ATA Holds Advocacy Day on Capitol Hill

The American Translators Association (ATA), the nation’s largest professional organization for translators and interpreters, held its first Translation and Interpreting (T&I) Advocacy Day in conjunction with the Association’s 58th Annual Conference in Washington, DC.

On October 25, nearly 50 translators and interpreters traveled to Capitol Hill, where they met with staffers in 68 Congressional offices and Executive Branch agencies to discuss issues and policies affecting the T&I industry. Advocacy Day participants focused on three T&I issues during their Congressional office meetings, summarized in the Statements on Advocacy Issues and Recommendations for Action, provided to them in advance.

Inaccuracies in Prevailing Wages Rate Determinations for Translators and Interpreters
Machine Translation vs. Human Translation
Language Services Procurement: The Need for the Best Value Approach

“It would have been an incredible missed opportunity not to take advantage of having ATA’s Annual Conference in DC without reaching out to public officials regarding translation and interpreting,” said Past ATA President David Rumsey. “There had been several government-related issues over the past two years where ATA spoke out on behalf of the T&I industry, including the Special Visa Program for Iraqi and Afghani interpreters, the situation for interpreters working in immigration courts, and use of machine translation by local governments.”

T&I Advocacy Day 2017 was hosted by ATA in partnership with the Joint National Committee for Languages (JNCL). JNCL, along with the National Council for Languages and International Studies (NCLIS), lobbies Congress and the Executive Branch on behalf of the language community. Learn more about the event.

Founded in 1959, the American Translators Association is the nation’s largest professional organization for translators and interpreters. Its primary goals include fostering and supporting the professional development of translators and interpreters and promoting the translation and interpreting professions. ATA, based in Alexandria, Virginia, has nearly 11,000 members in over 100 countries. For more information on ATA, please visit www.atanet.org.