[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5717 Introduced in House (IH)]

113th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5717

 To amend title 31, United States Code, to require annual reports from 
     agencies detailing the cost of multilingual services, to end 
  speculation about the cost of multilingual services provided by the 
              Federal Government, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           November 14, 2014

 Mr. Stockman 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 require annual reports from 
     agencies detailing the cost of multilingual services, to end 
  speculation about the cost of multilingual services provided by the 
              Federal Government, and for other purposes.

    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 ``Report the Costs Act''.

SEC. 2. REPORT ON COST OF MULTILINGUAL SERVICES.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 9 of title 31, United States Code, is 
amended--
            (1) in section 902(a)(6)--
                    (A) by striking ``and'' at the end of subparagraph 
                (D);
                    (B) by redesignating subparagraph (E) as 
                subparagraph (F); and
                    (C) by inserting after subparagraph (D) the 
                following:
                    ``(E) a report detailing the annual cost of 
                multilingual services, described by section 904, in 
                accordance with guidance issued under section 3517; 
                and''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
``Sec. 904. Cost of multilingual services defined.
    ``In this chapter, the term `cost of multilingual services' means 
the costs to the agency associated with--
            ``(1) hiring interpreters;
            ``(2) helping agency employees or contractors learn a 
        language other than English;
            ``(3) preparing or producing agency materials in a language 
        other than English;
            ``(4) compensating an employee or a contractor for the 
        ability of the employee or contractor to speak a language other 
        than English; and
            ``(5) any other services provided or performed by an agency 
        in a language other than English that incur additional cost to 
        the agency.''.
    (b) Applicability.--The amendments made by this section apply with 
respect to any reports prepared under section 902(a)(6) of title 31, 
United States Code, for a fiscal year beginning on or after October 1, 
2016.
    (c) Conforming Amendment.--The table of sections at the beginning 
of chapter 9 of title 31, United States Code, is amended by inserting 
after the item relating to section 903 the following:

``904. Cost of multilingual services.''.

SEC. 3. 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)--
                    (A) by striking ``and'' at the end of subparagraph 
                (E);
                    (B) by redesignating subparagraph (F) as 
                subparagraph (G); and
                    (C) by inserting after subparagraph (E) the 
                following:
                    ``(F) a Multilingual Services Expense Report that 
                includes--
                            ``(i) a summary and analysis of the cost of 
                        multilingual services (as described in section 
                        904) detailed in reports prepared under section 
                        902(a)(6)(E);
                            ``(ii) a description of any changes needed 
                        to report accurately the cost of multilingual 
                        services for each agency; and
                            ``(iii) any other information the Director 
                        considers appropriate to fully inform the 
                        Congress of the costs of all multilingual 
                        services provided by the Federal Government; 
                        and''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
``Sec. 3517. Multilingual services guidelines.
    ``The Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall issue 
guidance that each agency Chief Financial Officer shall follow in 
compiling a report required under section 902(a)(6)(E) on the cost of 
multilingual services.''.
    (b) Applicability.--The amendments made by this section apply to 
any reports prepared under title 3512(a) of title 31, United States 
Code, for a fiscal year beginning on or after October 1, 2016.
    (c) Deadline for Guidance.--Not later than 180 days after the date 
of the enactment of this Act, the Director of the Office of Management 
and Budget shall issue guidance under section 3517 of title 31, United 
States Code, as added by subsection (a).
    (d) Conforming Amendment.--The table of sections at the beginning 
of chapter 35 of title 31, United States Code, is amended by inserting 
after the item relating to section 3516 the following:

``3517. Multilingual Services Accounting Guidelines.''.
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