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104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 123

To amend title 4, United States Code, to declare English as the official

language of the Government of the United States.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 4, 1995

Mr. EMERSON (for himself, Mr. BARR, Mr. WAMP, Mr. DORNAN, Mr. HANSEN, Mr. GUTKNECHT, Mr. BURTON of Indiana, Mr. DOOLITTLE, Mr.

KINGSTON, Mr. STUMP, Mr. EHLERS, Mr. BUNNING of Kentucky, Mr.

CALVERT, Mr. MONTGOMERY, Mr. ARCHER, Mr. DICKEY, Mr. RAMSTAD,

Mr. LIVINGSTON, Mr. BEVILL, Mr. FAWELL, Mr. CLINGER, Mr. KING,

Mr. CANADY, Mr. PORTER, Mr. LINDER, Mr. REGULA, Mr. PACKARD,

Mr. HUTCHINSON, Mrs. MEYERS of Kansas, Mr. BARRETT of Nebraska,

Mr. KNOLLENBERG, Mr. TALENT, Mr. HANCOCK, Mr. SOLOMON, Mr.

PETRI, Mr. BALLENGER, Mr. BACHUS, and Mrs. FOWLER) introduced

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Economic and

Educational Opportunities

A BILL

To amend title 4, United States Code, to declare English

as the official language of the Government of the United

States.

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 ‘‘Language of Govern3 ment Act of 1995’’.

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND CONSTRUCTION.

5 (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds and declares

6 that—

7 (1) the United States is comprised of individ8 uals and groups from diverse ethnic, cultural, and

9 linguistic backgrounds;

10 (2) the United States has benefited and contin11 ues to benefit from this rich diversity;

12 (3) throughout the history of the Nation, the

13 common thread binding those of differing back14 grounds has been a common language;

15 (4) in order to preserve unity in diversity, and

16 to prevent division along linguistic lines, the United

17 States should maintain a language common to all

18 people;

19 (5) English has historically been the common

20 language and the language of opportunity in the

21 United States;

22 (6) the purpose of this Act is to help immi23 grants better assimilate and take full advantage of

24 economic and occupational opportunities in the

25 United States;
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1 (7) by learning the English language, immi2 grants will be empowered with the language skills

3 and literacy necessary to become responsible citizens

4 and productive workers in the United States;

5 (8) the use of a single common language in the

6 conduct of the Government’s official business will

7 promote efficiency and fairness to all people;

8 (9) English should be recognized in law as the

9 language of official business of the Government; and

10 (10) any monetary savings derived from the en11 actment of this Act should be used for the teaching

12 of non-English speaking immigrants the English

13 language.

14 (b) CONSTRUCTION.—The amendments made by sec15 tion 3—

16 (1) are not intended in any way to discriminate

17 against or restrict the rights of any individual in the

18 United States;

19 (2) are not intended to discourage or prevent

20 the use of languages other than English in any

21 nonofficial capacity; and

22 (3) except where an existing law of the United

23 States directly contravenes the amendments made by

24 section 3 (such as by requiring the use of a language

25 other than English for official business of the Gov-
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1 ernment of the United States), are not intended to

2 repeal existing laws of the United States.

3 SEC. 3. ENGLISH AS THE OFFICIAL LANGUAGE OF GOVERN4 MENT.

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

6 amended by adding at the end the following new chapter:

7 ‘‘CHAPTER 6—LANGUAGE OF THE

8 GOVERNMENT

‘‘Sec.

‘‘161. Declaration of official language of Government.

‘‘162. Preserving and enhancing the role of the official language.

‘‘163. Official Government activities in English.

‘‘164. Standing.

‘‘165. Definitions.

9 ‘‘§ 161. Declaration of official language of Govern10 ment

11 ‘‘The official language of the Government of the

12 United States is English.

13 ‘‘§ 162. Preserving and enhancing the role of the offi14 cial language

15 ‘‘The Government shall have an affirmative obligation

16 to preserve and enhance the role of English as the official

17 language of the United States Government. Such obliga18 tion shall include encouraging greater opportunities for in19 dividuals to learn the English language.

20 ‘‘§ 163. Official Government activities in English

21 ‘‘(a) CONDUCT OF BUSINESS.—The Government

22 shall conduct its official business in English.
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1 ‘‘(b) DENIAL OF SERVICES.—No person shall be de2 nied services, assistance, or facilities, directly or indirectly

3 provided by the Government solely because the person

4 communicates in English.

5 ‘‘(c) ENTITLEMENT.—Every person in the United

6 States is entitled to—

7 ‘‘(1) communicate with the Government in

8 English;

9 ‘‘(2) receive information from or contribute in10 formation to the Government in English; and

11 ‘‘(3) be informed of or be subject to official

12 orders in English.

13 ‘‘§ 164. Standing

14 ‘‘Any person alleging injury arising from a violation

15 of this chapter shall have standing to sue in the courts

16 of the United States under sections 2201 and 2202 of title

17 28, United States Code, and for such other relief as may

18 be considered appropriate by the courts.

19 ‘‘§ 165. Definitions

20 ‘‘For purposes of this chapter:

21 ‘‘(1) GOVERNMENT.—The term ‘Government’

22 means all branches of the Government of the United

23 States and all employees and officials of the Govern24 ment of the United States while performing official

25 business.
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1 ‘‘(2) OFFICIAL BUSINESS.—The term ‘official

2 business’ means those governmental actions, docu3 ments, or policies which are enforceable with the full

4 weight and authority of the Government, but does

5 not include—

6 ‘‘(A) teaching of foreign languages;

7 ‘‘(B) actions, documents, or policies that

8 are not enforceable in the United States;

9 ‘‘(C) actions, documents, or policies nec10 essary for international relations, trade, or com11 merce;

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

13 public health;

14 ‘‘(E) actions that protect the rights of vic15 tims of crimes or criminal defendants; and

16 ‘‘(F) documents that utilize terms of art or

17 phrases from languages other than English.’’.

18 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of chap19 ters for title 4, United States Code, is amended by adding

20 at the end the following new item:

‘‘6. Language of the Government ................................................. 161’’.

21 SEC. 4. PREEMPTION.

22 This Act (and the amendments made by this Act)

23 shall not preempt any law of any State.
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1 SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE.

2 The amendments made by section 3 shall take effect

3 upon the date of enactment of this Act, except that no

4 suit may be commenced to enforce or determine rights

5 under the amendments until January 1, 1996.

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