States that do not have court interpreter programs to develop
them;
(B) assist States with nascent court interpreter programs to implement
them;
(C) assist States with limited court interpreter programs to enhance them;
and
(D) assist States with robust court interpreter programs to make further
improvements and share successful programs with other States.
SEC. 3. STATE COURT INTERPRETER PROGRAM.
(a) GRANTS AUTHORIZED-
(1) IN GENERAL- The Administrator of the Office of Justice Programs of
the Department of Justice (referred to in this section as the `Administrator')
shall make grants, in accordance with such regulations as the Attorney
General may prescribe, to States to develop and implement programs to
assist individuals with limited English proficiency to access and understand
State court proceedings in which they are a party.
(2) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE- The Administrator shall allocate, for each fiscal
year, $500,000 of the amount appropriated pursuant to section 4 to be
used to establish a court interpreter technical assistance program to
assist States receiving grants under this Act.
(b) USE OF GRANTS- Grants awarded pursuant to subsection (a) may be used
by States to--
(1) assess regional language demands;
(2) develop a court interpreter program for the State;
(3) develop, institute, and administer language certification examinations;
(4) recruit, train, and certify qualified court interpreters;
(5) pay for salaries, transportation, and technology necessary to implement
the court interpreter program developed pursuant to paragraph (2); and
(6) engage in other related activities, as prescribed by the Attorney
General.
(c) APPLICATION- Each State desiring a grant under this section shall
submit an application to the Administrator at such time, in such manner,
and accompanied by such information as the Administrator may reasonably
require.
(d) STATE ALLOTMENTS-
(1) BASE ALLOTMENT- From amounts appropriated for each fiscal year pursuant
to section 4, the Administrator shall allocate $100,000 to each State,
which has an application approved under subsection (c).
(2) DISCRETIONARY ALLOTMENT- From amounts appropriated for each fiscal
year pursuant to section 4, the Administrator shall allocate a total of
$5,000,000 to the States that have extraordinary needs that must be addressed
in order to develop, implement, or expand a State court interpreter program.
(3) ADDITIONAL ALLOTMENT- In addition to the allocations made under paragraphs
(1) and (2), the Administrator shall allocate to each State, which has
an application approved under subsection (c), an amount equal to the product
reached by multiplying--
(A) the unallocated balance of the amount appropriated for each fiscal
year pursuant to section 4; and
(B) the ratio between the number of people over 5 years of age who speak
a language other than English at home in the State and the number of people
over 5 years of age who speak a language other than English at home in
all the States that receive an allocation under paragraph (1), as those
numbers are determined by the Bureau of the Census.
SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
There are authorized to be appropriated $15,000,000 for each of the fiscal
years 2005 through 2008 to carry out this Act.
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