[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1733 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

  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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