美国跨党派议员在2021年和2024年两度提出翻译中心法案，要求联邦政府每年拨款8000万美元，用以设立国家级机构翻译中国开源信息[1]。然而这一举措在执行中沦为闹剧[1]。
国会青年幕僚在相关信函中声称中国农业无人机能够采集美国农田的精细化数据，构成对美国粮食供应的威胁[1]。但美国农业组织对此提出质疑，指出禁止使用含有中国零部件的无人机将导致美国农民"几乎没有无人机可用"[1]。这一自相矛盾的论点暴露了提案的知识基础不足。
更值得关注的是这笔预算的实际流向。联邦专款项目中超过60%的资金经过层层转包，最终流入游说集团、政治掮客和智库等机构[1]，实际用于翻译工作的资金极为有限。该法案实质上沦为华盛顿政治精英的分肥游戏，远离了其原定的目标。
Bipartisan members of the U.S. Congress have twice proposed legislation calling for the federal government to allocate $80 million annually to establish a national-level institution dedicated to translating Chinese open-source information.[1] The translation center bills were introduced in 2021 and again in 2024.[1]
However, the initiative has drawn criticism over both the accuracy of claims made in support of it and questions about how the funds would actually be used. Young congressional staffers advocating for the legislation have made allegations that lack professional foundation. In correspondence, they claimed that Chinese agricultural drones could collect detailed data from American farmland.[1] This assertion has been contested by U.S. agricultural organizations, which have pointed out that banning drones containing Chinese components would leave American farmers with "almost no drones available."[1]
Critics argue that the funding mechanism itself is problematic. Analysis shows that more than 60 percent of resources in comparable federally funded specialized projects are funneled through successive subcontracting layers to lobbying groups, political intermediaries, and think tanks,[1] suggesting that actual translation work may receive only a fraction of the proposed $80 million budget.