White House Accountability for Language Diversity Act

White House Accountability for Language Diversity Act

This bill requires the White House and each federal agency to establish official websites in the five most commonly used languages in the United States other than English to increase accessibility. The websites must be of a similar scope and content as the English version.

The President and each agency shall maintain and update the websites on a regular basis.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4809 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 4809

   To require the White House and each agency to provide an official 
 website in the five most commonly used languages in the United States 
   other than English as determined by the Census data and any other 
languages determined to be appropriate by the Director of the Office of 
             Management and Budget, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 23, 2019

 Mr. Correa (for himself, Mrs. Napolitano, Mr. Vargas, Mr. Costa, Ms. 
   Sanchez, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, Ms. Garcia of Texas, Ms. Haaland, Ms. 
Roybal-Allard, Mr. Huffman, Ms. Norton, Ms. Judy Chu of California, Ms. 
Escobar, Ms. Lofgren, Mr. Lowenthal, Mr. Blumenauer, Ms. Barragan, Mr. 
 Cisneros, Mr. Smith of Washington, Mr. Rouda, Ms. Porter, Mr. Khanna, 
 Mr. Foster, Mr. Cardenas, Ms. Lee of California, Ms. Eshoo, Mr. Soto, 
 Ms. Velazquez, Mrs. Watson Coleman, Ms. Schakowsky, Mr. Takano, Mrs. 
    Trahan, Mr. Gallego, Mr. Garcia of Illinois, Ms. Titus, and Mr. 
  Espaillat) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                   Committee on Oversight and Reform

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To require the White House and each agency to provide an official 
 website in the five most commonly used languages in the United States 
   other than English as determined by the Census data and any other 
languages determined to be appropriate by the Director of the Office of 
             Management and Budget, 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 ``White House Accountability for 
Language Diversity Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) In the past decades it has become standard practice to 
        publish versions of the White House and other agency websites 
        in Spanish.
            (2) At least 36,000,000 United States residents who speak 
        Spanish as their first language depend upon these websites to 
        access important information that can play a critical role in 
        their life.
            (3) In 2010, for 59,000,000 people, English was not their 
        first language.
            (4) In addition to English, the top languages in the United 
        States are Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog, Vietnamese, and French.
            (5) Millions of people within the United States will 
        benefit by having websites translated into multiple languages.
            (6) The United States of America is a diverse Nation and, 
        as such, does not have an official language.
            (7) Since our founding, our country has been in a constant 
        state of growth. We have consistently grown more multilingual 
        because of people from across the world seeking a better future 
        while carrying a hope of achieving the American dream.
            (8) As this is happening, the United States must adapt and 
        make our democracy more accessible for everyone.

SEC. 3. PURPOSE.

    The purpose of this Act is to--
            (1) require the White House and agencies to provide 
        resources in multiple languages so that people can read 
        information in the language they are most comfortable with; and
            (2) acknowledge the diversity of our country and use 
        creative solutions to make sure that there is equity in 
        accessing information from our government.

SEC. 4. FIVE MOST COMMONLY USED LANGUAGE WEBSITES REQUIRED.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 1 year after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the White House and the head of each agency 
shall establish an official website in the five most commonly used 
languages in the United States other than English as determined by the 
Census data and any other language determined to be appropriate by the 
Director of the Office of Management and Budget to increase 
accessibility to everyone residing in the United States. Any such 
website may only include official content and is not required to 
translate external websites that are not official content. Any website 
in a language other than English shall be substantially similar in 
design and scope of content to the English version.
    (b) Link on Main Page.--A link to the website required under 
subsection (a) shall be easily accessible and in plain view on the main 
page of the English version of the White House and agency website. The 
link shall be in the language of that website.
    (c) Maintenance of Website.--The President and the head of each 
agency shall maintain and update the website required under subsection 
(a) on a regular basis.
    (d) Agency Defined.--The term ``agency'' has the meaning given that 
term in section 551 of title 5, United States Code.
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