[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1329 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1329

 To authorize the Attorney General to award grants to State courts to 
        develop and implement State courts interpreter programs.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 23, 2009

    Mr. Kohl (for himself, Mr. Cardin, Mr. Durbin, 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 State courts to 
        develop and implement State courts 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) 19 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) regulations implementing title VI of the Civil Rights 
        Act of 1964, as well as the guidance issued by the Department 
        of Justice pursuant to Executive Order 13166, issued August 11, 
        2000, clarify that all recipients of Federal financial 
        assistance, including State courts, are required to take 
        reasonable steps to provide meaningful access to their 
        proceedings for persons with limited English proficiency;
            (7) 40 States have developed, or are developing, qualified 
        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; and
                    (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 State courts that do not have court 
                interpreter programs to develop them;
                    (B) assist State courts with nascent court 
                interpreter programs to implement them;
                    (C) assist State courts with limited court 
                interpreter programs to enhance them; and
                    (D) assist State courts 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 State courts 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 State 
        courts receiving grants under this Act.
    (b) Use of Grants.--Grants awarded under subsection (a) may be used 
by State courts to--
            (1) assess regional language demands;
            (2) develop a court interpreter program for the State 
        courts;
            (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 
        under paragraph (2); and
            (6) engage in other related activities, as prescribed by 
        the Attorney General.
    (c) Application.--
            (1) In general.--The highest State court of 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.
            (2) State courts.--The highest State court of each State 
        submitting an application under paragraph (1) shall include in 
        the application--
                    (A) a demonstration of need for the development, 
                implementation, or expansion of a State court 
                interpreter program;
                    (B) an identification of each State court in that 
                State which would receive funds from the grant;
                    (C) the amount of funds each State court identified 
                under subparagraph (B) would receive from the grant; 
                and
                    (D) the procedures the highest State court would 
                use to directly distribute grant funds to State courts 
                identified under subparagraph (B).
    (d) State Court Allotments.--
            (1) Base allotment.--From amounts appropriated for each 
        fiscal year pursuant to section 4, the Administrator shall 
        allocate $100,000 to each of the highest State court of 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 $5,000,000 to be distributed among the highest State 
        courts of States which have an application approved under 
        subsection (c), and that have extraordinary needs that are 
        required to 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 of the highest State court of 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.
            (4) Treatment of district of columbia.--For purposes of 
        this section--
                    (A) the District of Columbia shall be treated as a 
                State; and
                    (B) the District of Columbia Court of Appeals shall 
                act as the highest State court for the District of 
                Columbia.

SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There are authorized to be appropriated $15,000,000 for each of the 
fiscal years 2010 through 2014 to carry out this Act.
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