[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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