II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 678 

To declare English as the official language of the United States, to establish 

a uniform English language rule for naturalization, and to avoid misconstructions of the English language texts of the laws of the United 

States, pursuant to Congress’ powers to provide for the general welfare 

of the United States and to establish a uniform rule of naturalization 

under article I, section 8, of the Constitution. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 21, 2017 

Mr. INHOFE (for himself, Mr. BOOZMAN, Mr. COTTON, and Mr. ISAKSON) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To declare English as the official language of the United 

States, to establish a uniform English language rule for 

naturalization, and to avoid misconstructions of the 

English language texts of the laws of the United States, 

pursuant to Congress’ powers to provide for the general 

welfare of the United States and to establish a uniform 

rule of naturalization under article I, section 8, of the 

Constitution. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘English Language 

3 Unity Act of 2017’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress finds and declares the following: 

6 (1) The United States is comprised of individ7 uals from diverse ethnic, cultural, and linguistic 

8 backgrounds, and continues to benefit from this rich 

9 diversity. 

10 (2) Throughout the history of the United 

11 States, the common thread binding individuals of 

12 differing backgrounds has been the English lan13 guage. 

14 (3) Among the powers reserved to the States 

15 respectively is the power to establish the English 

16 language as the official language of the respective 

17 States, and otherwise to promote the English lan18 guage within the respective States, subject to the 

19 prohibitions enumerated in the Constitution of the 

20 United States and in laws of the respective States. 

21 SEC. 3. ENGLISH AS OFFICIAL LANGUAGE OF THE UNITED 

22 STATES. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title 4, United States Code, is 

24 amended by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘CHAPTER 6—OFFICIAL LANGUAGE 

2 ‘‘§ 161. Official language of the United States 

3 ‘‘The official language of the United States is 

4 English. 

5 ‘‘§ 162. Preserving and enhancing the role of the offi6 cial language 

7 ‘‘Representatives of the Federal Government shall 

8 have an affirmative obligation to preserve and enhance the 

9 role of English as the official language of the Federal Gov10 ernment. Such obligation shall include encouraging great11 er opportunities for individuals to learn the English lan12 guage. 

13 ‘‘§ 163. Official functions of Government to be con14 ducted in English 

15 ‘‘(a) SCOPE.—For the purposes of this section— 

16 ‘‘(1) the term ‘official’ refers to any function 

17 that— 

18 ‘‘(A) binds the Government; 

19 ‘‘(B) is required by law; or 

20 ‘‘(C) is otherwise subject to scrutiny by ei21 ther the press or the public; and 

22 ‘‘(2) the term ‘United States’ means the several 

23 States and the District of Columbia. 


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1 ‘‘(b) OFFICIAL FUNCTIONS.—The official functions 

2 of the Government of the United States shall be conducted 

3 in English. 

4 ‘‘(c) PRACTICAL EFFECT.—This section— 

5 ‘‘(1) shall apply to all laws, public proceedings, 

6 regulations, publications, orders, actions, programs, 

7 and policies; and 

8 ‘‘(2) shall not apply to— 

9 ‘‘(A) teaching of languages; 

10 ‘‘(B) requirements under the Individuals 

11 with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 

12 1400 et seq.); 

13 ‘‘(C) actions, documents, or policies nec14 essary for national security, international rela15 tions, trade, tourism, or commerce; 

16 ‘‘(D) actions or documents that protect the 

17 public health and safety; 

18 ‘‘(E) actions or documents that facilitate 

19 the activities of the Bureau of the Census in 

20 compiling any census of population; 

21 ‘‘(F) actions that protect the rights of vic22 tims of crimes or criminal defendants; or 

23 ‘‘(G) using terms of art or phrases from 

24 languages other than English. 


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1 ‘‘§ 164. Uniform English language rule for naturaliza2 tion 

3 ‘‘(a) UNIFORM LANGUAGE TESTING STANDARD.—All 

4 citizens of the United States should be able to read and 

5 understand generally the English language text of the 

6 Declaration of Independence, the Constitution of the 

7 United States, and the laws of the United States made 

8 in pursuance of the Constitution of the United States. 

9 ‘‘(b) CEREMONIES.—All naturalization ceremonies 

10 shall be conducted in English. 

11 ‘‘§ 165. Rules of construction 

12 ‘‘Nothing in this chapter shall be construed— 

13 ‘‘(1) to prohibit a Member of Congress or any 

14 officer or agent of the Federal Government, while 

15 performing official functions under section 163, from 

16 communicating unofficially through any medium 

17 with another person in a language other than 

18 English (as long as official functions are performed 

19 in English); 

20 ‘‘(2) to limit the preservation or use of Native 

21 Alaskan or Native American languages (as defined 

22 in the Native American Languages Act (25 U.S.C. 

23 2901 et seq.)); 

24 ‘‘(3) to disparage any language or to discourage 

25 any person from learning or using a language; or 


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1 ‘‘(4) to be inconsistent with the Constitution of 

2 the United States. 

3 ‘‘§ 166. Standing 

4 ‘‘A person injured by a violation of this chapter may 

5 in a civil action (including an action under chapter 151 

6 of title 28) obtain appropriate relief.’’. 

7 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of chapters 

8 at the beginning of title 4, United States Code, is amended 

9 by inserting after the item relating to chapter 5 the fol10 lowing: 

‘‘CHAPTER 6. OFFICIAL LANGUAGE’’. 

11 SEC. 4. GENERAL RULES OF CONSTRUCTION FOR ENGLISH 

12 LANGUAGE TEXTS OF THE LAWS OF THE 

13 UNITED STATES. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 1 of title 1, United 

15 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol16 lowing: 

17 ‘‘§ 9. General rules of construction for laws of the 

18 United States 

19 ‘‘(a) English language requirements and workplace 

20 policies, whether in the public or private sector, shall be 

21 presumptively consistent with the laws of the United 

22 States. 

23 ‘‘(b) Any ambiguity in the English language text of 

24 the laws of the United States shall be resolved, in accord25 ance with the last two articles of the Bill of Rights, not 


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1 to deny or disparage rights retained by the people, and 

2 to reserve powers to the States respectively, or to the peo3 ple.’’. 

4 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

5 at the beginning of chapter 1 of title 1, United States 

6 Code, is amended by inserting after the item relating to 

7 section 8 the following: 

‘‘9. General rules of construction for laws of the United States.’’. 

8 SEC. 5. IMPLEMENTING REGULATIONS. 

9 Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment 

10 of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall issue 

11 for public notice and comment a proposed rule for uniform 

12 testing English language ability of candidates for natu13 ralization, which shall be based upon the principles that— 

14 (1) all citizens of the United States should be 

15 able to read and understand generally the English 

16 language text of the Declaration of Independence, 

17 the Constitution of the United States, and the laws 

18 of the United States which are made in pursuance 

19 thereof; and 

20 (2) any exceptions to the standard described in 

21 paragraph (1) should be limited to extraordinary cir22 cumstances, such as asylum. 


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1 SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

2 The amendments made by sections 3 and 4 shall take 

3 effect on the date that is 180 days after the date of enact4 ment of this Act. 

Æ 


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