Language Access Board Act of 2026

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office] [H.R. 8604 Introduced in House (IH)] <DOC> 119th CONGRESS 2d Session H. R. 8604 To establish the Language Access Board, and for other purposes. _______________________________________________________________________ IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES April 30, 2026 Ms. Chu (for herself, Ms. Meng, Mr. Vargas, Mr. Goldman of New York, Ms. Wilson of Florida, Ms. Norton, Mr. Lieu, Ms. Tlaib, Mr. Green of Texas, Mr. Soto, Mr. Kennedy of New York, and Mr. Correa) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform _______________________________________________________________________ A BILL To establish the Language Access Board, 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 ``Language Access Board Act of 2026''. SEC. 2. LANGUAGE ACCESS BOARD. (a) Board Established.--There is established within the Federal Government the Language Access Board (referred to in this Act as the ``Board'') which shall be composed of 32 members as follows: (1) 16 members shall be appointed by the President, in accordance with the appointment requirements under subsection (b), from among members of the public who are not Federal employees, and one whom has been appointed under subparagraph (A) of section 502 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 792) to serve as a public member of the Access Board established under such section 502, and each of whom have expertise in-- (A) developing or implementing policies or programs related to language access issues; (B) working with individuals with limited English proficiency; or (C) translation or interpretation services. (2) The remaining 16 members shall be the heads of each of the following departments, agencies, or bureaus (or their designees whose positions are executive leve