Dec. 27, 2001
Brenda Aguilar
Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs
Office of Management and Budget
Washington, DC 20503
Re: EO 13166
Dear Ms. Aguilar,
This is in response to the request by the Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) for comments on Executive Order 13166 (EO 13166).
As recognized by OMB's request, it is "particularly challenging" to estimate
the costs and burdens of EO 13166 due to the enormous "breadth and depth of
activities" covered by it. OMB acknowledges that EO 13166 requires the
provision of translators for "anything a federal agency does," including
"the provision of federal benefits or services, the imposition of a burden
on a member of the public, and any other activities a federal agency
conducts." OMB concedes that this mandate sweeps in "anything from the
receipt of benefits such as Social Security to law enforcement activities or
the imposition of taxes."
EO 13166 unjustifiably shifts the burden of understanding the English
language from the listener to the speaker. This is both extremely costly and
completely unjustified. Eagle Forum objects to EO 13166 on both grounds.
The costs imposed by EO 13166 extend far beyond the substantial burden of
compliance. American society bears a trillion-dollar cost for the countless
transportation accidents, health care mishaps, and miscommunication errors
resulting from the official promotion of a multilingual culture. Several of
the worst aviation accidents in history have been traced to the possible
inability of key personnel to understand English. The famous crash of
ValuJet Flight 592 in the Florida Everglades in 1996, killing all 110 on
board, was caused by mistakenly loading oxygen canisters as cargo. The
investigation revealed that the canisters labeled as "repairable" had been
misunderstood as "empty." At one point, the National Transportation Safety
Board suggested that the use of non-English speaking mechanics may have been
a problem.
Fatal truck accidents have been due to inability of the licensed drivers to
understand English directions or road signs. The most famous truck accident
in Illinois history occurred in 1994 when the six children of Scott and
Janet Willis were incinerated when their minivan exploded as it ran over a
metal tail-light assembly that fell from a truck driven by Riccardo Guzman.
Because Guzman couldn't speak English, he didn't understand the other
truckers on the highway who warned him about his dangling tail-light
assembly.
EO 13166 ostensibly requires providing translators for applicants for truck
licenses, with inevitably catastrophic results.
Costly tragedies due to miscommunication must also permeate health care and
other fields where a misunderstood phrase can result in avoidable deaths.
The expansive breadth of EO 13166 cited above promotes and even requires the
use of translators to train individuals for life-impacting positions, when
instead English proficiency should be required.
The costs may go beyond unintentional accidents, as demonstrated by the 9/11
terrorist attacks. For thousands of years, language barriers have been
useful as a means of deterring infiltration by an enemy seeking to cause
destruction from within. Ancient Israelis detected the possible presence of
an enemy based on how he pronounced the word "shibboleth". EO 13166 does the
opposite by requiring Americans provide translators even for enemies of our
nation. Under EO 13166, a terrorist can enter the United States and obtain
services and training without ever learning the English language and thereby
understanding American news, ideals and values.
"Time" reported on October 13 that one
trucking school trained dozens of non-English speakers, using translators.
After the end of the training program, these trainees were able to obtain
truck licenses. Alarmingly, they were not interested in obtaining jobs upon
completion of the program.
EO 13166 also lacks Congressional approval and is devoid of statutory basis.
Its sweeping breadth attaches the draconian condition of translation, which
was never contemplated or endorsed by Congress in passing the affected
spending programs. OMB acknowledges that the initially cited basis for EO
13166 was overturned by the Supreme Court in Alexander v. Sandoval, 121
S.Ct. 1511 (2001). OMB was unable to cite to any statutory authority for EO
13166. None exists.
Eagle Forum respectfully requests that EO 13166 be rescinded in its
entirety.
Sincerely,
Phyllis Schlafly
President, Eagle Forum
Eagle Forum
