The ATA Chronicle - May/June 2021 - 11

ALC on the Hill
The Association of Language
Companies (ALC) is a U.S.-

PROAct already passed
the House)
y	 Co-sponsorship of

based organization that

the Coronavirus

promotes the professional

Language Access Act

stature and economic

(once re-introduced)

position of the language
services industry through
advocacy and the professional
development of language
company owners and senior
management. The ALC on
the Hill event in March was
their second foray into direct
advocacy and was entirely
focused on industry issues.
Though the event was smaller
in terms of participants,

y	 Co-sponsorship of
the Health Equity and
Accountability Act (once
re-introduced)
y	 Task the U.S. Government
Accountability Office
to report on the
implementation of
regulations related to the
acquisition of knowledgebased services

this was an opportunity

y	 Raise the small business

to reinforce many of the

threshold for language

messages congressional

schools

staffers had heard a few
weeks before during Language
Advocacy Days. ALC was
also able to bring the unique
perspective of small business
owners to the forefront.

y	 Invite members of Congress
to join America's Language
Caucus, a bipartisan and
bi-cameral caucus
y	 Co-sponsorship of

FOR MORE INFORMATION
America's Language Caucus
http://bit.ly/Language-Caucus
Association of Language Companies
www.alcus.org
ATA Advocacy and Outreach
www.atanet.org/news/advocacy-and-outreach
Joint National Committee for Languages-
National Council for Languages and International Studies
www.languagepolicy.org
Joint National Committee for Languages-
National Council for Languages and International Studies
Legislative Action Center
http://bit.ly/policy-action
Protecting the Right to Organize Act
http://bit.ly/Pro-Act-Congress
Capitol building would result
in smaller events. In fact, the
opposite was true. With the
hurdle of travel and the costs
associated with it removed,
both events saw record
attendance. Congressional
staffers were also working

Freedom to Invest in

from home, many still reeling

Two Events with a
Unifying Focus

Tomorrow's Workforce,

from the violence of January.

which allows savers to

Much of the formalities fell

There were many issues on

use 529 funds to pay for

away with the virtual format,

professional certification

and there was a palpable

preparation, testing, and

eagerness to get back to the

re-certification (including

business of governing.

the agendas of both events,
with some overlap, but
the unifying focus was on
the foundational need to
support language education
and the work of interpreters
and translators in this
country. Not surprisingly,
the pandemic and language
access loomed large, as
did legislation relating to

continuing education)
(once introduced)
y	 Funding (via
appropriations) for
the World Language
Advancement and
Readiness Act
y	 Co-sponsorship of the

our business models. Here

Bilingual Education Seal

are some of the initiatives

and Teaching Act (once

discussed (see the sidebar for

introduced)

more information on some
of these):

The biggest change

Making Connections
while Strengthening
Our Voices
The primary benefit of these
events is not the one-off
meetings. It's the connections
that we build year on year-
the same connections that
allow ATA to continue its
advocacy efforts throughout
the year. If you want to make

this year, besides the new

sure your own voice is heard,

administration, was that both

we urge you to visit the

contractor/employee

events were held virtually.

JNCL-NCLIS website (www.

misclassification issues in

There was some concern that

languagepolicy.org) and sign

the Protecting the Right

not being able to personally

up for the newsletter and

to Organize Act (PROAct)

visit the hallowed marble

action alerts, which will help

by altering or removing

hallways and imposing

you with messaging and

the ABC test (Senate only;

architecture of the U.S.

targeting that message to

y	 Address independent

www.ata-chronicle.online

your state's congressional
members. Also, be sure to
bookmark the ALC website
(www.alcus.org) to read more
about the many ways they are
supporting language services
companies of all sizes.

Caitilin
Walsh, CT is
an ATA-certified
French>English
translator
who delights in producing
publication-quality
translations for the computer
industry and food lovers
alike. A past president of
ATA, she currently chairs
ATA's Education and
Pedagogy Committee. She
also serves as presidentelect of the Joint National
Committee for Languages.
She teaches ethics and
business practices at the
Translation and Interpreting
Institute at Bellevue College.
She is also chair of the
Translation and Interpretation
Advisory Committee for
the Puget Sound Skills
Center. She is a graduate of
Willamette University and
the Université de Strasbourg.
cwalsh@nwlink.com

American Translators Association

11
http://www.bit.ly/Language-Caucus http://www.alcus.org http://www.atanet.org/news/advocacy-and-outreach http://www.languagepolicy.org http://www.bit.ly/policy-action http://www.bit.ly/Pro-Act-Congress http://www.alcus.org http://www.languagepolicy.org http://www.languagepolicy.org http://www.ata-chronicle.online
The ATA Chronicle - May/June 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The ATA Chronicle - May/June 2021
