
T&I Advocacy Day 2017 at #ATA58
The ATA 58th Annual Conference in Washington, DC was an opportunity too good to pass up! It was the right time and place for ATA’s first Advocacy Day.
Forty-five translators and interpreters traveled to Capitol Hill on Wednesday, October 25, to inform Congress about issues impacting T&I professions. Advocates met with staffers in 68 Congressional offices and Executive Branch agencies.
Why advocate?
Advocacy above all else is educating Congress on issues and policies affecting the industry. But even more important is proposing a solution. Explaining the problem is not enough. Advocacy Day participants focused on three T&I issues during their Congressional office meetings.
Statements on Advocacy Issues and Recommendations for Action
- 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
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.